Motion LS800 Tablet

While I'm talking about gadgets, I really should give an honourable mention to my favourite computer of the moment, the Motion LS800. This is the tiny powerhouse that I took to the 'states, and it really is lovely.

I was a bit ho-hum about it when I first got it, it was the height of summer and the lack of an internal fan was a bit of an issue. However, two things have happened since then. I've doubled the memory and put Windows Vista on it. Doubling the memory makes it a lot faster and also seems to make it run cooler (this sounds silly, but I'm sure it is true - less hard disk activity generates less heat). And Vista, with its powerful handwriting recognition, makes the LS800 very useable as a pure tablet.

The teeny tiny nature of the machine means that you don't notice it in your bag. The screen is only 8.4 inches in size, with  800x600 resolution, but this is not a problem. If there were more dots, with eyes like mine I would not be able to see them anyway. And in a week of use, including some sessions with Visual Studio, I was never hamstrung because of the small size of the display. Battery life is good at around 3 hours with a bit of care, and all in all it is now my traveling companion of choice.