Tablet PCs

[Mercule]

I'm pondering over getting a tablet PC. Does anyone here have one? Any advice on buying one?

I'm really looking at a convertable notebook (Toshiba or Gateway) that'll act as my primary machine for the next few years. I don't really do much gaming (Morrowind is my "bleeding edge" and I loathe RTS), so the hit to the processor isn't looking too bad. Still, I don't want to throw away money and figured I'd get input before getting too attached to the idea.

My biggest concern is in the handwriting recognition, since that's the biggest advantage of a tablet. How well does this work? Does it work for all apps -- even Notepad? My iPAQ is about 90% accurate, which wouldn't be acceptable long-term for a tablet. Are tablets more accurate?

And, just how cool is OneNote on a tablet?

 

[WingOver]

I bought one in December. I absolutely love it. I have a Fujitsu T4010D convertible. http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=T4D&ptype=TB

I picked this after a lot of research. In a nutshell, I went with it because it's light, has a wide-angle viewable screen, a modular DVD drive bay, and its a convertible. Unfortunately (for me at least ) Fujitsu will be updating this model to 1400x1050 res, fingerprint reader, and an outdoor display in 1st quarter of '05.

My biggest complaint is the 1024x768 res. I feel this makes my handwriting a little fatter than I want it to be. It has a 12.1" screen so it's like writing on an 8x11 sheet. But on real paper I tend to draw smaller lines. 1400x1050 res would probably be ideal for me.

The nearest competitor today is the Toshiba M200 with its 1400x1050 res, but it doesn't have a wide-angle display. Once you turn it to portrait mode, it washes out when viewed from the side. I can tell you that the Fujitsu looks bright and crisp from all angles, and that was the deal maker for me.

At the gaming table, the 12.1" screen is the perfect size for portability and viewing PDFs (in portrait mode of course!) You have to set the PDF viewer to Full Screen mode to have a full page fit on the screen comfortably.

The handwriting recognition is supposed to be really good compared to the previous version of XP. However I sometimes get frustrated when it fails to read what I consider an obvious word. The Text Input Panel is invoked for older apps (like Notepad). Basically you hover your pen over notepad's text box and you see this little icon pop up. Select it and it loads an overlay that accepts your handwriting. Just write naturally and it interprets your handwriting into text in a status bar underneath. I believe it also uses intelligent grammar rules when it can't read your handwriting, in effect making the best guess for a word in context of the words around it. When youre done select ok and it copies the text to the app underneath.

Overall I feel the recognition is very good, but not close to perfect.

You'll find that handwriting is going to slow you down when doing very common tasks. For example, writing a URL is a lot slower than typing it in. Renaming files, directories, etc will be cumbersome. I find myself flipping the keyboard out whenever I have to do a lot of typing.

I think the trick is to basically get used to writing everything. MSN Messenger will send your handwriting which is very cool. OneNote is an awesome app. I've doodled and written lots of campaign notes with it. If I type something, I can cut and paste it into the notes.

Whew.. ok, enough for now.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

And, just how cool is OneNote on a tablet?

I can't speak to the tablets themselves since I've only used one a few times, but I can speak for OneNote. I use it to keep track of my campaign info, and love it. I have used it on a tablet once, and found it to be very easy to use. Based on the amount of functionality that I've gotten out of it on a desktop, I'm sure it would be even better on a tablet.

 

[Mercule]

Thanks for the review, Wingover. That was way helpful and makes me feel better about tablets.

I can't speak to the tablets themselves since I've only used one a few times, but I can speak for OneNote. I use it to keep track of my campaign info, and love it. I have used it on a tablet once, and found it to be very easy to use. Based on the amount of functionality that I've gotten out of it on a desktop, I'm sure it would be even better on a tablet.

It was the thread about campaign management tools that got me looking at OneNote. In turn, that pushed from looking at just notebooks to tablets. I spent my lunch hour playing with a Toshiba at Best Buy -- I think I drooled on it.

My front runner, right now, is Gateway, though. http://products.gateway.com/products/GConfig/proddetails.asp?system_id=m275xl&seg=hm It's a brand I know, and trust (I've never had a bad experience with them, anyway). It's got a larger screen than the others (14" vs 12"), and it's got a couple of nifty extras (card reader, bigger HD, better processor) for no more money. If anyone has insight into why or why not to get that one, specifically, that'd be great. The only edge I've seen on another model is the Toshiba, with a 3D nVidia graphics card.

 

[shady]

I had one for a while (a Toshiba). A friend has a Compaq still.

I found it a novelty, quite a conversation starter; I would occasionally use it for work as a kind of mobile whiteboard in Starbucks. After a while I tired of it and gave it away to a colleague ("gave it away" in the sense it was the company's property). These days I have a Thinkpad T41 with which I'm very happy.

My biggest issue, which most people probably won't find, is that I'm a big Linux user so spend >50% of my time using an OS which doesn't support the tablet. Kind of obvious. The other issue is there's nothing in its capability that would drag me to Windows XP just to use the tablet. It really was just a novelty.

The Compaq is cooler looking but less featured. Because its cooler looking it's more of a conversation piece. so you get more "tablet value" from it.

My general take (and I get to see and play with a lot of gadgets) is that tablet PCs as they are now aren't particularly useful.

 

[barsoomcore]

I have an Acer TravelMate C300 at work and love it. I'm a project manager, so I spend a lot of time every week going around to the developer's desks and getting their current tasks entered into our database, keeping everything up to date and so on. It's great with the wireless connection -- we can update their records right there at their desk, pull up any related materials.

In meetings it's great for converting notes into follow-up items right away, for recording changes to database items or documents, all that. I find the form factor is much better for conversation and face-to-face communication -- with a laptop there'd be a screen between me and them and that would distract us both. With this I can sit in a corner of a meeting and scribble notes while the developers argue, and have a nice little set of notes to email out afterwards.

Invaluable.

Don't use it for DMing since I use Macs at home, but I do use a Newton MessagePad 2000 for rolling through initiative. It helps a lot.

 

[WingOver]

My front runner, right now, is Gateway, though. http://products.gateway.com/products/GConfig/proddetails.asp?system_id=m275xl&seg=hm It's a brand I know, and trust (I've never had a bad experience with them, anyway). It's got a larger screen than the others (14" vs 12"), and it's got a couple of nifty extras (card reader, bigger HD, better processor) for no more money. If anyone has insight into why or why not to get that one, specifically, that'd be great. The only edge I've seen on another model is the Toshiba, with a 3D nVidia graphics card.

You're welcome!

This might not be possible, but I'd recommend getting your hands on that model and seeing how it feels. (Or maybe another laptop with a 14" screen of comparable weight.) My Fujitsu is light, but sometimes I wish it was even more portable, like a slate. That 14" screen is bound to make it feel more cumbersome. However if you're cool with it, then I'm sure that increased screen real estate will come in handy.

The other thing: you might want to wait around a little and check for new product announcements. For example, both Fujitsu and Toshiba (with a 14" screen) announced new models coming out soon.

This is a good site for tablet news: http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/ They also have an active, enthusiastic community of tablet users.

 

[Mercule]

Well, I ended up ordering the Gateway last night. I couldn't lay my hands on one to try out, but I'm generally sanguine about it. I'm sure I'll miss the better graphics card, but you can't have everything. Now I have to pretend to be patient while I wait for it to arrive.

Thanks, everyone, for the help.

 

[Mystery Man]

That's the model I use, though I think yours has a bit more poop than mine. They take some getting used to at first but soon you'll wonder what you've been doing without one!

 

[Mercule]

That's the model I use, though I think yours has a bit more poop than mine. They take some getting used to at first but soon you'll wonder what you've been doing without one!

I've been sick in bed for the past two days (better, now) and moaning to my poor wife that, "If my computer had arrived, I could be playing with it right now." Aside from that, I'm already seeing dozens of plusses for the tablet.

Little late for this question, but how do you like the glass screen? I played with the Toshiba's acryllic screen at Best Buy, and really liked the resistance (almost paper-like) on it. Does the Gateway screen have any resistance/texture?