The Nokia N810 tablet is a great buy, especially for hackers. It already ships with a Linux-based operating system, called OS2008, which is based upon Maemo 4.0. However, for those who aren't fans of OS2008, you can install Debian easily with some patience and an extra memory card. The Debian install includes OpenOffice, Firefox 3, AbiWord, and IceWM. You should be aware that there are pitfalls. Some of the applications run slowly, and you may be in danger of losing data if you run into problems.

[via Unwired View]

Dell announced today that it will be offering a free multitouch upgrade to their Latitude XT tablets. You may remember Microsoft using an XT when they first demoed the multitouch features in Windows 7. Dell's new firmware update will allow users to scroll, scale, and assign macros to other gestures. The laptop is using capacitive touch technology, so don't expect accurate tracking of multiple fingertips. We're happy to see a manufacturer take time to roll this out even if widespread adoption probably won't happen. Now to see if some one can get it working with OSx86. As with most technology we encourage you to build it yourself.

[via Gizmodo]

Macintosh makes a lot of wonderful pieces of technology, but they do not make a tablet. Pictured above is the Modbook, the closest you can currently get to a Mac tablet. Though not officially built by Apple, they are an Apple Premier Developer and that isn't too shabby.

Several people have taken it upon themselves to fashion Mac tablets of their own, varying from extremely professional looking finishes down to duct tape and wire. Lets take a look at some of the more popular ones out there.

The Sony PEG-UX50 was an impressive package when it was released in 2003. It had a 480x320 screen, keyboard, convertible screen, built-in camera, WiFi and Bluetooth. As with most portable devices, the short time the battery stayed charged left much to be desired. Sony sold an EB40 battery pack that piggy-backed the device, but reader [JAmerican] wanted to extend its charge even further. It took a little dancing around with the charging circuit, but he was eventually able to combine 4 batteries to construct a 3880mAh battery that keeps the UX50 running, even after 9 hours of use. Here's a site with a decent photo gallery of the UX50 (at the bottom).

Myriam a.k.a. [tnkgrl] decided that the the Averatec 1050 laptop was sorely in need of some Bluetooth and was tired of losing a port to a USB dongle. The AV1050 reports 3 usb ports in the device manager, but only features two external ports. She disassembled the laptop and went looking for the third port. The end result is 2 fully functioning USB ports and internal Bluetooth. There's enough detail in the post you should be able to pull this off with other laptops as well.

what do you get when you mix a hitachi trk-8200hr boombox and the fujitsu stylistic 1200 tablet pc? more retro you can shake your checkered vans at. i really like the idea of gutting out an old school boom box and using a tablet pc to mimic the original interface, rad.