I haven't been following tablet development over the past few years.  What are the best options given these priorities?

1. Under $1K
2. USB & BlueTooth
3. Stylus with good accuracy
4. Able to run full versions of Windows

I don't care about pressure sensitivity, multitouch, nor space. Just need about 30-50 GB for OS and Office.

A personal note to the OneNote team:  Penning on the mouse sucks. Give me a way to make that tiny dot bigger, or at least let me use the OS's Precision pointer.

Best use of a tablet I've seen, is a laptop that just "happened" to be a tablet too, meaning you can lift the screen off. Great if you need to show someone something or just want to watch a movie.

ManipUni said:

Each to their own. After using an MS Tablet to try and take notes, I wouldn't buy one for that reason. I cannot point out exactly what is wrong with taking notes on a tablet, but it certainly isn't as good as paper or a whiteboard.

 

Best use of a tablet I've seen, is a laptop that just "happened" to be a tablet too, meaning you can lift the screen off. Great if you need to show someone something or just want to watch a movie.

Yeah, I don't object to having a keyboard, just don't see it as essential as long as I have BT or USB.

That kinda sucks, because OneNote is the best note-taking tool I've found, and I've been getting into the higher maths, chemistry, quantum what-not, etc lately. Input for those topics isn't really keyboard-friendly.  Which also sucks, because I'm a keyboard-centric kinda guy.

SlackmasterK said:

ManipUni said:

*snip*

Yeah, I don't object to having a keyboard, just don't see it as essential as long as I have BT or USB.

 

That kinda sucks, because OneNote is the best note-taking tool I've found, and I've been getting into the higher maths, chemistry, quantum what-not, etc lately. Input for those topics isn't really keyboard-friendly.  Which also sucks, because I'm a keyboard-centric kinda guy.

I can understand that. What are the avantages of a Tablet compared to paper and a pen? Would it save you time?

ManipUni said:

SlackmasterK said:

*snip*

I can understand that. What are the avantages of a Tablet compared to paper and a pen? Would it save you time?

When I was in school, there were plenty of times that I would have loved to have a tablet for notes. There were many times that I would have been taking notes and maybe would have drawn a graph on my paper, then finding out I made it too big to write more words next to it, then having to grab a new sheet or flip over to the other side and draw an arrow to my graph from the wording I had just written, etc. It would have been great to be able to just grab my drawing on the sheet of paper and resize it or move it over some without having to erase some.

A tablet wouldn't have saved me any time, but it would have definitely made note taking more concise, and easier to read.

ManipUni said:

SlackmasterK said:

*snip*

I can understand that. What are the avantages of a Tablet compared to paper and a pen? Would it save you time?

Searchability, backupability, editability, extensibility... other ilities...

W3bbo said:

Tablets are overrated. Typing is much faster and accurate than handwriting; the only benefit you get are the ability to do doodles and illustrations, something you can do with a portable Wacom you plug-in as needed.

With laptops, I find lugging around, finding space for and plugging/unplugging a mouse to be a huge hassle. A wacom would be even worse. Also you can write with one hand which is infinitely better than typing with one hand. When doing research that's a big plus.

I'd say get one of those tablet EEE PC's. They're under $1K, have USB and bluetooth, and run full Windows 7. I have no idea how accurate they are though.

W3bbo said:

Tablets are overrated. Typing is much faster and accurate than handwriting; the only benefit you get are the ability to do doodles and illustrations, something you can do with a portable Wacom you plug-in as needed.

I don't think you're getting the purpose of the Tablet PC. It's not to replace your PC or a laptop, it's a replacement of your dayplanner, and your printer, etc. Getting all of those into one place.

I haven't printed anything in 5 1/2 years. If anyone sends me a Word doc at work in an email, I send it to my Tablet and Print to OneNote. BAM. There it is.

I have TweetDeck on my Tablet, since I really don't need another thing open on my work computer, and only writing < 140 characters on the on-screen pen recognition is quick for a quick tweet.

I have FeedDemon on my Tablet, this is only one way, reading, so no need for a keyboard, and again at workI don't need another thing open on my work computer.

It's also good for reading. Just grab a txt file from Project Gutenberg like Moby Dick, open in Word, Export as a Reader doc, and BOOM you have a nice book to read just need to hit a button on the tablet and you're in portrait-mode.

And I take the thing off the dock, and I'm taking it to the restaurant with me as I go to lunch, and the odds are they have free wireless.

What Windows 7 is missing of course is an Education or Experience Pack...haven't heard a word yet on those.

Edit:

Here's mine, the Motion Computing LE1600. Not touch screen but the newer ones have that.

Bas said:

W3bbo said:

*snip*

With laptops, I find lugging around, finding space for and plugging/unplugging a mouse to be a huge hassle. A wacom would be even worse. Also you can write with one hand which is infinitely better than typing with one hand. When doing research that's a big plus.

 

I'd say get one of those tablet EEE PC's. They're under $1K, have USB and bluetooth, and run full Windows 7. I have no idea how accurate they are though.

I have one of the Eee PC Tablets with Windows 7 -- it's a bit underpowered.

Fine for casual use, but I don't think it would be able to keep up with frenetic note-taking in a lecture.

I'd go for a full tablet-factor laptop.

Herbie

Bas said:

W3bbo said:

*snip*

With laptops, I find lugging around, finding space for and plugging/unplugging a mouse to be a huge hassle. A wacom would be even worse. Also you can write with one hand which is infinitely better than typing with one hand. When doing research that's a big plus.

 

I'd say get one of those tablet EEE PC's. They're under $1K, have USB and bluetooth, and run full Windows 7. I have no idea how accurate they are though.

I have a 1.5-2.5 hour bus/train commute each way to/from work every day, so I'd love a tablet or convertible netbook to write down my thoughts etc., and I've kind of gotten addicted to OneNote so something that supports it would be nice, but everything I've looked at has some dealbreaker or another (either too slow, too expensive, or the HP TouchSmarts apparently have a glossy screen that's not viewable in sunlight for example). 

Actually, here are my requirements if anyone knows of something that meets them:

* Around $800 or less

* Runs a non-gimped PC operating system, preferably Windows

* >=2GB RAM

* >=5 hours battery life

* Good support for both multitouch & stylus input, preferably with convertible keyboard

* Usable in sunlight

* 11-12"-ish screen

I'm thinking nothing will qualify for another year or so.

contextfree` said:

Bas said:

*snip*

I have a 1.5-2.5 hour bus/train commute each way to/from work every day, so I'd love a tablet or convertible netbook to write down my thoughts etc., and I've kind of gotten addicted to OneNote so something that supports it would be nice, but everything I've looked at has some dealbreaker or another (either too slow, too expensive, or the HP TouchSmarts apparently have a glossy screen that's not viewable in sunlight for example). 

 

Actually, here are my requirements if anyone knows of something that meets them:

* Around $800 or less

* Runs a non-gimped PC operating system, preferably Windows

* >=2GB RAM

* >=5 hours battery life

* Good support for both multitouch & stylus input, preferably with convertible keyboard

* Usable in sunlight

* 11-12"-ish screen

 

I'm thinking nothing will qualify for another year or so.

So I ended up ordering:

• Asus Eee PC T91MT-PU17-BK ($400)
• 2GB SODIMM ($41)

So that fits your specs as well as mine   Except screen size.  Now you're looking at 4 times as much.

Win7, bluetooth, 802.11 b/g/n, 5 hours...

I remember people saying that it was under $800 but Im not sure:

http://www.microsoftpdc.com/tablet

ESgarbi said:

To be honest I never wanted a tablet until I got mine at the Pdc and I truly enjoy it and use it a lot.

I remember people saying that it was under $800 but Im not sure:

http://www.microsoftpdc.com/tablet

FWIW: The PDC Tablet PC isn't actually a "Tablet PC" per se. The included stylus doesn't have passive electronics in it. There are elements to using a Tablet PC that you can't experience on this machine, such as stylus hover (without touch), press and hold for right click, and high quality handwriting digitization.

As for Tablets (I love them BTW, I have a Motion M1200, HP HC1000, and HP TX2) here are some recent tablets to take a look at. These are also all multitouch as well as being Tablet PC's. I'm including the multitouch tech type, since that matters to many of us and isn't always easy to discern on a product page.

Acer 1820PT (capacitive touch)

Asus PCT101MT (resistive touch)

Dell Latitude XT (capacitive touch)

Dell Latitude XT2 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu Lifebook T4410 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu Lifebook 5010 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu T900 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu TH700 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu T730 (capacitive touch)

Gigabyte T1000P (capacitive touch)

HP TouchSmart TX2 (capacitive touch)

HP TM2 (capacitive touch)

HP 2740P (capacitive touch)

Lenovo ThinkPad X201 (capacitive touch)

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T (capacitive touch)

Panasonic CF-U1 (resistive touch)

I think I'm going to do an all-up post on C9 soon on all the multitouch/tablet devices that have recently come out. Keep an eye out.

Works great on http://muro.deviantart.com/ , wacom FTW.

SlackmasterK said:

contextfree` said:

*snip*

So I ended up ordering:

 

• Asus Eee PC T91MT-PU17-BK ($400)
• 2GB SODIMM ($41)

So that fits your specs as well as mine   Except screen size.  Now you're looking at 4 times as much.

Win7, bluetooth, 802.11 b/g/n, 5 hours...

Been playing with the tablet for several days now. Very nice for the price.

The only problem with inking is that sometimes when you release the stylus, the screen will think you suddenly swiped about 3mm down and to the left. Easy enough to fix with a quick undo.

Would not suggest trying to use this thing with the stock 1GB RAM though; it's plenty slow enough.

Runs well enough for basic productivity tasks, though I only use it for OneNote.

Has dual cores, or something like them, but they're both about as fast as a retarded blind paraplegic turtle swimming upstream in molasses.  Comes with the Touch Pack, but barely able to run anything in it.  Far from smooth.

Multitouch.  By multi, in this case, they mean two. But that's two more than my existing systems.

Small SSD, but easy enough to work around by not installing software due to its slowness and by adding a 32GB SD card. Additional storage available via USB, so not stuck in the size of the drive.

For reference: There is only one SODIMM slot, so I was right to buy a single 2GB SODIMM instead of two.  Apparently the maximum is 2GB, but I can't tell why.  They go up to 4GB.

Keyboard is too small to use effectively, but laptop keyboards are rarely ideal - let alone tablets. I plug in an external.

Small, light, convenient to use. Would buy again.

SlackmasterK said:

SlackmasterK said:

*snip*

Been playing with the tablet for several days now. Very nice for the price.

 

The only problem with inking is that sometimes when you release the stylus, the screen will think you suddenly swiped about 3mm down and to the left. Easy enough to fix with a quick undo.

 

Would not suggest trying to use this thing with the stock 1GB RAM though; it's plenty slow enough.

 

Runs well enough for basic productivity tasks, though I only use it for OneNote.

 

Has dual cores, or something like them, but they're both about as fast as a retarded blind paraplegic turtle swimming upstream in molasses.  Comes with the Touch Pack, but barely able to run anything in it.  Far from smooth.

 

Multitouch.  By multi, in this case, they mean two. But that's two more than my existing systems.

 

Small SSD, but easy enough to work around by not installing software due to its slowness and by adding a 32GB SD card. Additional storage available via USB, so not stuck in the size of the drive.

For reference: There is only one SODIMM slot, so I was right to buy a single 2GB SODIMM instead of two.  Apparently the maximum is 2GB, but I can't tell why.  They go up to 4GB.

 

Keyboard is too small to use effectively, but laptop keyboards are rarely ideal - let alone tablets. I plug in an external.

 

Small, light, convenient to use. Would buy again.

 

How does it perform when running Onenote? That's pretty much the main thing I'd use it for.

Also how is using Onenote on one of those things in general? Is the screen size a problem? Is the tablet way of working with Onenote worth it?

Bas said:

SlackmasterK said:

*snip*

How does it perform when running Onenote? That's pretty much the main thing I'd use it for.

 

Also how is using Onenote on one of those things in general? Is the screen size a problem? Is the tablet way of working with Onenote worth it?

First thing I do when I come in to work, put Tablet on the dock and fire it up, is open OneNote

OneNote doesn't have much of a footprint to it in terms of needing tons of CPU/RAM. Only issue you might come across is video playback, and on my Motion LE1600 it's a bit choppy when I have a HD YouTube video on fullscreen. Though I'm sure the J series from Motion is a lot better for that.

Bas said:

SlackmasterK said:

*snip*

How does it perform when running Onenote? That's pretty much the main thing I'd use it for.

 

Also how is using Onenote on one of those things in general? Is the screen size a problem? Is the tablet way of working with Onenote worth it?

OneNote works great on it.  The only slow thing so far is when you run the handwriting recognition.  Easily solved with the keyboard, or in my case by running a shared network notebook and doing the typing on the desktop (because eee has small keyboards and my desk is already clutterred).

Screen size is fine.  Strangely, the 9" screen in landscape mode can match the width of the notebook on a 22" Dell widescreen in Portrait mode... Just leads to a lot of scrolling.  But it supports two finger swipe so scrolling is no problem.

Yes, it's worth it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to deal with using the desktop anymore.  Unless I buy a Wacom too...

SlackmasterK said:

Bas said:

*snip*

OneNote works great on it.  The only slow thing so far is when you run the handwriting recognition.  Easily solved with the keyboard, or in my case by running a shared network notebook and doing the typing on the desktop (because eee has small keyboards and my desk is already clutterred).

 

Screen size is fine.  Strangely, the 9" screen in landscape mode can match the width of the notebook on a 22" Dell widescreen in Portrait mode... Just leads to a lot of scrolling.  But it supports two finger swipe so scrolling is no problem.

 

Yes, it's worth it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to deal with using the desktop anymore.  Unless I buy a Wacom too...

Turns out the pc came with a virus on it.  MSE removed it with no problems, but that doesn't speak well to Asus and the software they chose to bundle.

It comes with Windows 7 now. I picked it up when they were still packaging it with XP, so I have no idea how well it runs on Win7. I imagine it is fairly decent as Win7 actually put some thought into touch interfacing.

I've read that you can get a version of it that has built in 3g support and GPS, but I'll be damned if I was able to find it, and of course it has bluetooth and USB (I don't think it's possible to get a device that doesn't have one of the two).

I absolutely love mine. I've never tried to take notes on it, so if you want it for that purpose you may want to do some hands on first. I mainly use it as a universal EBook reader, watching videos from my network (DLNA ftw), and some lightweight surfing. They actually have websites dedicated to netbook gaming, but I've yet to run across a game for windows that was well suited to a touch screen.

It might be worth at least checking out.