the answer to the Tablet PC

i agree with that idea almost completely. the only change i think i would make would be the part about palm os5. i've never been a huge fan of palm os. it gets the job done, but its layout and config options annoy the hell out of me. i think its much better than any of the other pda os's out there, but i dont think thats saying much.
 
Originally posted by fryke
The problem I see is that the Tablet PC is a secondary PC. It won't replace your primary PC or notebook. And as such, it's too expensive (and can actually do too much).
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Why would it not replace your notebook (assuming you mean a PC notebook)? The Tablet PC (especially the convertables) is a full-featured notebook computer running Windows XP Professional. Are you confusing it with the Smart Display?
 
Actually apple did have a PDAi the early 90's it was called the newton and it was F**king Awesome. the thing had some great handwriting recognition software, it was ok to draw with, you could beam messages files and notes to another newton user, it ran on 4 AA batteries in a pinch and it even had a modem option. I actually have 3 and I still use it. i prefer the thing to my Palm V. the only bad part is that the thing is huge (about the size of a paperback book) I would love to see apple release a new version of the newton. if they do i will be the first in line. :D
 
i would like to see something like the ChatPen, except coupled with handwriting recognition technology. that way i can take notes on a sheet of paper, have that text sent to my bluetooth phone and then sent to my computer, where the stuff i wrote is decoded into text via handwriting technology.
that way i wouldn't have to re-type my notes. i could keep track of every check i wrote that day, every note i wrote, the grocery list... basically everything i wrote on paper could be backed up on my computer as an .rtf.

that would be neat.
 
Originally posted by n4cer
Why would it not replace your notebook (assuming you mean a PC notebook)? The Tablet PC (especially the convertables) is a full-featured notebook computer running Windows XP Professional. Are you confusing it with the Smart Display?
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Nope, of course I'm not. But the 'convertibles' are a bit too heavy, I think, to be really useful. Also their battery life isn't exactly overwhelming.
 
Originally posted by fryke
Nope, of course I'm not. But the 'convertibles' are a bit too heavy, I think, to be really useful. Also their battery life isn't exactly overwhelming.
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The leaves the slates. They are still full laptops, and have detachable keyboards. HP has a slate that looks like a standard laptop when the keyboard is connected, and a slate when not.

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/tabletpc/


Electrovaya's slate has 8 -16 hrs battery life.
http://www.electrovaya.com/scribbler.html

Not a slate, but the Acer TPC is 3lbs.
http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/tmc100.htm
 
no, buddahbobb, it's about what Apple could do to answer the Tablet PC, and as such is considered a 'Mac Rumour', although discussions sometimes get off-topic ;)
 
Originally posted by malexgreen
Is Apple planning on releasing in the near future (within 3 months) a notebook that has a touch-sensitive screen that supports "digital ink?"
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I have still been curious about the tablet pc. I went to a Gateway store yesterday. I tried out their tablet pc. Here's my take on it:

The Gateway tablet is in the "slate" form-factor. I think the slate form-factor is great when being used as a tablet. However, if you want
to use it as a normal notebook, you will find using the software keyboard hard to use. Also, because it is a slate, it isn't a notebook. So you have
to plug in a CDROM/DVD drive, keyboard, etc. If I were to get a tablet, I'd get a convertable so that I can have maximum portable flexibility (I can
use keyboard or digital ink on the fly).

The MS Journal software is pretty good. It could not translate my natural handwriting to text, e.g. it couldn't translate my signature.
However, if I use good cursive penmanship, it found recognized it okay. However, just writing on the journal itself is just like using paper, just
better 'cause it digital. I was also able to import a MS word document into MS Journal and add hand-written notes.
The hardware specs on the tablet are somewhat disappointing. Most, if not all tablets are using low-volt PentiumIII's (I think some are
using 1GHz PIII's) with 256MB. So you're not necessarily dealing with the top-of-line performance.
The price is kinda steep compared to other windows-based notebooks. You definitely are paying a premium for the MS Journal feature, as the
HW is nothing exciting in and of itself.


Final analysis: I was very impressed by the handwriting capability. I see a definite use for this at work and in a classroom environment.

I still think Apple could come in with a 800 GHz PPC-based tablet mac that could trump this device. If they came out with this in either slate or
notebook form-factor at a price lower than the tablet pc's they would take a big chunk of this market, if they could have all the other features
supported in their powerbook and ibook platforms.
 
I'm pretty sure that the guys at Apple will do something with this idea... But I would rather say that there is no need to come upe with something similar than in the PC market -Although I think Ink just rocks already and DOES e.g. Dutch handwriting recognition in comparison with the XP-tablet PC version and would as such not be such a bad thing - but something really useful, light, compact, superior battery life, readable in the sun,... and affordable.
 
I didn't read every post in this topic, but if one doubts the usefulness of a tablet PC, think about the practice of medicine and the whole idea of the electronic patient chart. A tablet PC (with a very well designed information system and UI) would allow nurses and physicians to continue practicing medicine in ways they have developed and refined over time (referring to the paper chart), while making them more informed and productive (by no longer having to thumb through a paper chart). This whole issue is far more complex than could be covered here (security, privacy, reliability...), but we really can't expect the electronic chart to be adopted if it is only available on desktops or even laptops.
 
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