I recently purchased Toshibas new Satellite R15-S829 (I know, what a name) Notebook - it is a convertible  which doubles up as a tablet PC. While you can work with the R15-S829 using a keyboard, you can also rotate and fold the screen down to use it as a Tablet PC with pen-based input.

Real cools stuff. It works fantastic for meetings, presentations, teaching, etc... but it is also sturdy enough for me to use it as my development laptop. I don't know how I survived this long without it.

It comes pre-loaded with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 for convenient operation. An Intel Pentium M 735 processor and 512MB of memory (that can be upped to 2GB - I have 1.5 in there now).

It really gives me freedom; with it doubling up as a notebook and tablet PC, I can easily take down notes or draw with digital pen, while at the same time she can use the keyboard to send e-mail OR better yet, send personalized hand written notes in my email. Plus........ you just cant account for the COOL factor. When you swivel your screen around to dock it, EVERYONE is like ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So I am extremely happy with the machine, but have been very disappointed with the service. The one bad thing about this machine is the pen. It comes with a slot in the side of the machine that is spring loaded so that you can pop it our whenever you need it. It is styled so that it looks and feels like a real pen (instead of a stylus). The problem is that the pen clip (which I suppose is used to clip to your pocket) is very weak and easily broke off. This did not seem like such a big deal until I realized that this was what kept it in it's spring loaded slot(ouch!!).  So I was pretty ticked off but I bit the bullet and decided to just go to TosihbaDirect and buy another one. THIS is where my problems began. I ordered a pen/folder combo and set it up for overnight delivery. After two days, it was still not here so I called customer service and had to wait 30 minutes to speak to a rep (grrrrrrr). When the got on the phone they told me they were on backorder. WHAT!!! I just need a pen for my laptop. I asked where else I could buy it and the answer was (are you ready for this)   (sigh) "I don't know"(end of sentence). Thanks a heap, could I speak with your manager?  "Sure" (click)  I was speaking to Mr dial-tone at this point.

Actually, while I am writing this, I am starting to get upset all over again so I am going to condense the end.  It took me a month to get a pen, I left a message on 5 managers, and 1 supervisors voice mail (never got to a manager direct) and not one of them ever called me back. I had to wait between 30-45 minutes each time I called and EVERY SINGLE rep had an attitude.

So before I get all riled up again.  GREAT Laptop. Bad Service.  (You will have to decide if it is worth it.

Happy Programming (With Pen no less)

Doc