With UMPCs (ultra-mobile PCs) and truly portable laptops such as Asus’ Eee PC, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft’s tablet PC dream was dead and buried.

But if you’re partial to scribbling text directly onto a screen using Vista’s excellent handwriting recognition tools, large screen tablet PCs, such as Toshiba’s Portege M700-110, are hard to beat. Toshiba has done a good job with the styling and has included some interesting features.

To prevent the 12.1in (1,200x800) screen from twisting round during tablet use, two latches either side of the screen lock it into position; this does, however, mean that you have to make sure the screen is perpendicular to the base before twisting it.

The screen can also be used in passive or active mode; the former lets you use any object (such as your fingers) to navigate while the latter will only work with the included pen, which slots neatly into the side of the chassis.

Bring the pen close to the screen and the M700-110 will automatically switch off its touchscreen mode and will react only to the pen, which means the tablet won’t get confused by your wrist resting on the display. Move then pen away and the display reverts to touchscreen mode, allowing you to use your fingers.

Thanks to its LED backlight, the display remains visible outdoors as well as being less of a drain on the battery. The keyboard benefits from well-spaced, textured keys and there’s very little flex while typing, so extended periods of writing isn’t a problem. A series of buttons sit at the bottom right of the display, providing quick access to various tablet PC functions.

There’s also a fingerprint reader, allowing for quick, secure access. The M700-110 is driven by an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 processor running at 2GHz. Backed up with 2GB of DDR2 Ram this provides enough grunt for just about any office-based task.

A 120GB hard disk also lies within, which will be more than enough for most users, while the Intel X3100 integrated graphics chip reaffirms that gamers should look elsewhere.

PCmark05’s memory and CPU tests returned 4,177 and 5,126 respectively, with the overall PCmark05 score sitting at 3,139. Its 3Dmark06 results confirmed this notebook isn’t up for anything graphically intensive, with a score of just 614. The M700-110 wouldn’t run Mobilemark’s test in our labs, but it did manage to last just over two and a half hours when playing back a DVD.

Under relatively light usage you can expect to get more than four hours, but when running at full pelt this will drop to about one hour 30 minutes. Draft N wireless is built in, so if you have a Draft-N router you’ll be able to take advantage of its faster throughput and wider coverage, and a Gigabit Ethernet port is also provided.

Toshiba ships the M700-110 with Windows Vista Business but also includes XP Tablet Edition on DVD for those not willing to upgrade to Microsoft’s new operating system. As far as usability goes, the M700-110 excels – both as a standard laptop and as a tablet PC. One of its biggest drawbacks, however, is its weight.

Although 2kg isn’t heavy for a laptop when carried in a shoulder bag, actually holding it in your hands is a different matter and, after 15 minutes or so, you’ll most likely be struggling. Combine this with the premium you’re paying for the tablet design and alternatives such as ultraportable laptops or UMPCs start to look more attractive.