Actually, no, the Axiotron Modbook did not respond to our touch, and that was easily the most disappointing aspect of the device. Axiotron has cut the keyboard off of a Macbook, replacing it with a touch sensitive screen, but the screen is more like a Wacom drawing tablet, not a touchscreen. It only responds to the touch of the included stylus, not fingers or flesh. So, for drawing, you'll get a range of tablet capabilities, including pressure-sensitivity and a wireless pen with programmable buttons, just like with a drawing tablet. And that seems to be the intended use for this Modbook, to make drawing on the Macbook easier.
That's too bad, because it certainly isn't what most folks will be hoping for when they hear the words "Mac Tablet." What most people, ourselves included, hope for is a giant-sized iPhone, with a multi-touch screen. Why Modbook went for a drawing-style tablet instead of a real touch screen is a mystery, though perhaps their experience in the field will lead them to create the latter.
Axiotron has added almost nothing to the Macbook in terms of software. An elegant drawing program hands all of the pen's capabilities, but that's it for tablet enhancements. Otherwise, what you'll be using is Mac OS X 10.5, Tiger, which is just fine, but could have been better. The pen stylus works okay for lassoing icons and selecting menu items, though each of the test models we used felt a bit shaky at the stylus point. It could have been our hands, but selecting small radio buttons and navigating long drop-down menus was a chore.
The Modbook, being a Macbook at heart, can also dual-boot into Windows Vista. Still, users hoping for a Windows tablet will be disappointed, as the hardware only supports the stylus for input, so you won't be able to take full advantage of the tablet features without pulling the pen from it's holster. The pen has it's own slot on the bottom of the hardware, and a magnet holds it place. Axiotron has also kept the iSight camera on the Macbook, up top and center as you'd expect.
Interestingly, Axiotron is one of only a handful of hardware developers who's Frankenstein procedures have been approved by Apple. So, while the faithful wait for a first party tablet, the company itself seems to be at least tacitly endorsing the efforts of Axiotron. We'd love to spend more time with the Modbook, but we're not artists, at least not with a pen or paint brush, so we're not sure the machine is going to satisfy our tablet needs, but a Macintosh tablet definitely has our interest piqued.
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