Gateway firmly believes that a convertible tablet PC should be a full-size notebook with tablet features. Case in point is the Gateway M285-E. This dual-purpose system has a large 14-inch widescreen, a full-size keyboard, and all the pen features a tablet user wants. As a laptop, the M285-E has all the features you’d expect: a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo processor, an Intel 945 GPU, and a speedy WiFi adapter to keep you connected away from home. It comes with 2GB of RAM for enhanced performance, and if you factor in it’s three USB ports, FireWire port, and VGA output, you’ve got a system just as powerful as any notebook out there.

This notebook, however, is also a convertible. You can convert the M285-E into tablet mode by spinning the display around and folding it flat, hiding the keyboard. It comes with a thick and comfortable digitizer pen, which requires some calibrating to ensure that every line drawn is in sync with what’s shown on the screen. Scribbling with the M285-E feels natural and is very similar to writing on paper. Next to the display, you’ll find a scroll wheel for browsing and an orientation button to view pages in landscape or portrait mode. In portrait mode, the screen has more room to display information. In addition, you have three other programmable keys to play around with while in tablet mode.

Overall, performance is on a par with that of other nontablet laptops with similar components, which is to say that this is a very competent system, rock-solid for running even the most intense applications. But when you add in the tablet feature, this convertible really stands apart from the rest.

Product Features

• GATEWAY M285-E TA6 Intel Core Duo T5500 1.66Ghz Processor
• IGB DDR2 SDRAM; 160GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
• 14.0″ 1280 x 768 WXGA TFT Active Matrix Screen; 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 GPU
• 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Writer; Bluetooth Connectivity
• 12 Cell Extended Battery; 7 in 1 Media Card Reader