Motion Computing’s LS800 is the only slate tablet in this round-up, meaning it doesn’t have a built-in keyboard.

Instead, it’s intended to be used solely with the stylus. You can also control the LS800 with the two microphones that work as a dual array and offer both acoustic echo cancellation and noise suppression to reduce background sounds.

The chassis is 22.1mm thick, so Motion has had to work to cram in all the components while maintaining battery life and keeping the price down.

This has led to compromises, such as the processor only running at 1.2GHz and just 256MB of Ram. The 20GB capacity of the hard drive is limiting and the 8.4in screen with a resolution of 800 x 600 may be too small for some.

Performance-wise, the slow processor results in a notably slow Windows start-up. However, once it’s up and running the tablet responds briskly enough during non-intensive applications.

Most tablets have a button to toggle the screen from portrait to landscape but, with the Motion, you jog the screen around through 90º at a time.

Four button presses gets you back to where you started, which gives you the option of choosing whether you want the control buttons at the top, bottom, left or right.

Motion supplies a cradle to prop up the LS800 for easy viewing, or you can lay it nearly flat which is a great assistance when writing.

As a notebook the Motion LS800 would be a failure, but as a tablet it is a stunning success.

This article is part of a group test. All articles in the test are as follows:

Intro
Acer Travelmate C202TMi
Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P1510
HP Compaq tc4200 PV984ET
Motion Computing LS800
Toshiba Tecra M4
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Editor's Choice