Mac fans, your tablet notebook has finally arrived. After whetting appetites at last year’s Macworld with the ModBook, Axiotron announced this week, nearly a year later, that it will begin shipping.
The ModBook is based on an ordinary Apple MacBook, but with a new shell and an input system that has been reworked from the ground up. Axiotron worked with WACOM to develop the system’s pen digitizer, which can detect 512 separate pressure levels, updates its position 133 times per second, and is 20 times more accurate than the display resolution. A etched-acid glass surface combined with the nib of the stylus is also supposed to provide a paper-like writing sensation.
Other specs include a 1280 x 800 pixel display with 500:1 contrast ratio, an iSight camera, a built-in CD/DVD burner, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and mounting locks. Axiotron also took the ModBook beyond the standard MacBook with built-in GPS.
The basic ModBook configuration is priced at $2,279 USD, while a more equipped version with a faster processor and larger hard driver can be had for $2,479. Other World Computing appears to be the only U.S. distributor at the moment, while Carbon Computing handles Canadian orders.
