As always, there are one or two key products which have visitors buzzing at Comdex this year. Last year you may recall that NVIDIA's NV17M and Intel's 845DDR chipset were received with the most enthusiasm at the show, gaining attention not only on AnandTech but on most hardware review sites. So, what has been the big story this year at Comdex thus far? Well, Tablet PCs for one.

Mockup systems based on Microsoft Windows XP Tablet Edition have been attention getters at past trade shows (including past Comdexes) but this year is the first time we have seen manufacturers demonstrating products in full force. Launched earlier this month, Windows XP Tablet Edition brings handwriting and other tablet capabilities to Windows XP Professional. Judging from public reaction, and our own personal experience, the tablet PC devices are worth of the attention.

You could clearly tell where tablet PCs were being demonstrated; at the center of most large crowds rested a tablet PC of some sorts. The directions that manufacturers have taken in designing tablet PCs are wildly varied. Some tablet solutions consist of only a display and computer while others more resemble classic notebook systems. Regardless of the design, tablet PCs are one of the key products at this year's Comdex. Let's take a quick look at some of the solutions we saw on the main hall today.

Toshiba

Toshiba's tablet-PC solution is called the Portege 3500 and is a convertible notebook design. Convertible notebook systems involve a design similar to typical notebooks but fold around to convert to a tablet-PC. In the case of the Portege 3500, the system opens up like a notebook system and the system can be used in this configuration. However, rotate the screen...

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and the system folds back on itself to become at tablet.

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The unit is based on a Pentium III-M 1.33GHz processor and includes a 12" display, 128MB of memory, integrated 802.11b and Bluetooth, and 20-60GB hard drive. The surprising specification of the Portege 3500 is its size: the unit is no bigger than a typical thin-and-light notebook system but offers functionality that no thin-in-light alone can provide.

Compaq

Compaq's tablet-PC is the TC1000 and the system takes a different approach to the tablet-PC design. Whereas the Toshiba unit maintains a notebook style design, the TC1000 is a handheld tablet-PC with a keyboard docking bay. Basically, the unit has a removable keyboard that snaps on top of the tablet's screen to protect it. Unsnap the screen, put it on a table, dock the tablet into the keyboard, and you have tablet-PC that resembles a notebook.

If you want to use the system as a dedicated tablet-PC, simply snap the keyboard on the back of the unit and the unit becomes a tablet-PC that remains fairly small widthwise.

The TC1000 uses a Crusoe TM5800 1GHz CPU, comes with 256MB, a 20-60GB hard drive, integrated 802.11b, and a 10.4" XGA TFT screen. The unit weighs 3.0 pounds without the keyboard and 4.0 pounds with the keyboard; either way it is easy to carry around.

About half the tablet-PCs we have seen are based on the Transmeta Crusoe processor while the other half are Ultra Low Volt Pentium III based. Of the two, we prefer the Ultra Low Volt Pentium III models as they offer more performance per clock and do not consume too much more power. Look for future AnandTech reviews to compare these Ultra Low Volt Pentium III tablet-PCs to their Transmeta counterparts.

Electrovaya

The launch of a new piece of hardware typically lets new players enter the market and that is exactly how Electrovaya entered the tablet-PC market. Historically the company has made high performance external battery packs for notebooks and other mobile devices (branded as PowerPad batteries). With the launch of Windows XP Tablet Edition, Electrovaya decided to apply their battery skills to the tablet-PC market. The result: the Scribbler tablet-PC, offering 10-16 hours of battery life.

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The Scribbler uses PowerPad technology to provide unparalleled battery life. Most of the other systems we have been seeing claim to offer 3-4 hours of battery life (something we will test once we get our hands on some more units), so obviously a battery life 3-4x that amount is impressive. The unit is Ultra Low Volt Pentium III based (800MHz), includes integrated 802.11b, and weighs less than 4 pounds. Like the other systems mentioned, the Scribbler is available now and will soon offer an optional keyboard.

FIC

We were able to catch a glimpse of a few interesting mobile items over at FIC. Although not tablet related, the AM37 is a wireless terminal that proved to be interesting. Basically, the system consists of a unit in one location and a touch-screen monitor in another. The VGA signal is sent via 802.11b to the touch-screen LCD and the touch-screen LCD sends input commands back to the computer via 802.11b.

We didn't get to play with the AM37 for too long but the concept does seem to be a neat one that works quite well.

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What really won our attention at the FIC booth was the SlateVision: FIC's tablet-PC solution. The SlateVision proved to be among the more impressive tablet-PC solutions we saw at the show for a number of reasons. First off, the design of the SlateVision is both rugged and elegant. The system is conveniently sized and nicely weighted with integrated 802.11b. The screen, input functions, and software suite all proved to be impressive as well. Basically, the parts of the SlateVision combined to produce a very nice tablet-PC solution. Below is the unit hooked up to the optional keyboard and stand. A full docking station is also available and offers additional ports and an optical drive.

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As nice as the features of the Crusoe TM5800 SlateVision are, the thing that really got us was the price. At $1300, the SlateVision is, by far, the most aggressively priced tablet-PC we have seen (others go for $2000+). FIC has big plans for the SlateVision, as they should given our first impressions of unit. FIC plans to sell the SlateVision in North America at large retail chains such as Best Buy, CompUSA, and Frys. Again, from our first impressions given the price of the SlateVision and its feature set, the unit should have no problem at all selling given a large retail presence. On the other hand, we have seen retail plans fall through in the past and almost destroy a product's chance for success in the North American market. Let's hope this is not the case for the SlateVision.

Samsung

Although not a tablet-PC, Samsung was showing off its latest handheld solution: the Nexio S160. The Nexio is a Windows CE .NET based handheld solution that offers an optional removable keyboard. Display for the unit is provided via a 5" transflective TFT LCD running at 800x480 at 64K colors. Processor-wise, the Nexio uses an Intel PXA250 400MHz Xscale processor and includes 64MB flash ROM and 128MB SDRAM. The unit is pocket sized and weighs 8.8 ounces.

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The unit can be used with or without the keyboard. With the keyboard in place the Nexio folds up and closes like a notebook and provides a hard cover for the Nexio's case. Detaching the keyboard leaves you with a Palm-type device that is able to do much more. The unit includes integrated 802.11b and Pocket Office mobile office suite. The suite offers Outlook compatible e-mail, Internet Explorer for internet access, and MS-Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF viewers. The unit has built in VGA output support.

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From the limited time we got with the Nexio S160 we must say that we were impressed with the unit. Although a bit big, the unit offers great functionality and a beautiful screen.

Viewsonic and NEC

Both Viewsonic and NEC were showing Smart Displays at Comdex (like the FIC solution). Since both units were shown at the Microsoft booth, we could not get detailed specifications on them. We will try to find out some more information on these systems as the show goes on, but for now here are some pictures to tide you over.

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Alienware Media Center PC

Although not a tablet-PC, we were able to get a look at another new product based off a new Microsoft operating system. You may have heard of the HP media center PC but you probably haven't seen the newest Media Center Edition PC. The unit is from Alienware and is housed in a Shuttle XPC case:

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The unit wasn't running nor were system specifications made available but the Alienware media center PC looks to be impressive and a very nice alternative to the bulky HP solution.

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We hope that this pictures help quench your thirst for tablet-PCs. Be sure to check back at AnandTech in the next week or two for full reviews of many of the systems discussed here.