For now, Viewsonic's Smart Display proves clumsy to navigate

03/27/2003

By DOUG BEDELL / The Dallas Morning News

Viewsonic's Airpanel v110 Smart Display is the first of a new breed of pen-based PC tablets using a customized Windows CE operating system.

The idea is to allow users to roam around the house or business campus with a lightweight LCD screen that allows direct, wireless access to their Windows XP Professional desktops.

Before shelling out a minimum of $999 for this product, consumers must ask themselves one simple question: Do Smart Displays hold significant value over, say, a low-cost notebook with Wi-Fi access?

In most cases, the answer will be no.

Using a stylus to navigate through your applications is much more clumsy than a notebook's track pad or mouse.

And typing on the v110's virtual keyboard is almost laughable in its complexity. You've got to open the keyboard application, then size it before beginning work. And with the v110's 10.4-inch display, things get cluttered quickly.

Beyond that, when you log into your Smart Display desktop, you lose access to your PC applications. You can't be logged in as the same user simultaneously on the PC and Smart Display. That means you have to log off the tablet if you want to log on to your PC.

At 2.9 pounds, the v110 is much lighter than most notebooks. But the advantages end right there.

Until Smart Displays can use Microsoft's new OneNote note-taking application with the upcoming release of Office 11, this configuration doesn't make much sense.

For more information, see the Viewsonic Web site at www.viewsonic.com or call 1-800-688-6688.

E-mail dbedell@dallasnews.com