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Monday, March 27, 2006

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Being honest about Tablet PCs

- Rob Bushway

I’ve noticed a growing trend in forum and blog posts since the UMPC / Origami was announced – the number of people who have said: I’d get one because I just don’t take my Tablet PC with me to the places I really need it – which really means “ I don’t take it to the places I really need to take notes, because it is just too big and clumsy and I’m not utilizing it fully for what it is intended.”

Dennis mentioned that he doesn’t take his 12” M200 with him alot in and around a client site because it is just too bulky. Warner would consider getting an M280 and supplementing that with a UMPC. Marc Orchant has said the same thing in the On The Run with Tablet PCs podcast – he loves his M280, but doesn’t take it anywhere. When I go to church or to a friends house, I typically leave my x41 behind. I’d seriously consider a powerful desktop with a companion UMPC / LS800.

With all the talk about Tablet PCs being personable, take anywhere devices, are they really? Where do you take your Tablet PC? Do you take it everywhere that you really want to? Are you really getting the notetaking productivity out of it that you were promised? I was talking to my mother in law this weekend. She loves her Gateway M280, but she doesn’t take it anywhere. She held the LS800 and said “ Now that is what I really want”.

I know of several people that are “not allowed” to take their convertible tablets with them – can you say “ significant other?” Even a 12” slate is considered too big and “noticeable”. The TC1100 was the closest to getting to be that “perfect size” – until the LS800 came along.

I’ll be brutally frank here – I’m enjoying this LS800 more than I really ought to and I don’t know that I am going to want to sell this when my review is finished. It is with me just about everywhere I go. Why? It is small enough not to be a nuisance, powerful enough to be what I need it to be when I want it to be, and it contains everything that I need. Plus – it feels soooo good in my hands. It honestly feels like what you envision a Tablet PC should be – personable, everything within a pen or button away, fits in your hands, and small enough to not be a distraction. Microsoft and Intel have isolated a “sweet spot” in regards to mobile computing with the UMPC. Thank you, Motion, for leading the way.

I believe the future of mobile computing is: a cheap, powerful notebook / desktop and a UMPC device. Sound familiar? Looks just like the classic desktop / pda combo, doesn’t it? The big difference being that you will finally be able to take a full computer with you and it be a workable, syncable, productive solution that also recognizes your own handwriting.

I’m not being “Pollyanna” here. Those of you who have followed me over the years know that I have been through the Tablet PCs and I try to call things as I really see them. The X41 still remains my favorite convertible notebook, but as far as Tablet PCs go, I think I’m beginning to see the future with the LS800 and the UMPC. A year from now, I see a UMPC type of device in my hands and a powerful desktop underneath my desk.

Editorials | Rob Bushway | Motion Computing | Tablet PC | Ultra Mobile PC

3/27/2006 3:46 PM MST

Being honest about Tablet PCs Comments [10] | Digg This | del.icio.us | Citations

Monday, March 27, 2006 4:14:03 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Rob,

I been saying this for years, at least to my family. The best combo, is a powerful desktop, and a small Windows XP Sidekick device.

The closest I ever became to emulating my vision, was my desktop and TC1100. Though at times the TC1100 was too big.

I loved it though. I did all of my work on my desktop, but when I left my office, just grab and go with the TC1100. It was great.

Mike

Michael Venini

Monday, March 27, 2006 5:35:34 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Rob:

Just to set the record straight, I actually take my Gateway with me pretty much whereever I go - I just don't go a lot of places usually. What I've always said about it is that *if* I was highly mobile, like you or James, I would probably be using a different Tablet PC because lugging this thing all day long would not be fun. I just got back from a trip to Santa Monica and was in no way hampered by the Gateway. I even did an airplane demo!

Marc Orchant

Monday, March 27, 2006 5:48:45 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

I take my tablet PC everywhere that I need to take notes. And this is pretty much just my classes at college. So, my 14" R15 screen is not to big by any means. Now, if I was going to the shopping mall and taking notes, I might want something smaller. But I have never had and probably never will have a need to take a lot of notes in places outside of classes. At least until I graduate, depending on my job.

Aaron Axvig

Monday, March 27, 2006 8:20:57 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

I can partially see the argument here, but I see the same issues with a 7" screen as a 12" - it doesn't fit in a pocket.

Once MS gets their OneNote sync working two way with WM5, my setup will be perfect. I take my PPC6700 everywhere, it has a qwerty keyboard for quick notes and audio recordings, and those things will go right into my X41T (or X60T? I can dream) and life will be good.

With the core duo tablets emerging, and more realistic graphics chipsets from nvidia and ati, I can really see myself with a 3-4lbs convertible that I would want a docking station for, then I'll only have the tablet and the ppc.

I really think the usefullness of the origami is limited. It's definitly cool, and I want one, but I just don't see it replacing a larger screen tablet for normal computing, and I definitly wouldn't carry it around any more than my X41T.

Vince Anido

Monday, March 27, 2006 9:03:22 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Vince Anido wrote:
> I can partially see the argument here, but I see the same issues with a 7" screen as a 12" - it doesn't fit in a pocket.

I think the best solution is to have a bigger pocket: see http://www/segal.org/tablet/photo/

Mickey Segal

Monday, March 27, 2006 9:24:56 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

I take the tc1100 everywhere I work and the Sony U everywhere else. It is small enough I can take it everywhere and that's a big issue with me. I think the 7" UMPC can be that way too, picture a dayplanner type leather portfolio which could easily be taken almost anywhere. I hope the OEMs step up to the plate with portfolios like this.

James Kendrick

Monday, March 27, 2006 9:27:40 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Like Marc, I take my TabletPC nearly everywhere. It goes to Tae Kwon Do, restaurants, movie theaters, book signings, vacationing on a houseboat (not that my friends allowed me to use it), work, to friends' houses for visiting a spell, etc. It's even been to a wedding and church.

When the job calls late at night, I am afraid that it would prove too tempting for evildoers, so it's left at home. I look forward to discreetly toting my UMPC at the odd hours (why do these penabled devices keep getting me excited about work?).

Don't get me wrong, though. I suspect the Tablet would stay home more after my new baby arrives.

MiniMage

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 12:50:58 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Back in 1998, I used to have a Newton MessagePad 2100 that I took everywhere. It and the LS800 are about the same size, though I believe the LS800 a bit larger and heavier. And the Newton had all-the-time, really good handwritting recognition to the point where I could even take my engineering notes on it. As for applications, there were tons and really well written. But it was just too big and clunky to carry around. My then girlfriend got tired of me asking her to hold it for me while I had to do something else while we were out.

As the Palm gained ground, I tried it out. And while the Palm OS (POS) wasn't even generations close to the Newton OS and its abilities, it was good enough. And it was small enough to fit in my pocket. But eventually, I grew tired of even that. Why?

There is simply something wrong with whipping out my electronic mini-tablet to just write down stuff. It's an impediment to spontaneity, a barrier to getting ideas out.

Now, my new PDA is a piece of paper. Compared with paper, for just getting info down, nothing even comes close. Kids can't break it, if I loose it, it's just paper, it's biodegradable, significant others (or just others) don't roll their eyes when I write on it, and it fits in my pocket without people asking me if I've got a computer in my pocket or I just love being at (fill in your location here).

For something like Origami to really take off to the point where regular people use it, it will have to shrink down to the size of an iPod and with a battery life of at least as long as that of the iPod Video.

Jim Hillhouse

Thursday, March 30, 2006 8:55:10 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

I agree. I have a TC1100 and it is extremely portable without the keyboard; weighing in at only 3.1 lbs. But as Rob said, it is still too cumbersome to carry around all day and that is precisely what I am looking for. I am very intrigued by the Fujitsu P1510D. At 2.4 lbs. with the extended battery, this could be a great device. The touch screen is both a pro and a con, so I'm not sure how "perfect" a tablet it is.

The new UMPCs do look good. But I am a firm believer that battery life is the final arbiter for mass use of a portable device. It can be 2 lbs. or it can be 6 lbs. But if it doesn't have a full days battery life, it's a brick at some point and no one wants to carry around a brick.

Getting that battery life and getting that low weight is an exceedingly tall order. I am under no illusions on that. But I do believe that Bill Gates had it right when he said the goal was an under 2 lbs. device with an all day battery at an $800 price point. They're not there yet, but they are certainly on the right track.

Stephen Feger

Thursday, August 17, 2006 6:16:31 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

I take my LE1600 pretty much everywhere... not counting something like the grocery store or to movies, but yeah I take anywhere I might be expecting to sit down and may want to use it.

T

Skeleton Man

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