Toshiba's high-end Vista tablet
If you like the Mac-style white look for your computer hardware, you're going to appreciate Toshiba's initial entry in the Windows Vista laptop category. The Portege R400 is a beautifully crafted convertible tablet laptop, one that is every bit as expensive as it looks.
The R400 has plenty of high-end features, such as built-in EV-DO support and a small LED readout on the front edge that shows the time, battery level, and wireless signal strength. It can also alert you to new e-mail messages when the lid is closed.
The Portege R400 has a 12.1-inch screen and uses Intel's power-saving ultralow-voltage Core Duo processors, making it a very portable system. To save space, the optical drive has been bumped off to an external box.
The Toshiba Portege R400 starts at around $2,500 (we played around with a $3,500 version) and should be available on January 30.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan.
