Axiotron ModBook with built-in WAAS-enabled GPS user reviews (Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD)

4.5 stars

"Spectacular for my needs for a Mac OS X tablet" on March 11, 2008 by wbdeville

Pros: Faster & with more RAM than most PC slates, can also run Window or Vista

Cons: A bit heavy; portrait not (yet) working in OS X; Bluetooth requires dongle.

Summary: I've been using my ModBook since January 30, 2008. Build quality and engineering design are excellent. It's a fully functional Mac running OS X 10.5.2, with a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 4 GB RAM and a 200 GB 7200 rpm HD. So it's faster than my two other work computers, a Power Mac G5 with 2.3 GHz dual core CPU and a first-generation MacBook Pro with 2.0 GHz CPU and 2 GB RAM.

I've wanted a tablet Mac for a long time for convenient entry of text notes, equations and diagrams, and for filling out forms. Apple's Ink works reasonably well for handwritten notes, although I expect a more capable handwriting recognition application through Axiotron in a few months. The Quickclicks onscreen keyboard has a numeric keypad, and that works well for entering spreadsheet numerical data.

The weight of the ModBook is about the same as the weight of my MacBook Pro, so that's a wash. The form factor of the ModBook makes it much easier to use in coach airline seating and especially in my lap than any clamshell laptop design. Although there's a glitch in using Apple's built-in Bluetooth, a $25 Bluetooth dongle inserted into a USB port lets me use a wireless keyboard and mouse for heavy-duty text entry. In that mode the ModBook sits on a $10 bookstand on my desk.

I work with large document databases and need lots of RAM and hard drive space. So I can't use the new MacBook Air, as it doesn't have enough power. I understand that Axiotron has no current plans to adapt to the MacBook Air for that reason.

The inability to rotate to portrait display mode isn't currently available. I'm less disappointed by that than I had expected, as I've been used to working with landscape displays anyway. This shouldn't be a problem for artists, as they can draw or paint from any orientation.

Lack of a portrait mode isn't a hardware limitation. Under an appropriate version of Windows XP or Vista portrait mode works fine on the ModBook.

One point the CNET review didn't mention is the ModBook's capability of running under Windows or Vista. In that mode, the ModBook is more powerful and faster than the majority of PC tablets, and so doesn't represent a price penalty by comparison to PC tablets that might compete on speed and memory. For artists, the ModBook has twice the range of pressure sensitivity compared to PC tablets.