News

First Tablet under $1,000? It uses Transmeta, not Intel

Transmeta Corporation has acquired a customer to replace HP, which is planning to switch its Compaq Tablet PC design to Intel Centrino by autumn.

The "energy efficient," 800 MHz Crusoe TM5800 processor is the main system processor inside the TDV Vison V800XPT Tablet PC. Transmeta reckons this will be "the first Tablet PC priced under $1,000 - it will be available in September in North America, Europe and China for $900.

"Transmeta's energy efficient, high performance processors are instrumental in driving the thin-and-light design and cool operation of V800XPT Tablet PC, along with the very affordable price structure for end users," said Larry Wei, president and chief executive officer, TDV Vison. "Transmeta provides a very compelling offering for the Tablet PC market."

The design is an odd one. It's a standard Tablet, but features a built-in 640 x 480 digital camera, a built-in 4-in-1 card reader. The disk is bigger than on some Tablets, at 30 GB; and there's an optional USB optical drive - and yet only 128 Mbytes of ram. It can be (and should be!) upgraded to 512 meg.

The new Tablet will weigh 2.6 lbs, is one inch thick, and includes a USB keyboard module. More information from TDR Vison itself.