RESEARCH MACHINES CENTRINO TABLET PC

IN BRIEF: Centrino technology is a big step forward for Tablet PC performance, although battery life has changed little

Education specialist RM has put Centrino technology into its latest Tablet PC. Centrino's design goals seem ideally suited to the Tablet PC format: good battery life and the freedom of wireless connectivity. The Intel Pentium M processor also promises to improve performance over previous Tablet PCs.

RM's Centrino Tablet PC (£1174 inc. VAT; £1409 inc. VAT non-education) uses a 900MHz ULV (Ultra- Low Voltage) Pentium M mobile processor. The ULV chip has half the power consumption of standard Pentium M processors, at only 0.5 Watts in battery optimised mode. This is matched to 256MB of main memory. Under test, the system achieved a performance rating of 111. Compared to our June issue's group review of Tablet PCs, performance has indeed been boosted over the Mobile Pentium III-m ULV processor. The RM's battery life has improved marginally from 157 to 163 minutes, but now only matches the June average. Intel's 855 chipset provides integrated graphics, sharing up to 64MB of system memory. Under test, the video performance of this package is easily up to office duties, with a 3D score of 1785.

At 1.7kg, this Centrino Tablet PC is comfortably in the ultraportable computing class. One of the biggest power drains in a mobile device is the display, so perhaps it's to save battery power that the screen lacks brightness. It's adequate for use indoors, as intended, but gets swamped by ambient light outdoors. A handy button on the front panel quickly rotates the screen 90 degrees to the left, alternating landscape and portrait modes. A fingerprint reader enhances security.

The chassis feels solid enough for daily classroom use. It has Ethernet, modem, mini-FireWire and two USB ports. A projector can be attached to the mini-VGA port with an adapter cable (supplied). There's also a single Type II PC Card slot and a Flash memory card reader. An optional upright (portrait mode) docking station adds more connectivity if required, including legacy ports.

Our system came with a separate accessories pack (£222 inc. VAT, for education), which greatly enhances functionality. It included LaCie's external USB CD-RW and floppy disk drives, a keyboard, wheel mouse, 32MB USB Flash drive and carry case.

When fitted with a Mobile Pentium III-m processor, RM's Tablet PC was a reasonable machine but it lacked performance. Centrino technology suits the form factor and raises the bar, making it a far more enticing proposition. If this is the promise of things to come, then Tablet PCs may now be more versatile and of greater use is the classroom or boardroom.

PRICE: (ED) £999/£1174 (EX/INC. VAT)
(NON-ED) £1199/£1409 (EX/INC. VAT)
PROCESSOR: INTEL PENTIUM M 900MHZ (ULV)
MEMORY: 256MB DDR SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: TOSHIBA 20GB
SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE: 10.4-INCH TFT
DISPLAY RESOLUTION: 1024 X 768 PIXELS
GRAPHICS CARD: INTEL 855
DIMENSIONS (W X H X D): 289 X 254 X 30MM
WEIGHT: 1.7KG
PC CARDS (TYPE II/III): 1/0
WIRELESS LAN: YES
ETHERNET: YES
MODEM: YES
USB PORTS: 2
FIREWIRE: 1
STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 YR C&R
WARRANTY UPGRADE: 3 YR C&R £105 (INC. VAT)
08709 200200 WWW.RM.COM

RATINGS AND TEST RESULTS

BATTERY LIFE: 163 MINS
MOBILEMARK 2002: 111
3DMARK 2001: 1785

VALUE FOR MONEY: 8
PERFORMANCE: 8
BUILD QUALITY: 7
OVERALL: 8