Product Reviews

Both Acer and Fujitsu Siemens were among the first to release Tablet PC hardware, but those first-generation machines were fatally flawed: power hungry, hot and uncompromising. In fact, they felt much like a test bed for what was still to come, now that the second generation of Centrino-badged units has arrived.

The Fujitsu is the more powerful performer, thanks to the 1.4GHz processor, while the Acer comes in two guises - the 1GHz C111 as reviewed here and the slightly cheaper and slower C110 with a 900MHz processor. Both Acers share the same chassis with a much-improved swivel mechanism. The hinge is sturdy and the locking end caps do a good job of securing the screen into place in both portrait and landscape modes, unlike earlier models.

The Fujitsu fares less well, as we found the screen to be somewhat wobbly on the small central-hinge mechanism, which doesn't have any kind of end locking device. Although this was a pre-production sample and some rough edges can be expected, we didn't like the fiddly catch system to lock the unit in Tablet mode nor the amount of play when converting back to laptop use, which made secure closure rather hit and miss.

Although the Acer Tablet is undoubtedly small and great looking, both the screen and keyboard take some getting used to. The screen is lacklustre, being both dull and grainy in appearance. Having grown accustomed to superb laptop TFTs from Dell and Sony, this is a great disappointment and one that continues with the keyboard. It's uncomfortably curved and too small to be ergonomic, so only hunt-and-peck typists will feel at home here. The four-way scrolling rocker switch beneath the touchpad and the mouse buttons are a saviour, though, adding considerably to productivity when in laptop mode. Unfortunately, this is replaced by a simple two-way rocker when flipped into Tablet mode.

The Fujitsu has no such display shortcomings - the 12.1in screen was both bright and responsive, as was the keyboard. This highlights the first of the dilemmas facing a Tablet PC buyer: do you opt for the more usable keyboard and screen that are hobbled by weight or the less productive but smaller item that's easier to carry around over prolonged periods? A similar dilemma seems to have hit the manufacturers when it comes to the input device. Acer supplies two styli: a decent-sized and natural-feeling

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pen, but one that can't be stored in the chassis and so is certain to get lost; and an unfeasibly small one that does store securely but is too small to be truly usable. The Fujitsu stylus sits somewhere between the two in terms of size and feel, fitting securely in the Tablet frame. Both are of the Electromagnetic Resonance (EMR) type, pressure sensitive and with an eraser function.

Both machines are well equipped with connectivity options, although the Acer with its thick and solid rubber protection flaps has the edge over the Fujitsu. The addition of Bluetooth and FireWire, neither of which grace the Fujitsu, are an obvious productivity bonus.

There are no built-in floppy or CD drives to be seen, but Acer provides a USB FDD and FireWire DVD/CD-RW as standard kit; Fujitsu has a (non date limited) promotional offer of a USB DVD/CD-RW unit. If you want connectivity over and above this, you need optional port replicators. Fujitsu provides just VGA, LAN, power and two USB 2 ports (£44 exc VAT), whereas the Acer's costs twice as much (£82 exc VAT) but offers power, mouse, keyboard, serial, parallel, two USB 2 ports, VGA, LAN, audio and microphone inputs.

Talking of optional extras, you'll probably need to add a second battery to the list, as battery life (especially with Wi-Fi enabled) isn't wonderful. In our real-world test, we used each machine to replicate typical working patterns, including some Wi-Fi usage. The Acer managed only 140 minutes before powering down, and the Fujitsu a slightly more impressive 170 minutes.

The Fujitsu also impressed us with its 'battery bridge' feature that enables you to warm-swap batteries without loss of data and without powering down first. Fujitsu has also given more thought to the problem of heat when held in Tablet mode - the use of suede-like backing material and side vents means that the unit only gets fairly hot rather than very hot in the hand. It's particularly disappointing that the Acer runs hotter, as you're more likely to carry this miniature model around.

While stylish, both models are let down by compromise. When in Tablet mode, the audio is muffled, as both screens fold flat on top of the speaker. Also, the Acer has its PC Card slot on the bottom when in Tablet mode, making it unwieldy when in use; meanwhile, the Fujitsu is too heavy to use as a Tablet for extended periods. The list goes on.

At the end of the day, the Pentium-M processors, Centrino compliance and improved convertible technologies have all helped move these tablets in the right direction, but not enough to convince us that they provide value for money or even, perhaps more importantly, have found a market that needs them yet.

However, if a Tablet is your dream toy, these two are the best we've played with yet. The size and overall feel of the Acer is its main selling point, while the Fujitsu provides a better screen and larger keyboard, making it easier to use.