GBM InkShow: Windows 7 Running on a LS800 Tablet PC

Posted by | 11/05/2008 | 21 Comments

windows7ls800thumb When Microsoft announced that Windows 7 would be able to run on cpu, memory, and resolution challenged devices like Netbooks, I couldn’t wait to give Windows 7 Ultimate a try on a old, and cpu challenged, Tablet PC: Motion Computing’s  three year-old LS800 Tablet PC running a 1.2 ghz Intel Pentium M processor, Intel 915GMS chipset, 1 gb of RAM, and a 1.8” 30 gb 4800 RPM hard drive.

The install went without a hitch — automatically downloading needed driver updates, except for button drivers that I got Motion’s support site. This was a clean Windows 7 install (no upgrade) and the harddrive was freshly formatted. The result: a decently performing 8.4” slate tablet pc with only 380 mb of consumed memory and about 50 running processes! Heat output is on a par with an XP install and I never hear the fan running. Wonderful work, Microsoft!

In this video InkShow, I demo inking, launching a game, Journal, Sticky Notes, browse the web, go in to stand-by, and more. I did launch up Media Center off camera, and no surprise — it wouldn’t run. I had to force a shut down in order to recover. Besides a few minor video overlay issues and the Media Center problem, I am pretty impressed. Needless to say, I’m one very happy Windows 7 slate Tablet PC user!

Correction: I make a mistake in the video saying the processor was a Core Solo. It is a Pentium M.

Windows Experience Index:

Overall: 1.0, Processor: 2.7, RAM: 4.1, Graphics: 1.9, Gaming: 1.0, Hard Disk: 3.4

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by TechSmith.

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Category: Featured, Hardware, InkShows

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As the Founding Editor for GottaBeMobile.com, Rob oversaw the growth and overall direction for content, advertising, and management of the site. Keep up with Rob at RobBushway.com Send email to Rob
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  • Andario

    Sweet thing! I wouldn´t mind getting one of those LS800s, since I´m a big fan of silent devices. However, I´m a little concerned about the heat thing. Could you guys tell me if it gets quite warm?
    Thanks!

  • Andario

    That´s a pity, the device does look sweet…
    Thanks for letting me know, Rob.

  • John Harvey

    I have a tc440 running xp tablet edt. and it runs real slow. Would installing windows 7 concuer this?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/gottabemobile gottabemobile

    John – I can only tell you what my experience has been on the LS800. I have no idea what it might do for you on the tc4400

  • Paul Tidwell

    I have put Win7 on my LS800 as well (clean install), and it runs as well or better than the original WinXP Tablet OS. I am running 1GB memory and the speed, handwriting recognition, RAM to run other programs is better than VISTA. Since this is BETA, I was not surprised to learn that drivers for speaker, microphone and security are not available. Additionally, and disappointingly, I am unable to run AVG Anti-Virus and several other software packages with this version of Windows. Compatibility with most recent versions of these software packages is not assured. Will keep watching!

  • Luke

    Rob,

    I’ve been trying to install Windows 7 on my LS800, and I keep running into an error message “Windows was unable to update the boot configuration,” at which point the installation cancels. Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated (note: I have the most recent BIOS update, A15).

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