SINGAPORE — When I first saw the Toshiba Portege Z10t, I had mistakenly classified it under the ‘tablets’ pile.

What this sleek machine represents is the next evolution of hybrid tablet-PCs. Thin at only 12.4mm (tablet) plus — at its thinnest point — 4.5mm (dock), the mobile device offers the versatility of a tablet with the power of an ultrabook. Weighing only 1,4kg (with dock), "lugging" it was a breeze.

Powered by the latest Intel Core i7 vPro processor (or the option of the Core i5) the device goes from laptop to writing pad in a jiffy.

Unlike other tablets, the 11.6-inch Full-HD, with 10-point multitouch, IPS display has a matte-like finish. This is so you will feel like you’re writing on actual paper when you use either the Digitiser Pen or the Stylus Pen — both of which are included in the box. In reality, the display is not as scratchy as paper but it isn’t as smooth as a smartphone or tablet screen either. Your finger will not actually detect the paper-like quality but only when you use the stylus.

A choice of 128GB or 256GB solid-state drive ensures speedy boot up while providing ample storage. If you need to boost storage, the ultrabook is endowed with Wi-Fi b/g/n so you can store stuff in the cloud or via the SD slot. Also on the side of the tablet are a USB 3.0 and a micro-HDMI ports. Connecting to external devices such as speakers can also be done through the high-speed Bluetooth 4.0. Dock it with the keyboard and you get an additional USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA and 10/100/1000Mbps LAN port each.

The screen connects to the spill-resistant keyboard dock through a locking hinge that uprighted the display at an almost 90° angle, which made it painful to use on your lap. But all was forgiven when I was able to stab and swipe at the top-heavy screen without the ultrabook keeling over.

Battery life was a decent four hours when I played the children’s adventure game Adera with screen brightness and sound at full settings. I surmise the battery should last between five and six hours on regular use.

Both the included stylii are a boon for taking notes if you, like me, scribble better than you type. Windows 8’s handwriting-to-text feature was able to acccurately decipher my chicken scratchings when I wrote out URLs on IE10. Having the pens also made sketching a lot of fun on apps such as OneNote.

Getting down to serious business in laptop mode; hooking it up to larger screens for presentations in tablet mode; and scribbling notes during meetings (or for my case, interviews) make this device the next step forward for all-in-one business- and consumer-friendly ultrabooks.

The Toshiba Portege Z10t is available now at all authorised retailers for $1,999.

(This article has been updated with corrections on July 11).