Gateway's "Adaptible Notebook" Tablet PC
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

The Gateway C-Series goes on with the C-141 models, following up on the CX200 Series introduced in October of 2005and the company's initial M275 Tablet PC convertible. Now listed as "Adaptible Notebooks," Gateway stresses to "Get pen-and-paper ease with the Gateway C Series of great convertibles, featuring a notebook's power and dependability." Sort of an odd way of describing a Tablet PC convertible. They were not dependable before? And so far no convertible, or slate, has been successful in delivering pen and paer ease, and certainly not a seven-pound notebook with a 14-inch screen.

That said, the C-141 comes in two models, the "high-powered" C-141X and the "Ultimate" C-141XL. The difference in processing power is substantial and we'd definitely recommend the "ultimate" model whch at US$1,249 is still very reasonably priced for a Tablet PC convertible. The base model starts at US$899. Who'd have thought back in 2002 that one day you could get a high-powered Tablet PC convertible for so little.

Overall, the current C-Series hasn't changed much from the prior generation CX200. It's still a 6+ pound notebook with a 14-inch wide-format display and 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The XL model comes with a speedy 2.4GHz T8300 Core 2 Duo processor and 3GB of RM. You also get Mobility Radeon X2300 256MB PCI Express Graphics, a 250GB disk, a multi-format, dual layer DVD writer, Vista Home Business, Microsoft Works 9.0, and a 7-in1 media reader that can handle the Memory Stick, MemoryStick Pro, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, xD-Picture Card, Mini Secure Digital, and RS-Multimedia Card formats. There are three USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, Bluetooth, and 802.11a/b/g WiFi.

With Acer, which introduced the original Tablet PC Convertible in the Fall of 2002, now owning Gateway, it should be interesting to see where the Gateway Tablet PCs (or adaptible notebooks) are headed.