New IBM Thinkpad Marries Laptop

NEW YORK (AP) â€” IBM's newest Thinkpad isn't a notebook computer alone. Folded closed and tucked under the arm it looks like a black, leather portfolio. Which it is, also. <br><br>Gone is the

Friday, January 12th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” IBM's newest Thinkpad isn't a notebook computer alone. Folded closed and tucked under the arm it looks like a black, leather portfolio. Which it is, also.

Gone is the traditional clamshell design.

The TransNote is a nifty combination of notebook computer and digital writing tablet. International Business Machines Inc. thinks the invention will appeal to professionals who take a lot of notes, then have trouble keeping track of them.

``It's not just a computer. It's kind of like taking your office on the road,'' said Thomas B. Grimes, the product manager.

The TransNote, which Grimes said would ship in February and cost about $3,000, allows the user to save notes taken on a 50-sheet paper and recorded onto the digital tablet underneath and save them to the notebook as image files.

The product includes a clever pivoting display, which could be used to show a presentation, for example, to someone sitting facing a user.

IBM expects the TransNote, which Grimes said was five years in development and a year in production, will be embraced by attorneys and by people working in the insurance and real estate industries.

The TransNote's note-taking and storage capabilities allow for a user's scribble, not matter how illegible, to be saved and stored in a proprietary image file that can then be converted into a standard format like PDF or JPEG and sent as an e-mail attachment, said Grimes.

One clever feature of the product, which is designed for Windows operating systems and runs on a Intel Pentium III processor at 600 Mhz, is that it has hinges so the tablet can slide over the notebook and vice versa, allowing for work in cramped spaces like trains and planes.

The TransNote includes a built in modem and Ethernet port, a PC card slot and a CompactFlash slot for a microdrive.

It's 1.3 inches thin but will get heavy after awhile tucked under the arm, as it weighs 5.5 pounds including paper and digital pen.