Combined with native USB 3.0 and PCIe 3.0 support, systems can now process much higher data loads and provide quicker, richer and more complex visuals (theoretically, if a system has all the necessary ports, on up to three simultaneous displays). What's the deal with USB 3.0 and PCIe 3.0? Well, with a maximum transmission speed of up to 5 Gbit/s USB 3.0 — which is backward compatible with USB 2.0 — is more than 10 times as fast as USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s), reducing both data transfer time and power consumption.

But there's more: The mobile versions of the 3rd Gen Core processors that Motion uses in the new F5t support DDR3L memory that operates at a defaultvoltage of 1.35V as opposed to the standard DDR3 1.5V. This means additional power savings.

And for the technically inclined: Intel didn't only switch from 32 to 22 nanometer processing technology, they are now also using Tri-gate transistors that essentially take transistor design from 2D into 3D. They have conducting channels on three sides of a vertical fin (or even multiple fins) as opposed to the single surface of a planar transistor, providing a much larger surface area for electrons to travel and also making for minimal leakage and very quick switching, all contributing to lower power consumption at the same performance (or more performance at the same consumption).

How does all of this apply to Motion and the new F5t tablet? It means a huge jump in performance. For a bit of history, in terms of processing power, the original F5 tablet began with lowly 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1400 single core processors. That chip was then replaced by the Intel Core 2 Solo U2200 that ran at the same 1.2GHz clock speed, offering incrementally better performance. Back then, a lot of the competition began experimenting with Atom processors that cost less, but offered only modest performance. Motion rejected that path for the C/F platforms and switched to the more powerful Core 2 Duo U7500 processor, resulting in a substantial power boost at just a slight reduction in battery life. Just a year later, Motion switched to an Intel Core i7 640UM processor. That CPU ran at 1.2GHz but could reach as much as 2.266GHz when Turbo Boost kicked in, more than doubling the tablet's overall performance compared to its predecessor. And now, Motion is among the first to offer 3rd generation "Ivy Bridge" processor technology by making available either the 2.00GHz (3.2GHz with Turbo Boost) Core i7 3667U or the 1.7GHz (2.6GHz with Turbo Boost) Core i5 3317U.

So how fast is the new F5t with the 3rd gen i7 chip?

Speed in computers is relative. Operating systems and systems configurations can have a greater impact on perceived performance than processors. But benchmarks are still a good way to test performance. So we ran Passmark Software's PerformanceTest 6.1 on the F5t to objectively measure performance. Passmark's benchmark suite runs about 30 tests covering CPU, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, memory, and disk and then computes scores for each category and an overall PassMark score. No two benchmarks are alike, and so we also tested with CrystalMark. And for comparison, we're showing the numbers of the first, second and third generation F5 models to show their relative performance levels. The results are as follows:

PERFORMANCE	Motion F5t 2012	Motion F5v 2010	Motion F5 2009	Motion F5 original
Processor	Intel Core i7 3667U	Intel Core i7 640UM	Intel Core 2 Duo U7500	Intel Core Solo U1400
OS	Windows 7/32	Windows 7/32	Windows 7/32	Windows XP
Clock Speed	2.00GHz	1.20GHz	1.06GHz	1.20GHz
Clock Speed Turbo	3.20GHz	2.26GHz	NA	NA
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	17.0 watts	18.0 watts	10.0 watts	5.5 watts
CPU Mark	2,729.0	781.4	389.8	324.9
2D Graphics Mark	415.9	184.6	86.9	153.8
Memory Mark	854.1	496.1	202.7	235.1
Disk Mark	1,206.6	1,040.2	435.5	168.8
3D Graphics Mark	406.8	256.0	85.6	75.6
Overall PassMark	1,238.9	564.9	251.3	194.4
CrystalMark ALU	47,432	23,147	8,141	4,565
CrystalMark FPU	43,050	23,596	8,080	5,343
CrystalMark MEM	43,197	16,552	6,222	4,989
CrystalMark HDD	27,527	24,780	15,444	3,252
CrystalMark GDI	14,308	6,978	1,388	4,239
CrystalMark D2D	2,558	1,492	1,542	4,221
CrystalMark OGL	7,581	1,617	861	1,151
Overall CrystalMark	185,653	98,162	41,678	27,760

Motion also blazed the trail in another display-related area: In 2009, the company was pretty much the first to use Corning's "Gorilla glass." Somewhat oddly named, Gorilla glass is a unique thin-sheet glass that uses a special chemical ion-exchange strengthening process to create a "compression layer" on the surface of the glass designed to protect against display damage. The primary purpose of that layer is to act as an armor that guards against the nicks and tiny cracks that then result in the glass breaking. And even if there are tiny nicks, the layer keeps them from propagating.

Examine some of the video on Corning's Gorilla Glass page, and you see the glass being bent and steel balls falling onto it. The glass neither shatters nor breaks. In fact, it's hard to believe it's glass at all. It looks more like a very thin sheet of some polycarbonate plastic or acrylic. But it is glass. And lots of other mobile computing companies are using it now.

What's new with the F5t is that Gorilla Glass is now available in conjunction with the handy Dual-Touch display that combines capacitive touch with a Wacom-style pen as well as Motion's proprietary View Anywhere optical display enhancements. Before, you couldn't get Gorilla Glass and View Anywhere together. One potential issue: the capacitive technology used on the F5t currently only supports two fingers.

Since almost everyone compares whatever tablet they are interested in with the iPad, we did some outdoor comparison pictures of the F5t side-by-side with a 3rd generation iPad. The first picture below shows the two tablets outdoors, each with maximum display brightness. Both look great, though both show some reflection.

The comparison shot below show the machines in bright daylight, but in a shaded setting and from an angle. Here you can see that the Motion tablet controls reflections a bit better than the iPad. This, though, remains an area for improvement. Likewise, the surface is quite fingerprint-prone. That was a surprise as when we examined the predecessor F5v, we noted that the Gorilla Glass display was "much less smudge- and fingerprint-prone." Perhaps this has something to do with the F5t's projected capacitive touch layer.

The picture below shows the toughest possible scenario for any transmissive display, that of facing a sunlit sky. Here. even very high quality displays lose most of their contrast, though unlike in the past, they remain somewhat readable.

• Motion unbundled WWAN and GPS, so instead of Gobi 2000 with GPS, the F5t can be ordered with an optional MC8355 HSPA/CDMA Gobi PCI Express Mini Card module and/or an optional GPS module with WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System), EGNOS (Euro Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) and MSAS (Multi-purpose Satellite Augmentation System) support for increased accuracy and faster satellite acquisition time.

• The USB port supports USB 2.0 and 3.0.

• The new Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 dual band WiFi module also includes Bluetooth 4.0.

• RAM is now twice as fast and more efficient; instead of standard 800MHz DDR3, the new model gets 1,600MHz DDR3L memory, and the base configuration includes 2GB instead of just 1GB.

• The 1.8-inch SATA hard disks have now been fully replaced with 64GB or 128GB mSATA solid state drives that are quicker, more reliable, and less prone to damage (our unit had the standard 64GB SSD).

• Capacitive touch and pen input. As stated, the only potential issue is that it only supports two fingers. Two fingers is all you need for zooming and rotating, but some gestures may require more.

Unlike earlier F5 tablets, this latest one combines an active digitizer with a touch screen. Tens of millions of people are now totally familiar with touch and they expect touch from a tablet. The F5t offers that, and it'll shine with Windows 8 when it comes along. A good number of those millions would probably love the added precision of a pen, and the F5t has that, too. So in that respect it's the best of both worlds.

In earlier reviews of this platform we commented on the glass cover of the display that extends about 1/6th of an inch beyond the LCD, and even the glass isn't recessed deeply. That allows you to move the tip of the pen (and now your fingers) past the edge of the display. That is often necessary to manipulate objects near the edge of the display. It seems like a small thing, but it's very important for ease-of-use, and with this design detail, Motion was way ahead of its time: years later, the iPhone and then the iPad and everyone else picked up the flush-mount design as well.

With the new Ivy Bridge i7 processor, the F5t flies, providing that quickness and smoothness everyone now exects from a tablet, and this speed and smoothness will also make the F5t a perfect match for Windows 8. As is, the F5t has none of the occasional lags and pokiness of older versions. The F5t does have a small fan neatly built into the upper left corner. It does come on and you can hear it. In a world where media tablets have no fans and hardly heat up at all, this is a reminder of the F5 platform's PC heritage.

The battery is recessed into the backside of the F5t (see picture to the right). It is held in place with a simple springloaded lever that still opens a bit too easily for my taste. The battery is hot-replaceable, though, so if need be, you can carry along a spare and exchange batteries on the fly. Still, despite the considerably longer battery life compared to earlier versions, dual batteries or a larger extended battery would come in handy.

To activate the primary camera you push a small button on the right side. It takes about two seconds for the camera to be ready. Push the camera button again to take a picture. There is a small illuminator that can help in low light conditions. Unfortunately, the string tether for the pen is still anchored within an inch of the lens. If you use the tether it'll get in the way unless you consciously keep it out of the way.

The fingerprint scanner is also located on the right side. It is small and innocuous, and its position on the side makes scans simple. A small button on the top right of the F5 activates RFID and/or the bar code scanner.

The "Motion Dashboard" is one of those handy utilities fairly common to tablet computers where you don't have a keyboard to quickly do things. The Motion Dashboard handles display settings, audio settings, pen and tablet settings, wireless, power options, and security.

Like on a digital camera, almost all hardware buttons are combined in a small area that includes a navigation diamond and four buttons. Hitting "A" searches for RFID tags. Hitting the "B" button does a barcode scan.

The F5t doesn't have any external expansion slots, but there is a standard USB port. The location of the port (underneath a rubber plug next to the power jack) means that some USB keys don't fit.

Most amazingly, even with the much more powerful processor and the same size battery, battery life has improved significantly, rather than gone down. It's still not the 8-10 hours consumers have come to expect, but then again, the Motion F5t is a powerful, full-function Windows machine and not just a media tablet.

The F5t's 10.4-inch 1024 x 768 pixel Hydis AFFS+ display remains stunning. It is perfectly readable from any angle and any direction, without any color shifts whatsoever. Outdoor viewability is very good, and the screen is bright and vibrant. The new version now comes standard not only with pen input, but also with capacitive two-finger touch. And break-resistant Gorilla Glass to protect your investment.