New notebooks provide convenience of both pen and keyboard.

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We love tablet PCs. With a tablet, you can do way more than just send email, surf the Web, and review your résumé. You can also handwrite notes and mark up your documents with a stylus.

But depending on how clearly you write, Microsoft's handwriting-recognition software might not do a good job of converting your writing to text. That's why some people need a convertible tablet, which works as both a tablet and a notebook PC.

A tablet gives you portability. You can walk around with it, marking up documents on the fly. But if you've got a convertible tablet, you can also use it as a laptop at your desk. It's the best of both worlds.

We reviewed both slate-style and convertible tablet PCs in our last roundup, but this time around we're just doing the convertibles. After all, if you can, why not go convertible?

Watch "Fresh Gear" to see which tablet is best.

Performance

All convertibles in this roundup packed Intel's Pentium M processor and 512MB of memory. We tested using BapCo's MobileMark 2002, which rates how well a machine performs common tasks in apps such as Microsoft Office and Photoshop, while simultaneously testing battery life. Our LAME encoding test, which focuses on CPU, times how fast a 403MB WAV file converts to MP3.

Here's how the tablets performed.






























Notebook
Processor
BapCo MobileMark 2002 score
LAME encoding (in seconds)

Acer TravelMate C300
Intel Pentium M 1.5 GHz
163 seconds
168 seconds
Fujitsu LifeBook T3000
Intel Pentium M 1.4 GHz
161 seconds
177 seconds
HP Compaq TC1100
Ultra Low-Voltage Intel Pentium M 1 GHz
126 seconds
251 seconds
Toshiba Portege M200
Intel Pentium M 1.5 GHz
153 seconds
169 seconds


Portability is key

Consider portability first. Size, weight, and battery life all fit into the equation. An ultralightweight design won't mean much with dismal battery life, or vice versa.

Sitting down and plugging in a notebook comes as second nature. But when you're working and walking with a tablet, you need all the battery life you can get. Add in wireless networking and battery life suffers.

We tested these tablet PCs while connected through a wireless access point. Here's how they fared.



































Notebook
Dimensions (WxDxH inches)
Weight (pounds)
Display Size and resolution
BapCo MobileMark 2002 battery test

Acer TravelMate C300
12.8 by 10.7 by 1.4
6
14.1 inches; 1024x768
4 hours, 48 minutes
Fujitsu LifeBook T3000
11.5 by 9.3 by 1.1 (front) 1.4 (back)
4.2
12.1 inches; 1024x768
3 hours, 30 minutes
HP Compaq TC1100
10.8 by 8.5 by 0.8
4 (with keyboard)
10.4 inches; 1024x768
4 hours, 2 minutes
Toshiba Portege M200
11.6 by 9.8 by 1.3 (front) 1.5 (back)
4.5
12.1 inches; 1400x1050
3 hours, 44 minutes

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