Dell SE 198WFP
RTRP: $259

This LCD monitor is a lot cheaper than many, and as such it’s more or less an entry-level model. At maximum resolution of 1440×900, the unit show quite visible ghosting and pixelating effects on the screen while trying to render the fine detail of both Windows Vista and Mac OSX, where Windows XP suffered less as its graphics requirements aren’t as high.

There are no onboard speakers so unless you already have a set it will set you back an additional $50-100, and while an impressive size at 19′, there are better value buys around even in bigger monitors. 2/5

Fujitsu Lifebook T2010
RRP: $3199

Tablet PCs like the Lifebook T2010 aren’t new but they still don’t have a wide appeal. Yes there’s novelty in writing on a computer with a stylus or light pen and as nice as it sounds having all your notes on your computer instead of scrawled on paper, we simply react differently to compressed wood pulp. When you’re using a PC — even scrawling notes ?you’re in a different mindset that doesn’t really suit note-scrawling.

But the Lifebook T2010 works well. The Intel Core Duo 2 processor is low at only 1.2GHz, but there’s plenty of RAM and Windows Vista Business. It’s very light at only 1.5kg and has a 12-inch monitor. The chassis is well designed and looks tough and switching between traditional and tablet mode is as easy as pivoting the screen. It just seems hard to justify the cost for lower specs on a niche feature. 3/5

iWork 08
RRP: $99

There’s really no reason to invest even the small purchase price in iWork 08 — the applications (Pages, Keynote and Numbers) are for word processing, presentations and spreadsheeting respectively and any business that doesn’t have the standard tools to carry out such tasks — usually Microsoft Office — is seriously ill-equipped. It’s more a collection of beginner tools than the nerve centre of your administration. 2/5

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 12:16 pm and is filed under Gadgets & Hardware, Mobile Computing, Software, Tech, The West Australian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.