I have been lusting for a Tablet PC as of late. I have a laptop already but its a desktop replacement type and is a bit bulky and runs a bit hot to use in my lap. I also am intrigued by the ability to write on it as a piece of paper for taking notes during class. Its definately not in the budget at this point to get a brand new tablet so I’ve been considering two options. The first is to get an older cheaper tablet to just use as basically a bigger PDA for notes during class. The second is to get a better tablet and sell my current notebook.
The biggest question that I need to answer is how much performance will I lose going from my 2.2 ghz 512 mb laptop to a 1 ghz 256 mb tablet? I don’t do any video editing or graphics editing. My main uses for my laptop are web browsing, general office stuff and listening to music. I will occasionally play games but I stick with the older ones like CivIII and Star Craft. Do you think I will notice a change in performance?
The next biggest question I want to know is how precise is the touch screen. That is how thin of a pencil line can I get. Are we talking about magic marker, sharpie, fountain pen or pencil for example.
If you have any anecdotes about your Tablet PC please share them.
I just bought it a few weeks ago as a regular laptop replacement to my old laptop. I was interested in using the tablet and pen mostly as a pointing device over a writing tool.
I spend a deal of time reading websites (news, this place, music sites) and I thought a tablet with the screen in portrait mode, using the pen as a pointing device would work swimmingly. It does.
I don’t really use the pen to write with but I have used it a little to draw.
The “ink” can be set up to be as bold or fine as you need. It depends on the software mostly.
The OS is Windows XP Tablet 2005. From reading around many people have been having problems with the MS “power toys”. I can’t get the ink desktop to work on mine (which is an add on that allows you to make notes on the desktop without opening another piece of software). After looking into Ink Desktop I decided it wasn’t something I’d use anyway.
I’m very happy with mine. The specs are fine for me (Centrino - Pentium M 1.6 Ghz, 1 GB ram, 60 GB hard drive) I don’t plan on using it as a game machine or video editor. I’ve a real computer for that. I’ve not loaded any 3D games into it but I’d suspect it would play some in so-so mode.
It has a DVD/CDR and plays DVD’s quite smoothly. The sound isn’t even bad for a laptop. Wireless had worked great, the screen is clear. My only complaint would be the size and weight. It’s 6.1 lbs and deeper in size then a regular 14 inch screen laptop. Almost more square in shape.
I spent a fair amount of time looking into different laptops before I bought this one. I’m very happy with my choice. As a regular laptop it works the same as most in this class (I consider it a business class laptop and not really a desktop replacement). I use the tablet about 50% of the time and find it easier in some ways when I just plan on sitting down and reading. the R15 has a few buttons on the side of the wscreen that can be used to scroll pages. I control that with my left thumb. With the pen in my right hand I can navigate around the web quicker then I can with a mouse.
I have a table. It combines all the disadvantages of a notebook with all the disadvantages of a PDA.
Mine is definitely underpowered, but the real issues are things like battery life. You can use it to take notes in a class (and the note function is fun) as long as you have less than 3 hours of classes or an outlet near your desk.
It’s useful used as a laptop – nice and small – but the pen is unreliable (it’ll make marks where you don’t want them and miss where you do). You’d be better off with a PDA.
I have a toshiba M205. I’m relatively happy with it. I also have a Toshiba 5005
It is great to take notes on during classes. It is lighter than my 5005. It is a touch slower than 5005, so it takes a little to get used to, but its not too bad. Battery life is about 2-3 hours, depending on usage. Handwriting recongition for me is pretty good, and MS one note is a pretty cool peice of software.
What it does lack is an optical drive. This is quite irritating.
In short, for me it is a specality tool. It is great for school and taking notes. Thats about it. If you constantly carry around note pads for any reason, its worth it. If not, then pass.
I have been looking at the HP 1000/1100 models. I really like the detachable keyboard concept. I am looking at a 1ghz model with 512 ram which might be in the price range. I am just concerned about going from a 2.2 ghz processor to a 1 ghz processor for my primary computing.
What are the specs of your tablets and what sort of performance do you get?
They really just came out about 3 years ago. If you’re buying used, try it out. I remember the first HP slates were about as slow as a 286 running windows 95. It was next to unusable.
the slates (detachable screens) have really gotten pretty good. So make sure you test drive.
My toshiba (which is at work) has about 3-4 hour battery life. I carry a spare, and that works pretty well.
Again, it really depends on what you use it for whether you’re better off with a pda or tablet or both (like me). I need the tablet versus pda owing to having to show customers information and demo’s on my machine. PDA is okay for taking meeting note highlights, but if you’ve really got to record stuff it’s a stretch.
I would plug OneNote by Microsoft for anyone that is an old fashioned pen and paper kinda person. It’s the electronic low bandwidth spiral notebook I’ve wanted for years. I have 90% of any information I need including all customer stuff for past 3 years on 20 mb worth of memory. A little bit of other data stored in Outlook, Excell and Powerpoint.
Well I took the plunge and ordered a TC1100 tablet computer. Its a slate type tablet that can connect to a keyboard and play like a laptop. I can’t wait until it comes in the mail.