Examining a Tablet PC

Mister Buttons writes "There really haven't been any real technical reviews of the new Tablet PC operating system from Microsoft yet. Those marketing stories published on CNET and the like do little more than whet the appetite. Luckily it looks like someone finally took a close look at the Tablet PC. The folks over at AnandTech have a good tablet PC review up which includes information on both the hardware and software that the tablet PCs use. Maybe it's time to break open that piggy bank..."

Comments

Overhyped?

[Nevermore-Spoon]

Does anyone else out there have the same feeling I do, that the Tablet PC is over hyped? The only tangible benefit I can really see is totally comfort motivated. The laptop has never been that comfortable to work on sitting on the couch. The tablet PC would make such computing more comfortable. However when it really comes down to using my PC I really prefer a keyboard over a pen & screen combo.

Re:Overhyped?

[Meddel]

>> However when it really comes down to using my PC I really prefer a keyboard over a pen & screen combo.

Why on earth would you have to choose pen and screen if you're doing something where a keyboard is better? Sounds like a convertible Tablet is right up your alley: completely normal laptop keyboard, high-end laptop specs, and you can rotate the screen into Tablet mode if you like.

The fun of my Tablet is that I can take notes (I'm a CS student, being able to make diagrams in my notes is key), but that if I want to type an email, I rotate the keyboard into view and *type it*.

Re:Overhyped?

[Saint Fnordius]

I think you're right. Microsoft is doing its damndest to convince us that we need this, without really explaining why. (The reason why is simple. Microsoft needs a new source of cash, but don't tell them I told you!) The best-written review of a Microsoft TabletPC can be found here. It's based on real-life impressions with one of these things.

Then again, if Apple came out with one I'm sure reviewers would be falling all over themselves to praise it, because (a) it would be more polished, (b) Apple doesn't telegraph its punches, so you don't get disappointed when it DOES arrive, and (c) Apple still enjoys an image of coolness and scrappy underdogness*.

*is that a word? Well, it is now...

Re:Overhyped?

[overunderunderdone]

Maybe then again it IS a new form factor for the PC - A stylus is NOT that good of an input device for most applications*, so it's basically a computer for applications that are mostly about output - accessing existing information. Surfing the web, watching DVD's, listening to music, using as an oversized PDA. But more and more PC's are being used as a way to simply access data rather than to input or manipulate data so perhaps such a machine will find a market.

* One exception, tablets are great for artists, actually drawing on the screen would be cool. Wacom has a pressure sensitive tablet w/LCD screen (as well as a TabletPC). The problem I noticed playing around with it was that there was a delay between what you did and what happened on the screen. So the "paint" was following along a bit behind what you are doing - you don't notice this when the tablet and the screen are seperate but it is very noticable and distracting when you are drawing right on the screen. I played around with one a while ago so maybe advances in technology have advanced to where this is no longer such a big problem.

Re:what about caplets

[Mononoke]

and capsules? will they make an oral suspension computer?

Would you like to try this one as a suppository?

One user's views on usability...

[ackthpt]

Aside from the OS infesting it, Mike Krahulik/Gabe at Penny Arcade tried one out for doing his strip, here's a couple links:

Scroll down to: Drawing on a Tablet PC

Scroll down to Alias Sketchbook comment

Re:Not for me

[BluGuy]

Well, you're on /., so you must use your PC for something else other than games. Early adopters aren't always game-playing kids with cash to blow. Many of the (including myself) actually see things like Tablet PCs have a productivity advantage over a laptop. Carrying my laptop around all day is a hassle. If I had a tablet PC in my office, I could go from meeting to meeting, and not have to worry about missing an important email, have a presentation available to show to anyone I happen to bump into in the hall way, etc. Laptops are a pain to carry around, they are exactly the most ergonomic things around, and taking notes on them sucks. So there you.

Tablet PC's

[ccgr]

I've played with them at work. They have nifty features like voice dictation and handwriting recognition but they are about 85% accurate. It can even partially understand cursive! Very cute lil things but not quite there yet.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Does Anyone Here have A Real Job?

[puto]

I suppose these days the majority of the posters are of university age or just the fact they might soley sit and code all day, do network support, or something desktop centric and thinks makes you somewhat of a computer purist.

This thing will probably go gangbusters in the business world. Do I need to point out again they can use these things in hospitals, docs can carry them around and have instant access to patient data? You can't teach an old doc to type but you can teach him to point and click. Imagine all of the patients records for him to review right there, and also to digitally sign off on medications, release forms, paperwork? I worked in the medical IT in the mid to late 90's and we would have killed for this for our clients. AND our clients were always asking for this portability. You leave your office to do rounds of your hospital patients, you can have all of their records at your fingertips. Your staff can dump the records necessary and hand it to you. Plus keep your drug interaction software, E an M coding stuff. Scheduling, xrays. The screen is bigger than a pda, Doctors are gonna eat this alive.

What inventory sytems. You are doing inventory and rely on a stock numner, you can carry one of this around with wand and it will show you the item as well as give you all the details.

Companies can give these to employees so they can have access, to employee manuals, data, you name it. Much more portable than a lap top.

Sales Departments can configure payments, interest options, the whole shebang, and then slide this sucker across the desk.

Games? This aint for games. This aint for coding. This is for strict ease of use in certain apps. And I am sure if you sit down and put some thought into it you would come up withmany uses.

I tested one and it recognized my chicken scrach, which my wife says could be confuse with Sanskrit.

It is a good product and sad to say MS made it. IT is here now and has pretty damn good functionality for many things. Sure someone will hack up linux to run on it, more power to you. But in the business world you need what works NOW, not what will work, or what you can say can be made to work.

We need to take over the Desktop, then move on. But to downplay something as usefuls as this with FUD from the OSS camp is just ridiculous.

Anyone in IT who has been in it for more than 5 years, done heave support, and has had to be a solution provider will recognize this a a good item.

Puto

Re:Not for me

[mr_z_beeblebrox]

And that means that there is no reason for people like me (who make up most of the 'blow lots of money on new toy' market) to buy these things.

Well, I am one person (IT guy) at a small-mid size company. I have a small budget to see if it is useful. If it is, then I will be purchasing 45 of them. We have 4 gamers in the company, if all four of them buy one they will come close to my sample budget. I think the math escapes you or you use cheat codes with your statistics.

Re:Not for me

[NeuroManson]

Ummm, what? Tablet PCs have USB support (and some even come with keyboards). You just plug in a mouse and keyboard and you're good to go.

Judging from the specs on one I've examined, the Tablet PC DOES suffer graphics performance wise, but give it time, since we're talking a whole new version of an old concept. How long did it take for mainstream high end 3D to make it to the laptop? If you look around, you'll note it took almost 15 years.

Don't want to spend $1000+? Try a Progear!

[Hollinger]

Check out the SonicBlue ProGear. It's a Transmeta 400 Mhz CPU with 128 Megs of RAM, 5 Gig HD, WiFi, IR, and a touch screen. It comes in two flavors, Windows98, and a bastardized Linux (that can be replaced with your favorite distro). I've got one that currently runs Slackware 8.1, and I've heard of others that have RedHat installed.

If you want to check out the "Progear Scene," head over to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/progear/ to check otu the Progear User's Group. We've been hacking away at this thing for a a good six months (or so) now.

<SHAMLESS PLUG>Check out www.mira2go.com to buy a PG for circa US$600.</SHAMLESS PLUG>

How I use my Tablet

[Diamon]

I was a lucky enough b@#%!rd to win an Acer TM C102Ti as the MS Tablet PC launch. After piddling with it for a few weeks I've definitely noticed some interesting usage habits.

For taking notes I use MS Journal, they go in as ink and stay as ink. My recognition of my writing will always be better than their recognition and I don't feel like going through the correction just to get a smaller file size. If I was sharing the notes with someone else I might, but what I keep for myself I keep as ink.

Browsing I do a mixture or pen and keyboard. I definitely like browsing in tablet mode with the pen it just feels more natural, however entering URL's with the pen is still 50/50 so if I have to pull out the keyboard it's back to landscape mode.

Any type of command line work such as admin work or coding simply requires a keyboard, no two ways about it. If I remote accesss in to work I have to use a keyboard (they are running a version of MetaFrame that doesn't support pen). This is where the pen will fail to win over the gear-heads in my opinion.

Also I do find myself using keyboard and pen more than I thought I would. Glidepoints still just don't cut it for me, so I'd rather do the extra grab for the pen.

All in all I'm really happy with it (I should be since it was free) and I can't imagine buying a laptop without Tablet features after using a Tablet.

Compaq tc1000

[aspeer]

I had a chance to use the Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC for about half a day at work. It is easy to dismiss these products if you have not used them (I did), but they do have some fairly innovative features (note that innovative in this context means "new to this form factor of x86/Windows computer" - I am not trying to start a Newton-was-first flame war)

I found the stylus (pen) interface extremely good - the mouse will follow the stylus even if the stylus is not physically touching the screen up to a height of about 1.5 inches. This makes things a lot easier than having to drag the stylus physically across the screen when moving, say, a folder. A single click is acheived by just touching the stylus to the screen for most applications. The stylus on this machine was apparently "active", requiring one AAAA battery - I did not take it apart to verify this, and have no idea how long the battery would last, but it must be a fair while.

The "lazy susan" type keyboard (note: not full docking) station is extremely space efficient, and the key feel is (for me) not too bad for the form factor. The tablet is "smart" enough to know when it has been plugged in to the keyboard base, and rotate the screen from portrait to landscape mode automatically. I was sold - it would be a great setup to take on the road, as it would actually be quite usable in an aircraft, on your lap etc.

Apparently there is a full docking station available (with CD/DVD ROM etc), but we did not have access to it. Under most circumstances, given the inbuilt WLAN interface, the keyboard station would be sufficient.

For those wanting to support Transmeta, this device contains the new 1Ghz Crusoe TM5800 processor. Battery life was claimed "up to five hours", realistically about 3.5-4hr max. Not stunning, but quite good considering the form factor. Speed was not lightning fast, but probably acceptable for most tasks you would envisage for this type of device. ZDNet bagged it in this review, but I did not find it as bad as they make out

I hardly used the digital ink features, so cannot comment on them, but others in my section who tried the journal feature seemed to like it.

When I first saw this device, I pretty much blew it off as a "toy" laptop with a detachable screen, but they really are a bit more than that. After using it for a short while I had to revise my initial hasty opinion, and by the end I did not want to give it back. I would use it in place of a "full" laptop without hesitation.

Naturally for a new product the price is a bit steep for what you get, and since as far as I know no Linux geeks have had a chance to check it out, its Linux readiness is unknown - it is a given that Linux probably cannot support the software augmented hardware features such as the digital ink/journal etc - but even if the device supported a standard linux install with X, and the mouse and wireless card worked, these would be a great portable. workstation.

If I can get my hands on one for a bit longer I will try a Linux install, but will need to be carefult to not blow away the OS if possible - it did not look easy to reinstall the base OS, given the lack of inbuilt CDROM device. Comments from anyone who has tried (even at this early stage) to install Linux are welcome.

My experience

[cptgrudge]

I suppose I'll start my post while I wait for the load strained pages of the article to load.

I feel a little like I'm being a tool for Microsoft, but it's probably because I've made a few other posts on the subject. When someone puts together a great product I feel they should get credit where credit is due.

I purchased the Viewsonic v1100 after playing with it in the store for an hour. If I had to do it again, I would probably get one of the Fujitsus instead, since that is what other slashdot users seem to buy. Don't get me wrong though, I love the one I got. It's worth every cent I paid. I figured that if I was going to plunk down some money on one of these, then I would embrace it. And embrace it I did. I stopped using paper whenever possible, and tried to convert as many documents into their electronic counterparts.

I work as a technician between several buildings, so with this tablet I can connect, through 802.11b, to the help desk software we have. Using this, I have effectively replaced all of my notepads, lists, and papers that I used to carry around with me. It ends up replacing about the same weight, only now everything is organized, and I can bring it all with me.

All I can say is that it just works. The interface is simple, yet works extremely well, and it runs all the apps I need.

Oh yeah, and it hasn't crashed once in the three weeks I've had it.

It's not the tablet that's expensive, it's the pen

[Oliver Wendell Jones]

I went to a local CompUSA store with a co-worker who was very interested in buying a tablet PC. He currently lugs his laptop to meetings every day and he wants something a little more horizontal.

There was one tablet on display, but no stylus to operate it. I tried using my PDA stylus to no avail. A salesperson eventually wandered over to help and said he'd have to go get the special pen they keep under lock and key. When he came back after a couple of minutes I asked why they didn't have it on some sort of chain so people could use it, he told me that the pens for the tablet PCs they stock sell for between $150 and $300 each depending upon the brand (they appear to be interchangable as we used a Toshiba pen on a non-Toshiba tablet) and they had already had two grow legs and walk away.

As someone who has lost at least 3 PDA styli in the past few years (yes, I was one of those kind of geeks who bought a Pilot the first week it was released) I know it's just a matter of time before I would lose the tablet's pen, and there is no way in hell I'm going to tie myself to a PC that is useless without a $300 pen that can be lost that easily.

After leaving, I got to wondering if the tablets could be used with the same kind of stylus that a graphics tablet uses, as those can be purchased for far less than $150. I'll need to remember to take my Wacom pen with me next time I go shopping...

The needs of A Real Job.

[EmbeddedJanitor]

For any of the tasks you mention a TabletPC is the wrong thing. A thin-client slate is far better.

Nobody wants hostpital records, warehousing inventory etc done and stored on a heavy local harddrive. Nope, you want them stored back on the server. THus no need for the local harddrive (cost, size, weight, battery life).

For any real job you need better battery life that can take you through a whole work day.

In no real organisation will the BigBoss sign up to supply the blue-collar types with the latest most fancy and expensive computers..

Jslate and aquapad-style devices are far more suited to this kind of role.

They'll sell a few TabletPCs to the BigBoss who wants the coolest toy in town. That's it.

M$ have screwed up every effort they have made to move off the desktop. This is mainly because they into a new field and try to force the Microsoft Way onto folks without understanding their needs. Unfortunately they have deep enough pockets to dominate (force out of business) anyone with real solutions.

TabletPC is about Microsoft's sixth attempt in mobile space, why should this succeed when all their other attempst have failed? Naah, TabletPC can join the junk-pile with WinCE, Windows for Pen, Stinger for phones, CarPC (or AutoPC) and all their other stuff.