Toshiba Portege R400-S4931 Tablet PC (1.20GHz Core Duo U2500, 2GB DDR2, 80GB, DVDRW DL, Windows Vista Ultimate, 12.1" TFT)

Like many other wireless-capable notebooks, the R400-S4931 has no modem jack, but it also lacks a next-generation ExpressCard slot and a shared memory card slot. It is fully equipped for wireless communications, however, with integrated Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Verizon EvDO cellular broadband. A one-line status LCD on the front of the unit uses wireless networking and Vista's new SideShow capability to keep on-the-go professionals zeroed in on their next appointment. The LCD synchronizes and displays e-mail and calendar notifications and status information such as Wi-Fi activity, battery life, and time, even when the notebook is in suspend mode or completely turned off. Because the LCD remains visible at all times, you can stay in the communications loop with just a quick glance.

For use as a tablet, the R400-S4931's screen easily turns 180 degrees and closes against the keyboard for writing, but there are no visual cues (like the arrow most tablets have) imprinted near the hinge, so you might turn it the wrong way. Tablet buttons are plentiful and easy to customize to make navigating your work in tablet mode easier. Not everything worked smoothly, though. Changing to tablet mode automatically rotates the screen to portrait mode, but changing the orientation after that can be troublesome. We had to press the orientation button beneath the LCD repeatedly while holding and jiggling the unit in its new position; and the picture took several seconds to change.

The screen's glossy, scratch-resistant coating makes the notebook display great, and writing on it in tablet mode was fairly easy once we got used to the extra thickness. But that glossy layer seemed to get in the way of taps. We had to tap hard and sometimes more than once to register choices.

Performance is another weak area for the R400-S4931. Equipped with a 1.2-GHz Core Duo U2500 processor and 2GB of RAM, it posted a fair WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 48. Its slow 4200-rpm hard drive probably contributed to its pedestrian performance.

The R400-S4931 is stylish, and its side LED and wireless-focused design may be trailblazing. But too many design inconveniences, along with difficult tablet input, make this model one of Toshiba's rare unsuccessful efforts.

Carla Thornton