How comfortable it is to use is another matter. It’s designed to be held with one hand thanks to the harness attached to the back, but it’s not a light device. Nor is typing on the keyboard easy — despite the keys being as prominently and evenly spaced as they can be — or easy to see what you’re doing on the 5.6 inch screen.

The latest entry into the field is the Toshiba Portege R400, one of the first tablet PCs built especially for Windows Vista, and one that makes good use of Vista features including the new Journal software that recognises handwriting when the device is in tablet mode.

Some gadgets have some practical use but make you feel like a villain in a James Bond film sporting all the coolest gear, and the MX Air is one. It’s a wireless mouse that works the normal way (ie on a desktop) via a small USB transceiver. But pick it up and wave it in the air and the gyroscope in the body of the device transmits your movements to the tranceiver.