If you are a note-taker, list-maker, or floor-plan-sketcher, you may find that one of the hardest tasks you have is keeping up with all those bits of paper.
IBM says you don't have to anymore. With the new ThinkPad TransNote, you can write anything you want as you normally do using a pad, including signatures, and save it in a digital file. Upload to a PC, and file, organize, manipulate, e-fax, e-mail or print to your heart's content.
Flip the screen over, and show your house beautiful ideas to clients sitting across from you, or stay where you are, click on a button to invert the image so it's right side up to them.
Who says computing can't be fun?
With the everyday tasks and work habits of Realtors in mind, IBM has designed the new ThinkPad TransNote to combine traditional computing power with the ability to take, store and share handwritten notes.
Here's how it works. The portfolio notebook opens like a book to feature the digital notepad which saves handwritten notes using a special digital pen writing on ordinary paper. The notes are saved automatically when the notebook is turned on. Up to 50 pages can be saved in 2 MB of flash memory when the notebooks is off.
And there's more. If the TransNote can save doodles, it can save the ultimate chicken scratch - a signature.
That's right - you can sign and exchange documents electronically, an especially convenient feature if you're on the road. Fuhgeddabout faxes that get blurrier with every transmission. Digital notes can be filed, reorganized, manipulated, faxed, e-mailed or printed in handwritten form in virtually all Windows applications.
That's the fun part. Here's the muscle. The ThinkPad TransNote sports the following wow-factors:
- a mobile Pentium III at 600 MHz featuring Intel SpeedStep technology
- 64MB/320MB SDRAM
- 10GB Hard Drive
- 10.4" FlipTouch TFT display (800x600 resolution)
- Combined 56K V.90 modem/EtherJet solution with RJ-11 and RJ-45 ports
- 4-cell battery/2.5 hr. Battery life
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 98 Second Edition
- 5.5 lb travel weight (includes digital pen and paper pad)
- measures 11.4" x 13"3 x 1.28"
- 1-year limited warranty
Other highlights include a scratch-resistant cover, a flex-fold design to compact the system for one-side use, (available for right-hands or lefties) and a TrackPoint pointer for those listing presentations.
If you've been putting off buying a new notebook because you've been told there aren't enough exciting new features to be worth an upgrade, this notebook should change your mind. The TransNote is specifically designed for mobile professionals and comes ready for wireless connectivity through optional 802.111b wireless LAN or Bluetooth PC Cards for short-range networking. Just as easy to use as it is powerful, the ThinkPad TransNote is a new adventure in computing.
Prices will range from about $2,999 to $3,099. While discounts on IBM products are normally available to NAR members, IBM spokespersons say that this product is so new that promotional pricing is not yet published. However, special pricing for NAR members is available through 1-800-426-7236, keycode 5766.
Published: February 26, 2001
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