In message <1167321655.598706.170090@79g2000cws.googlegroups. com>,
votatore@libero.it writes
>At our firm, we have digitized our library and all our files. Now, what
>we are looking for is to find the best slate pc to preload all the
>digitized data and use it just as a "book".
>
>Our staff will be also equipped with a normal ultraportable notebook to
>perform common tasks like writing, calculations, internet browsing,
>etc.
>
>The slate computer will only serve as a "portable library".
>
>Ideally, such slate computer should be very powerful, have a huge hard
>disk capacity (60 Gb and up) and good communication equipment (wlan,
>bluetooth).
>
>I have browsed internet looking for opinions and reviews on slates, but
>they are seldom. Apparenly, the tablet world is dominated by
>convertibles.
>
>I would be glad to read the opinions and advices of experienced people
>that follow this newsgroup. Which is the best slate today ? The newest
>one, etc. ?
>
>Thank to everybody for reply
>
>Eric
>
Why powerful?

Why give them two machines? Why not use the slate as the ultraportable.
That way they can annotate the library should they wish. All the other
functionality of a UPMC is there as well.

However if you are only going to be using it as a portable library I
would have thought almost any slate on the market would be sufficiently
powerful. What you will really need I suspect is a long battery life
and, depending on the usage, possibly an outdoor screen.

I have a couple of slates - both fundamentally Tatung's. One their brand
I bought direct (1.5Ghz) and one (older 1Ghz) badged RM. They are
available in the US as Electrovya's . With the big (10 cell ) Tatung
battery I get 6 or 7 hours of simple use for reading documents. (I keep
my library of academic papers etc. on the tablet.) I think Electrovaya
fit them with their own - even longer life batteries.

Both machines have 11g Wlan - neither has bluetooth.

I like the Tatungs because they are light (3 lbs), have good battery
life, a fingerprint reader for access control, and most usefully in this
situation a little joystick. This is at the bottom right (when in
portrait mode) and works well for paging forwards and backwards through
a (pdf) document. Reading is simply a question of sitting comfortably,
with the slate in portrait mode and paging through the document using a
twitch of the thumb. So I don't need the stylus much.
--
Peter R Cook