Acer C111TCI

Acer's C111TCI is one of the best and smallest tablets around, and uses a traditional notebook style. The 10in screen folds around on a centralised hinge in the centre so that it can be used as a normal notebook, or carried around like a tablet. This kind of flexibility is welcome, although even at just 1.45kg, it does make it feel rather heavy.

The C111TCI is the second Centrino-based tablet to appear on these shores.It uses a 1GHz Pentium M chip, so it's not particularly fast, but the lack of power means it can last for over four hours without needing a plug. It comes with 512MB memory and a 40GB hard disk, though our review model came with only 15GB's worth. It also uses Intel's 855 chipset and the Pro 802.11b wireless card that makes up the rest of the Centrino branding.

Included in the box is a Firewire DVD/CD-RW combo drive and a USB floppy, as the tablet is too small to accommodate either drive.

The keyboard is obviously quite tiny, but makes full use of the available space. Buttons such as Shift and Enter are a little small for our liking, but on the whole it's comfortable to use. Touchpad and buttons have a similar size problem, but are responsive. The stylus was quite a disappointment though, as it is barely larger than that on a PDA - a larger one could easily have been slotted into the chassis.

There are plenty of ports on the C111TCI, from infra-red to USB2 and Firewire. All are neatly concealed under rubber flaps, and there is a PC Card slot as well as headphone and mic sockets. The main disappointment with the C111TCI is the screen, as it has a very weak viewing angle: it had to be head on for you to be able to read text.

Contact: Acer
www.acer.co.uk

Specifications:

• Intel Pentium M 1GHz processor
• 512MB memory
• 40GB hard disk
• 10.4in TFT
• External CD-RW/DVD and floppy drives
• 257 x 216 x 29.7mm (w x d x h)
• 1.45kg