You know you're doing something right if you're a new company and a major PC manufacturer licenses your design within a month of product launch. The Gateway Tablet PC is a relabeled version of the slate-style Motion M1200 Tablet PC ($2,399 list), which includes an external DVD/CD-RW combo drive.

A docking station that duplicates the device's ports is a $229 option (this kind of dock comes standard with the Gateway model). In most respects, the M1200 deserves praise, though its hard drive hindered its test performance relative to the Gateway Tablet PC. That said, we should add that the unit is available with higher-capacity hard drives than we used in our tested configuration—up to 60GB, in fact.

The M1200 comes with a hard cover that clips easily and securely to the front to protect the display. When you want to use the device, simply unclip the cover and clip it onto the back, where it helps to dissipate the heat somewhat. (Motion Computing says that early tested units ran hot because of a BIOS setting). We found that even the newer units were uncomfortable if balanced on one arm for an extended period. The buttons on the bezel are conveniently located and can be reprogrammed: The default assignments use one button to rotate the display 90 degrees and another to pop open the Dashboard application for setting a variety of device configuration choices.

It's a clear mark of flattery that Gateway chose the M1200 as the basis for its house-brand tablet computer.