Anyone using a tablet at the gaming table?

[JDragon]

I was hoping someone could recommend a $1000-1500 tablet somewhere but I keep looking and not finding one, even used

It looks like the CX210X is starting at $999 on Gateways site right now. As I mentioned thats not going to be the same specs I have but with a little extra RAM it should do fine for what you are planning.

JD

 

[Mercule]

As JD said, Gateway has a good one for $999: http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529664605.php

I'm running an old M275 with a single-core 1.8GHz processor and 1280MB 333MHz RAM and it runs pretty well, even with Vista Ultimate plus PCGEN, Excel 2007, OneNote 2007, IE7, and Acrobat 7 up concurrently during a game session. I think the baseline CX210X is probably a safe bet for what you're looking at with its 1.73GHz Duo and 1024MB 667MHz RAM. Of course, the 2GB RAM for $150 isn't a bad upgrade, either, and still within your price range.

 

[Erithtotl]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I just bought a Motion Computing LE1600 (near new) off of Ebay. Even getting additional RAM it fell into my price range. I've heard good things about these and they are very light, I'll let everyone know how it changes my gaming experience!

 

[Mercule]

I've heard good things about the Motion Computing machines, too, though I've never used one. I hope you like your toy.

 

[Jhamin]

I'm not technically using a Tablet, but I did recently start using a Wacom Wireless tablet in combination with Vista & Microsoft OneNote 2007. It takes a bit of getting used to writing in one place (the Wacom) and having the text show up elsewhere (the screen) but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Jotting down my DM notes with Vista's Handwriting recognition has been great, but I'm really loving what OneNote is doing for organizing my notes. I've got my two campaigns each in their own folder, with session notes, planning notes, email with players, and the output from several character generators all in one place and searchable!

 

[Erithtotl]

I'm not technically using a Tablet, but I did recently start using a Wacom Wireless tablet in combination with Vista & Microsoft OneNote 2007. It takes a bit of getting used to writing in one place (the Wacom) and having the text show up elsewhere (the screen) but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Jotting down my DM notes with Vista's Handwriting recognition has been great, but I'm really loving what OneNote is doing for organizing my notes. I've got my two campaigns each in their own folder, with session notes, planning notes, email with players, and the output from several character generators all in one place and searchable!

I have used OneNote for quite some time and am looking forward to taking advantage of it with my new Tablet, which I received today. So far so good. My first gaming session with it will be on Friday.

 

[Erithtotl]

I have now played 3-4 sessions using my tablet. Each session I've improved the usage, to the point where last session I went completely paperless. It was awesome.

The keys? First, PDFs of every rulebook that I use. Second, an MS Access database for my custom NPCs. Third, MS OneNote.

The key is that you can copy anything out of a PDF into one note. So I create one page in Onenote for combat tracking, one for the adventure details, one for the map, and one for the monster statblocks. I open up the PDFs of the books I commonly reference (like the PHB, DMG and MM) and then the real power of it is that I can write over anythign in OneNote. So I have statblocks copied from the MM into one note, and I can actually record buffs and damage and other things right over the blocks, as if I was writing directly in the book.

Anyway, it was an expensive gaming accessory, but easily the best gaming purchase I ever made.