Hardware
Lenovo Adds Nice Touches to Touch on x200 Tablet PC
I’ve never been on the notebook/Tablet/Netbook touch bandwagon. Quite honestly, and perhaps from quite a limited perspective, I’ve just not seen the usage scenario that makes this a must have for me. Lenovo has been rolling out its latest Touch capable machines, and they just sent me an X200 Tablet with touch enabled. It’s running Windows 7, and it operates with a dual digitizer. It is two finger touch only, unlike the T400s that has four finger touch.
I’m anxious to get deeper into using this, because I have to say I am very impressed with how Lenovo has gone about implementing touch on this device. You’ve seen the videos and InkShow that Xavier has posted about some of this, and I’ll be getting one up soon as well. But for now, here are some pictures that point to what I think are some nice usability touches that Lenovo has added.
Suffice it to say that in slate mode, the touch implementation is actually a joy to use. Scrolling through web pages, adjusting screen brightness, or sound volume is easy to do, and in all honestly nicely done. As you look at the pictures below you’ll see that Lenovo has given your fingers large targets for many of the controls. That pays off in ease of use. That said, I’m also very pleased with how easy it is to touch and activate controls in programs that don’t have touch enhanced controls.
Lenovo makes it easy to add touch icons to its Simple Tap interface so that in slate mode you could use touch to open any of your apps. You have multiple options to open up the Simple Tap launcher, either by using the big red button, or by tapping both fingers on the screen. Both work well, and quickly. I’m detecting no lag at all really in early testing. Again, I’ll be working this out heading to recording an InkShow so if you have any questions you want answered let me know.
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Fleon
09/18/2009 at 2:43 pm
Sounds rather brilliant. I’d have upgraded to the x200 if Lenovo could still get 4:3 screens. It’s stunning that tablet makers haven’t been able to grasp that a tabler- which replicates paper- shouldn’t come in a form factor that makes paper reviewing almost impossible.
John S.
09/18/2009 at 4:17 pm
Warner…Answer me this as I can’t find it anywhere…Is this a software or hardware upgrade. So is my x200 tablet I bought in July SOL or not?
Thanks
john
ynohtna
09/18/2009 at 6:57 pm
yea, would like to know from lenovo if my current ‘multitouch’ x200t can be upgraded to the real multitouch version… it’s just a matter of replacing some parts I’m thinking?
Ben
09/18/2009 at 7:01 pm
eh… though the grid style interface looks good and easy to use, i still don’t want any of lenovo’s crapware. If i want easy access to something, i’ll just pin it to the taskbar or start menu.
smh
09/19/2009 at 9:39 am
@Ben
Agreed!!
I don’t understand why they can’t make lightweight version of their software/drivers….sigh
bluespapa
09/19/2009 at 9:59 am
How bright and sharp is the screen? None of the Tablet PCs I’ve owned have ever been as bright as the UMPC with a resistive display.
The Simple Tap looks great to me, albeit limited. The brightness and volume controls actually do something more than launch. All the rest of the interface looks like launching programs (scrolling web pages being the other exception).