Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right) - Gizmodo Comments

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

ModBook-Customer — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:58:44 EST

yeah, great, it's amazing, but how about actually being able get one??? you say it's available now? really? there's a lot of frustrated customers waiting waiting waiting to receive the modbooks they ordered in 2007, and not just december either. from what i've heard there are peeps who ordered in march 2007 (yes, 2007!) who still haven't received their orders yet, so while the product may be good, its only as good as your ability to order one and actually receive it, say, within a year........

ModBook-Customer

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

sp33dyr31dy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:33:30 EST

Yea, That is freakin tight. I was thinkin about gettin one but I already have a macbook so it would be kind of a waste, and new things come out all the time so, yea. Don't get me wrong, it's a tight laptop but I am very used to a regular computer keyboard.

sp33dyr31dy

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Synaesthesia242 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:32:52 EST

Can't you use the screen rotation settings in the Display System Preferences to rotate the screen for a portrait mode?

Synaesthesia242

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Daimyo Nintendo — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:21:15 EST

OK GREAT, but when is Apple releasing this? I am a slave to brands ok, I don't care about some second or third party hardware, where is that silver or white Apple tablet? Ill buy it the second that mafaka hits the shelves. Ill be like BAM slap my wallet out, ZWOOOP slide out my VISA (I like earning points) and SHA-ZAM Apple table sans keyboard.

Daimyo Nintendo

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Fatty — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:22:58 EST

if this has the same pressure sensitivity as my cintiq
I'm in

Fatty

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

skulldriveshaft — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:05:47 EST

I count 33 icons across the bottom, are those all launch icons? wtf

skulldriveshaft

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

cookedart — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:14:13 EST

This sounds a little expensive for a 'second computer.' I'm not a big fan of the fact that is has a little bit of a lip at the edge of the screen too.. most tablet pcs and cintiqs are all flush, perfectly flat even past the very edges of the screen - much better for a tablet pc!

I still think there are better options than the modbook, especially for the price.

cookedart

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Mandatory_Field — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:31:24 EST

Ps. What are Gizmodo rocks? Basalt? Shale? Cause I kinda took it for Granite....

Mandatory_Field

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Mandatory_Field — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:41:03 EST

So when do we see the:
a) Jesus Drawsmodo (vs a Cintiq)
b) Vista Tablet Battlemodo?

Mandatory_Field

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

_||_ — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:01:10 EST

yup, nearly every current gen Vista Premium/Business/Ultimate or XP TabletPC edition is better value for money [both in terms of usability, efficiency, features and cost] for those who need this functionality.

unfortunately no *nix / OS X running "tabletPC" device is available that works as well as XP/Vista-based ones right now

e.g. the HP Pavilion tx2000z:
Windows Vista Home Premium
AMD Turion64 X2 TL-60 2GHz,512KB+512KB L2 Cache
12.1" WXGA BrightView Touch-screen Display(1280 x 800) 2x 512MB DDR2 PC-5400 667MHz RAM
nVidia GeForce Go 6150 (integrated)
HP Imprint Finish (Echo)
VGA Webcam + Stereo Microphone + Fingerprint-Reader
802.11b/g WLAN
160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW Double Layer 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
ExpressCard/34 Slot
3 USB 2.0
HP base-station expansion
S-video, RJ-11 & RJ-45
2 Integrated Consumer IR receivers
5-in-1 digital media card reader
built-in digitizer pen
Altec Lansing stereo speakers

HP PhotoSmart Essentials
Muvee AutoProducer Basic Edition 6.x
Microsoft Works 9.0
Cyberlink DVD Suite
Sling Player from Slingbox
the Sims Life Stories laptop edition
HP Quickplay
Corel Painter Essentials 3

options: EV-DO ExpressCard, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, digital/analog ExpressCard TV Tuner and MediaCenter remote, Vista Ultimate, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 2.4GHz Turion64 X2

WEIGHT: 4.26 lbs

PRICE: $999 for base config

now and again, you can get another $100 off with some HP coupons, and anyone with a .edu email address can get another $50 off.

My former roomie bought it for $756 w.tax [free shipping]

_||_

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Drew Draws nothing of merit — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:55:39 EST

I would freaking love one of these, but the price and obsolete-ability of it made me go for the Wacom Cintiq instead (just the 12 incher).

Drew Draws nothing of merit

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

nutbastard — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:32:16 EST

"eat up martha"

nutbastard

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

imTheKing — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:28:15 EST

@mr_oshodi: I highly doubt that. Maybe in terms of handwriting and what not but in terms of design / production Id say the modbook wins hands down just because of OSX.

imTheKing

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

mr_oshodi — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:03:33 EST

@mrsteve007: prolly Vista tablet or XP tablet will beat the modbook ..especially since the softwares for the newer tablets have been updated.

mr_oshodi

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

mr_oshodi — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:02:25 EST

......pen n paper works for me .....n i'll still keep my $2 grand....

mr_oshodi

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

mrsteve007 — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:22:53 EST

Why no comparison to the tablet features in a Vista based tablet? I'd like to see a handwriting recognition comparison/showdown.

mrsteve007

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Gonzie — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:56:16 EST

wonder if they'll release an aftermarket kit for all those nerds out there that want to hack up their macbooks

Gonzie

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Lester56 — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:55:59 EST

Does it do finger guestures, like a ghinormous iPhone? Which would be very very cool.

Lester56

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Reilaos~ — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:55:03 EST

I've never really been fond of pure-slate tablets... I prefer convertible tablets.

Reilaos~

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

psavas — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:42:50 EST

I saw the ModBook at MacWorld 2007 and was impressed. Got to play with it hands-on and everything. I wonder if the handwriting recognition is anywhere near as good as what's been in Windows XP Tablet Edition, and now Vista? I have a Motion Computing LE1700 (which cost about $2100 new) that I use for school (taking hand-written notes), and the handwriting recognition under both XP TE and Vista is superb. I haven't had to "teach" it to recognize even my cursive script, and it gets things right about 99% of the time.
If Apple were smart, they'd go buy Axiotron out, and engineer this from the manufacturing plant instead of having a third party essentially modify a MacBook.
Had these been available at the time I bought the LE1700, I might have considered going this route.

psavas

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

JB — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:34:29 EST

WANT!!!

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

cowboyshootist — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:29:29 EST

@yogibimbi:

Hell I can't even recognize 90% of my own handwriting so how is this thing going to do it? I spent a lot of quality time in the 6th grade trying to learn how to write my letters according to some sado-masochist teacher's idea of perfect cursive. If i have to go through all that again I'll probably turn homicidal.

cowboyshootist

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

yogibimbi — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:01:32 EST

_how_ accurate is the handwriting recognition? Percentage-wise? Because from my Palm experience (yes, I am probably the only Palm user ever who uses Graffiti all of the time) I know that even 90% can be a real pain in the a... And if you have to write passwords or account numbers, even 99% doesn't cut it. Well you could use the keyboard for that, but, hey - it's a touchscreen!

Second question: how does it deal with palm or finger contact? Or does it only react to the included stylus? Which would make it more accurate on the one hand, but on the other it would be a shame to just drop the possibility of pointing at things on the desktop with your fingers if you're too friggin lazy to pull out the stylus.

yogibimbi

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy! — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:56:55 EST

@TheSohnly: It would make it an expensive Wacom with a computer built in, which is exactly what I'd want.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

thetazman — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:49:25 EST

It looks nice, but it really needs a "Speak N Spell" handle!

thetazman

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

senorbelly — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:45:01 EST

Hold on a sec—this only works with the Wacom pen, right? Or does it respond to fingers as well?

The word "touchscreen" is tripping me up.

senorbelly

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

vinchbr — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:44:49 EST

entreperneur sense kicking in:
hmmm make a kit so you can use it at your house...
sexy =)

vinchbr

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Jason Chen — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:43:42 EST

@kodo: It's more that you're holding it with one arm and drawing with the other, which is hard for a weakling who doesn't do anything but type all day (me).

Jason Chen

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

kodo — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:42:01 EST

The magnesium alloy doesn't seem to add much weight to it though. The original Macbook specs have it weighing in at 5.0 lb where as the Modbook is 5.2 lb. I wonder if anyone could even tell the difference. Though I also wonder why they bothered to go with magnesium in the first place when the Macbook's casing is made from plastic. Why not just stick with the original casing material? The combination of white plastic and magnesium is teh suck.

kodo

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

ripfire — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:39:14 EST

@SchruteBuck: Hey.. Whatever it takes just to get me into the "In" crowd.

ripfire

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

ronnsprocket — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:38:44 EST

i would like to see a split iphone keyboard built into this thing that would allow you to type with your thumbs.

ronnsprocket

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

TheSohnly — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:36:20 EST

@Kaiser-Machead: Wouldn't that make it just a regular Wacom tablet then? A hella expensive one?

BTW: thanks for the article Jason. One of my friends was lookin' for something like this lately. Ill have to point him toward this. Form-factor USB keyboards are probably easy to come by. I'm sure you can find one for decent price. He'll be using the thing allll the friggin time hehe.

TheSohnly

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

SchruteBuck — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:28:35 EST

@ripfire4: Late 08 release: the iPod Ghetto and MacBook Poor.

SchruteBuck

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy! — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:11:55 EST

I forgot to ask:

How's this thing with display mirroring? were you able to use it well while interfacing with a bigger external display?

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

ripfire — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:11:43 EST

Dammit. I'm tired of being poor.

ripfire

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy! — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:09:26 EST

For art alone, I'd so get one of these. A paperless art pad like this is Kaiser's happy place. I wouldn't even bother with an optical drive, and opt for the 2nd HDD option in place of it.

It has bluetooth, so I can use my wireless keyboard and mouse with no problems.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Axiotron ModBook Review (Verdict: A Touchscreen MacBook Done Right)

ninjagin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:02:36 EST

I'm glad to see the review. I was excited about this when I first saw it.
Now I'll have to give it more thought. Thanks for the writeup!

ninjagin