The Acer TravelMate C104CTi tablet PC is a clever and easily portable blend of tablet and notebook that offers total input freedom. For users who favor traditional data entry, the unit features a standard 88-key keyboard with five one-touch buttons, a touchpad, and four-way Internet scroll key. Those who prefer "handwriting" via digital ink can simply use the enclosed stylus to freehand sketch their ideas on the system’s 10.4-inch XGA TFT LCD screen. And for those who’d rather speak than write, the C104CT1 also supports voice recognition. But there’s far more to like about Acer’s most sophisticated tablet. For starters, at just 9.9 by 8.2 by 1.16 inches and a mere 3.1 pounds, the unit is small enough to be carried comfortably inside a briefcase. It’s relatively powerful too, for such a compact machine, sporting a 900 MHz Intel Pentium III processor-M, 256 MB of SDRAM, and an 8 MB SMI Lynx 3DM+ graphics chipset. Though not fast enough for the latest generation of 3-D games or drawing packages, it will handle most common light- to medium-duty portable computing tasks.
Acer has fitted the C104CTi with a number of likable perks, including a surprisingly spacious 40 GB hard disk, handy rotating display/data entry screen (great for small informal presentations), and external DVD/CD-ROM drive through which you can record and play music, watch movies, and back up important information. Other amenities include a 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet connection, a low-speed 56K modem, two USB ports, a lightning-fast IEEE 1394 port for data transfer from peripherals such as digital camcorders, and a futuristic SmartCard slot. Pre-installed software includes Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Norton AntiVirus, Orinoco Client Manager, and Microsoft Reader.
