One of the awesome things about being a part of a technical world and being a technical professional is that there are never any shortages of cool things to be involved in!  The dilemma it creates however is that there are only so many hours in a day to be involved!  This is where I am at today.

As you may have noticed, my posting and activity on GottaBeMobile has slowed quite a bit in the past several months.  There are a number of reasons for this, but it is primarily due to an increase in the activity of my bread and butter day to day job as a network designer and engineer (which pays the bills for most of my gadget lust – a most critical function!).  Combine that with a great family I spend too little time with, and a couple of new interests in my life (including an awesome job working with my church!), and the result has been a marked lack of time to devote to GottaBeMobile.  In spite of my absence, the site continues to grow and morph into a better community each day. It has been amazing to see how much the community has grown and continues to do so, and I have come to realize that GottaBeMobile is so much bigger than any one individual, it is truly a community.

So in a pretty difficult decision, I have decided to change my status here to reflect my need to adjust personally.  I have officially sold my partnership interest in the site to my most capable partner Mr. Rob Bushway, and will now assume a somewhat reduced role on the site.  I will still be around to keep Rob and crew straight (which is not easy, believe me), but will from now on be a contributing writer, maybe do the occasional InkShow or review, and continue to support GottaBeMobile  in any way I can as time allows.  This change makes sense for all involved and more correctly represents my involvement in the day to day activities of running this quality community.  Rob has done a great job running and supporting the site and creating content on a day to day basis, and will continue to do so.  Warner, Matt, Eddie and Hugo are an awesome group to work with, and their contributions speak for themselves.  I now take the enviable position of being able to spread out into other things while maintaining a relationship that has and continues to mean so much to me personally and professionally.

I have a huge passion and commitment to Tablet PC, UMPC and related technologies.  I continue to welcome any and all correspondence, questions, etc. in this area, so please don’t be shy, my email will remain (dennis@gottabemobile.com), and I will most definitely still be around the site.  I would love to continue to hear from the community.

Let Team GottaBeMobile know how they are doing folks.  It takes so much more time than people realize to maintain and grow a community like this.  There is no way to properly describe the joy of getting even a simple comment or email that shows appreciation for all the effort put forth.  The team deserves and needs to hear from its community members as an honest gauge of their effort.  When you take the time to make those comments, it can really fuel the team’s effort for the next day.  Trust me on that – I’ve been there!

So with that I officially hand the ownership and future of GottaBeMobile to Rob Bushway and the rest of the team.  They are most capable hands.

See ya around the site.

It was to be a great long weekend out of town.  My sister and I had been planning a big event to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary.  We had a great event with lots of great friends and family, and the folks truly enjoyed their time.  I used my Lenovo X61 and a portable DLP projector to project 50 years of memories on a wall at the venue while playing 50's music with my Zune plugged into some speakers.

But ......  (you knew it was coming huh?)

Connectivity and companion processes failed me -- in multiple ways.  My mobile warrior toolkit has been developed over a few years.  It includes such devices as power inverters, portable wireless routers, all the right charges and cables, etc.  I am used to having a few gotchas here and there, but usually have a backup solution to fall back on.  In some cases this weekend I had a backup, in some cases I did not, but was just frustrated with the myriad issues I had.  Here are a few:

• Power Inverter issue - My daughter wanted to watch a DVD on a portable DVD player while driving in the car on the 8 hour drive.  My power inverter overheated after about 20 minutes and shuts down.  Oh well.  I went to Wal-Mart and bought another one.  It overheated after about 20 minutes and shut down.  Rated for 100 watts, pulling less than 50 and it overheats and shuts down.  Daughter gives up and sleeps instead.  Grr.
• Belkin TuneBase - I love having my Zune in the car to have all my music collection with me.  I use a Belkin TuneBase to both charge and connect my Zune to my car's speaker system.  Worked okay for the above, but it plugs in to the DC plug in the car and uses friction to hold it in place -- NOT.  Every time I hit a big bump , then FLOP, it would bang over on the side, sometimes causing the Zune to fall out of the device.  I have tried all the inserts provided -- same issue.  Solution = DUCT TAPE.   Grrr
• When I arrived at my hotel (a Jamison Inn less than a year old), I was told there was only wireless in the lobby (can't even pay for it in your room -- ya gotta be kidding me).  I attempted to use the wireless in the lobby, but it would not DHCP me an address.  They did have a PC there hardwired, but who wants to use that thing?  It was so locked down, not even any WMP to listen to Eddie's StreetDeck InkShow.  Grrrr.
• So I pull out my Verizon activated OQO Model 02, and fired it up.  I was able to get a WWAN signal, but BARELY, and even when I did, it was so slow or dropped in and out so badly I gave up.  Grrrrr.
• Okay -- on to the next backup, my Verizon Aircard I use with my wife's PC.  It worked pretty well in her computer (TC1100/XP), but barely worked in my X61 with Vista (which has to be a Vista driver issue).  Result = having to use a web client to get to my email.  Grrrrrr.
• So I went to the party and fired up the X61 running pics on the projector.  I attached my Zune to my PC via USB to keep power there (I had not charged it fully since I was just going to have it there beside the X61), and discovered you cannot play your Zune while it is plugged in via USB.  I had not loaded my X61 with all the music I needed, my Zune partnership is with another machine at home.  Grrrrrr
• I had planned a really cool "Collage" theme in Windows Vista Photo Gallery to use for my slideshow when I put the pictures together at home on my Gateway desktop.  I copied the pictures to the X61 before I left.  When I started my slideshow, I did not have that theme even listed on the X61.  Apparently those themes get disabled if you do not have a high enough Vista Experience score on your video card.  I had to use one of the boring and simple slideshows.  Grrrrrrrr

Grr, Grrr, Grrrr, Grrrrr, Grrrrrr, Grrrrrrr, Grrrrrrr.  It was the tech weekend from hell.

Did you notice my annoyance building?  I had just about every tech device I own and had planned to use fail me this past weekend in one way or another.  So this begs the question -- Why do I keep trying to do this stuff?  Why so many problems? Am I being unrealistic in my expectations as a mobile computer user?  As I go about my workday, I have debugged most of the normal things that occur so do not notice that many issues, but when I enter into a new scenario and have this many problems, it seems to me the debugging process is nearly impossible to do beforehand.

If it can go wrong, it did this weekend.  Fortunately, it did not stop anything critical from happening.  What it did do was better help me to understand the non power user's frustration with the current state of technology.  New devices arrive so fast, that they never really get a chance to get fully debugged, understood or implemented.  It is always about the newest and best device, and moving on to it.  I wont go into the full list, but some of my older equipment would have served me better than the current stuff.  It really stunk that my wife's legacy TC1100 with Windows XP (a wonderful device btw) worked better this weekend than my brand spanking new X61 with Vista.

So how about you?  Do you get frustrated with nothing ever really working fully?  Do you settle for backups or give up functionality to keep the stress out of your life?  Am I the only one?

Well, I have pontificated on a number of my thoughts lately, so will continue that pattern tonight.  I had a frustrating day today, mostly becuase I ran out of battery life on two different devices at the most opportune time! Let me explain my frustration. 

Mobility has a number of great and wonderful tools available right now, but they all seem to suffer from one malady -- battery life.  While I do not claim to be an expert on battery tech as it exists today, how to preserve the juice in the best manner, etc., I do claim to be one of the expert few who just plain know one fact -- we need more battery life!  Now before I receive a lot of negative comments about what I do or do not know, consider the fact that it really matters not what my knowledge level is, I have a real and serious problem.  I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH JUICE.

I use two primary tech and battery dependent tools in my day to day life; a cell phone (Motorola Q SmartPhone), and a Tablet PC (Lenovo X60 ThinkPad Tablet PC).  My MotoQ can make it through the day pretty well as long as I do not work a 16 hour day (which happens more than I wish it did).  My Lenovo X60 did pretty well on that with the extended battery under Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, but has most definitely taken a hit since I moved forward and made the committment to Windows Vista Ultimate.  As long as I am careful with pre-charging said devices, and do not try and push the envelope too far, I am okay.  But if I work too hard and long each day....., well......, I'm screwed (to put it bluntly).

So excuse my impatience a bit, but it is still really hard for me to understand why processors, hard drives, so on and so forth have progressed so far in the last say five years, and battery tech has not.  Who are the people who are staying awake nights worrying about this issue?  Where are all the brilliant minds of today in whom I have full confidence in solving this dilemma?  Where are the serious advances in this technology?  Uhhh -- I dunno.

I am now coining the phrase, "The Mobility Battery Void" (MBV).  Am I wrong, or is battery life stopping the advancement of processors, hard drives, etc. or have we really hit a battery wall?  We keep seeing absolutely wonderful machines coming out like the Toshiba Portege R400 Tablet PC (InkShow in progress by the way), or the Lenovo X60 ThinkPad Tablet PC but they have less than stellar processors or  unwired life spans  simply because they are trying to work with the handicap of battery life.  Need more juice?  Strap the processor.  Is that the long term answer?

And while I am at it, why are we so invested in producing external, supplemental batteries when we need to focus on the improvement of existing ones?

Where are the battery advances I ask?  Somebody educate me on why this singular technology has seemed to advance so slowly?  Battery experts out there -- answer this question for me!!

Signed,

Dennis Rice, sufferer of MBV!

No links or quotes in this post from anyone but me.  Just a statement if you please.

I have watched the stories of all the folks riding the fence between Vista and XP.  One day Chris Pirillo is back to XP, the next he is on Vista again.  I hear a lot of people spending way too much time anguishing over this, and it makes me think about doing the same.  This thinking has got to stop for me personally. 

I see lots of people justifying going back to XP, and that certainly is their option. I am not going to justify it, explain it, or argue about whether it is the right thing for anyone else, but I am NOT going back.  What I am going to do is continue to move forward with Vista.  I have not found any app I MUST have that cannot run okay with it.  I am going to keep plowing the field ahead, and attacking the issues as they appear.  I have lived on this edge for many years, and no great harm has come to me yet.  I freely admit I have an XP machine that is there if I MUST do something that will not work in Vista, but so far my only reasons to do so have been because I have not wanted to take the time to REALLY solve the issue I am having in Vista or an unwillingness to part with that legacy thing that there is likely a better solution for anyways..  Call it laziness on my part, but I am not going to let that thinking hinder my progress any longer.

Thus publicly stated.  I will use Vista for production every day!

(At least when I am not using my new MacBook Pro Rob is insisting I buy).

This is not a new question.  It has been debated and asked many times in the past few years.  I have entered into the fray a number of times myself, and been most involved in touting it.  So where are we in the Tablet PC world?  Here are my current rambling thoughts:

1. Tablet PC has matured - I guess you will have to develop your own criteria on what is "mature" before you agree or disagree with this statement, but for me, I think it is ready.  There are lots and lots of good choices for Tablet PC's, and some mainstream OEM's are in the business of producing Tablet PC's.  The public is much more aware of what the concept is, although a lot of education still is to be done on just what can be done, and apps need to catch up (more on this later).
2. Microsoft is still committed - Having just returned from Redmond and having spent a couple of great days with the team doing Tablet PC / UMPC at Microsoft, I can vouch for their committment.  Add to that the session with Bill Gates where he stated that Tablet is still a favorite of his, and he "continues to believe in Tablet", and you have soe pretty strong support.  Now, admittedly, there is more innovation going on for UMPC right now (more on that later too).  This is simply because it is still not totally ready for prime time, and needs work.  The Tablet features in Windows Vista are strong and function well.  I can also say that a lot of the questions we received from Microsoft were related to where to take Tablet next in terms of development, and how to encourage developers to write tablet apps.  They are on it, and still excited.  From their perspective, it has gone mainstream, which means it remains a solid platform for them.
3. UMPC is not "mature" - I like the UMPC platform a lot, but it has a lot of work needed.  In my mind, there is an inappropriate amount of attention being given to it right now.  I know, I know, it is cool and fun, but it does not have maturity.  If you remember the original specs for this thing, it was touted as a consumer entertainment and communcation device.  Now there are a lot of complaints about it not running heavy duty apps well.  Until the software and hardware catch up to the concept, it will continue to have issues.  this is so like Tablet was 3 years ago.  Poor processor support, horrible battery life, apps not designed for the screen size or touch interface.  Stay tuned here folks, there are some cool things to come for UMPC.  But in the meantime, let's not bash it to death as it tries to mature.  That will certainly not create growth.  Offer encouragement and good suggestions instead.  I currently own 2 UMPC's, and like to play with them both.  However, neither one can serve as a device I can depend on every day for a critical function.
4. Touch vs. Pen - I love the ink experience of an active digitizer that uses an electro magnetic pen (EM).  I do not like the ink experience of a resistive touch screen using a stylus (touch).  Ink has gotten better on touch devices (pretty darn good on Fujitsu P1610 for e.g.), but still does not compare to EM in terms of quality and flexibility.  So EM still rules on ink.  However, I really like the ability to do navigation and object manipulation with my finger, and that of course requires touch. So here is where I get greedy.  Give me both.  If I have a choice, I can use it when I need it.  Also give me the ability to turn touch off easily.  This is happenning, but needs more work for sure.  I see a great place for both.  Vendors who offer this choice should be able to sell units.
5. Tablet as a "feature" - Microsoft turned this corner a couple years ago, and I think it is starting to happen.  Instead of touting the Tablet PC as a form factor, we are starting to see this capability included in regular notebooks and touted as a feature.  In the case of the HP TX1000, it is an option you can choose.  I think you will see more of this as new hardware comes out.  Of course slate Tablet PC's are still a good choice, but are somewhat vertical in natiure nowadays.
6. Software STILL needs to be developed - We still do not have enough good Tablet PC apps, but that will come with more device sales.  As more people get ink and touch capability, I am confident that we will see more good apps.  Microsoft is working hard on encouraging this still.

Okay, enough for now.  Suffice it to say that I continue to be excited about the whole arena of Tablet and UMPC's.  As we continue to expand coverage on GottaBeMobile.com, we are finding lots of new angles where tablet comes into play.  There are more tablets sold each day, and new models continue to be developed.  That means more interested people,

The future looks bright, at least from this enthusiasts standpoint.

Do you agree?

  As you can see from this cute image, I have several desktop mascots that keep me company every day.  They are, from left to right:

1. Tablet Guy - He's been around for a while, and I must say he is a jealous and vicious little guy.  Keeps poking that pen at the other guys.  I may have to cut it off, then he would be "Notebook Guy", right?    I keep coming in to my office in the morning and finding the other guys knocked off their perch, I am pretty sure this guy is the culprit.  Gonna have to leave the webcam on in record mode one night, just to catch him in a vicious act!
2. Warner the Flying Monkey - This little guy can actually FLY (no kidding). He is the newest addition to my collection, and quite the amusing little partner at times.  He has been know to fly screaming across the house, just to entertain me, or to attack a passing cat that is giving me one of those "Ya -- I know I am superior to humans" looks.  He and Splotch are buddies, and plan to gang up on Tablet Guy one day..  Oh -- and by the way, you ought to hear him laugh -- it's awesome! 
3. Splotch - And then there is my very best buddy - SPLOTCH!  Not only is he the cutest little guy in town, he is the official mascot of this really, really cool, awesome, stupendous, professional (well..., you get the point) web site called GottaBeMobile.com.  Splotch was the life of the party in Las Vegas, and took Matt and Eddie on quite a few cool adventures.  Between being arrested and handcuffed, gambling, flirting with showgirls, hanging out with Elvis (yes -- he was there), and hitting the CES show floor, this dude really showed us all how to have a good time.  Can't wait to travel with him again (MVP summit coming in Redmond in March -- Look out Microsoft -- Here comes Splotch!).

So those are my friends I spend time with as I blog, post, play with hardware, etc. at my desk.  Splotch is the only one I travel with though.  They get along okay as long as I am watching, but like I said, ya gotta watch that Warner.

SO who's on your desk? 

Just a quick comment here on something that has become apparent in multiple conversations lately.

When Lenovo announced the X60 Tablet PC with a Core Duo ULV processor, they got slammed for not doing Core 2 Duo.  Now Toshiba has Introduced a COre Duo machine in the new R400 line, once again with a Core Duo, and not the Core 2 Duo, and is already getting booed by some.  We learned from TabletKiosk that the new slate Tablet PC they are introducing will also release with a Core Duo inside, in spite of the fact that early info looked like it may be otherwise.

So why all the Core Duo, and not Core 2 Duo?  I asked each and every one of the vendors that question very directly, and it always came back to the same answer - Power Consumption and Heat.

I have been around this Tablet space now for years, pretty much since the beginning of the form factor.  Complaints about battery life have been rampant.  People want, more, and more, and more battery life.  I have also heard a myriad of complaints about the amount of heat a machine produces, not to mention the fan noise that is a result of that heat.  So now I am asking the question, which one do you really want?  The OEM's are after very good battery life, minimal heat, and having to sacrifice on the processor as a result, simply because the technology is not there to produce the desired result at a price the market can afford..  Does this make sense?  Absolutely.  I agree with them 100%.  Our day to day and moment to moment experience is much more affected by battery life and heat issues (which obviously can cause issues as it "cooks" components) than it is by the gaps in processor performance.  As I use any computer, I am amazed at the time it sits idle, waiting on ME, not the other way around.  Another factor is the amount of memory.  I get frustrated by users who refuse to put that gig of RAM in a machine for what is a minimal investment compared to the time it saves.  Adding RAM is one of the cheapest things you can do for performance. 

Hard drives are another issue, with a similiar problem.  Faster hard drives consume more power, and generally produce more heat.  That is getting better, but is still an issue.

Do not get me wrong here.  I do realize that processor is an issue we all want improved every day.  My point here is just that it is not worth arguing over right now until other influential technologies improve as well.

Until battery technology improves, we will have to live with some of this, but I am really tired of hearing the processor complaints.  It just makes no sense in context of today's technology. Just wanted to say this and get it off my chest.  Let's back off of the processor complaints, and ask for faster less power hungry hard drives and better batteries from those who can make it happen.

My 2 cents.

Well, I am almost recovered from the CES trip.  It was a most exciting and very busy trip for the whole GBM team, including introducing the newest official team member, our mischievous little friend Splotch!  Huge thanks also go to our additional companion Eddie Vanderbeck (not an official team member - or not yet anyway [:)]) for some great camerawork and general assistance.

In a true blogging style, here are the thoughts I am left with after the trip.  My comments are more general in nature, but are very much a part of the process we went through:

1. CES is HUGE! - There is just no way to cover it all in a couple of days, or a week for that matter.  CES is about much more than the show floor, it is about the networking, the meetings, the dinners, lunches and breakfasts where so many great conversations take place on any and all technology you want to imagine.  The late night meetings that start at 10 p.m. and end at 12:30 a.m. are huge, just because it is the only time you can get together with great contacts.
2. You better have a plan - We had a set of hard appointments, and a set of primary targets we wanted to hit, plus a few "if we have time" opportunities.  It worked out well for our team to split into two parts and divvy up that list.  Even with that list, the pace is frenetic at best.  It is very hard not to divert to other things, especially if you are an electronics and gadget freak as we all are!  There were a few discoveries along the way as well, which always makes it exciting.
3. Our Microsoft MVP status is a valuable asset to us all - We VERY much appreciate the contribution Microsoft made to get our team into the right places there at CES.  That is how we were able to get a private tour of the Partner Pavillion (and a standup meeting with Bill Gates), had intros to key people who we would never have been able to interact with, and got lots of great insider information that contributes heavily to our content here at GBM for you our readers.  Our MVP leads were there and ready to help us anytime we needed it, and without that help, we would have been outside some areas we needed to be in.  As a part of a 2 day Vista RTM lab, we were able to hear and learn a ton of information about this new OS.  We have all been beta testing for a while, but still learned a lot which will come out in various ways to you as we post on the subject.
4.  The network of Tablet PC community is alive and thriving! - It was not just at the Tablet PC meetup (my personal highlight by the way, just like the whole team has indicated) that we saw and heard enthusiasm for the Tablet and UMPC form factor and technology.  When you talk with people like Martin Smekal (CEO of TabletKiosk), and Scott Eckert (CEO of Motion Computing), you know that these companies are committed and moving forward at a strong pace.  Meeting and talking with trhe Neek Talkers (teenage girls) is a treat in itself, just to get their perspectives.  In addition, the relationships with other Tablet PC MVP's like James Kendrick, Martc Orchant, Linda Epstein, Fritz Switzer, Terri Stratton, etc. are very valuable and help us all to stay renewed in our passions for Tablet.  It is a great cooperative community.  There are some great things happening folks, and we will continue to see more coming forth in hardware, software and related devices.  We attended a get together on Tuesday night after the general Tablet PC meetup that included Tablet and related OEM's and ISV's, and were very excited to talk to people like StreetDeck, Eleksen, TabletKiosk, Motion, Toshiba and so many others who are invested in the future of tablet in one way or another.
5. We have a lot of work to do at GBM - We certainly did all we could to bring you the experience, but realized that we have room for improvement.  Rising at 6:00 and staying up until 3:30 a.m. to have meetings, shoot video, edit video, post all the above info is an arduos thing to say the least, but we were committed to the task.  This was our first official covered event, and we fully plan to cover more in the future, so please give us your feedback on how we can improve (even including hints on how to properly use a directional microphone [:)]).  We still have lots of stories to share, more video to edit and post, and much more to tell, so stay tuned.
6. The people who sponsor our efforts deserve your attention! - This is in no way intended to be a shameless plug.  The assistance of companies like TechSmith (We love ya Betsy!), Microsoft, and others were invaluable to making this trip a possibility for us.  Please do check out their sites and products, it is worth doing and  will help continue to fund the efforts we do to bring you these activities.  We have another sponsor coming on board shortly that we are most excited about, so stay tuned for that news soon as well.
7. YOU are the reason we do this - I am way too old to keep these kind of hours and efforts up if there was not a reason (You!) to do so.  This is not a paying gig for us folks, it is an outlet of passion that we do in order to share the great opportunites we get with companies, equipment, events, etc. with you, our readers.  If you do not offer your comments, forum posts and general feedback, then the effort is disappearing into a void.  Tell us what you want, tell us how we are doing, but tell us something!  We want to continue to improve, so let us know how.

Okay, I am exhausted all over again, but I want to take a moment to thank all the members of Team GottaBeMobile.  Working with these guys as we cover these type events is going to continue to be a great experience. 

My partner Rob Bushway is the man folks.  He is concerned every moment of every day that we are being effiicient in our efforts to serve you.  He is the master of content management, keeps us on schedule and in touch, and has a great wife (Kathi) who accompanied us as well.  Kathi was the team "Mom", and the rest of us had wives glad she was along to keep us in line!

Warner Crocker.  Well, whaddya say about WC?  Loves to laugh ("Do you know what I mean" guys?), cooperative in the best sense of team effort, a prolific poster, and a news hound extraordinaire!  He contributed a set of flying, screaming monkeys (don't ask) to a late night session that made us all more productive, you'll just have to trust me on that!  His wife Thomasin was along, but stayed pretty much in the background this time, which allowed us a unique look at Warner's antics.  Thanks Thomasin!

Matt Faulkner is a hoot.  We had to pry him away from those penny slot machines (did I mention he is a big spender as well [:)]) a time or two, but watching him in his first experience like this was a blast to see.  His enthusiasm for what we do makes him a joy to have on the team.  His excitement is contagious and refreshing.

Splotch.  This little guy had more fun than anyone.  We will share a bit more on this later, but he is indeed a little stress reliever!  Look for him to be more and more involved every day in the activities of GBM, and look for ways you may even be able to get SPLOTCHED youself!

And our new friend Eddie Vanderbeck.  He is the only one that walked away with any money from the Casinos, but he deserved it after all the helpful volunteer effort he gave in many aspects of the task (including helping me find a lost cellphone!).  It was great to have you along Eddie!

As I said, there are more posts, pictures, videos, etc. still to come from this trip, so keep checking in with us.  We are moving into a nice period of activity for Tablet / UMPC, and want you to be around as we share the news that surfaces!

Splotch and I can't wait until next year!

Well, after Warner's excellent update on life with the Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet PC, I knew I needed to do the same. I have had this machine for a little over 3 weeks now, and really think I have a very good handle on using it for my style of work. If I may just ramble a bit, let me share my experiences this far.

Just as background here, in my day job I am a Microsoft MCSE working as a consultant to small and medium business on network design, implementation and support. My typical client has 10-25 computers on a Microsoft Small Business Server network, and little or no on site technical expertise. I may very likely be in 4 or 5 places a day, since I have 30-40 of these clients I either directly support, or provide technical backup or design for. I also by the way have a good deal of responsibility each day on a very cool web site called GottaBeMobile.com. :)

I am a pretty early riser. A typical day for me starts with that first cup of coffee, checking my email, RSS feeds, etc. This is all done in my home preferred corporate office location (my bed). My wife is doing the same. A Tablet PC is a must have for this activity. I then get ready by planning my day with a Mind Manager template I have developed that encompasses my work plan. Once planned, I get on the road to client sites, and move from place to place, using my tablet as both my notetaking tool as well as my laptop computer to attach to networks, etc. handling technical tasks. I am in laptop mode one minute, in tablet mode the next. At the end of a day, I typically end up back where I started -- in bed with my tablet.

Let me explain how the features of the X60 Tablet PC have enhanced this experience.

Size:
As an owner of a Toshiba M200 for several years, I have to admit that I lost a lot of my notetaking process. I used a TC1X machine for a long time, and took lots of notes. The M200 just felt too big, was too heavy and thick, and just was not as conducive to carrying around. The X60 has changed that for me, and I am once again using the awesome features of OneNote as I move through my day. It is small enough to carry comfortably, but large enough to work well for notetaking. Weight is most acceptable.

Screen:
As you may be aware, I have the MultiTouch indoor/outdoor touchscreen display. I really don't use the touch functionality much, to the point that I forget it is there at times, but the viewability of the indoor/outdoor screen helps a lot! As I mentioned, I may be in 4 or 5 different environments in a day, and I never know what the lighting will be like. Yesterday I was sitting next to a bright window, programming a managed network switch in laptop mode, and had not really paid that much attention to the light I was in. Then it struck me that if I had been using my M200, I would not have been able to see the screen. I have stated before that this screen does not appear to me to be as bright as the M200, but it simply is not an issue to me. In a portable device, mobility is key, and being able to have a consistent view no matter the lighting is a huge plus for me.

Performance:
I know, I know, it would be nice if Lenovo was announcing a Core 2 Duo version of this machine. I too would like the extra millisecond or so it gives me as I move through tasks, but in all honesty, this machine has run well for me. I basically have the bottom line performing model, with the 1.66mhz processor and the 5400 RPM drive. Guess what folks? No issues here, and I am one that uses my machine all day long. As you may have seen, I also have installed Windows Vista RTM now, and it is running even faster under Vista (although it is possible that the absence of a lot of memory hogging utilities, etc. is helping as well). I am most happy with the performance. Get over the Core 2 Duo thing, okay?

The Ultrabase mobile dock:
Once again, this has fit well with my style. I do not carry the dock in my bag, I leave it in the car. Last week I discovered that I needed a serial port in my work in order to attach to the console port on a managed network switch. With my M200, I would have been out of luck. With the X60? No problem, just a short walk out to the car, grab the dock, attach it and do the job. You corporate guys are really gonna appreciate that dock. I really do not often have to use a CD/DVD, but having it available when needed is very nice. Not having to plug the dock into power is also nice, since I am not always conveniently located next to a power plug, or want to haul out the AC adapter. The mobile dock is a nice concept.

Battery:
I cannot echo Warner's comments on his battery experience enough. I have no problem making it through the typical day on one 8 cell battery charge. I have my settings set at a typical level, and do not keep brightness turned up or down, but do tend to set my tablet down more often, whereby it obediently goes into sleep, then hibernate mode. I have the settings tuned to my style. Time to turn on is most acceptable, and has yet to fail me. I have had no issues returning from standby or hibernate, and I do nothing typically between clients except shut the lid, put it in my bag, and move on. When I get to the next client, I open the lid and go back to work.

Connectivity:
As I said, I am attached to a number of different networks in a day. I have had few issues trying to get onto either wireless or wired when I need to. Now that I am on Vista I am fighting some User Account Control and security issues, but that is not an X60 issue. When I need it, I have my Verizon Aircard slipped into the card slot, and all works there as well. I love the way I move through my day, switching connectivity options at will, and the X60 adapts to each one with style. I would prefer the integrated WWAN, but that has the negative impact of only being able to be used in one machine. My Aircard goes into my wife's TC1100 on a long card trip as well, which is an added plus.

Inking:
I really enjoy writing again with the pen. The M200 has a very good ink experience, but the X60 seems more fluid to me, part of which I think is a performance issue. I never feel like my ink is lagging behind, which I did experience with my M200 periodically. I have to agree with Warner though about the pen button. It is just hard to find in my hand when I want it. Maybe it will get better with time. The addition of the eraser is a plus for sure though, since I was used to having that with my M200. It is very natural to just flip the pen around to erase. There is practically no "drift" of the pen cursor at the edge of the screen either, which has been something a lot of tablet PC's have suffered from. I do not use touch to ink at all, and have in fact experienced some vectoring issues if I happen to set the pen down and accidentally rub my fingernail or ring across the screen while it is in my lap.

Touch:
Touch is just not a necessity to me, and in fact interferes at times. I have grabbed the X60 off a desk, walked down the hallway with it tucked under my arm, and when I looked at it at my next destination, found 2 or 3 programs opened, or some other stray and strange window open as a result of "touching" the wrong icons in transit. I really do see the need for this in a lot of vertical applications where using a finger will be much more convenient, but I just do not have that need, so am better served with it turned off. I really like the Windows Vista touch interface though. Once you learn how it works, it is a much needed assistant to your finger if you choose to use it.

Keyboard:
What can I say, the ThinkPad keyboard feels great to me. Keys are solid, not too noisy, feel spaced right, etc. I still wish they did not have that FN key on the far left though, I miss the CTRL key a lot, since it SHOULD be in the lower left. The addition of a couple extra keys for page forward / page back in IE is also a nice addition, I use those a lot.

The mouse "Wart":
The thing I still dislike the most is that touchstick thing in the middle of the keyboard. I am over it, but still would prefer the touchpad. It actually interferes with my typing at times, and is just harder to hit a small target. I do like the addition of the center mouse button for scrolling though, and use it a lot.

Overall:
I just do not have any major issues with this machine, and am in fact quite enamored with it. The one area that is a big change for me though is the desktop dock scenario. With my M200, I would come home, take it out of my bag, and plunk it into my desktop dock. I instantly had it charging, connected to all my desktop peripherals, network, etc., had a full size keyboard, monitor and mouse, all the desktop goodies. When I left, I would grab and go. It was easy, it was simple. the concept of the mobile dock is one I like and enjoy, but I still want to dock with the mother ship when I get home without having to go through a bunch of cable plugging, etc. I have to check more into this, I find it hard to believe that this will not be supported, especially in the corporate environment. Maybe it is there and I just do not know about it, if so, someone educate me!

I'll ask the same question Warner did, but not answer it. Is this my next Tablet PC? I'll let you use your own powers of deduction to come up with the response. :)

Well, another Thanksgiving day is upon us, and here in the United States, a lot of us shall pause from normal activities, gather around a tablet piled high with some serious feasting materials, and gorge ourselves until we cannot move.  We shall visit with family and close friends, watch football (American Football that is), and take a nice nap.  My family also likes to take a nice walk so we can feel better about all that food we ate, and once again just enjoy the pause in our lives while we reflect on what we are truly thankful for.

Well, the team at GottaBeMobile would be most amiss if we did not stop our busy pace of posting news, monitoring forums, doing InkShow reviews, etc., and express our thanks to You.  Our thanks to those of you out there who offer us the great compliment of reading our material, providing comments and feedback, and help us continue to grow this community of technology friends.  We are lucky to be able to do this thing called GBM.  Our growth in just 8 short moinths has been awesome, and we look forward to more.

We are thankful for you and your activities on the site.  We are thankful to our sponsors for supporting our work.  We are thankful to our advertisers who invest in us.  We are thankful to those companies who provide us with hardware, software, and all the other accessories and goodies we share info with you about.

But we are mostly just thankful for all the friends we have made in this process. 

Thank you all, from the whole team at GottaBeMobile.  We look forward to the next year!

Rob Bushway
Warner Crocker
Dennis Rice
Matt Faulkner

Well, we have really covered the X60 Tablet PC from Lenovo at GottaBeMobile.com. So what is next? I know people are still curious about thismachine, and I feel guilty having ths fine piece of machinery in my hands and not answering lots of questions.

So what would you folks like to see the most on the X60 Tablet PC? Comparisons? If so, to what models? We are always willing to request hardware for comparisons, so let us know. I also have a Fujitsu P1610 in my hands, but it is hard to do a comparison, they are such different machines. Anyone have specific questions they want answered? We exist to serve our readers!

Send questions to news@gottabemobile.com!

Not sure about everyone else, but I had a dickens of a time getting to Vista RTM download on MSDN yesterday.  The few times I could actually get the page to load, it would die when I tried to start the download with some kind of cryptic server error

Now today I decided to try again, and find it has been taken down.  I still find it hard to believe that Miocrosoft cannot estimate the demand well enough to scale things to handle this process, but it is pretty frustrating to me personally.    As a very active beta tester and reviewer of products dependent on this operating system download, I am very disappointed that I cannot get to this right now.

Anyone else?

Catchy title, huh? I love getting to say that!

We have been amazed at the response you, our readers have given the content on this site. We have quite the passionate group of readers, complemented by a lot of passion from Rob, Warner, and myself. What a great combination.

So where do we go from here?  As we look forward to where we would like to take this thing called GottaBeMobile.com, we decided we wanted to do more community oriented efforts besides just news. We have a lot of ideas, but are still very much in the planning stages of where that will take GBM. As we discussed plans and possibilities, we realized that to introduce more, we would either have to either cut back on current content of news and InkShows, or add staff to help us plan and implement more community based features. We opted for the staffing choice.  We are still not totally sure which of our great ideas we will implement when, or even at all, but I did want to take the time to introduce the new GBM team member, Mr. Matt Faulkner!

Matt is not new at all to the tablet PC arena. He has been involved in other community sites for quite a while now. Matt supports a number of Tablet PC’s in his job as a GIS Specialist at an environmental engineering company in Indiana. He loves keeping up to date on what is going on in this arena, so he’s a natural to GBM with that passion! Matt is married with a daughter who is a little over a year old, and lives in the Indianapolis area. He has a BA in GIS, plus background working with his father’s business setting up LAN and WAN systems for small businesses. He’s been interested in Tablet PC's and the inking experience since they first came out, and purchased his first ‘personal’ tablet when the M4 came out because it had a graphics card with memory capable of being used in his daily work.

You will see Matt doing the occasional news post and InkShow here and there, but mostly he’ll be getting heads down with the rest of the team as we plan our next steps. So we welcome Matt to the fast moving world of GBM!

We are honored to have him, and if his work with us so far is any indication, you our reader are gonna benefit once more by getting more great content from GottaBeMobile.com.

Give Matt a shout out and welcome him to "Team GBM"!

In approximately August of 2002, I began a journey that would take me places I never dreamed.  I came across some information about a new computing device called a “Tablet PC”, and the idea really appealed to me.  I started looking around for more information, and eventually ended up in a web forum called, TabletPCBuzz.com.  There were about 200 people signed up in the forums, and we all started talking.  I started doing purchase research, and bought myself a brand spanking new Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC. It was love at first “Ink”.  Okay, it wasn’t blazing fast, but it was amazing to be able to write on, the size was great, and it changed the way I used computers.  I eventually moved on to other Tablet PCs, and in about 2004, the TC1000 went to my niece, who was a student at Virgina Tech.  She still uses that machine today.  That machine started a passion that resulted in my becoming a Tablet PC MVP, making numerous trips to Redmond to visit Microsoft, and developing a network of friends that share that passion, both within and outside of Microsoft.  Why, I even introduced an old friend to Tablet PC’s during my initial forays — you may know him, his name is Rob Bushway (although I have to admit, he managed to get a TC1000 a week before I did).  Rob and I eventually started GottaBeMobile.com, and so far it has been a great ride.

Well, fast forward to July 2006.  When a client of Rob’s was updating to new computers, they had some TC1100’s available, and Rob picked one up.  Well, all Rob needed was one more Tablet PC in his house, so he offerred to sell it to me for a good price.  Well, I bought it, and it arrived this morning.

It was like coming home.  I remember the feeling when I first held a TC1000, and not only does this thing feel exactly the same, but it is much faster, and makes up for a lot of the version 1 issues that the TC1000 had.  I had intended to give this one to my wife to replace her aging Acer C100 tablet, but now we may have to renegotiate that (I hadn’t told her yet anyway, and she loves her C100 anyway).  This machine just feels right in my hands.  I once again see myself adapting back to a more inkable lifestyle.  When I left the TC1000, I went with a Toshiba M200, which has been a great machine, but is no where near as portable as the TC1X series.  What resulted was my beginning to use the M200 much more like a laptop, and less like a tablet.  Is there an object lesson there for us?  I guarantee it.  The overall mobility of the slate form factor is just so far above the convertible that it naturally leads us to ink as we move about our day.  As a mobile professional (I may be in 5 or 6 different offices a day), this portability is a must.  I used to use OneNote much more as I went through my day taking billing and client notes, besides the shopping list my wife called with.  I used to use Mind Manager much more, since I had the computer in my hands and Mind Manager was only a shortcut away.  With the M200, the bulk (imagine saying an M200 is bulky), made me start leaving it in my bag more often.  It was just too big to carry around with me all the time, period.  I know machines like the LS800 or Ultra-Mobile PC are portable also, but this machine just seems to sit so nicely in between all those choices, that it is just right for me.  It’s not the latest, the greatest, the fastest, or the prettiest, but I got over the need for all those many years ago.  I am in love…, all over again. Now what am I going to do?  Do I tell my wife she can have it, only to lust after it every time I see her take it out?  I am not sure I can handle that. Maybe Rob can come up with another one for me.  What to do, what to do?

Anyway, now for my own venting purposes, I need to let out my frustration with Hewlett Packard.  WHY DID YOU DISCONTINUE THIS LINE OF TABLET PC’s?  You gave up the single standout hybrid line of Tablet PC's, and joined into the confusing crowd of convertible tablets.  I am sorry, I just have never heard a satisfactory explanation of why they would kill off so popular line of computers.  When I was an admin on TabletPCBuzz, the HP forum was ALWAYS the most active, primarily due to the TC1X models.  It is extremely difficult to understand why you could not have been able to make money on these things, unless it was just pure mismanagement.  They were popular, you made major imrovements in the V2 model, and had a great crowd eagerly anticipating the V3 prospects, only to stand in shock at the announcement that the TC1200 would never be.  What happened to the design team that came up with this form factor?  Are they still around?  Put them back to work.  I cannot imagine how great a Core Duo processor version of this machine would be!  I know.., these pleas are probably falling on deaf ears, but it does not reduce my need to shout it out, one more time.  James Kendrick, can I hear an AMEN?  Do I hear others joining in this chorus?

Well, the love affair has been rekindled. I have stated over and over again that I have always felt this was the best form factor of Tablet PC out there.  Getting this machine in my hands has confirmed that. I think I need to buy a few more, just to keep them alive…., at least in the Rice household.

Any other TC1X lost hearts out there?

Mary Jo Foley has made no bones about the fact that she is not fond of Tablet PC’s and related devices.  Okay — fine, I get that.  But how in the world can she continue to miss the point here so far?  In an article today outlining any negative thought she can come up with, she once again attacks the Tablet PC, (and lines it up with Microsoft Bob for gosh sakes) as one of Bill Gates biggest flops in his career!  I don’t really even want to give you the link except it will help raise awareness of how utterly goofy this lady can be on this subject.

MJ, get over your ridiculous bias as a laptop user.  Remember this is the same writer who declared that Microsoft would phase out Tablet in the Vista timeframe (how wrong is that?). A Tablet PC is NOT a laptop, although it can be if it is the right model (a convertible model).  Guess what, it’s not a Media Center either, although it can be (once again if configured).  Nor is it a desktop, but it can be (with a dock)!  Are we starting to see a pattern here?  It’s called flexibility and is one of the greatest strengths of a Tablet PC.

Let’s take that one step further.  Can your laptop allow you to take handwritten, searchable, editable notes.  I think not.  Can you sit your laptop in your lap comfortably with the screen swiveled and laid flat to conserve room and creat a more comfortable solution?  Nope — can’t do it.

I can’t go on — I’m getting nauseated.  Either look at the device on it’s merits as well as it’s shortcomings or quit writing.  I’m tired of hearing you whine.  I think you need new material.  Bill Gates has accomplished a ton, not to mention becoming the wealthiest man on earth in the process.  Why on the eve of his “retirement”, would you feel the need to outline what YOU perceive as negatives.

Jeesh.

(via Bill Gates' Legacy: Microsoft's Top 10 Flops)

Okay, this may come across as a bit weird, but I’m gonna knock my own site (I mean our site — sorry Rob).  Rob and I go back and forth on some of this stuff, but I really want to have a “Naked Conversation” about this.  I like what Rob and I have built here, but it is far from perfect, and we are determined to be in a constant state of change to make it better for you, our readers.  We are already looking toward our next major update, and want input!  So here is your chance to offer “CONSTRUCTIVE” criticism.  Please don’t bash us, my self esteem is already low enough trying to deal with Rob’s 25 to 1 post ratio to me!    We honestly want to hear from you what we are doing wrong, and what is right, plus what we are just not doing that you would like to see us do.

Anyway, here are a couple of things I do not like:

1. I hate our navigation structure,  This has several components.  I do not like the link sections on the right, they do not seem to highlight “Cool Stuff” like I would want to.  How else can we do this?  The categories on the left aren’t bad, but I would prefer some type of DHTML nouse (or pen) over action that would keep me from having to click to see content, and maybe locate it on the top instead of the side of the pages.  Plus, it is hard to get multilevel too far with that.  I want easy to navigate, no matter how much work it takes Rob to program!  Ideas?
2. I think things roll off of our front page too quickly, and items that could have a longer shelf life of interest disappear too quickly.  Limiting the home page is necessary for page loding performance reasons, so it must be done.  We need to figure out a way to highlight the longer interest stuff.  We do not want all that brilliance to disappear into the night too quickly.
3. Overall theme is pretty spartan.  We were in a hurry to launch, so we found a dasBlog theme that was okay (very limited selection), and went with it.  I would prefer to see more shape and images that are not rectangluar or square.  Any designers wanna take a shot at a new design scheme for us?
4. I hate NOT having forums.  I want forums.  They are such a great way to have lively conversation.  Maybe later, whatcha think?  I can attack Rob the Apple fanboy much easier there, and I so enjoy doing it!
5. Softgoods / hardgood pages.  Most of you probably did not even know they existed.  Good, there’s not much there!   So why are we bothering?  One of those things that makes you go hmmmmmmmm.  What would you like to see there?

That’s just a couple.  How about some likes?

1. Logo.  I like it, it just needs to be done a bit higher res.  I’d also like to see us use the mobile star guys by themselves to highlight stuff!  They are pretty awesome little dudes, and they deserve the spotlight.
2. Feeds, feeds, feeds.  It’s nice to be able to subscribe to a particular category and follow discussions there.  No wanna wasta my time or yours!
3. Content!  I think we have great content.  We had a long conference call today with Rob, Warner and I, and there is more premium content coming, so keep your eyes out!  Couldn’t convince Rob to do that speedo ad layout, but hey, we can’t have everything.  He wanted Warner to do it, but man…, can you imagine?
4. Search — works great!  I like to be able to quickly locate info when I need it.  The more posts we get, the better that will be.  I lose so much stuff I need more search capability in my life.
5. The team – Rob, Warner and I work well together.  I enjoy them both.  No Warner, in spite of my saying that, we will not do a group hug.

Anyway, that is the end of my weird post.  Please tell us what YOU think.  If you really only see our content via feeds, you still should have an opinion on content, format, etc.  Give it up man!  We want it!

I had an interesting afternoon, and some magic occurred in the process!  I actually ended up doing a very interesting interview with a well known name in the Tablet PC blogger world.  In addition to that, there was a great announcement that we need to make on some very exciting news for GottaBeMobile.com!

As soon as I get the video uploaded tomorrow sometime, we’ll share it with you, but if you are a GottaBeMobile reader, you will want to hear what we have coming!

Stay tuned…..

Ouch.  Has anyone noticed that the Origami / Ultra Mobile PC concept is not getting much good press?  How about NO good press?  Yep -- that's it.

Well, not to belabor the point, but PC World Canada has posted another ripping review where they compare the EO and the Q1 UMPC.  Just to give you a little flavor of the article, read this quote:

"Previously called Origami, the UMPC spec combines a touch screen with a tablet's pen input. Both the shipping devices I looked at are about the same size and weight: 9 inches wide by 5.5 inches high by 1.25 inches deep, and just under 2 pounds. In fact, if they were red, you'd think they were Etch-A-Sketches with a few extra buttons......"

Etch-A-Sketch?  How original.  Let's see, Dennis O'Reilly does not like the screen, the leyboard, the performance, the battery, the lack of an optical drive, etc.  I think it is safe to say that he won't be giving them away for Christmas presents.  He did have one positive comment though:

"On both machines the program did a surprisingly good job translating my cursive and printed scribbles into something approximating English (the TabletKiosk also includes Windows Journal). For a long-time note-taker like me, this is the feature that will make or break a UMPC."

So the accuracy of handwriting recognition is the deal breaker huh?  Hmmm, guess al those other things he complained about are not really important then!  No wait..., I'm confused now.  Was great handwriting reco one of the main goals of this platform?  Hmmm, maybe we are being a little silly to complain about the lack of battery life, or the on screen keyboard then.  Maybe we should all go back and re-examine the goals of this device.

I know that the V1 units of this device are lacking.  But I am still amused at the feeding frenzy of negative information that has come forth.  I go back to the introduction of Tablet PC's and the bad press there was at that time.  It has taken us 3 plus years to get tablets that were at a good price point, feature set, and usability we want, and we did get there in spite of the bad press.  My interesting thought for the day is that I really wonder if bad press actually helps the development of a product, or hurts it?  Hmm, bad press = slow sales, = slow product development, = slow reality of good equipment.  Now I am in no way suggesting that the press should not share facts, show where products are weak, or hide info from the public who are making purchasing decisions.  It's just the use of phrases like "Etch-a-Sketch" that can really flavor a persons thinking that get me annoyed.

I still have great hope for the UMPC.  I know that none of what is out there yet is exactly stellar, but V1 devices rarely are.  I am willing to be patient.  I will report where the devices are having issues.  What I won't do is join the game of sensationalism that some many press pundits like to play, nor try and judge it in areas outside it's stated goals.

Nuff said.

Well, I just added an agenda item for my next trip to Redmond.  I want to see this "Center for Information Work".  This has been around for a while, but it has been updated to very current technology level, and includes a pretty strong Tablet PC presence!  You have got to check out the virtual tour demo. Here are some images (click image for larger view) and  an explantion of what the CIW is, from some Microsoft press material:

"Located at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., the CIW features emerging technology innovations that solve real customer problems and improve productivity for information workers. It also gives customers and partners a unique opportunity to provide feedback that can directly influence future Microsoft^® products.

“Anyone walking into the CIW will get a powerful experience of Microsoft’s ‘People-Ready’ vision for business: that an organization’s people, when equipped with the right software, are the key to driving business success,” said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division at Microsoft. “The innovative concepts and evolving technologies on display come from throughout Microsoft, but every one is focused on empowering information workers to deliver greater value to their organizations.”

A recent example of a technology incubated in the CIW that has moved on from the prototype stage to a product group for development and commercialization is the Microsoft RoundTable™ collaboration and communication device, which is a collaboration tool with a 360-degree camera designed to deliver an immersive conferencing experience that extends the meeting room across multiple locations.

Microsoft’s Unified Communications Group will continue to develop RoundTable and is scheduled to bring the technology to market in 2007. RoundTable aligns with Microsoft’s vision for unified communications, which is focused on simplifying communication and giving people more control over how, where and when they communicate.

The first tour of the updated CIW, which took place today, showcased the potential for RoundTable and many other emerging software technologies to enrich the office of the future.

“To help our customers boost their individual and corporate productivity, we must continually increase our understanding of the demands facing infor