First Impressions with a Tablet PC

I have been using and enjoying my Tablet PC since early August. The tablet provides an extraordinary computing experience. For example, I am writing this with handwriting recognition. It really works! The screen looks like a yellow legal pad. The pages are infinite. Microsoft calls the writing on the screen “ink”, and the program I just described is Microsoft Journal. Some of the features include the ability to highlight, move text, insert space between lines, and change the color and thickness of the ink. The pen is a special stylus that works with a new type of screen, an active digitizer. The stylus on a Tablet PC active digitizer screen is different from the stylus one is accustomed to, enabling hovering, a method of bringing up menus or highlighting without touching the screen.

          

Many people ask – “Can the ink be turned into text?” Yes, the ink can be turned into text, and it really is impressive. Not perfect, but better than any other experience I have had converting handwriting to text on a computer. The active digitizer screen and the stylus work together to eliminate the “palm rejection” problem that plagues current tablet computer models with “resistive digitizers.” Palm rejection software has been available for several years in the Fujitsu Stylistic and other brands, but was not 100%effective. The Tablet PC’s work perfectly with your hand resting on the screen, just like when writing on paper.

The Tablet PC uses Microsoft XP for Tablet PC’s, a superset of XP that makes ink a data type and offers many other features, including Journal, Sticky Notes, and a new game called Inkball that is quite addictive. I have found that I typically use “ink” as ink. This means that I write on the tablet just like I would write on my yellow pad or a scrap of paper. I can select from other templates including graph paper, to-do lists, blank sheets, and even a music template for the wannabe composer.

Ink notes can be saved, emailed, printed and looked up. It is easy to view pages quickly using the scroll key, see a list of recent notes or open a folder, most often the “My Notes” folder. Notes can be viewed in a recipient’s browser. “Ink” is a new data type, just like numbers and characters. Think of it like lots of pads, each with many pages. Each journal note can have a title, and as many pages as needed. The pages can include handwriting, drawing, photographs, and text from an on-screen pop-up keyboard or from a real keyboard. An external keyboard can be attached to any Tablet PC, and some models are convertible to a notebook which of course has a keyboard.

I have attached notes to my contact manager, ACT, the same way documents are attached. Corporate sales forces will be able to use this with existing Sales Force Automation systems. Doctors can take notesand enter information into Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. The notetaking capabilities are useful to anyone who needs to record information efficiently and access it in multiple forms. The Tablet PCoffers speech recognition, which works even better than the handwriting recognition after a short training session. The training takes about an hour and the accuracy for me is 90+% using a Plantronics USB headset. Office applications including Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook are tablet enabled with an add-on that is included with the Tablet PC. I recently annotated slides during a presentation and emailed the notes to participants.

All of the Tablet PC’s being introduced in November use an active digitizer that requires a special stylus that costs up to $50 to replace. Fingers or inexpensive plastic styli that can be used on “resistive screens” such as the current models of tablet computers from ViewSonic (ViewPad 1000), Fujitsu (Stylistic LT-P600 and 3500), and webpads from several manufacturers cannot be used on a Tablet PC. This may prove to bea problem for applications such as surveys that rely on a finger touching the screen instead of a stylus.

           

The Acer Convertible Tablet PC

There are two form factors of Tablet PC’s, slate and convertible. A few, like the Acer Tablet PC that I have used the past two months morphs from a tablet to a notebook by swiveling the screen like you do with the display on a video camera. Slate models will be available from Fujitsu, ViewSonic, Motion Computing, and other manufacturers. I have tried all four, and for me the convertible make the most sense. I like the option to use it as a notebook when typing long passages and long emails. I find I use it in the tablet mode most of the time (80+%) professionally and for personal uses such as viewing photographs, surfing the web, and short emails.

        
     ViewSonic V1100              Motion M1200

To be honest, after writing on the screen for about 15 minutes I converted my tablet to a notebook and typed the rest of this article. I can type quite fast and the editing is simpler. This does not mean that the tablet mode is not effective…it depends on the task. I use the stylus to fill out forms, write short email or instant messages, enter filenames, and writing notes. For longer typing tasks the “Tablet PC Input Panel” offers an excellent on-screen keyboard, a writing pad, dictation, and several other options.

Convertibles will be adopted by many people who want to run “horizontal” applications. For example, if your personal notebook or the notebooks in your organization are approaching end-of-life a convertible Tablet PC should definitely be considered. A slate model may be appropriate for “vertical markets”, such as healthcare, sales forces, inspection and insurance. The slates offer desktop docks for convenience and connectivity. A second monitor can be connected to a dock, as well as a keyboard, mouse, network, modem, printer, monitor, and other peripherals.

I took the 3 pound Acer on vacation and utilized the built-in WiFi (802.11b) at Internet Cafés and to dialupfrom hotel rooms. I also kept a travel journal and inserted digital pictures on each page. The built-in Firewire interface made this quite simple. I’ll be testing a Bluetooth card with a high speed (1X) Bluetooth enabled phone this fall to enable access in areas with cellular coverage.

The Tablet PC’s will be shipping in November. Some models will be shipped in early October in limited quantities (we’re shipping the Acer’s on October 10th!) Now would be a good time to learn more about the capabilities of a Tablet PC. Think about how it could change the interaction you have with colleagues and clients, eliminating the barrier that a notebook creates. The possibilities are endless.

The big decision – a slate or a convertible.


Geoff Palmer is the President of InfoCater, based in Boston. InfoCater helps companies select situation-appropriate tablet technologies, develops tablet solutions, and sells webpads, Tablet PC’s and accessories from leading suppliers.

Geoff Palmer, President, InfoCater, www.infocater.com [ http://www.infocater.com ]