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Gateway Introduces New Tablet PC

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

September 7, 2005, 12:20 PM

Gateway showed off the latest addition to its line of notebook computers Wednesday at the Microsoft Small Business Summit in Redmond, WA. The CX200, Gateway's new convertible notebook with a 14-inch display, also comes in at a competitive price compared with other Tablet PCs at $1099 USD.

The company says it is aiming the notebook at students and home users rather than business users that have predominantly been the target market for tablets.

With business users slow to adopt the Tablet PC platform and lackluster sales of tablets so far, low-cost convertibles like the CX200 may be the answer to kickstarting the market.

Less than a million tablets will be sold this year, 20 percent of what Microsoft expected at the time of Windows XP Tablet Edition's launch.

"The unique yet easy-to-use design and software let customers do everything they usually do with a high-performance notebook and a whole lot more, such as sketch diagrams, handwrite notes and type text," Chad McDonald, Gateway's head of notebook computer marketing said.

The notebook will come with XP Tablet Edition as well as the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC, which will allow the user to perform functions with the pen rather than a mouse, and use programs such as Ink Desktop and Ink Art that were specifically built for the Tablet PC.

Gateway will also include a full version of Microsoft OneNote free with the purchase of the laptop, which allows a tablet user to capture and share text, multimedia and files.

Other features included in the CX200 are 802.11b/g wireless connectivity and up to 8.5 hours of battery life.

The CX200 can be ordered immediately from Gateway's Web site.

Add a Comment (12 Comments)

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By th1rd3y3

edited Sep 8, 2005 - 2:34 PM

Hopefully these don't suck as bad as the M275, we have 6 in our department and EVERY one of them has had one problem or another. I'm currently on my 3rd one :(

Score: 0

By mrichman

edited Sep 7, 2005 - 12:45 PM

This is not their "first" per se....but it is the first one that isn't a rebranded Motion Computing model. I have Gateway's "first" tablet...the Motion M1200.

Score: 0

By TheRecklessWanderer

posted Sep 7, 2005 - 3:27 PM

I know why tablet PCs are slow sellers. Remember that add viewsonic had with this woman who wrote "We got it" with this big goofy look on her face.

Well...I'm not going to ever do that. I think a tablet PC would be cool. I considered integrating one into my "just for fun" recording studio but I could never get the implementation the way I wanted it. But as a notebook, until someone teaches me to write faster than I type, it ain't gonna happen.

Score: 0

By MOGua

posted Sep 7, 2005 - 4:51 PM

I am posting this comment using a convertible tablet pc. typing just as fast as anyone could on a keyboard.

I do have to admit that more than 95% of the time, my tablet stays in notebook mode. But I do use the pen as the cursor majority of the time. (pen still works even if your screen isn't down flat...)

personally I will never go back to anything without a tablet screen, everytime I use someone else's notebook I am just so tempted to grab a pen and touch the screen. It's just so much faster and more precise.

just my 2cents.

Score: 0

By LorenHeiny

edited Sep 7, 2005 - 2:44 PM

The Gateway M280 is new. One of its unique features is that it has a widescreen (1280x768). Not sure if this is the Tablet shown at the Microsoft SB Summit.

Here's a link to the M280 on the Gateway site:

http://support.gateway.c...ay/M280/1008547nv.shtml

Score: 0

By yleclerc

posted Sep 7, 2005 - 1:54 PM

Was it not just last month that Microsoft aknowledged that the Tablet PC platform was in trouble????
See: http://www.betanews.com/...m_in_Trouble/1125436715

Score: 0

By GoodThings2Life

posted Sep 7, 2005 - 8:19 PM

I think you need to reread that article... Microsoft made no such admission, it was a 3rd party analyst company.

Even so, they are great for academic, legal, and whether adoption is slow or not-- business uses. I would speculate that the slow business adoption has more to do with business equipment purchase cycles more than appeal.

I'm preparing to buy one this weekend for school (a Toshiba, though... I'd sell my soul to Apple before seling it to Gateway) and I already have plans to have eBook copies of all my textbooks and such for online reading and notetaking.