At a first glance the Toshiba Portege 3500 looks exactly like a notebook PC, albeit a small one.

Inside is a standard 1.33GHz Mobile Pentium III processor and 256Mb of memory. But beyond this is something a little more special, as this is one of the first PCs to run the Tablet PC version of Windows XP.

Requiring dedicated hardware, this version of Windows turns the notebook PC into a very powerful handheld computer, complete with stylus for using on the 12.1in screen, which rotates 360 degrees and folds flat against the keyboard. While the action is nice and smooth, you'll want to be careful not to damage the screen.

This is no ordinary touch screen though, as its size would mean that your hand would always be pressing against the screen and moving the pointer.

Instead a special stylus is needed for use with the techno-babble electronic digitiser in the screen. The key difference between this and standard touch screens is that the pen only has to be near the screen to move the cursor. This is quite confusing at first, although we soon got used to it.

Once running Windows, the pen can be used for data entry. As with the Pocket PC, there is handwriting recognition, although the 3500 won't learn and improve with time.

Then there's the Windows Journal application. The design follows a piece of A4 lined paper and you write as if it were real paper without handwriting recognition. Words can be selected and moved around and the screen is so responsive you can even draw on it.

Unfortunately, the screen technology isn't as good as a pure TFT display, which is particularly noticeable if running at a resolution other than 1024 x 768 - the screen's optimum resolution.

The rest of the PC is much what you would expect for a portable computer, although Toshiba has managed to squeeze a lot of connectivity into the tiny case.

Both wireless and wired networks are built in and the wireless transmitter can be turned off to save battery power or even for using the tablet on a plane.

Throw in a modem, two USB 2 ports, Compact Flash, SD/MMC, infrared and a PC Card slot and this tablet is ready to be connected to a whole range of devices.

The only software supplied is the distinctly unfriendly Sophos antivirus package. You will need to factor in the cost of additional software, such as Microsoft Works Suite 2003.

That's quite usual with new PCs, but the problem is that the 3500 has no floppy or CD-Rom drive. This makes installation rather difficult, not helped by Toshiba providing recovery software on CD.

In all likelihood, you're going to have to shell out on an external CD-Rom drive. Toshiba wants a whopping £194 to supply one. This is actually quite cheap when compared to the £2,114 asking price for the basic notebook PC.

But considering the specification this goes way beyond expensive, especially for a PC that's only good enough for running basic office and internet packages.

We like the idea and this has some lovely touches, but it needs a lot more than that to make it worth buying.

DETAILS

Price: £2,114

Contact: Toshiba 0870 444 8949
www.toshiba.co.uk