If you bought a new MacBook recently and you now have an old MacBook lying around and you were unsure if you wanted to keep it or sell it, there's a new third option. Axiotron, makers of the Axiotron ModBook, a MacBook that has been modified to be a keybordless tablet computer, are now offering a service to convert your old MacBook into a ModBook. Unlike your iPhone or iPod Touch, this modification doesn't make your computer touch or multi-touch sensitive. Instead it makes your computer take input from a special pen.

Prices for the Axiotron Modservice begin at $1299. When you apply online for the service, Axiotron notes: "an Axiotron Authorized Service Provider will contact you with instructions on where to send your MacBook for conversion." No details are yet given regarding how long the process will take, but at the end of it, you will have one of the world's only tablet Mac computers complete with a Wacom pressure sensitive screen capable of discerning 512 levels of pressure for drawing and sketching on the ModBook.

If you don't know how you feel about having your old MacBook totally reconstructed into a Mac tablet, or if you would rather sell your old MacBook and really just want to have the drawing capabilities of a Mac Tablet without having a full other computer lying around, there are alternatives that may work better for you. Though not as portable or compact as a ModBook, Wacom does make a 12-inch portable version of their Wacom Cintiq line of pen-sensitive displays: the Wacom Cintiq 12WX. The 12WX costs a bit less than Axiotron's Modservice at $999 and offers double the levels of pressure sensitivity with 1,024 levels for more detailed drawing and sketching. Keep in mind the 12WX is just a display, not an integrated tablet and computer like the ModBook, but if you already have a Mac (or a PC for that matter) lying around and are looking for a way to draw on the screen, the 12WX may be a better alternative for you than converting your computer into a keyboard-less tablet.

If all of the options discussed are a bit our of your price range, you can always buy a regular Wacom tablet like the Wacom Bamboo, Wacom Graphire, or Wacom Intuos graphic tablets that offer touch sensitive input via pen, but which require you to draw on the display-less tablet while you look at your computer screen. Prices for these tablets run anywhere from about $79 to around $600 depending upon the size and pressure sensitivity of the tablet.

This story around the web: