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IBM ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC Reviewed
JR writes "CoolTechZone.com has reviewed IBM's ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC that works as a standard notebook computer as well as a tablet PC. Generally with hybrid products, there are quite a few limitations attached, is that the case with X41? According to the article, "The notebook has a lot of drawbacks, lacks important features and tries to make up all that with its lightweight and a fingerprint reader that works like a charm. If you are looking for a small lightweight tablet and won't do much more than e-mail and note taking, along with basic office stuff, we would seriously recommend this one for it's battery life, the extreme lightweight design and the brilliant IBM support, but be ready to pay anywhere from $1800 to upwards of $2000 for a common purpose machine."
I used a tablet PC for several years while at Microsoft, partly because I wanted to understand what or if there was an application and partly because it was the politically-correct thing to do. I was not impressed. It really has nothing to do with the form-factor, although performance is a key factor. It has more to do with the software, specifically Windows for Tablet, and the whole human interaction thing.
I took notes on it for about 9 months, and then finally had to stop when I realized I couldn't find anything for later review. The files were all there, my notes were in them, but to open and close hundreds of files looking for the meeting where that guy said that thing about that stuff? Forget it. There was no way I could be more efficient than the notebook and pen. True, you can't search your notebook electronically, but you can't search your written notes either. Convert handwriting to text? Forget about it, the error correction you have to go through eliminates ANY potential savings.
My old-fashion father, now an 80 year-old CPA, used to laugh when I would bring home the latest PDA/calendar/phone thingy. He would smile, take out his daytimer and set it on the table. We would race to see who could look up a personal schedule for a specific date. I never won the race. I was never even close. I still cannot win that race, and I still cannot even come close.
The Tablet does have some unique applications, such as the Doctor doing their rounds and updating charts on the fly. Inventory perhaps. There are others. But as a general purpose note-taking computing platform, forget about it. It the latest technology cannot outperform the oldest known writing standard in the world, pen and paper, and can't make general office functions any better, it is just technology looking for a solution.
A most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is if they foul up there's no law against wacking them around a bit.
I often wonder which, in 5 years, will be the more practical tablet type of solution. Will devices like this continue to evolve into that elusive "paper notebook replacement" or will Windows Mobile devices expand in functionality? The part that really seems odd is that, if Microsoft keeps developing both XPTablet and WindowsMobile, won't they begin completing with themselves for usage?
http://www.tomandemily.com
Part of the deal when Lenovo bought IBM was they got to use the name. Until some time (2008? can't remember) It's why they paid as much as they did.
Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad.
I have been using the x41 tablet and several other tablet brands for a couple of months and my conclusion is:
....I wouldn't mind taking a look at what Apple would come up with in the tablet arena, but right now in the Windoze world, it is pretty "ho hum!"
"For mainstream use, Not Worth the Effort"
Everything about them is slower than keying.
Interacting with websites or other apps which expect keyboard entry is painfully tedious. Annotation of existing digital docs require another step, another app and is of limited use to send to others unless they are so configured. (MS Journal, etc)
And as previous slashdotter noted: finding anything is problematic.
Nothing there that I can't do and haven't done with my Palm and graffitti for the last couple of years.
The "value add" that the tablet function brings only happens when you doodle or sketch alot while taking notes. Artists would like it.
I think this whole "writing recognition" thing is generational - with the generation that wants it now hitting retirement age. They don't know how to "type" so they want to "write". But they are generally terrible with their mouse skills and using the pen takes much finer hand-eye coordination than using a mouse.
There have been several articles recently how todays school-age kids can't even "read" let alone "write" long hand. It is like a foreign language to them.
"Print" - yes (it is like a computer!), but "cursive" or script, it might as well be french. So, I don't see this market happening.
Why are you using hibernate? Just use standby, it barely takes any power as works just fine as long if you eventually dock it every night.
You answered your own question. Standby is just as good if I'm going to plug it in soon. There are many occasions when I can't plug it in or don't want to go to the trouble.
Technology should work for me, not the other way around. That's why most of my gear runs Linux. And once I'm done with the Windows project I'm working on, this laptop will run Linux, too.
Much better and more informatve. Stats are great, but getting the lowdown personal opinion from someone who's actually used it and such is much more likely to affect my purchasing decisions.
Thank you.
(And it was quite amusing art times, which is always a good thing...unless you're drinking milk.)
My BioPhysics major son uses full-size LE1600 tablet with an 8-hr battery for hand-taking notes in Chemistry, Calculus, Physics, and Biology. He's scanned in the presently needed chapters from his heavier books that he bought for each class and they live in his computer. The keyboard stays in his room and during the day he carries it as a tablet. It'd be damn near impossible to take decent notes in those particular classes on a keyboard, so the handwriting and sketching is valuable. His backpack is way lighter than most of those around him with scanned in chapters and emailed teacher notes in PDF form, and he uses the machine and software to organize his student (and personal) life. About the only MSFT software he uses is OneNote - he otherwise prefers Firefox, using GMail. Between classes, when he has a paper to do, he organizes it and uses the wireless for re"surf"ch, since he has access to the proprietary on-campus-library subscriptions to various technical journals. That bit of hand-written organization saves time in typing longer documents in the evening.
It works very well for him.
Yeah, I have the T43 with a fingerprint reader ... I was a little concerned, not so much about losing my fingers, but what if the reader got cracked or otherwise disabled... so I'm quite pleased to know there's a backup password... and sense I never have to type it, I put in a ridiculously secure password which I can keep under lock and key in a secure physical location.
Troll.
While Wacom has competition, it's still the leader performance wise; it's tablets have (depending on model) 512 to 2048 pressure levels. Unless you're trying to emulate a real brush on canvas, this is as good as it gets.
Yes, the driver is available on both Mac OS X and Windows, so all your bantering about Vista is completly pointless, because you can use the same tablet with PhotoShop or Painter right now, not having to wait for Vista.
The designers I know that have tried the combined display/tablet devices found them lacking for their clumsiness, and I doubt that such a tablet would change much.
And I don't know when you have last dealt with Windows font management, but for all practical purposes, managing large collections isn't much different on Mac OS X either.
And finally: the designers I know still prefer Mac OS X over Windows, because they like it better. There :-)