Jørgen Sundgot gets to grips with Acer's innovative TravelMate C200, sporting a snappy graphics card and slide-up screen unlike any other convertible Tablet PC to date.
Review summary of the Acer TravelMate C200:
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 As tablet convertibles go, the TravelMate C200 is decidedly among the largest - yet also more powerful than most. Its innovative slider style design approach doesn’t take a back seat to the typical swivel hinge, and an Nvidia-driven display combines with a snappy processor and generous storage to deliver a speedy - albeit heavy - user experience. As could be expected, its standard battery won’t hold for long, but this niggle aside, the C200 would be an excellent choice for tablet users who favour power over portability. Release: December 2005. Price: $1600.
Pros: Powerful specifications; good graphics performance; innovative sliding display
Cons: Screen left unprotected when closed; short battery life; noisy fan
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Full Acer TravelMate C200 Review:
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First, there was the Tablet PC - and then came the convertibles. Having gained in popularity due to their chameleon-like ability to assume either a fully pen-driven or combo pen- and keyboard-driven user interface, it has been generally assumed that innovation within this niche category had settled for a while. Enter the Acer TravelMate C200, a tablet with a new and clever twist on the concept of convertibility; innovative, albeit not without flaws. We review the top-of-the line model, the C204TMi.
Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine...
For users in need of some muscle toning, the Acer TravelMate C200 is a look-no-further option. Bulkier than most tablets, the convertible weighs in at 2 KG at its very lightest, measuring a slightly above-par 315 x 238 x 35 mm - but then again, the C200 isn't quite like other convertibles.
Instead of relying on the typical swivel hinge solution, the C200 offers a sliding mechanism which tilts its 12.1-inch XGA screen upwards to a locking position with no adjustment options in order to switch between tablet and notebook modes. The solution has its distinct ups and downs, the former of which includes the C200 being a perfect companion for cramped airline seats as its screen doesn't protrude beyond the back of the notebook as well as low-hassle, high-speed switching between notebook and tablet mode.
Downsides, meanwhile, include no built-in protection for the screen when closed, and the fact that you can easily get a crick in your neck if you can't position the angle of the screen well by adjusting the angle of your lap or distance to the C200. Still, the semi-glossy screen performs superbly when indoors (although not so well outdoors), and we're thoroughly pleased to finally have found a tablet which doesn't do graphics at the speed of molasses courtesy of its Nvidia GeForce GO 6200 chipset with 64 MB of dedicated VRAM. In fact, it's even enough to enjoy a relatively recent game or two.
On the note of other exterior aspects, the C200 also comes equipped with a very comfortable keyboard, an appropriate amount of well-labelled hardware shortcut buttons and biometric fingerprint reader for added security. For being what it is, the trackpin and its mouse buttons work quite well, although we're a bit mystified by the diagonally-oriented scroll wheel in the lower right corner of the keyboard; we liked it, but it took a while to get used to.
Strutting its stuff
Keeping in line with the comfortably speedy graphics card, the TravelMate C200 also harbours a Pentium M 760 processor running at 2 GHz - speedier than the vast majority of tablets - as well as an adequate 1 GB of RAM and a spacious 100 GB hard drive. A media bay further allows for a slot-loading DVD Dual Layer drive, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, additional battery or weight saver module to shave a few grams off the total weight.
As one would expect from a brand new tablet, connectivity options abound including Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and build-to-order Bluetooth as well as optional tri-mode Wi-Fi. There's also 10/100 Ethernet, triple USB ports and FireWire, along with Infrared, VGA output and line out and microphone jacks. Also present is a PCMCIA Type II expansion slot, and an memory card reader accepting SD/MMC, Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO formats.
Wireless range and reception scored very high in our tests, although we've seen better from at least one convertible competitor, the diminutive Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet. Size and reception, however, are just about the only points on which the X41 beats the decidedly more powerful C200.
Just press this button, and voilá
Acer also took the time to bundle a fair amount of 3rd party software with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, including a couple of semi-entertaining tidbits known as the Microsoft Education and Experience Packs. Quickly bypassing these in mention, we'd rather point attention to the superb CyberLink PowerDVD 6.0 multimedia player, as well as the efficient Protector Suite QL for biometric protection.
Also worthy of mention are two applications from NTI dubbed Backup Now! 4 and CD & DVD-Maker which make excellent use of the optical drive, as well as the Lite version of Agilix' handy GoBinder application for note taking. Charmingly, Acer has also come up with one of the very few system management dashboards we've seen which does a good job of providing rapid access to important settings and usage profiles, complete with its own hard button - well done, lads.
Lastly, it should be mentioned that although it doesn't tend to run hot, the TravelMate C200 does have a fan that's a bit more noisy than we like, and we're a bit miffed by the lack of a video out port of any kind. Battery life, you ask? In excess of one and a half hour with the standard 3-cell battery; better start saving up if you plan on getting cozy with this slider.
Availability
The Acer TravelMate C200 is now available across Europe, starting at €1,750 EUR for the base configuration C202TMi model. The model on review here is the C204TMi, starting at €2,000 EUR.
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