Microsoft Promotes Dueling Tablets

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,102336,tk,dn062702X,00.asp">http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,102336,tk,dn062702X,00.asp</a><br /><br />The Tablet PC is starting to interest me more and more. I've heard some really positive things about the software (the inking features), and the hardware designs the OEMs are coming up with are very impressive. A big factor here is cost: would I shell out $1500 US for a Tablet PC? No. But would I consider paying a few hundred more for my next laptop if it had Tablet PC functionality? You bet.<br /><br />"Microsoft sees the Tablet PC, highlighted at the show, as being primarily for business use. Microsoft executives like to say the company designed the Windows XP Professional variant for "corridor warriors"--people who spend much of their days going from meeting to meeting taking handwritten notes, but who would also like to check e-mail or send the occasional instant message. Vendors here are offering several types of Tablet PCs. Viewsonic, for example, showed a prototype of its Tablet PC 1100, a Windows XP Tablet PC-based slate that will include many of the features in its existing ViewPod 1000. Based on a design by chip maker Via Technologies, the Tablet PC 1100 will have built-in 802.11b wireless connectivity and an optional keyboard."<br /><br />I found myself swooning the most over this design from Toshiba:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/fujitsutablet.jpg" /><br /><br />"Fujitsu's Tablet PC prototype, the Stylistic ST4000 Tablet PC, is also a 3-pound slate, but an optional Tablet Dock provides an upright easel that allows the unit to look more like a desktop when docked. The base accepts modular optical drives as well as a full complement of ports, some of which are duplicated on the tablet itself. Fujitsu will also offer an optional wireless keyboard."

[Sven Johannsen]

I had a thought about usability of a tablet sized PC. If I touch the touch screen on my PPC, the touch is recognized. The screen is small though, so when I am writing on it, my hand doesn't rest on the screen. Get out a paper tablet (8.5 x 11) and start to write a note. Doesn't your hand rest, or periodically touch the tablet? If you are using a touch screen and Word, won't the curser jump to where the heel of your hand hits the screen? Have they worked this out? Or do they expect us to write with nothing but the stylus tip touching the screen?

I have played with OfficeXP and the built in handwriting recognition using a pen input tablet. It is a bit disconcerting to me to not see what I am doing on the tablet, but rather on the screen, but I could see it being real neat if I could see the screen ink under my stylus. In this case, the tablet doesn't recognize my touch, just the stylus (or mouse), so I don't have the issue.

Kind of reminds me of my many friends who touch type. They tend to hate laptops with touch pads under the space bar. Their thumbs hit it, slewing the cursor all over the screen.

[Duncan]

I found myself swooning the most over this design from Toshiba:

That would be he Fujitsu Stylistic you have there Jason :)

[Jason Dunn]

Doesn't your hand rest, or periodically touch the tablet? If you are using a touch screen and Word, won't the curser jump to where the heel of your hand hits the screen? Have they worked this out? Or do they expect us to write with nothing but the stylus tip touching the screen?

They use Wacom technology and special pens - it's not a true "touch screen". It's a "pressure sensitive screen" that you can rest your hand on.

[BillG]

I don't know why people wouldn't pay $1500 for a tablet pc. With Ipaqs going for as much as $750 now, that doesn't seem like a lot. I LOVED my Vadem Clio at $1000 and these devices are much more powerfull. I'm just afraid that they will end up costing more like $2500.

[jdhill]

Actually, the Tablet PCs use an electromagnetic technology that requires a special stylus. The screen is not pressure sensitive and will not respond to a PDA stylus, your finger, or your hand resting on it.

[Jonathan1]

I want that Compaq.....I mean HP tablet PC. That thing makes me want to drool every time I see it.....
http://www.compaq.com/newsroom/PressPaq/TabletPC/images/tablet_bottom.GIF

Is it just me or does this thing look like an iPaq :)

[T-Will]

I want that Compaq.....I mean HP tablet PC. That thing makes me want to drool every time I see it.....

Is it just me or does this thing look like an iPaq :)

Yeah it looks like one huge iPAQ...one huge piece of crap iPAQ. I wonder if it will inherit the same QC issues as the iPAQ...

[en passant]

more info on tablet pcs: www.tabletpctalk.com Run by Chris Coulter and Chris De Herrera, both well-known members of the PPC community :)

I know I sure would love a tablet PC. That 3-lb Acer notebook that's in every demo sure looks nice, and it's supposed to weigh only about 3lbs, roughly the same as my current IBM Thinkpad X20. D'you think the new Journal app will be skinnable?

[spg]

I found myself swooning the most over this design from Toshiba:

That would be he Fujitsu Stylistic you have there Jason :)
He is right Jason that is the Fujitsu model (you called it Toshiba). But none the less, I agree it is one of the cooler designs. In my opinion it is one of the two designs that will be the most popular. The other one would be the "convertible" models, like the Acer prototype in the picture below. I think the convertibles will be popular because they are a Tablet PC, but also have a keyboard if you don't want to write everything out. Very cool stuff!
http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/images/prototypes/acer1.jpg

[spg]

D'you think the new Journal app will be skinnable?
I think it will be to the same point that all Windows apps are, which isn't a whole lot at the moment. But one of the purposes of the new visual styles in Windows XP is to allow that type of thing, and there are some programs out there that allow you skin them like that currently (WindowBlinds is one). Remember that Tablet PCs are full fledged computers running Windows XP, so you can already get a pretty good idea of many of the features.

[Ikonta]

I've never used a notebook much, so I don't know whether I'd like a tablet, except that they don't really seem much lighter, if at all. What handheld manufacturer's have to get to, in my opinion, is an all-screen handheld with better resolution. Something along the lines of the Hitachi CE machine, only with a 4 1/2 screen and 640x480 resolution would be awesome! Then similar notetaking as talked about here, with notes and drawings together, would be more possible, and still on a very small device.

[Kre]

What Id like to know is whether or not the Tablet pc could also replace or double as, depending on how you look at it, the LCD pen tablet device like the Wacom Cintiq. www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index_15x.cfm

If so, this would be fantastic. I hope someone in the know can touch on this at some point.

[Kre]

I want that Compaq.....I mean HP tablet PC. That thing makes me want to drool every time I see it.....
http://www.compaq.com/newsroom/PressPaq/TabletPC/images/tablet_bottom.GIF

Is it just me or does this thing look like an iPaq :)

The only thing I dont like about this possible Compaq HP design, is that the buttons are on the top when the tablet is in portrait mode. Everytime you wanted or needed to use the buttons, your hand and arm would block part of the screen, not to mention, from an ergonomic standpoint, accessing buttons at the top would place undue stress on your arm and shoulder. And thats no good. Id rather see the buttons placed on the right side when in portrait mode, which would place them at the bottom when in landscape mode. This way, accessing the buttons would be easier, more comfortable, and your hand and arm would never block the screen, say, when youre flipping through a document and using the buttons as page turners, etc. The Fujitsu tablet uses this better design concept. You can see it at the www.tabletpctalk.com site that en passant first mentioned.