One hour Tablet PC demo video

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://www.cewindows.net/tabletpc/tabletpcdemo.wmv">http://www.cewindows.net/tabletpc/tabletpcdemo.wmv</a><br /><br />Interested in seeing some "hands on" with the Tablet PC? <a href="http://www.tabletpctalk.com/">Tablet PC Talk</a> has a video you should look at then:<br /><br />"Last week I attended the Los Angeles Pocket PC Users Group meeting for a demo of the Tablet PC. Kurt Shintaku of Microsoft invited Chandler Bootchk of Microsoft to demonstrate the hardware and software features of the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. This Tablet PC Talk exclusive demo includes a feature overview of the new hardware including showing how to convert it from a laptop format to a tablet format. Also additional applications such as Journal, sticky notes and a game are demonstrated. Further, Chandler agreed to answer users questions about the Tablet PC as we went along. This video is over 1 hour long and is 320 x 240 15 fps so you'll get a good idea of what was covered. Just be patient, it's a little over 50MB!"<br /><br />That Acer Tablet PC looks sweet - apparently the motherboard that Acer is using has support for an 802.x chip or a combo 802.x and Bluetooth chip. I want one! <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif" /> And for those of you who still doubt the reasons why they picked a "special pen" vs. having a generic stylus, watch the video to find out why.

[palmsolo]

If you are in the Puget Sound area, we are going to have someone from Microsoft demo the Tablet PC at the PSHUG meeting tonight. The meeting runs from 6:30 to 9:00 pm at the Microsoft campus. For more information, visit http://www.maximumpda.com/pshug/.

[ricktakagi]

Don't forget that in addition to the tabletPC group coming we have Nextel coming as well. We will also have some great giveaways so be sure to come out and say hi!

Rick T.

[Jason Dunn]

So aside from talking abou user groups, does anyone have any comments about the Tablet PC video? :wink:

[jim s]

I think I could drive up to Seattle and sit in on the demo quicker than I could download 50mb of video at 28800 baud (all I get at home.) :lol:

[ricktakagi]

I feel your pain Jim. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is still left on a dial up.


Rick T.

[Tom Eichers]

I like the idea of the Tablet PC and will get one when they really get out there. But I don't like that Toshiba version, its just a laptop with a swivel screen, I don't want to have to keep moving my screen around from laptop mode to tablet mode. I want it to be sitting on the table next to my couch and when I am watching the game on the big screen and my friends team fouls, I want to grab the tablet and IM him with the bad news or check the tv listings or a shows website or use it as a Rocket Reader type device and go through a book at night or the morning newspaper.

Never like the design of that model they showed in the video.

[vagelis]

Thank you for taping it for the rest of us. There went my lunch break 8O

Interesting stuff to watch, and potentially would bring another shift in computing patterns.

The Journal app seems promising, as weel as the digital ink integration with the OS and OfficeXP+Add On.

One question: who was on the 405 replying to emails :lol:

Thnx agn

[sponge]

Since HWR isn't perfect, I'd like to see a hack, or an AIM client that connects to IM images, and lets you write with your handwriting, as you would the notes app, and send that as an image. a 2bit bmp shouldn't be too big.

Of course, AIM is just an example, this could be done in any program that supports image sending.

[Rob Alexander]

I like the idea of the Tablet PC and will get one when they really get out there. But I don't like that Toshiba version, its just a laptop with a swivel screen, I don't want to have to keep moving my screen around from laptop mode to tablet mode. I want it to be sitting on the table next to my couch and when I am watching the game on the big screen and my friends team fouls, I want to grab the tablet and IM him with the bad news or check the tv listings or a shows website or use it as a Rocket Reader type device and go through a book at night or the morning newspaper.

Yeah, what Tom said! I'm not looking for a convertable laptop, but I'll probably buy when they come up with a real tablet, preferably about 8-10 inches diagonally that will be large enough to do real work on, but small and light enough to carry comfortably in one hand. I'm not sure they see the market that way yet, but eventually they will.

[spg]

I like the idea of the Tablet PC and will get one when they really get out there. But I don't like that Toshiba version, its just a laptop with a swivel screen, I don't want to have to keep moving my screen around from laptop mode to tablet mode. I want it to be sitting on the table next to my couch and when I am watching the game on the big screen and my friends team fouls, I want to grab the tablet and IM him with the bad news or check the tv listings or a shows website or use it as a Rocket Reader type device and go through a book at night or the morning newspaper.

Yeah, what Tom said! I'm not looking for a convertable laptop, but I'll probably buy when they come up with a real tablet, preferably about 8-10 inches diagonally that will be large enough to do real work on, but small and light enough to carry comfortably in one hand. I'm not sure they see the market that way yet, but eventually they will.

Guys, The Acer model is the only prototype model at the moment that has a swivel screen (aside from the new ReVolution rugged Tablet PC). Most of the others are exactly what you are saying you would like. Just a plain tablet computer with no keyboard. It is just that the Acer has gotten much more press coverage recently because there are still a large number of people who aren't quite ready to give up their keyboards. And that is who Microsoft is trying to get caught on to the Tablet PC idea, they don't have to get you guys caught on, you are already there :).

[palmsolo]

I have to say that when I heard about Tablet PCs that I wasn't very interested in them and just kind of ignored the news. But last night after seeing the demo at the PSHUG meeting, all I have to say is WOW! They had the Acer model with the swivel screen mentioned above that I actually really like. What I think is great about the Acer model is that it is essentially a laptop with the ability to act also as a Tablet PC. It weighs less than 3 pounds and is pretty loaded. If I know anyone who is thinking about getting a laptop, I would highly recommend they wait and get a Tablet PC in this form because then they are getting a laptop with the abilities of the Tablet PC built in. They also showed us the Fujitsu model which is just the Tablet form and has no keyboard, which weighs less than 2 pounds. There is a docking stating that has a DVD and you can connect a keyboard there if you want heavy text entry.

There was a couple of really cool things that are part of the Tablet PC version of Windows XP. For example, you can write with your own handwriting in the Journal application and then if you later found you forgot something you can simply move your handwritten text down and write in your missing thought. Try doing that on paper without serious erasure marks and busting through the paper. By the way, the pen can be configured to act like a regular pencil with an erase on one end and there are some pens with buttons to act as mouse clicks. Another cool thing was that you could go into Internet Explorer and circle something you want to send to a friend, save, etc. and then you can tap an icon and email it. In the email body it shows up as an image of what you had circled along with the hyperlink where you copied the image from. There were a ton of cools things demoed and I am now trying to find out where I can get a couple thousand to get one of these babies. I suppose I'll end up waiting a couple years when they have replaced our laptops and are much cheaper.

I still think Pocket PCs will be important since they are so much smaller, but I see no reason to buy a laptop now with the Table PCs coming out.

[ChrisD]

You're welcome! Boy it took me over 24 hours of processing time to get the video that small and viewable. The lighting was not really good so I adjusted the contrast as much as I could to make it viewable.

Overall I am glad you enjoyed it.

BTW, there's been over 1,600 downloads in less than 24 hours!


Thank you for taping it for the rest of us. There went my lunch break 8O

Interesting stuff to watch, and potentially would bring another shift in computing patterns.

The Journal app seems promising, as weel as the digital ink integration with the OS and OfficeXP+Add On.

One question: who was on the 405 replying to emails :lol:

Thnx agn

[klinux]

I was fortunate to have been at that meeting and tried the Acer hands on. My first impression is that it's like the new Clie on steroids! Only if it has a camera on a hinge or the lip of its lid!

The Acer's handwriting recognition is very good - a bit better than PPC but a lot more useful considering that it is now a data type and can be used by other apps. Although as a data type, I am still concerned about its security i.e. can one can embed a buffer overflow error and then execute code like how one can do in an asf/x file? MS's reponse is no or they do not think it can be done. I am fairly sure someone will find a way though..

Overall, my feeling is that it neither replaces the PDA nor a full fledged laptop, both of which I have. However, if I did not have both, I would give it a serious consideration. Also at its current $, personally I would wait for the second revision of the tablet PC spec.

Thanks to Chris for making the presentation available.

[Jonathan1]

Hmmm just finished watching it. Spent a few minutes digesting the info. First impression very cool tech. I liked the interesting hints he made about Reader on the Tablet PC. I just hope they don’t force you to activate it. Up to now MS has been pretty good about not force feeding .NET or Passport down your throat. With MS struggling with .NET http://news.com.com/2100-1001-948838.html it seems as if the only way to really get it up and running is to push it down our throats. I hope this isn’t the case in tablet PC or their version of Reader.

Anyways, was I the only one who thought that MS still doesn't know what they all want the tablet PC to do? I kept hearing work arounds, how to print this and export that to do this or that. I kept getting the impression that Microsoft still doesn't have all the core functionality of the pen and digital ink implemented in the "super set" of XP that makes up tablet edition. Plus there were a lot of questions on viewing and use of ink outside the Tablet PC world which yielded precious few answers. Also the number of step involved in moving data seems somewhat overkill. If ink really is a datatype then you would think that cutting and pasting from Journal to Word would bring the info in and editable fashion, rather then just a noneditable bitmap. It seems, IMHO, clumsy. I’m wondering if they are rushing things… *shrugs* Then again maybe it's just me....I’m just being a little cautious at this point with my enthusiasm. I got over enthusiastic about what I was expecting in Pocket PC 2002. It ain’t happening again. *Shrugs* Personally, at this point I’m gonna cut them a little slack simply because this is a whole new breed of computer and input system for that computer. Mistakes will happen. I just hope in the long run handwriting integration is better integrated into the OS. Example. On the Pocket PC I can place a curser in a field and start writing anywhere on the screen. Why is it that on the tablet we are relegated to the input box? (With the exception of Journal.)

Also no one brought up one question I still have about these tablets. After spending 2+ grand on something like this I would be scared pissless that I would scratch the screen. I’m wondering how the OEM’s are planning on countering the inevitable scratching that may occur over time. It’s one thing with a laptop and getting fingerprints on it. It’s a whole different ballgame running a stylus tip across a screen day in and day out. Hmmm To many questions. Guess I’ll have to wait til Nov 7 and see if my local Best Buy will be carrying the Acer so I can play around with one.

[nosaturn]

I like the idea of the Tablet PC and will get one when they really get out there. ....... I want it to be sitting on the table next to my couch and when I am watching the game on the big screen and my friends team fouls, I want to grab the tablet and IM him with the bad news or check the tv listings or a shows website or use it as a Rocket Reader type device and go through a book at night or the morning newspaper.

Never like the design of that model they showed in the video.

sounds like you really need a Smart Display.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/smartdisplay/

It's a CE.net powered RDP client. Think of it as a cordless monitor. no need for a new computer or to worry about syncronizing files or anything. It just lets you carry your monitor around.

-Brian