11-22-2002, 01:00 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Why Do People Compare the Pocket PC to a Tablet PC?
I cannot tell you how many times on this site and in other places I see comments like "Who is planning on buying a Tablet PC (ie, instead of a new PPC)." I am not trying to pick on any one person, and that poster actually clarified himself/herself a bit later.  I even hear this comment from fellow Microsoft MVPs in other product groups. What I don't understand is why the thought would even come up. Is it a fundamental misunderstanding of what the PDA is, the Tablet PC or am I totally missing something? To me, asking the question "$1,800 Tablet PC or $350 Pocket PC" is like asking "$250 DVD Player or $1,400 PC." Yes, the PC can play DVDs, so in that regard they are similar. Yes, the Pocket PC can do some things a Windows XP machine can do, including the common feature of handwriting recognition on the screen, but I just don't see anyone at Microsoft, HP, Dell or anywhere else marketing these as alternatives to each other.
Can you see walking up to an airline counter after a flight was cancelled and changing your itinerary by lugging out your Tablet PC? Or being on your cell phone and whip out your Tablet PC to check on tomorrow's schedule to create a new appointment? Either you do those types of things or you don't, and using an Etch-a-Sketch sized device to do that makes so little sense to me. Conversely, I could go on for hours about things a Tablet PC can do that you would be insane to try on a Pocket PC.
So, where have I missed the boat on this one? Small footnote here - I do see great things for the Tablet PC. If the software takes off, like the Office XP and Windows XP mods to support the Tablet PC's unique form factor and the hardware vendors come through, I think the laptop is a device relegated to a niche market in 3-4 years.
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11-22-2002, 01:29 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 113
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Re: Why Do People Compare the Pocket PC to a Tablet PC?
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
Is it a fundamental misunderstanding of what the PDA is, the Tablet PC or am I totally missing something? To me, asking the question "$1,800 Tablet PC or $350 Pocket PC" is like asking "$250 DVD Player or $1,400 PC."
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Completely agree.
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11-22-2002, 02:33 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 90
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Re: Why Do People Compare the Pocket PC to a Tablet PC?
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
stuff ed wrote that I decided was too much to quote so I cut it. :twisted:
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I can see myself carrying around a TabletPC... IF they become thinner and lighter.. I dont need a notebook replacement. I want a tablet.
Actually if I had my way it would be 4" x 6.5". Half the size of the current tablets. I want a computer I can have with me all times with a higher resolution than a PPC and with the same operating system as a regular PC.
And while I am wishing I woul dlike world peace and a million dollars in my checking account.
8)
Robert
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11-22-2002, 03:05 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,329
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*bangs head on keyboard*
THANK YOU FOR BRING THIS UP
The Pocket PC is a (say it with me guys) SUPPLEMENT to a desktop or laptop or tablet PC. It has never been touted by MS as anything else. Only people who are super geeks have been trying to make the Pocket PC into a laptop replacement and I challenge anyone here to try and be as productive on a 3� screen, flimsy keyboard, and no mouse as you would be on a Tablet PC or laptop. It ain�t going to happen. If for no other reason then that the PPC OS is WAY to limiting in its current form.
Conversely you are not going to have people drag a tablet around with them everywhere they go. Would you drag your tablet to lunch? To a movie theater? (I organized my next day while I was waited for Harry Potter to start last weekend.) To a tech event? To [insert place here where a table wouldn�t work]
Simply because it�s got a digitizer like the Pocket PC (Never mind the fact that the digi works differently and 100 times better) the Tablet PC naysayer automatically call it an oversized Pocket PC or the battle cry goes out that the Tablet is going to spell the end to the Pocket PC. What a load of crap.
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11-22-2002, 03:31 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 667
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Re: Why Do People Compare the Pocket PC to a Tablet PC?
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
So, where have I missed the boat on this one? Small footnote here - I do see great things for the Tablet PC.
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Gosh, Ed, it's so obvious I'm surprised you have to ask. Everyone is different and has unqiue needs. There are some people out there using PPCs for things that would be better suited for Tablet PCs and there are other people who use their PPCs for things that a Tablet PC wouldn't be very good for (as in your examples). You may not find the TPC to be a replacement for your PPC because of how you use it. Others might; I see no reason why that should bother you or anyone else here.
As an example, I have 5 colleagues here who use iPaqs and one who uses an HPC2000 (Jornada 730). Of the seven of us, I'm the only one who has their mobile device with them pretty much all the time. The others use theirs in various ways. They carry them off to meetings and stuff to have useful information with them. They read ebooks on them. They use them as standard PDAs. But 4 of the 7 leave them plugged in inside their offices when they travel. These people would probably be better off with small Tablet PCs. The TPC would go to the meetings and be better for taking notes. It would still be fine for setting appointments and tasks while in meetings. It would be a better device for showing PowerPoint presentations. And it would have the advantage of running all your regular software so you could demonstrate things in ways the PPC just can't do.
I've gone back and forth on it for myself as I always have my PPC with me and that makes my needs different from theirs. I desparately want a Tablet PC (though am trying to contain myself until v2). If I had one, there are several things I currently do with my iPaq that I would then do with the TPC (and lots more), but there are other things that I'd still want in a more portable format. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that when I get a Tablet PC, I'll give up the PPC and use the TPC in conjunction with a Smartphone. The Smartphone will handle those things that you mentioned using software I'm already using, like ListPro, eWallet, Traveller, Pocket Outlook, and the Tablet PC will handle everything else. For me and my needs, that would be light years ahead of where I am now.
So, while I don't look at the Tablet PC and a direct replacement for my PPC, it is absolutely a replacements for some things I currently do with my PPC. For others, it might just replace the PPC altogether. What's wrong with that?
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11-22-2002, 04:09 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jonathan1
*bangs head on keyboard*
THANK YOU FOR BRING THIS UP
The Pocket PC is a (say it with me guys) SUPPLEMENT to a desktop or laptop or tablet PC. It has never been touted by MS as anything else. Only people who are super geeks have been trying to make the Pocket PC into a laptop replacement and I challenge anyone here to try and be as productive on a 3� screen, flimsy keyboard, and no mouse as you would be on a Tablet PC or laptop. It ain�t going to happen. If for no other reason then that the PPC OS is WAY to limiting in its current form.
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Uh oh. My poll tomorrow morning... you should probably not participate. :wink:
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11-22-2002, 04:12 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Re: Why Do People Compare the Pocket PC to a Tablet PC?
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Originally Posted by Rob Alexander
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
So, where have I missed the boat on this one? Small footnote here - I do see great things for the Tablet PC.
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Gosh, Ed, it's so obvious I'm surprised you have to ask. Everyone is different and has unqiue needs. .....So, while I don't look at the Tablet PC and a direct replacement for my PPC, it is absolutely a replacements for some things I currently do with my PPC. For others, it might just replace the PPC altogether. What's wrong with that? |
I have no disagreement that different people, different needs. :way to go: I just think that if the Tablet PC is a viable replacement for the Pocket PC for you, or visa versa, you are probably misusing your current device. Gets back to my DVD Player/PC example.
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11-22-2002, 04:23 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 141
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Great topic. My analogy is this (I know we all love analogies). I am sure many of you may have a toolbox with a few screwdrivers in it. Sure a some screw drivers may work in all situations, but sometimes it maybe too big or too small, or the wrong type for all your applications and you may end up stripping the screw. The reason why you do have more than one is that each tool provides a certain functionality that the other cannot or it is the perfect tool for the many jobs and tasks you may have, and the same goes for the desktop, laptop, tablet and our beloved pocketpc. Each has their own form and function, strength and weakness, and together they make one nice toolset...
Just my 2 cents with 3 cents change...
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11-22-2002, 04:27 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 300
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Hmm.
Ed -
Here's my 3 cents (a penny more free!) worth:
While for the most part I agree with you - Tablet PCs and Pocket PCs are really for different spheres of use. BUT, that being said, there are users out there who plopped down $700 for an iPaq 3970 plus $120 for a PC-Card jacket, $150 for a WLAN card, $100 for a stowaway keyboard, plus another $100 on an SD Ram card...
All of which adds up to easily $1200 with some software. There are probably people on this very site that do this. Hell, people even buy the VGA-presenter thing so you can plug your iPaq into a standard VGA monitor.
So - I said they are used in different "spheres", but I feel that those spheres can overlap.
Tablet PCs just came out, and some are smaller than others. I've seen some models that companies are releasing next year that are quite small, without an integrated keyboard (the keyboards are in a "docking station").
Soo.. given that you can put a Tablet PC into "Standby" as easily as a laptop (mine Evo N610c comes out of standby in about 2 seconds), then, yes, i can see people deciding on a tablet for use in meetings, taking notes, and taking it with them on business trips, etc. So, maybe a Desktop + Tablet, instead of Desktop + PDA.
I doubt this will happen for many people, just pointing out that SOME people don't use their PDAs all the time, or carry one with them all the time (Shame on them, luddites!!).
Anyway, that's the best I can spin it. 95% of the time, I agree - not the same. But for some small percentage, people could use either one..
__________________
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Dumb phones >> Axia A108 >> HTC StrTrk >> Touch Diamond
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11-22-2002, 04:40 AM
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,998
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I think it's just a case of the similarities getting in the way. Microsoft came out and did a two hour demo of the Tablet PC's this afternoon and I kept seeing features they showed and thinking "my iPAQ does that" or at least "my iPAQ does something similar".
I'm not sure people are seeing them as interchangeable solutions so much as just seeing the similar feature sets. Maybe that's what the questions are meant to be: Which solution is better? It just doesn't come across that way. Maybe I'm too forgiving. 
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