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IBM ThinkPad TransNote
IBM ThinkPad TransNote
ManufacturerIBM
Product familyThinkPad
Type2-in-1 PC, Graphics tablet
Release dateFebruary 28, 2001; 24 years ago (2001-02-28)[1]
DiscontinuedOctober 28, 2003; 21 years ago (2003-10-28)[2]
Operating system
CPUMobile Intel Pentium III (Coppermine) @ 600 MHz
Memory64-320 MB PC100 SDRAM
Storage10 or 20 GB HDD
Removable storageCompactFlash
Display10.4" SVGA TFT Touchscreen
GraphicsATI Rage Mobility M

The ThinkPad TransNote is a notebook computer by IBM[3] that was launched in February 2001.[4]

Design

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The TransNote was an internal collaboration between IBM's Research and Personal Computing Division (PCD). Randy Moulic, manager of client systems at IBM, merged the pen technologies group and mobile PC platform group to work on the prototype.[5] John Karidis was responsible for the mechanical design of the TransNote.[6][7] Kardis and Ronald Smith developed the system that allows the TransNote to fold on top of itself to reduce the footprint of the device.[8]

The TransNote was created to combine the CrossPad which IBM developed in collaboration with A.T. Cross and a laptop computer, specifically the ThinkPad. IBM was targetting two groups with the development of the TransNote: note-takers and graphic-intensive users.[9]

The TrasNote received several patents for its design and features.[8][10][11][12]

Features

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The TransNote consists of a leather-like folio case which contains a computer on one side and a paper notebook on the other side.[13]

The CrossPad technology would become known as ThinkScribe on the TransNote.[14] The ThinkScribe pad had 2MB of internal memory to record notes that could be stored and then transferred to the computer component.[13] The notes could be converted into JPEG, TIFF and PDF formats.[5]

The hardware relies on the use of the software package InkManagerPro which was developed for the TransNote. [15]

Specifications

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The TransNote comes equipped with:

Folded TransNote with opened cover

The battery pack uses flat Samsung 103450 cells.[18]

Reception

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Computerworld called it a "failed design" because it tried to blend a large 3M digitized pad with a tiny underpowered laptop in the same product.[19] PCQuest viewed it as an attractive choice for people who travel a lot.[20] TechRepublic called it one of the 25 "unique and bizarre breakthroughs" in laptop innovation.[21]

Awards

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The TransNote won a Gold iF Product Design Award in 2002 in the product discipline.[22] The TransNote was the winner in the PC category of the PC Magazine Awards for Technical Excellence in 2001.[23] It also won an IDSA IDEA Award in 2001[24]

Academia

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The TransNote was utilized in a handwriting study that examined the writing speed and "wrinkliness" as it related to forged handwriting.[25]

Further developments

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IBM announced the discontinuation of the TransNote in February 2002, intending to discontinue it at the end of the year.[26] John Karidis noted that IBM learned a lot about the tablet PC market and the kinds of customers that use these devices.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Announcement Letter 101-039, IBM ThinkPad TransNote Portfolio Notebook Redefines Mobile Computing" (PDF) (Press release). IBM. February 20, 2001.
  2. ^ "Announcement Letter 903-189, Hardware withdrawal: Selected IBM ThinkPad notebook computers - Replacements available" (PDF) (Press release). IBM. September 30, 2003.
  3. ^ Schofield, Jack (2001-01-18). "Putting pen to PC". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  4. ^ Sherriff, Lucy (21 February 2001). "IBM handwriting notebook gets an outing". The Register.
  5. ^ a b Chase, Victor. "IBM Think Research | TransNote: a new product for IBM, a new experience for Research". research.ibm.com. Archived from the original on 2001-06-06. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  6. ^ "Who is engineering's greatest hero?". www.designnews.com. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  7. ^ Spooner, John (July 20, 2001). "Shaping the evolution of the PC". CNET. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  8. ^ a b US6307741B1, Karidis, John P. & Smith, Ronald Alan, "System and method for improving the physical management of a portfolio computer and reducing the footprint thereof during operation", issued 2001-10-23 
  9. ^ a b Cullen, Chervi Dangel; Haller, Lynn, eds. (2006), Design secrets: Products. 2: 50 real-life projects uncovered, Gloucester, Mass: Rockport Publishing, pp. 70–73, ISBN 978-1-59253-292-6
  10. ^ US20020041290A1, Lekuch, Scott; Inoue, Ken & Dumarot, Dan et al., "Extending the GUI desktop/paper metaphor to incorporate physical paper input", issued 2002-04-11 
  11. ^ US20020040817A1, Lekuch, Scott; Inoue, Ken & Dumarot, Dan et al., "Data steering flip pen system", issued 2002-04-11 
  12. ^ US20020042888A1, Lekuch, Scott; Inoue, Ken & Dumarot, Dan et al., "Digitizer companion subsystem to extend PC battery life", issued 2002-04-11 
  13. ^ a b "Pen Computing Magazine: IBM ThinkPad TransNote". Pen Computing Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  14. ^ Wagstaff, Jeremy. "IBM's TransNote Lets Users Doodle Without Much Fuss". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  15. ^ "Pen Computing Magazine: IBM ThinkPad TransNote". www.pencomputing.com. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  16. ^ "Category:TransNote - ThinkWiki". www.thinkwiki.org. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  17. ^ "ThinkPad TransNote | WIRED". WIRED. 2016-12-21. Archived from the original on Dec 21, 2016. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  18. ^ "Fail Of The Week: Battery Packin'". Hackaday. 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  19. ^ Enderle, Rob (2019-05-20). "Lenovo Accelerate: The coming disruptive evolution/evolution of the laptop". Computerworld. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  20. ^ Rajguru, Sunil (2001-07-11). "IBM ThinkPad TransNote: Notebook-cum-digital Notepad". PCQuest. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  21. ^ Forrest, Conner (April 14, 2016). "Laptop innovation: A history of unique and bizarre breakthroughs". TechRepublic. p. 23. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  22. ^ "IBM ThinkPad TransNote". iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE. Archived from the original on 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  23. ^ "The Eighteenth Annual Awards for Technical Excellence". PC Magazine. p. 95 – via Google Books.
  24. ^ "IBM TransNote". Industrial Designers Soceity of America. 2001. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  25. ^ Chen, Hung-Chun; Cha, Sung-Hyuk; Chee, Yi-Min; Tappert, Charles (January 2003). "The detection of forged handwriting using a fractal number estimate of wrinkliness". ResearchGate – via ResearchGate.
  26. ^ Spooner, John G. "IBM erases pen-based notebook". ZDNet. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
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