Pros and cons: tablet PC v. notebook

Ken,

I haven't used a floppy in quite a long time (years). The Toshiba and
Fujitsu come with a built in SD (secure digital media) drive. SD card can be
used to move files between computers but more so I take pictures with my
digital camera which saves them to SD card. Then I put card into computer to
move them into my pictures folder on the hard drive.

Use of a external USB jump drive is more pratical.

Todays millennial kids/children won't bother with floppies.

256 will work for a non power user. You can always add more later.

Bill

Ken,

Toshiba's Fujitsu's come with MS OneNote on them. OneNote is part of these
manufactures package. To be sure always ask the reseller or manufacturer. If
it doesn't come with OneNote you can purchase with student pricing from
#. OneNote is a must with a tablet.

Tablet PC has it own unique OS Windows XP Tablet edition.

Office 2003 will integrate nicely with the tablet PC and OneNote. For
instance you can handwite an e-mail in MS outlook and send it. You can also
handwrite in MS word or annotate an existing document.

When looking for software for a Tablet PC ask the manufacture how it
integrates with the inking technology.

Chris H. linked up in his reply some great resourse that I've used with
great success. The MS Experience pack that was just released a few weeks ago
has some cool tools and games. The ink crossword program really shows the
power and natural functionality of the tablet PC.

Software for the student.
Inspiration # even though this is geared for K-12,
its an excellent concept mapping tool. It does take us of a Tablet PC inking
technology.

Visual Thesaurus 3 #

Bill

On Wed, 11 May 2005 07:01:03 -0700, "Bill C."

Bill, could I ask you to expand on that one? I gather you mean that
writing on the Fujitsu screen feels more natural than writing on the
Toshiba screen. I'm currently planning to buy a Toshiba because it's
the only available Tablet PC that supports more than 1024x768
resolution. Perhaps "feel" is another factor I should consider. I'd
like to know whether I interpreted your comment correctly, and what
you found that make you prefer the Fujitsu in this respect.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

Bill,

What battery life do you find with the Fujitsu? Also, with the Fujitsu,
do you think that it is worth the extra $100 for the faster HDD (5400rpm
v 4200rpm)?

Thanks
Ken K

Bill,

Do you find any need for an external floppy drive for your Fujitsu? I
assume that it will boot from a CD...?

Thanks
Ken K

k e nk at t he kron es d OT c o m

Bill,

Do you find any need for an external floppy drive for your Fujitsu? Is
there a great improvement of performance with an upgrade to512MB RAM?

Thanks
Ken K

k e nk at t he kron es d OT c o m

Bill, if you haven't seen it, there's a really nice demo of OneNote in
action here:
# I learn
something new each time I watch it. 8-) Other than that, all Tablet PCs
come with Windows Journal installed
#
and by the time your daughter has the new Tablet PC, it should already have
the Tablet PC Experience Pack installed
(#)
which gives her the new Ink Desktop, Snipping Tool, Ink Art, Media Transfer
and Ink Crossword, plus the Energy Blue Theme Pack.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - #
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - #

...

Bill,

Thank you so much for all of the info. Over the summer we will look for
the units that you recommend. We live in Fresno, CA, and may need to
travel to San Francisco or Los Angeles to see them, although the Fujitsu
may be the way to go because of your comments.

I am interested in what the basic software requirements are. I am sure
that the computer will have XP. We have copies of Office 2003; will my
daughter need more than that for running OneNote? Unless the list is
extremely long, what are other software products that are written for a
tabletPC?

Again, thank you for your extensive reply.

Ken K

Thanks, Bill, for your extensive comments! You have made a substantial
addition to the newsgroup's store of concrete information on this
topic.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

Awesome, Bill. Thanks for the report. Go Nittany Lions! 8-)
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - #
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - #

...

Jonathan,

Personally I've used a Tablet PC for almost 2 years. (Toshiba M200)
-In the workplace as a network Administrator for a K-12 public school
-And as a student while working towards a Training and Development cert. at
Penn State University

I have physically used demo units provided to me by Acer, Gateway, Toshiba,
Hp, and Fujitsu. These were eval units for a project I started last October.
The 05-06 school years for our school district is the 5th year replacement
cycle of high school teachers computers. I acquired the demo units to have
faculty try them out to see if tablet computing would be useful tool for
them. As it stands now we will be rolling out tablet PCs to the 133 staff
members (teachers and admin) during the months of Sept to Dec. The models we
are rolling out are Toshiba Tecra R10 and Fujitsu T4010. I selected tablets
because it is an emerging technology with value that will support our staff
for the next 5 years.

I have switched from my M200 to the Fujitsu we are purchasing.

Features I like:
-Natural feel to taking notes
-annotate Word docs
-annotate PowerPoint???s (my profs sends today???s class PP and I make all my
notes directly on the slides)
-MS OneNote ( The tablet is useless without this piece of software)
-OneNote allows me to create diagrams as I'm brainstorming for a network
layout or topology.
-OneNote allows me to create a graphical concept map for work or school
-OneNote allows me to flag and then summarize on the flags.
-OneNote allows me to search for handwritten text
-OneNote provides an excellent organizational to for me in the workplace and
as a student.
-Lightweight my Fujitsu is 4 lbs. the Toshiba's are 6.5 lbs

Differences between the 2 models that have been selected for the HS rollout
are:
-Fujitsu 12" display, 4 lbs
-Toshiba 14" display, 6.5 lbs.

Each model we will deploying has:
-Firewire
-modular CDROM-DVD
-modem
-10/100/1000 ethernet
-Intel pro wireless b/g
-PCMCIA slot
-2 or more USB
-SD slot

Models used or eval:
Acer newest model (can't remember #) - 14 " display, heavier, case has a
lot of plastic and didn???t seem to go together properly, seemed flimsy.

HP (Compaq) Slate- Slow processor (very slow), clip keyboard, very
lightweight, too many accessories to carry around to be functional as a
workstation, has its place in niche markets. No modular components

Gateway - Slow processor, when you rotate the display to slate mode you have
to press a rotate button for the screen to rotate. The other models rotate
automatically.

Fujitsu has new technology for screen brightness and contrast (very nice)

Modular battery additions to models that support this are very nice. I???m
getting several hours with CDROM removed and second battery added in Fujitsu.

On Tue, 10 May 2005 12:50:05 -0700, "Bill C." <Bill

Can you give us a little background, please, to help us put your
recommendations in perspective?

When you say "demo," do you mean that you have received demos from
salespersons, or that you have given demos as a salesperson?

If you're not speaking as a salesperson, what do you use tablet PCs
for? What features or characteristics do you value?

What other tablets do you have experience with, and what feature(s)
cause you to choose these over others?

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

Ken,

I've used both slates and convertables. Highly recommend convertable.
Convertable has best functionality for a college student. Slates are for
niche or specific usage.

I have used Toshiba M200 and it has been great. One thing it lacks is
integrated CDROM. Have now switched to Fujitsu T4010, this is also a great
machine and does have integrated modular CDROM-DVD.

Some Tablets I've demo and recommend:

-New Toshiba R10
-New Toshiba Tecra M4
-Fujitsu T4010 or T4000

Recommended config:
512MB Ram
Pent M 1.6 or higher.
A must have software component to make tablet worth while is MS OneNote SP1.

Bill

Yes, I do, Ken. I agree with Paul's assessment of a convertible being the
best of both worlds. However, some of the other slates, like the Motion
series, have keyboards which simply attach to the underside of the unit when
not in use, and that is also a very good option.

There are so many combinations and manufacturers available, I would really
take a long look around before you and your daughter make a decision. Keep
in mind being able to expand the unit with additional memory at some time in
the future. I recommend at a minimum 512 MB of RAM (the sweet spot for
Windows XP), but you need to remember that she also will be doing Inking on
top of that.

I think, depending on the unit, that 1 GB is an excellent position. Most
models now will go to 2 GB, if she's going to be doing any heavy number
crunching or art work. And I would go with after-market memory purchasing
from Crucial or Kingston, to save some money.

Sorry you're sick, Paul. Bummer. Please do not send pictures. 8-)
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - #
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - #

...

...

In bed with flu! Which is where I am right now, if the desktop was on I
could remote over to it and take a snap of the may positions you can use a
tablet in. LOL

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
#

*Remove 'nospam.' to reply by e-mail*

Chris,

Thanks for the references. I will do the research.

Do you have one? Comments?

Ken K

Paul is in the U.K., so may be asleep, but he's got a Toshiba M200. 8-)
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - #
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - #

...

On Sun, 8 May 2005 23:35:25 +0100, "Paul Smith"

Good point. I think it goes without saying that if your daughter gets
a tablet PC it should be a convertible machine, not a slate. Most
people find the keyboard essential for writing substantial amounts of
text. (I believe any slate computer would accept an external keyboard,
but who wants to carry a separate keyboard around?)

I think the only significant advantages of laptops over tablets are
that they are less expensive, they generally have more bits on the
screen, and they tend to have a fuller complement of devices and
connectors.

My own recent experience in an American law school was that using a
keyboard in class was not a problem. To be blunt, all the other kids
are doing it. In most of my courses, 40% to 50% of the students used
laptops in class, and nobody complained. Actually, I can't recall
whether the keyboards were even audible over the background noise.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

...

If you get a convertible Tablet, you get the best of both words a laptop and
a Tablet. I've had mine just over a week and I would never consider owning
a laptop again.

It's so much nicer to use, you don't have to be clicking away at a keyboard
(very rude in class), it's no louder then writing. And because you can put
them into a portrait format it's so much nicer to read anything on, and just
not having the keyboard being in the way is just awesome, you can actually
do work when you're lying down on the sofa or in bed now.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
#

*Remove 'nospam.' to reply by e-mail*

On Sun, 08 May 2005 10:31:59 -0700, Ken K <p@RE-MOV-Ethekrones.com>
wrote:

You and your daughter should jointly do enough research to get a
general idea of how tablet computers work (I assume this isn't an
issue for the laptops). Then find a dealer or owner who will let her
TRY them. Preferably, try a few different examples of each, so that
her perceptions of the product categories are not tilted by the
peculiarities of an individual product. Hands-on experience will be a
lot more useful to her than any amount of research!

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

Got a smart daughter, huh? I've got three of them, two of whom use Tablet
PCs and the third a Media Center Edition system. The two with Tablets have
the higher grades. 8-)

You could start with the information here:
# There are a lot of
links to explore, including one to Tablet PC at Work, which includes
resources for education:
#

Also, while you're making up your mind, you may want to see the best
comparison charts on the web. Tablet MVP Terri Stratton has all the current
information for slate, convertible and hybrid models here:
# .
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - #
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - #

...