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Thursday, January 31, 2008

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Quick Thoughts on the Toshiba M700 Tablet PC

- Matt Faulkner

Just a few quick thoughts about the M700 over the past few days...

FAST - wonder what it would be like with a 7200 RPM drive??
Feels very light - If you didn't see the unboxing, I didn't think the battery was in the unit when I pulled it out the the box
Lots of crapware installed on it from the factory
I like the keyboard, with my bigger hands, it doesn't seem as small as the x61 keyboard
Screen is crisp, doesn't seem as 'grainy' as the other Toshiba's I have had in the past (M400, M4)
Writing on the screen feels good - like paper, not glossy
Battery is lasting for a good amount of time - I haven't been able to do any real tests, but I was on it for over 3 hours last night in 'balanced' mode and still had juice left - surfing, feed reading, e-mailing and reading a PDF for quite a while.
Resolution is OK and I would like it for a daily computer, but give me a high res option and I would be in love :)
I don't like the Firewire on the front of the machine - but it's better to have Firewire than not have it at all though
I like that it has the wheel on the front for the volume, it comes in very handy
Webcam works great - very clear, Skype and MSN have worked well with it
This is the first widescreen Tablet PC I have played with for any length of time. I really like the unit in tablet mode, some web pages are a little tight and you have to scroll, but writing in OneNote 2007 is great - Plus reading documents is easy too with the longer screen real estate
I keep forgetting I have touch... - Touch is very responsive though - and I am surprised my fat fingers are so accurate
Vista needs to have a "fat' start menu for touch devices
I can see a lot of cracked screens from people trying to twist from the top of the screen - the catches might break in with use, but new they are pretty tight - it flexes the screen quite a bit if you try from the top... (maybe they thought of this already and have some support in there, I don't want to find out though)
I want more space on the screen running Visual Studio - but it does well in running and building
Pushes external monitors easily
It fits what I do for my day job really well... processor is fast, memory is fast - it's done wonderful in all my testing - I want it for my daily computer, but that can't happen right now :(

What else do you want to know? I have it for only a short time so get your questions in fast!!

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1/31/2008 11:36 AM MST

Quick Thoughts on the Toshiba M700 Tablet PC Comments [18] | Digg This | del.icio.us | Citations

Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:17:21 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Matt, what's the Windows Experience Score? Apologies if this has been posted and I missed it.

Gavin Miller

Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:21:18 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Matt,

I have enjoyed reading your experience with the M700, largely because I completely agree based on my own experience. Other than web pages, I haven't had the great need for higher resolution, but I definitely agree that if it were an option for high res, it would help a lot of people out.

Thanks for the update!
Aaron

GoodThings2Life

Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:22:46 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

3.4 - but the odd thing is - the x61 pushes out a 3.5 weird...

Matt Faulkner

Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:39:52 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Hmmm, well, it's based on the lowest score from the tests. I'm guessing the X3100 graphics may be scoring 3.4. Here's the 1.8GHz M400 for comparison.

Processor Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2400 @ 1.83GHz 4.7 3.1
Determined by lowest subscore

Memory (RAM) 3.24 GB 4.7
Graphics Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family 3.4
Gaming graphics 256 MB Total available graphics memory 3.1
Primary hard disk 16GB Free (75GB Total) 4.1

Gavin Miller

Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:48:48 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

the x61 has the X3100 graphics as well - my guess is the driver from Toshiba maybe??

Matt Faulkner

Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:49:23 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Any chance you could tell us how the screen does in outdoor lighting?

Jlindsey

Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:54:04 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

What is the speaker sound quality like for playing video and music? thanks

scoobie

Thursday, January 31, 2008 1:39:14 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

hi, Matt, i would like to know the exact weight, with the 6-cell battary, and without optical drive installed! THANKS!

lebhaft

Thursday, January 31, 2008 1:43:42 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Matt,

How would you compare this unit with M200? Display? 3D modeling usage?

Found that the Fujitsu T4215 would not replace the M200 for 3D solid modeling, even with Core 2Duo.
I am really sold on the 1400x1050 on the M200, don't care for 1024x768.

ERK

Thursday, January 31, 2008 2:17:38 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Matt,

Does it come with a windows disk for reinstallation, or is it on a partition?

Brent

Thursday, January 31, 2008 2:39:45 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

How's the weight compared to an 8-cell x61t? Is there a noticeable long-term comfort difference beyond their absolute weights? If you have a 4-cell, I'd love to know the comparison there too.

Dave S.

Thursday, January 31, 2008 5:07:32 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Brent, it comes with restore software to make your own recovery DVD.

Matt's also came with an XP recovery disc for an unknown reason (probably downgrade rights).

The M700 is roughly 4.6 lbs.

GoodThings2Life

Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:27:47 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Lindsay - I can't really tell... i was not able to test outside... sorry

Scoobie - the speakers are 'ok' - remember they are partially covered when in tablet mode

lebhaft - the weight of the drive is .6 lbs

ERK - never had the M200 - It does ok for integrated graphics, of course it would be better with dedicated. Did you see the 3D shortcut I did on the M700 the other day?

Brent - It came with a 5 gig partition to recover Vista and XP media (don't know why)

Dave - No 4 cell sorry. For me, the weight is not really any different... they feel the same. It is thicker than the x61 though.

Matt Faulkner

Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:39:06 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

I just posted a question on the unboxing thread but I will ask here again. Sorry!

What is your take on the X61T over the M700? Can you give some likes/dislikes on both tablets and which one you would prefer having? Thanks.

Jaime

Thursday, January 31, 2008 10:37:39 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Thanks for all the great info so far. You have been much more helpful than the writers of LOST in the 1st episode...

Can you comment on the thickness of the unit. I really like all of the other specs, but at 1.47/1.55" it sounds pretty thick to me when compared to both my Dell D620 and HP TC1100 in slate only mode. I know you say the weight is very light, but does the thickness bother you at all when inking?

Thanks!

tygar

Thursday, January 31, 2008 11:01:28 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Matt

1) Does this have the special 1 gb disc cache, for quick start ups and faster read/writes? What effect does that have?

2) I need to load cad, 3d Max, etc. Doesn't this tablet need dedicated graphics to handle it? Is there any chance that Toshiba will add a good graphics card?

3) When the cd writer is removed, isn't this tablet's weight down close to its competitors that don't have one?

4) I'm considering the M700 and the Modbook, which also sadly has the same graphics. Is the Modbook, for Apple, the best Windows tablet?

Thanks, Mike

Mike Reilly

Friday, February 01, 2008 10:07:14 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Matt,

How hard is it to turn touch off and on?

Thanks

Brent

Friday, February 01, 2008 6:21:29 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

I have the Toshiba M400 T2500 (Dual core 2.00 Ghz), with 2 Gb of RAM, and an upgraded 160 Gb HD (5400 RPM). And I do not see a marked improvement in the new M700 reviewed here vs. the M400. In fact, that resolution would be a downer for me. I like the 1050 lines I get as opposed to the 800 in the M700 (although the wider screen provides more space). Maybe a pref, but that is me.

As far as performance, my 20 month old 4700 is close enough not to consider the newer M700. My Vista performance score is a 3.1, based on:
Processor = 4.7
Memory = 4.9
Graphics = 3.3
Gaming Graphics = 3.1
Primary Hard Disk = 4.9

I should have this machine another 1.5 years or so, so hopefully the Mx00 that follows is better.

David

David Howard

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