Acer TravelMate C302XMi

You don't get the optical drive of the Acer - there's just a PC Card slot and an SD card slot. In fact, almost everything is lower spec: you get a 60GB hard disk but 10/100 Ethernet instead of the Acer's Gigabit LAN, 256MB of RAM and a 1.5GHz Pentium-M. You also get marginally less battery life, although few will complain as it lasted nearly five hours under light use.

But it doesn't matter, because the Toshiba 'feels' right. It's solidly built and there's no flex anywhere. The swivel action remains the best in the business - firm and purposeful. The unusual flip-over catch is easy to use and clicks firmly into place.

In fact, Toshiba has learned from all but one of the mistakes of the original Portege tablet: the price. At £1,699 - not including tax, of course - we can't imagine these shifting in any great number, which is a real shame. Acer, on the other hand, needs to go back to basics and think again about how its tablet will be used in everyday surroundings. In short, it needs to come up with something that has the battery and screen improvements of the C302 but the form and function of the C111.

As things stand, neither of these two tablet PCs will set the marketplace on fire. But keep your eyes peeled for the Toshiba Portege M200 when its price reaches a more reasonable level.

Author: Davey Winder