Is A Tablet PC in Your Future?
Mike Fletcher
Get ready for a new type of computer that is about to be as common as
the laptop. In fact, you could think of it as the next evolutionary
step of the laptop.
Before you replace your current portable computer, you may want to get
yourself informed about this handy new machine that is known as the
Tablet PC.
Of all the personal technology advances we've seen over the past five
years, the Tablet PC has to rank among the most significant. For it is
truly one of the most innovative and useful products that is just now
starting to gain major traction. These machines, which are powered by a
specially tweaked version of the Windows operating system, allow users
to scribble notes on a screen with a pen-like stylus, turning
handwriting or block printing into what's called digital ink.
Although they have been on the market for a few years now, much of the
public has been unexposed to them. That's about to change. Tablets are
now showing up on TV commercials, in magazine and newspaper ads and
being exuberantly talked about through word of mouth. Maybe it's time
for you to consider one.
Some Tablets are slate models only. That means there is no keyboard,
just the screen. You write on them like those old Etch-a-Sketches that
kids used to play with. Others, are called convertibles. Flip the
screen up and it looks and works like a notebook computer, with a
keyboard, CD/DVD slot, track pad and the like. But swivel the screen
around and down over the keyboard and it's a slate.
All of the big computer makers produce Tablet PC models: Dell, Gateway,
Toshiba, Lenovo (IBM), Fujitsu and others. There are a couple of
Tablet-only makers, too, like Motion Computing and Rugged Computers.
Even Apple Computer with its fabled Macintosh line is rumored to be
close to developing a Tablet version.
You can get a Tablet PC for around $1,800 with most of the features we
all demand in portable computers like wo-fi Internet access and
Bluetooth wireless. Some models have built-in CD/DVD drives (which adds
to the weight factor), others include them as external devices.
Whatever you do, make sure you get enough memory to run all those cool
applications. My recommendation is at least one GB, instead of the
standard 512MB on most machines.
Over the past couple of years, Tablets have sold fairly well in what
are known as vertical markets, among niche interest groups like
students (great for note-taking and recording lectures), medical
professionals (for keeping track of patient records) and salespeople
(for forms and order-taking). Indeed, some schools are now giving them
to their students, that's how great they are as educational tools.
But now that the momentum has built up, most observers are convinced
the real market is much larger ... and largely untapped, if you'll
excuse the pun.
The Tablet PC does everything a regular computer does. It has a
complete Windows XP operating system and can run all of the normal
programs and applications consumers are used to on their desktops and
laptops. The big difference is that with a tablet, you can also use
that electronic stylus to run many programs, taking notes by hand or
tapping on the individual letters of an on-screen keyboard
representation to type.
Handwriting can be converted to type with just a tap of the stylus,
though, obviously, the neater you write or print, the more accurate
will be the conversion into type.
I've been a tablet user for several years and, truthfully, I seldom
convert handwritten notes on the Tablet. I don't need to. I can read my
own notes just fine. And there's something satisfyingly personal about
seeing my scribbes on a computer screen. It's sort of the ultimate in
customization.
While a tablet does everything a regular computer does, they have the
added advantage of some special tablet-only software enhancements. I
bought a $39 add-on to the Outlook program that lets me use digital ink
to enter calendar, to-do, journal and contact info. And a $99 program
called that puts the equivalent of a Franklin Planner on my Tablet.
I've fallen in love with this application.
Then there's Microsoft OneNote, which comes bundled on many of the
Tablets sold today or can be purchased separately for $99.
Besides the digital ink note-taking and organizational features, this
program uses the built in microphone on the Tablet to record meetings,
lectures, interviews, whatever you want. As you take notes of a
presentation and hear something that's important, make a star or
exclamation mark next to someone's words that you've jotted down, just
as you do with pen and paper notes. Afterwards, as you review the
notes, you can tap on the special mark you made to hear the actual
recording of the subject as the presenter spoke the information.
No matter how much I use this application, it blows me away every time.
If you're thinking about a new laptop and if note-taking is a part of
your life, a tablet should be at the top of your shopping list.
It's that handy.
Is it right for you?
Obviously, only you can answer that. But it's been my esperience as a
longtime road warrior who has used all sorts of laptops, that the
Tablet PC offers so many more features and so much more convenience
than a standard laptop that I would never go back.
I bet you will feel the same.
The author is the publisher of the online resource sites Tablet PC Time
( http://www.tabletpctime.com ) and
Tablet PC Scoop (http://www.tabletpcscoop.com).
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