I can't believe what I just read. CrunchGear.com, a supposedly reputable tech reporting site, is telling folks how they can get Leopard for $40: The writer, Vincent Veneziani, recounts how he did just that: lie by getting a student to buy it for him, then split the license with a friend ( ie piracy ). An article endorsing fraud and piracy. It is unbelievable and unthinkable that a news reporting site would suggest to their readers that they commit fraud and piracy.

If this is the kind of writing CrunchGear and TechCrunch endorses, I'm unsubscribing from them.

Several months ago I decided to upgrade my HP Media Center to Vista. It worked ok, but the fan kicked on a lot and was very loud, had trouble turning off / going to standby, etc. No problem, I thought, I'll just take it back to XP using the official "HP Recovery Media".

After putting it off for a while, I decided to jump on it today. I popped my recovery DVD in and rebooted, but was quickly met with an error saying that the System Recovery CDs did not support my particular model. Well, HP must have shipped me the wrong set of recovery DVDs. I called HP and explained my problem.

I should have never mentioned that I had upgraded to Vista.

Man, one look at all of my equipment, and it is becoming quite clear to me that a few things have got to go. I might have to reclaim my title of "man of many tablet pc's"

What all do I have and what am I going to get rid of? Hit the Read More link to find out - and let me know what you think of my decisions.

For the past ten days, I've been at Aspen Ridge Boy Scout Camp in Preston, Idaho with my son's Boy Scout Troop. We then took a whirlwind tour of Yellowstone, returning to Colorado Springs on Monday. Just prior to leaving for that trip, I received a Jury Summons with orders to report to the court house the day after returning. You can imagine my excitement. Ten days of missed work, followed by an unknown amount of missed days due to Jury Duty.

On Tuesday, I reported to the court house, surprised to find a nicely equipped holding room with wireless Internet access, plenty of outlets, and a room packed with about 300 or so other jurors.

I had about 400 emails to check up on from my trip, so while waiting for jurors to get assigned to various cases, I hopped online and began flagging emails for follow-up. Imagine my surprise when someone sat right next to me sporting an Acer C302 Tablet PC. Not one to let an opportunity like that slip by, I began asking him about his tablet pc, how he uses it, etc.

It turns out the guy is a law student interning at the court house, and has been using a tablet pc for several years. And yes, he actually uses it to take handwritten notes during class. He seemed quite pleased with his choice, pointing out that he had everything he needed: built-in cd rom, large screen, and handwriting.

My name then got called, so I said my good-bye to my new tablet pc buddy. Along with 29 other jurors, I reported to my assigned court room. I then heard the dreaded words jurors hate to hear: "This case will last 6 -7 days". That said,  I was determined to put aside the inconvenience this was going to cause and do my duty. I sat through about 5 hours of juror questioning, and was then released. 

All in all, it was a good day. I learned a great deal about our system of law, followed-up on a lot of emails, and got to converse with another tablet pc user. The next time you get a jury summons, don't be so quick to frown upon it. You never know what is in store for you.

Maybe things are looking up as far as my Tablet PC Evangelism goes. Last weekend I wrote that I felt like I was being pretty lousy as a Tablet PC Evangelist because I was watching a steady stream of my employees choose non-Tablet PCs as their next mobile computers. Yesterday, I think I got some of my evangelism mojo back. It was media day as we prep to open our new theatre space a week and a day from now. We arranged to have all the local media come in for interviews and pictures of the theatre being worked on. We had several crews working installing seats, hanging stage lighting, painting, cleaning windows, installing the sound system, etc… It was a real show and tell in many ways.

I did a series of interviews after taking each member of the media on a tour of the facility and had the Lenovo ThinkPad X61 in hand the entire day to keep track of a number of tasks and appointments. With no real intention of showing it off as I went through the day, a portion of each of the interviews focused on the Tablet PC because the interviewers had never seen one before. As I watched them pull out their small notebooks and take notes, and the one reporter who used a small tape recorder, I mentioned that they could use a Tablet PC to do the same work. Light bulbs went off like flash bulbs. And at least two of the reporters I talked to said they were going to look into purchasing a Tablet PC. (Lenovo’s Father’s Day Sale certainly didn’t hurt either.)

I had a great conversation with Dennis yesterday, going over the accessories we purchased for the OQO Tablet PC. It is always exciting to try out new shiny stuff, smell the new leather, etc.

Along with Hugo, Dennis seems enthralled with the idea of wearing the OQO on his belt, and he couldn't wait to begin trying out the new belt case. Well, I have my own thoughts on that issue, along with it being called a pocketable device, so I thought I'd pass them along.

Enjoy!

Note - I don't know why, but YouTube seems to get the audio out of sync by a second or two with the video. Oh well...

In continuing the "Wow" series, I'd like to turn the focus to that of OEMs. As I talked about in my first article, I feel like OEMs have been resting on their laurels the past several years. Part of why I feel that way is due to my being in the tablet pc space for 4 1/2 years. I see that as a positive thing, because it gives me some perspective looking back and comparing it to what we have today. Dennis is right that when new buyers look around the marketplace, they have a lot to be excited about. But I still feel like things have been stagnant for too long, and I wonder what that says about the state of the market and OEMs take on the future of it. That said, I don't want to concentrate too much on the past. Lets move forward and take a look at some of the exciting things that are happening, see if it raising any "wow" reaction, and what we should come to expect from OEMs in the future. We also want to hear from you, the entire Tablet PC community. Read on.

We've definitely seen some good things come from OEMs the past several weeks: Gateway's E155c, HP's 2710p, Fujitsu U series UMPC, and Samsung's Q1 Ultra.  We also got wind of Lenovo's new Santa Rosa based X61, courtesy of NotebookReview.com. The OQO Model 02 reviews have just started hitting, and the press on them are pretty positive, too. I'm really looking forward to testing the eval unit OQO has sent us to review.

So, as I look at all that has come out, what are my impressions? Is the Wow starting to come back?

Well, I'm impressed that OEMs are listening to customers. That is my biggest takeaway from the past several weeks. Take Samsung for example. One of the biggest complaints about the first generation UMPCs was the lack of a keyboard and hard to navigate screen resolutions. Samsung addressed both of those issues, and added two cameras. The price is still way too high, but they are making progress, and deserve some kudos for continuing to move forward on the platform. In addition, HP listened to all the feedback they've been getting since discontinuing the TC1100. They ditched the ugly TC4400 and finally came out with another sleek looking Tablet PC in the 2710p. They added a camera for scanning, a keyboard light, made the screen a WXGA, and included Integrated WWAN. Again, they listened to feedback and went to the design room armed with good info.

Some more confirming news about Dell coming to market with a Tablet PC is also encouraging. This will definitely be a very good thing for the Tablet PC space, especially in the enterprise and school markets. Dell is entering this space to recapture marketshare lost to Lenovo and HP because they had Tablet PCs to offer. Another black convertible tablet pc just doesn't do it for me, though. Make it cool looking, Dell, and give us some features beyond those found in your typical Latitude line.

What I would really love to see is Sony enter this space. They have some of the coolest notebooks and ultra-portables around. Their screens are simply beautiful. Sony always pushes the envelope in their designs, even if they do some weird proprietary stuff like memory sticks. You can buy their notebooks in Office Dept, Circuit city, Best Buy, etc. Consumers love them. Sure, they are full of crapware, but wouldn't the T Series make for an awesome looking tablet pc?

However slow it is, the space is continuing to plod along and make progress. OEMs are continuing to refresh their tablet and occassionally come to market with a whole new design and innovative features. I've been really hoping at this point in the game we would have seen at least one OEM convert their entire line of notebooks to tablet pcs, but it feels like we are a ways off from that. For example, in 2002, Toshiba launched with 1 tablet pc, the 3500. They got as high as 3 models ( R4, M7, M200 / M400). But, now they are down to 2 ( M400, R400). Why isn't their thin and light R200 a Tablet PC yet? Do OEMs legitimately have long term plans to convert all their ultra-portable notebooks to tablets or is it all just a pipe dream?

The UMPC news coming out of WinHEC is definitely positive, especially when journalists are admitting that they are starting to get the form factor after first dismissing it. The new Fujitsu U Series looks really interesting, but they really dropped the ball by not including Bluetooth for tethering to a phone. How are folks going to use this while mobile? The UMPC space feels like it is primed for take off - if OEMs, Microsoft, and Intel can just get their messaging down, offer up an easy to use UI, and get prices down.

So back to my original question - Is the Wow starting to come back in relation to OEMs? Well, we are definitely off to a good start and there is plenty to be excited about. I can't wait to get my hands on the OQO Model 02, the HP 2710p, and the Q1 Ultra. The OQO Model 02, for me, represents the ultimate in mobility and is the most deserving of a definite "WOW". In fact, I just placed my order for one today, as did Dennis. HP and Samsung are listening to their customers and delivering more innovative, cool looking products as a result - Another WOW slotted for listening and doing something about it. I also want to take this opportunity to correct something that I regret writing. I was a tad hard on Motion Computing in my original article, but those guys really do deserve a "WOW" with their LE1700. SXGA+, integrated WWAN, Write-Touch support with SXGA, and Core 2 Duo. I take back my original statement - they did push the envelope and they raised the bar.

We need to continue to give feedback back to OEMs about what we want and encourage them to push the envelope, and market the heck out of those things. Don't complain about a lack of consumer market if you are not going to market to it We need to continue to ask OEMs the tough questions and expect great things from them.  

Along those lines, lets get the creative juices flowing - Tell us about your Dream Tablet PC / UMPC

So, Tablet PC community: dream up your ultimate Tablet PC / UMPC and tell us what it would look like. Sketch it out, show us some prototypes, include some specs, how it would be used, and post it here in the forums for us all to see. We'll make sure OEMs are reading and seeing your ideas. If we see some really great ideas and drawings, we'll send some Splotches to a few folks! For those itching for a Splotch, now is your chance. Lets get those creative juices flowing!

Last week, I started a conversation on battery life and Vista. We piqued a lot of talk around the tubes from my "Wow" article and the battery conversation article. One Microsoft employee, Brandon Paddock, even joined in on the conversation. CNet.com also picked up on my comments and that article geneated a tremendous amount of conversation, too. GBM forum members are also asking the same questions I am in regards to the missing WOW factors. Other than Microsoft's Brandon Paddock, I've not seen much of anything in the form of blogs or comments from Microsoft on this issue. I know Microsoft is reading, listening, and watching, I just don't see much coming from them publicly in the form of comments, suggestions, data they want from us, OEM responsibilities on this issue, service packs, etc.

Its kind of funny, actually. I can picture this panel discussion going on at a conference, where people from all over are talking about battery issues, Vista, etc. Good conversations are occuring on the panel, great ideas batted about, etc. Microsoft walks by, sits down, and starts listening. We see Microsoft in the audience and say "hey, what can we do to get you to help us with this problem that we are having with your software?" Microsoft just sits there, arms folded, and continues to listen. You can see whispers going back and forth between a few of the Microsoft folks, some scribbling on their battery depleted tablet pcs, then they turn around and continue to look at us. Again, we ask "can we talk about this together? What's going on? Can anyone say 'Service Pack coming soon'? HELP US!!! " Again, some stares and puzzling looks. Then the panel continues to talk amongst themselves. Amazing.

Lets keep the battery panel discussion going in hopes that Microsoft will pull up a stool, grab a mic, and join in.

I'll start. From what folks are saying, Aero appears to be a culprit in this whole saga. Another one appears to be the Vista Sidebar gadget. What does it say when some of the flagship features of the new OS appear to be the cause of many of the complaints from mobile customers and quickly get turned off?  Along those lines, take a look at Motion's announcement regarding the delay of Vista LE1700 Tablet PCs due to critical Vista errors found during testing. I'm sure battery life is at play in at least some of that, since the pre-production unit I reviewed was coming in at 1 hour 40 minutes. Is Motion waiting until July 31 for a Vista Service Pack? There is something going on here that has more to do than with Aero and Sidebar, I'm afraid.

Check out this interesting test by Loren Heiny. His associate, Bob, ran Vista under on his MacBook Pro under Boot Camp, and then rebooted and ran OS X on the same MacBook in the same usage scenario. The result: OS X: 2:15 minutes. Vista: 1:40 minutes. OS X had a 35% improvement in battery life on the same hardware over Vista. Not a scientific test, for sure, but it sure is telling.

While we continue along the battery conversation path, I'm going to start up another "panel discussion" on the OEM design issue, as I continue to broaden out the "I miss the Wow" topic. In the past week, we've seen some good stuff come out from at least one OEM, along with some "blah" stuff from another. I want to talk about and address some of it, as well as point to some interesting comments people are making. Look for another article on the OEM topic in the next day or so. Matt started us off very well asking about dedicated graphics, so be sure to join in there. Someone has already commented about Sony and their unique approach - a switch to go between dedicated and integrated. That is very innovative and exactly the kind of thing mobile professionals are looking for from OEMs.

Last Saturday, I posted my "I miss the Wow" article with the intent to address "elephant in the room" issues that can help the Tablet PC industry find its groove again. I'm serious when I say I miss the Wow, and its clear from the comments and feedback received that I'm not alone. I obviously touched on a passionate issue that has been laying dormant in people's hearts and minds for a while. I hope OEMs, ISVs, and Microsoft are reading the comments in that post and in Warner's marketing article.

Over the next several months, I plan on taking the issues I raised and addressing each with its own focus with the end goal of bringing about positive change in the space. The first issue I'd like to focus on is battery life and Vista.

One of the most common complaints about Vista and Mobile PCs is the big drop in battery life. We are seeing and hearing reports of 15% - 30% drop in battery performance, which is driving many people to buy extended batteries as their standard battery now. Users with mobile pcs that don’t support extended batteries are up the creek without a paddle. Tom Krazit of CNET News.com picked up on my comments in this article just posted today, reaffirming what we are seeing: battery life under Vista is frustrating many mobile users.

When Vista was marketed, it was touted as being a better solution for mobile pc users than XP. There are certainly improvements in Vista to help mobile users, with one of the best being, ironically, the custom power management control panel. In addition, there is also the Windows Mobility Center that be accessed with the Windows Key + X, that lets the user control brightness, sound, battery schemes, wireless, and more.

On April 1, I jokingly posted that a Vista Battery Patch was finally available and called the patch the "Mobile PC Battery Patch that Should Have Been in Vista system", and noted that it brought battery life back up to par with what Mobile PC users experienced in XP. While it was a joke, many people gravitated toward it and thought it was real, which shows that people genuinely expect such a patch. The April Fools post was also a tongue-in-cheek attempt at telling Microsoft that they need to seriously look at this issue.

Well, enough jokes. It is time to have a serious open conversation with Microsoft about what is going on with Vista and battery life. Microsoft, what can users do with their battery schemes to get performance back to what it was with XP without killing overall CPU performance? Are there BIOS issues that OEMs need to implement? Are there service pack fixes in the works to address this issue? Are we doomed to this kind of battery life from now on? I certainly hope not. Talk to us openly and tell us what is going on.

Along those lines, what can we as mobile users give you in terms of raw data, battery scheme settings, cpu configurations, hard drive speeds, ram, etc to help collect as much data to accurately nail this problem and work toward some fixes and recommendations. The status quo isn’t going to cut it and we want to be an active part of helping you solve this problem for us.

Microsoft, please feel free to comment here, or on your own blogs, so we can dialogue this issue together in an open fashion. Lets involve the larger mobile pc community in this conversation to help bring about genuine change and a more positive mobile experience for Vista users.

UPDATE:

Brandon Paddock, who works on Search tech for Microsoft, is chiming in on the conversation:
http://brandonlive.com/2007/05/04/vista-battery-life-error-in-cnet-article/

James Kendrick, of JkOnTheRun.com, wrote a nice rebuttal to my "I miss the Wow" article. He brought up a couple of items that I'd like to address.

First of all, I want to point out that James and I are good friends. Our websites are quite complimentary and share a good raport. So, read the following in the context of some good friends having a healthy debate. All in all, I think you'll find that James and I are not in disagreement on a lot with this issue, but I did want to highlight two items:

I believe James overestimates the impact of Dell coming out with a Tablet PC. Sure, it will impact the enterprise in a positive way and make inroads to markets where IT shops are purely Dell. It will bring awareness to a platform we all feel is superior. This will happen in the same way that Lenovo positively impacted the market. However, when Lenovo entered the tablet pc area, it wasn't earth shattering with every Tom, Dick, and Harry coming in to Starbucks sporting a Tablet PC. What I did see was more drug reps carrying an X41 and that is a good thing for sure. If the Dell Tablet PC rumors come true and they come out with a unit that closely models the D420, my point has been validated about a lack of innovation and design. I welcome Dell to the table with open arms, but can they please come to the table with something yummy to eat rather than a repeat of last night's hamburger?

I totally agree with James that Tablet PCs today are just as powerful as their counterparts, and that is a good thing. They should be. At this point inthe game, we shouldn't expect less. But that is not the innovation I'm talking about. Those are things that put the tablet on par with other notebooks. Where are the features that help set it apart? Are they pushing the envelope design wise? Are they designing for the pen user or just sticking a wacom digitizer on a screen, making it a single spindle machine and calling it a tablet? Where are the mobility enhancements we've come to expect in Vista? Where are the software design innovations from ISVs?

I do admit that my 4 1/2 years in this space might be jading my outlook. New people coming in are totally wowed by the machines - a quick look at TabletKiosks i440D dual touch slate, and they are like " I gotta have it ". But if an honest assessment is made over the past 4 1/2 years, looking at OEMs and what they continue to bring to market ( basically clones of what they've done in the past and what everyone else is doing), looking at software and the slow molasses pace it is moving at, what we have given up in battery life due to Vista and what the performance impact that Vista itself has dictated, I'm still left with that overarching feeling of  "...next".

This coming December will be 5 years since I jumped in with both feet to the world of Tablet PC. Dennis spent a good month before then talking my ear off about this new fangled thing called "Tablet PC" and I finally gave in and bought one. And wouldn't you know it - I got my TC1000 before he did! You should have seen Dennis oogling and aahhing over it during a conference we both attended that December.

It has been great seeing all of the new technology come out during the years. From the HP TC1100 hybrid, to the trend setting Motion Computing LS800 slate, different sizes of convertibles, slates, etc. All the great ink-enabled software, and the accessories that have built up around the technology. Seeing the inking experience transform from XP Tablet Edition to SP2 to Vista has been exciting to watch. The tablet and touch experience is now an integrated part of the operating system - that spells progress and speaks well for the future. And now, we are seeing the experience pushed down to smaller devices: UMPCs.

As good as all this is, OEMs and ISVs are getting quite comfortable with the status quo, and as a consumer and tablet enthusiast, I'm tired of it. As I see new hardware coming out, I'm like "ok - another notebook with a flip screen. Next..." Where is the real innovation? The closest I've come to saying "wow" in terms of hardware has been the Toshiba R400: the new hinge, the side display that seamlessly syncs with Outlook, the attractive design, and the wireless docking station. But even that was a partial “wow”. Another example is Motion Computing's C5 with its handle, integrated camera, barcode reader, and spill proof casing. In the same vein, though, Motion's LE1700 certainly set the bar with other OEMs, but they didn't push the envelope. All of the new features, except for SXGA, were expected and many folks would have been disappointed had they not delivered them. Even worse, Fujitsu has basically remained innovative-less since the beginning. As nice as the ST5112 and T4215 Tablet PCs are, they are basically the same units they were 4 1/2 years ago. Can't Fujitsu do better than they did 4 1/2 years ago? Gateway's new e155C is a nice convertible notebook, but again, where is that "gotta have it" trendbreaking feature? Overall, OEMs have become quite comfortable with minor refreshes to their designs, and as consumers, we need to demand more.

What kind of things am I looking for that would "wow" me? What about a big price drop instead of a steady increase? 4 1/2 years into the market and we've got $3000+ convertibles and slates. Why? How about dramatic weight drops with sub 2 lb slates? Instant on? What about battery life that makes the term "companion device" a reality? Dedicated 256mb video cards anyone? How about an ultra-thin slide out keyboard that will also prop up a slate? How about designing a built-in dock for a Zune or iPod that seamlessly fits in the lines of the slate? Why do we still not have integrated cameras in slates?

How about some eye-popping designs that say "I'm cool" instead of "I'm a geek". Design wise, we've taken some big steps backwards since the TC1100, with the inevitable slide toward traditional notebook designs. OEMs have been content with black flip screens, and that just doesn’t cut it anymore. I want more than a black notebook. SideShow devices are beginning to make some headway to panels, but what about being able to jot a small handwritten note on them? Where is the removable SideShow device in slates? How about thin remote controls for slates like the MacBook has?  Wouldn't that make for a great Media Center experience? UMPCs have built-in stands, why not slates? More than any of that, I want to see the stuff that I can't even think about yet that makes me do a double take and causes some real conversation in the marketplace.

On the software side of things, innovation seems to have slowed down, too. Is it the marketplace speaking? Probably so. I think the reality for ISVs is that the market demand isn't there to fully justify a ton of time for developing new products that revolve around a good pen / touch experience, and breaking the mold in UI areas. We've been talking about breaking the UI mold for years, but it still hasn't happened. Why?

In my opinion, Microsoft certainly set a bad example by not pushing the envelope with Vista, and by also doing a minimal ink feature upgrade for Office 2007.  They didn't follow their own marketing advice: Think in Ink. Why can't I still not ink in Outlook Express / Windows Mail after 4 1/2 years? Hello????  And don't even get me started on battery life with Vista - certainly not a mobile friendly experience there at all. When a consumer has to buy an extended battery to get what they use to get out of a standard battery, something is really wrong.

All in all, I'm just looking for some excitement to pop back in to the Tablet PC / Mobile PC space, and it concerns me that release after release leaves me wanting. 4 1/2 years in, shouldn't it be the other way around? If I, a Tablet PC enthusiast, am left wanting, what does that say about the average consumer? We are definitely seeing some interesting things come in the form of UMPCs, but I have yet to see anything there that causes me to scream "I want that - I'll make up the need, but I really, really want it". The closest I'm seeing there in the UMPC market is the HTC Shift, but it is still a ways off from a "gotta have it" experience.

Stand with me Tablet PC community and demand more innovation. Talk about what you want and let the OEMs know about it. OEMs, give us a reason to fork over $2500 and make us proud for doing so. Better yet, deliver that same stuff in a $1500 unit! Bring back the excitement that leaves us hanging on to the next announcement, wondering what's going to happen next. ISVs, impress us with groundbreaking UI and pen / touch applications that cause us to want to go out and buy your software. And Microsoft, give us some reasons in Vista to truly say "WOW".

GBM readers: What would make you say "WOW"?

Is it just me, or did Samsung really mess things up with the name of their new Q1 – the Q1 Ultra?

I can picture it now. I’m taking the Q1 Ultra to the grocery store, and someone stops to ask me what the heck I’ve got in my hands. I then tell them, “It is a Samsung Q1 Ultra Ultra Mobile PC” . Kind of too many “ultra’s” in there, huh? Not only is it an Ultra, but it is an Ultra Ultra. Since it is an Ultra Ultra Mobile PC, is it more mobile than the Ultra Mobile PC? Just asking….

Try doing a search at CompUSA.com for the product Q1 Ultra. What comes up? The Q1 Ultra Mobile PC. Wait till CompUSA gets the Q1 Ultra Ultra Mobile PC listed – both the Q1 Ultra Mobile PC and the Q1 Ultra Ultra Mobile PC will show up. This is going to get quite confusing for consumers at a time when what we really need in this space is some clarity. Thanks for muddying things up, Samsung.

They should have just stuck with the name “Q2”. Or, what about this bright idea? The Q1 Origami, the Q1 Ultra Origami. Ah, that’s much better.

Image courtesy of UMPCPortal.com

I’ve been using my Fujitsu P1610 Tablet PC quite a bit the last couple of weeks due to travel, sending my X60 SXGA Tablet PC eval back to Lenovo, working from home, working off site, keyboarding well in to the night to catch up on projects, etc.  The P1610 brings alot to the table in terms of ultra-portablity, and I have yet to use another fully functional tablet pc that fits those needs better. When moving from venue to venue, walking expo floors, reading / posting in a bus, and the desire to travel ultra-light, the P1610 hits the sweet spot for sure. However, I’m beginning to feel the effects of that small keyboard and it is cramping my style.

My wrists have been hurting a lot more than usual the past several weeks. When I wake up in the morning, I can really feel the effects of work the previous night and have found the need to take a few Motrins in the morning. Now, I know one solution to this problem – carry a bigger keyboard. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of “traveling light”, though? If a person has to carry more stuff with them just to make an ultra-portable more usable, wouldn’t it better to just get a fuller size Tablet PC?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m keeping the P1610. In my opinion, the P1610 is the most usable “ultra mobile pc” I’ve used to date. In addition, with GBM appearances at expos and conferences becoming more frequent, I wouldn’t want to carry anything heavier and less portable. With the exception of the SQL Server work I do, the P1610 has been performing wondefully – much better than I ever imagined. However, I’m struggling to see the P1610 becoming my “everyday” machine, especially with how mobile I can be at times and how long I may be keyboarding while offsite. My wrists just can’t take it any longer.

I’m looking forward to getting back to a fuller keyboard with the X60, while still enjoying the benefits of a Tablet PC.

Over the years, I have been changing the way I use my Tablet PC. Some might think that this points to an apparent weakness in a major selling point of Tablet PC technology, but in my opinion, it actually strengthens the argument of why the platform is a no-brainer.

When I first began using a Tablet PC in December of 2001, I was an inking fanatic. I used the TIP a great deal, inked all my notes, played with slates a lot, etc. I wanted to jump right in and experience this new paradigm.

Over the years, though, my usage experiences with a Tablet PC have changed as I've grasped the flexibility the platform brings. For example, I type most of my notes in OneNote and MindManager now instead of inking them. It isn't because there is something wrong with inking, I'm just at my desk a great deal. In addition, when meeting with customers, I primarily type my notes. I'm utilizing the keyboard because it works for me. However, I still enjoy the flexibility taking handwritten notes if I choose to do so in a given environment. So, why have a Tablet PC then?

It all boils down to choice. There are many times that I slip in to portrait mode to jot handwritten notes down, or prefer carrying the tablet pc in portrait mode for browsing purposes. If I find myself in a tight spot, I'll use the computer in portrait mode. Utilizing touch has greatly enhanced those experiences, as well. I can navigate with my finger, the stylus, take notes with the stylus or with the keyboard - I have so many more choices at my disposal depending on my current disposition and how I choose to interact with the device at that particular moment.

That, to me, lays out the strength of the platform. Tablet PC technology isn't about the ink experience - it is about having more choices available to you for how you work. Don't get me wrong, ink is a big deal.  But it isn't the be-all, end-all. For those who utilize ink a lot - they can do it. For those who utilize keyboarding a lot and just want the ability to ink or navigate in a more personal nature on occasion, they can do it. Utilizing Tablet PC technology enhances my mobile lifestyle and that is why I continue to choose tablet technology over non-tablet technology. I'm not totally up on whatever price premium there is / is not with tablet pc enabled hardware over non-tablet pc enabled hardware, but whatever the premium ( if there is one ), having that choice and flexibility is priceless.

I go through Tablet PCs like water. I'm currently using two Tablet PCs and they each have their strengths and weaknesses. I'm using a Lenovo X60 SXGA Tablet PC on evaluation from Lenovo, and a Fujitsu P1610 Tablet PC. In prepping for my trip MVP trip to Redmond tomorrow, I had some choices to make about what unit to bring along.

As far as 12" convertible Tablet PCs go, I have thoroughly enjoyed using the X60. It is super fast, has a superb resolution, and the overall experience has been overwhelmingly positive. If I were to buy a 12" convertible, the x60 would be at the top of list for sure.  Having used the SXGA and also using units with touch, I think I might opt for a touch version next time. I frequently find myself trying to touch the screen.

Last week, though, I started experiencing an issue with the screen that a few others have seen - the lower 1/3 of the screen will intermittmently start flaking out. With a press of the casing though, it clears up. Not a big deal, but I don't want to have to deal with a flaked out screen during a week that I also have to get some major work done on some clients websites. We also have a lot of bus time and, like my experiences at CES, being as portable as possible is very important during weeks like this. In comes the P1610.

Just this past week, I turned the X60 off and began using my P1610 full time, and although I notice some speed differences between the X60 and P1610, the portability and book-like feel of the device just screams "personal". You'd expect some differences between a 1.83 ghz, Core Duo 2gb 7200 rpm machine and a 1.2 ghz, Core Solo 1gb ram, 4200 rpm machine, but to be honest, I have not been dissatisfied at all with the performance of the p1610. I'm actually pretty happy with the performance.

Being a touch based tablet pc, too, it is a great device to have when walking conference halls, sitting on buses, etc. Flip that baby in to portrait mode with my verizon card, and I can easily whip out a post, check my email, etc with minimal impact. That's why I'm so excited to see the Q2 UMPC and its integrated wireless and split keyboard. For my needs, the P1610 and possibily the Q2 are perfect UMPC devices.

For those of you wondering, I have not upgraded the p1610 to Vista yet. I could, but I really need an XP machine for the support work I do in my other full-time job and to help address XP questions in our forums. So being able to work in both environments is a plus for me. In addition, I've been waiting for my all my Fujitsu Vista upgrade stuff from Modus and Fujitsu, which has not arrived yet ( which is another story in and of itself). 

So I'm taking the P1610 with me to Redmond because it offers me the most in portability and provides a very decent performing experience. The trade off between speed and portability is well worth it for how I work and the applications that I'm now using.

What else am I packing? I'm traveling very light this trip:

• a WaterField sleeve case that I've been using for about 2 years
• an OGIO Metroid backpack
• p1610 with extended battery and standard battery, ac adapter,
• Verizon EVDO card
• my zune and charging cable
• Bose QC3 headphones and charger
• a USB based mouse
• my 1 month old Motorola Q SmartPhone and charging / sync cable
• a paperbased MoleSkin notebook
• David Allen's Getting Things Done book

I'm always up for experimenting with different mobility technologies, enough so that it always tends to throw a wrench in my produtivity while I work out the kinks and generate some lessons learned. That said, I'd like to share a little about how I've been experimenting with Google based solutions, what has worked and what hasn't worked.

Google Reader

I've been a big fan of the RSS reader Onfolio for several years and actually still like the program. However, with the built-in RSS support for Internet Explorer 7, I kind of moved away from Onfolio over the past 6 months. By the way, is it just me, or does Microsoft need to look at combining their RSS applications in to one integrated, bang-up solution? Having two different RSS solutions in the browser is very confusing.

Back on topic: In the past month, though, I've been experimenting with Google Reader and have actually found that it provides a wonderful tablet experience. I never thought I'd like an online reader vs an off-line reader like IE or Onfolio, but when I started looking at my RSS reading habits, I found that I hardly ever read RSS offline. Having anywhere access to my feeds was very valuable productivity wise. So I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did.

What do I like about Google Reader?  First off, it handles portrait mode in all its varying resolutions beautifully. This is a big thing for Tablet PC and Ultra-Mobile PC users. Everything fits and there is no horizontal scrolling. Second, the reader provides a nice snapshot view of a post with a simple hover of the pen. Third, I can quickly look at only new posts that have come in and with one click mark them all as I read. As nice as all that is, though, I like the ability to Star a post that I'd like to follow-up on later and then review all the Star'd posts in one view. I like everything about Google Reader and intend to keep using it.

Google GMail, Calendar, Contacts, Notebook, and Tasks.

I wanted to simulate life as mobile professional where Outlook or Exchange were not options. So I decided to forward all of my mail to Gmail for a week and see how I liked working in Gmail vs Outlook, since I do not have an Exchange server or an Exchange hosted account.  To experiment with Google Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks, I imported all of my calendar items, contacts, and tasks to the respected Google / third party solutions that I'll talk about below. My dashboard for a week was a Google personalized homepage that included Gmail, Calendar, Reader, and Remember the Milk for tasks. Having this personalized homepage with all my incoming and outgoing data was really nice, but as I quickly found out, it wasn't Outlook.

Like many folks, I have a Google Gmail account that I use for various things, but I've never used it for full-time email needs. Having web-based access to my email from any computer that I'm working on at the moment was a huge plus. However, I quickly missed the tight integration of calendar, tasks, contacts, and email, and syncing all of that to a PDA / Smart Phone. If an email came in that I wanted to generate a calendar event for, I'd have to switch to my Google Calendar tab and create the event there by copying / pasting the text over or remembering what was on the email. In Outlook, I can simply drag the email to my calendar icon and automatically generate the appointment or task.

Another thing I missed in regards to email was the integration with tasks. With Outlook 2007, I can flag an email as follow-up and it automatically appears with my Tasks in my To-Do bar and in my Calendar view for one cohesive view. Gmail does provide the ability to Star emails for follow-up, but since Google doesn't provide a Task solution, tasks and follow-up email remain seperated.

A third aspect I struggled with was contacts. GMail does a good job of importing contacts and calendar data from Outlook, and automatically creating contacts for all the incoming mail, but keeping that data in sync with a PDA was troublesome and in the case of contacts, non-existant. Google, in my opinion, messed up by making contacts a sub-feature of Gmail. Contacts needs to stand on its own, but integrate with GMail and their other applications. There are various sync solutions out there for syncing calendar data, but none I found for syncing contacts from Gmail to a PDA.

I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on inking an email. Outlook 2007 provides a very seamless way to handwrite a personalized email using a Tablet PC. With Gmail, and Outlook for Web Access for that matter, that functionality is gone. There are workaounds that people have come up with, but they involve saving your email as a .jpg, uploading to a third-party hosting solution and then referencing that file in your email via some html code - not an end-to-end solution if you ask me. Needless to say, if you like the ability to send ink based emails using your Tablet PC, moving to a webbased only email soution is not for you.

Google doesn't support tasks, but there are webbased services that do. My tasks were handled by a webservice called Remember The Milk that integrates quite nicely with the Google personalized home page and Google calendar. Best of all, it is free. Again, nothing there that I found to get those tasks on my PDA, though.

One last thing on the Outlook integration aspect. In Outlook 2007, there is a feature called Categories. Calendar events, contacts, tasks, and emails can all be flagged as categories, so it provides a simple clean look at everything having to do with a certain category. Gmail provides the ability to Label an email, however, those labels don't carry over to their Calendar application, so getting an organized view of data from a category perspective doesn't exist within Google.

Google has a nice little application called Notebook. It allows the user to create various notebooks and create notes within those notebooks. It also has the feature of sending a webpage or selected webpage text to a selected Notebook. However, that is where the integration stops. I much prefer the tight integration of Outlook 2007 and OneNote 2007. Being able to send an email, webpage, calendar item, or linking a OneNote note to a contact or appointment is extremely valuable productivity wise. I can't tell you how often during the day I'll use the OneNote 2007 Send To functionality. Where Google has OneNote and Outlook beat in this regards to web access to those notes.

After working with the above solutions for a week, I went back to Outlook and immediately fell right back in to the swing of things. The biggest thing lacking in using a Google based solution was a lack of integration between the various Google and third party applications that exist to help tie things together, and an application that could keep all that data in sync with a PDA. Various solutions exist that address one area or another, but nothing tying it al ltogether for a seamless experience. It does feel like that Google has built their applications in silo's without integration being a key component.

So where does this leave me? I'm sticking with Google Reader as my RSS application. However, I'm either going to get my Exchange Server up and running again, or pay the money for an Exchange Hosted account. I much prefer working in Outlook verses Google's hodge podge of solutions, but I did see the value in having webbased access to all of my email, calendar, and contact information. As a mobile professional, the end to end experience that Microsoft's Outlook or Exchange based solutions and keeping that data in sync with a PDA is well worth the investment in my opinion. Until Google begins to more tightly integrate their products and comes up with a solution of keeping all of data seamlessly in sync with a PDA, I'll stick with Outlook and a hosted Exchange account.

You don't see a lot of disagreement between the Team GBM members, but I have to respectfully disagree with both Warner and Dennis on this Vista / Movie Maker issue. Steve, from CarryPad.com, makes a compelling argument and, in my book, he is right on.

For quite some time, we've known that  UMPCs running the Via processor and Tablet PCs / UMPCs that use the Intel 915 graphics controller would not get stamped Vista Premium Ready, thus not getting the Aero experience and some other features that go along with that designation. However, when a person chooses to "upgrade" to Vista Business, the OS that is on their upgrade path, they should not lose application functionality and that is what is happening here with owners of many UMPCs and older generation Tablet PCs. If I happened to purchase one of those devices last year and was faced with losing functionality, I'd be pretty upset, too. It would mean: upgrade the device or create that movie using another system that support Premium specs. It means I couldn't just take my UMPC and webcam / camera to a convention, stream the content directly from my camera to the UMPC, and create my movie on the fly. If I can do it now, why should I not be able to do it with Vista. That is lost productivity in my book.

Take a look at this statement on the WindowsVista.com site as it talks about Movie Maker in Vista:

Windows Movie Maker efficiently uses the power of your PC's graphics processor, it delivers the smoothest overall performance, providing the best-quality video based on your PC's capabilities.

In the case of UMPCs and some not-so-old Tablet PCs, like Lenovo X41, that statement would be completely false. In fact, it should read: Windows Movie Maker efficiently uses the power of your approved PC's graphics processor, it delivers the smoothest overall performance, providing the best-quality video if your PC graphics card is up to snuff. If it isn't up to snuff, you will not be able to make movies like you used to be able to do in Windows XP.

UMPCs have been marketed and pushed as companion devices. There is no getting around that. However, they have also been marketed as an entertainment device. In my opinion, that includes being able to create a movie that you have recorded using the built-in web cam that came with your UMPC.

The bottomline, in my opinion: upgrading should not mean a loss of functionality. Microsoft needs to provide a seamless alternative when it comes to Windows Movie Maker in Vista, as well as clearly define what functionality will be lost when a person chooses to upgrade. This page and this page on WindowsVista.com does not cut it.

I've been thinking about the Tablet PCs, UMPCs, and other devices that were announced / previewed at CES this week, and I thought I'd share my thoughts on some of them.

• The OQO Model 02  - a stunningly beautiful unit. It is clear that OQO listened to user feedback. Integrating EVDO with Sprint and addressing performance and keyboard issues are huge improvements over Model 01. However, they stopped short at not implementing touch / multi-touch. A device that small, especially at 800 x 480 needs multi-touch support. In addition, the OQO does not have a slot to hold the active digitizer pen. On two occassions that OQO reps demoed the Model 02 to me, they were hunting around for their pen and couldn't find it for several minutes. Not good. The price point is a bit steep, but they will sell a ton of them to execs. Would I buy one? If it supported touch, I definitely would.
• The TabletKiosk Sahara i440 series - a very nice slate to hold and use. When Gail Levy and Martin Smekal demoed the multi-touch, it threw me for a bit. You press a button to turn on / off the touch screen. At first glance, I didn't like it. I was used to the active multi-touch that Lenovo implemented ( move the pen toward the screen and touch automatically turns off/ move it away and touch turns on). However, the more I played with it and thought about it, I think TabletKiosk implemented multi-touch the right way. Having a button to press that turns touch on / off helps to alleviate concerns with screens getting activated when you carry the tablet.  One additional thing I like about the Sahara i440 series is that the back of the tablet can now accept a built-in stand for when you need to prop it up - kudos to TabletKiosk! I think TabletKiosk has begun to elevate their standing in the tablet arena with this new series. I love the fact that they are introducing Linux as an OS install option as well.
• The Flybook V5i - If they featured palm rejection technology and I didn't already own the P1610, I could see myself owning one. The form factor is perfect and the keyboard is just the right size. Integrating 3G via a sim card is very, very smart.
• The Toshiba R400 - underpowered at 1.2ghz and 4200rpm harddrive for the business professional and at the selling price of $2300. Beautiful white design. I like the edge display and connection options, but I'd prefer to see something bigger and more useful. Toshiba took a bold step with the new rotating hinge and is something I'd like to see other convertible OEMs begin to implement. My favorite thing about the R400 is the wireless dock.
• HP TX1000 - HP will sell a lot of these at $1299 via Costco, Sam's, Best Buy, etc. Great entertainment Tablet PC at a very attractive price. Very hot to the touch, though.
• The TabletKiosk eo TuffTab v7112XT - I was surprised how comfortable the eo TuffTab felt to hold. There was also more screen real estate over the eo v7110 with all the buttons moved to the right side. This will be a good device for the field users, especially with a built-in camera and compact flash drives.
• The S-XGen - nice pocket pc with integrated keyboard and 8 hour battery life. This is the kind of innovation I like to see. Too expensive at $1399, though. I'd rather buy a full spec UMPC or Tablet PC for that price.
• Intel vs Via - Via is making huge strides in the UMPC arena. From Medion to the eo TuffTab and other devices announced, it is clear that processor choice is benefitting the consumer at the ultra portable level. I see their impact continuing to improve.
• The Medion UMPC - finally a UMPC with a usable slide out keyboard. In my opinion, this will be the UMPC that other OEMs / ODMs should model themselves after in terms of keyboard accessability.
• 3G - As Scott Eckert and I talked about in our interview, WWAN is becoming almost a necessity in mobile pc solutions. Although I have nothing factual to base this on, it wouldn't surprise me to see Motion come out with integrated 3G sim slot for their next line of Tablet PCs. People don't want a USB stick hanging out of their mobile computer - either a pc card / express card or integrated 3g with sim slots is where things are at and going.
• Vista - Needless to say, CES 2007 was mostly about Microsoft and Vista, and how all these new devices can talk to each other through Vista services. In my opinion, though, much of the punch about Vista has been lost due to the long beta process. What can be said about Vista that has not already been written? Vista Ultimate was garnered to get a lot of press; however, except for the DreamScene feature of playing video as your desktop background instead of a static image, there wasn't much there. As the year moves on, though, I do expect a lot from Ultimate. I expect it to be the edition that most people will buy.
• Motion Computi