When are some of these Tablet vendors manufacturers ever going to learn? I get this vision that most of these vendors manufacturers meet around a table thinking up how they can design a totally beautiful, killer machine, spending copious amounts of time talking with customers, getting feedback, working on killer features, execute, and then at the all important endpoint they seem to totally forget about any of this hard work when it comes to availability and pricing. It’s almost like: hey, let’s just strip this sucker down and put a hefty price tag on it so we can be considered the Mercedes of Tablet PC!

The problem is the Tablet PC marketplace needs more Geo Metros, not Mercedes.

Just saw Scoble post that there was a new Motion Tablet PC coming out: The Motion LE1600

Take a look at the specs on this 1/4 inch thinner but ever so slightly heavier than M1400 machine that is slated, pardon the pun, to begin shipping on May 23:

- Intel pentium M Procceor LV 758 (1.5GHz)
- 512MB RAM
- 30GB HDD
- Integrated Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection
- 12.1″ Wide View XGA TFT Display
- Digital Video Interface Port (DVI-D)
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- Speak Anywhere™ Audio Technology
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Motion Base Pak Software which includes: Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, Motion Dashboard, Windows Journal and Sticky Notes and Speech Recognition

Price: $2199

They have a slower processor version too with the same specs above except for the following:
- Intel Celeron M Processor ULV 373 (1.0 GHz)
- 256MB RAM
- 30GB HDD

Price: $1899

Motion press release here where they say the battery can last “up to a full work day” of usage. So that means 8 hours then? The numbers seem to be a bit vague there.

Motion indicates that this tablet is right for organizatiosn that need: high data security, networked data access, centraly managed administration, high system reliability and ultra mobile, wireless platform with pen input.

I’ve owned an M1400 for 155 days and I really like this Tablet. It has worked well with my various business uses. Is it worth the $2,500+ I spent on it? Yes. But would I expect most of the people I do business with to buy one of these? Nope. Why?

It’s pricey. I’ll stop short of saying it’s a “luxury item” because for the right type of business it’s a valuable tool, but for the masses, these types of Tablet PCs are too expensive.

The #1 dig against Tablet PCs has been retail availability and pricing. Maybe Scoble should be linking to much more sanely priced new Tablet PCs instead of to ones like this? (or at least list a more affordable one when listing an expensive one?) Most people are going to look at the price and see that after spending a couple grand they still don’t get 1GB of RAM or at 60 or 100GB hard drive? Ok, it’s a quarter-inch thinner than my M1400, but it weighs slightly more (update 5/24/05: the LE1600 weighs slighly less, not more). I think the M1400 is already bit on the heavy side. Carry it around for awhile and your wrists will start to feel it. Ok, maybe not if you are on steroids (j/k).

Yes, you can accessorize Tablets, sure you can. You can add more RAM and hard disk space, add additional components, but then you make the price go up over $3,000. Ouch. Yeah, that’s definitely luxury pricing.

Don’t anybody get me wrong here. I like Motion Computing. I think Motion builds some really sleek, gorgeous machines. They are a luxury vendor in my opinion and have the right to make whatever profit the market will bear.

Some people reading this are going to think I’m a cheap bastard. I realize that. That’s cool, but those people should also realize that I just like to get good value for the money being spent. I know if I buy a Mercedes and with proper maintenance I can expect it to last many, many years. It’s not going to get the gas mileage that a Geo Metro will, but then a Metro will not provide the luxury nor will it have the long term durabililty.

What I am saying is that I’m not sure the Tablet PC market can survive off the high end business and personal marketplace. Even Apple, with what some people think is a snobby, high-end marketing strategy, realized that widespread adoption was important by starting to sell the Mac Mini (of course one could argue that after accessorizing the Mini, it still isn’t that inexpensive).

Widespread adoption for the Tablet PC is crucial to its survival. I’m not saying this to bash on my bretheren, but to hammer out the importance of promoting a product that the massses, instead of only the classes, can afford.

Maybe there needs to be emphasis put on an exciting new line of Tablet PCs with a Geo Metro type marketing strategy? The focus being to provide a solid Tablet PC experience for an economical price and be something that parents can buy students and businessowners can buy employees with pride instead of shame.

Sorry, but I can’t justify buying Tablets like the LE1600 for everybody in our businesses. Sure, I’m the salesman and I can see it for my own usage. Every salesman should want one of these Tablets, IMO, I already explained why, but how often at this price will even salespeople want to buy/upgrade to another one? I’m expecting the M1400 to last at least 24-36 months where our normal computer upgrade cycle is 12-18 months.

So far it has worked well for 155 days (as of this writing) and Motion isn’t really giving me any compelling reasons to pony up for a new one (or secondary one). Especially if they aren’t going to give me more for the money than what I paid back in December 2004. Yes, there are additional features here like the DVI, but that’s a non-starter because I’m not working with video on the Tablet.

So how could Motion get me to buy a second Tablet PC? Easy: make one that is half the weight of the M1400 (that would be about a pound and a half), pack it with at least 1GB of RAM and 60+ GB harddrive, the M Procceor LV 758 or better, battery life that lasts at least 8 hours (as standard), add the View Anywhere screen as standard (instead of a $300 add-on) and sell it for $1500 USD or less.

Yeah, keep dreaming. I hear ya.

I don’t expect these type specs to be realistic until late 2006 or 2007, which will probably be about the time that I’ll be in the market again for replacing or supplementing my M1400 (for myself, anyway, not sure about market plans for other folks in our businesses). By then, though, there will be something that blows away the LE1600 anyway, and probably at a fraction of the cost. Maybe then Apple will have a Tablet out too, so there could be some competition.

Now if I hadn’t bought an M1400 in December and was looking today for an extremely high quality Tablet PC? I’d definitely consider the LE1600 with the View Anywhere screen, 1 GB of RAM and 60 GB hard drive. Of course after adding all that you’d be pushing $3,000 and the competition might be looking really attractive at that price.

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