Executives sliding over to Acer's innovative Tablet PC

With its hybrid tablet-notebook design, the TravelMate Convertible 200 (TMC-200) claims to have answered customer concerns over the wear-and-tear suffered by screens mounted and connected to the CPU via a rotating 'spindle' mount.

"The [TMC-200] is fast becoming a favourite of European and American senior executives due to its innovative format for intensive note-taking environments coupled with a versatile functionality that is suited to the office, lab or even factory floor situations," says Krishna Murthy, General Manager, Acer Computer Middle East.

What the TravelMate C-200 is not, says Acer, is simply a design solution coupled to an attractive, first-to-market 12.1" (32cm) screen. The leading PC vendor are keen to stress that the TMC-200's durability will not be at the cost of outliving its technological usefulness either - the optional Acer ezDoc with PCI Express technology docking solution permits up to 24 legacy or future peripherals in its lifetime.

"The TMC-200 was the specific result of addressing and maximising the functionality needed by the end-users,"

says Krishna Murthy, General Manager, Acer Computer Middle East.

Coupled with a more durable yet light-weight design, well suited to the travelling senior executive, the TMC-200 also comes with a significant new security feature that will protect company or personal data from unwanted access.

Recognising that the tablet PC market is a popular format for a business executive's busy, 'in-transit' lifestyle, Acer have a built-in biometric fingerprint reader conveniently integrated into the sliding LCD display. With this feature it takes only seconds to lock and secure the tablet with the authorised user's unique stamp, which is highly useful should the portable machine be lost, misplaced or stolen.

"As tablets are preferred by senior company executives and often carry privileged, organisational and confidential information pertaining to either one's company or personal life, the fingerprint recognition is a feature that offers quick and simple peace of mind protection to the authorised end-users," concluded Murthy.

Other key features of the TM-C200 include a second battery pack for up to 8.5 hours of use, a DVD double-layer drive enabling up to 8.5 GB to be burned onto a single disk, three USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, as well as a 4-in-1 media card reader that easily support digital camera and camcorders.

Acer suggest that the TMC-200 Tablet PC designs will include Acer's unique 'Empowering Technologies' suite - an extremely simplified operating platform for managing all the PC functions in what Acer claim 'Three Clicks' of the mouse.

For the less tech-savvy end-users this appears to be the answer to mastering one's PC in a more 'human language' rather than being denied the full functionality of the machine because of computer jargon and more complicated processes. This software suite is now available across all of Acer's main PC product lines.