Pens are one of those personal things – either an OEM got it right or they totally messed it up. Fortunately, if your tablet pc uses a Wacom digitizer, there are plenty of pens to choose from if you don’t like the one that came with your system. Unfortunately, the only one that will fit in the pen slot is the one that shipped with it. For Dell XT owners, you only have one choice due to the N-Trig digtizer: the square black one.

Pens are important for Tablet PCs, and they often have small differences between makers. Those differences and how one feels about them vary from user to user. What may feel good in my hands may not in yours. Some come with erasers. Some do not. Some have buttons easier to find with your fingers, others do not. Here’s a run down on what I think of the pens that come with the HP 2730p Elitebook and the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet PC.

The pen that comes with the Lenovo is slightly larger than the HP. Consequently it feels better in my hand. The HP pen is an adequate size and I don’t have any problems Inking with it, but I do prefer the Lenovo pen when it comes to size.

Power adapters are one of those things that mobile workers get very picky about. The size of the power brick means a great deal when packing a gear bag. Fortunately, both the Lenovo X200 and the Dell Latitude XT both have pretty small adapters and should appeal to the gear-packing folk among us. In addition to their small size, both adapters feature wrap straps to help keep the cords neat and tidy. Both adapters are exactly the same length in cord size. All of that said, I do have to give it up to Dell for their 45 watt slim-line adapter – that is one sweet and thin adapter.

With my announcement about leaving Evernote for the wonderful world of inking in OneNote, several folks have asked about how syncing is done in OneNote, the issues with using folder type syncing, etc. We have several resources on this topic already that Josh Einstein produced for us.

• How to set up syncing for OneNote – InkShow
• OneNote notebooks and the problem with folder level syncing

The fact that we need tutorials and inkshows on how to setup syncing in OneNote clearly shows the problem here. I don’t recall ever needing a tutorial for syncing with Evernote. I’ll repeat my request here: OneNote Team: get busy with a drop-dead simple sync solution.

My goodness. Rob is casting off Evernote and heading back to OneNote. As an Inker, I can’t argue with his reasons. In fact they make great sense. Evernote’s Ink support is rudimentary at best on a Tablet PC for all the reasons Rob stated. My opinion is that the Evernote team is busy working on other aspects of the program (syncing, cross platform, mobile, etc…) and Inking has fallen by the wayside. You don’t have to look any further than the Mac client to see that. The Icon saying Ink Support coming soon has been on display since the beta launched.

I agree with Rob’s points, but I’m going to stick it out just a little longer. I took notes in dress rehearsal last night using Evernote and all of the frustrations Rob mentioned were there when it comes to note taking. But the reason I’ll give Evernote a little more time is that those notes were all available to me this morning on multiple devices across multiple platforms, with the exception of my Mac. That said, I was able to view them on the web interface on that machine as I was planning the day.

Rob’s pushing the OneNote team to come up with a syncing option and I’d love to see that. I’d like to say something different here, but I’m not holding my breath.

In both instances this is a case of leaving the Inkers behind.

Ok, I have to get this off my chest – I’ve had it with inking in Evernote – it is laggy, recognition is poor, it doesn’t support mixing ink and text, and the pen icons are very aggravating to the eye while writing a note. There, I said it. I feel much better now.

I honestly believed that the fantastic syncing, mac / pc support, and mobility features of Evernote would allow me look past the inking struggles, but I was wrong. For the past several weeks, whenever I’ve had to ink a note, I’d start off in Evernote and then, frustrated,  start up Journal, OneNote, or InkSeine to get it done. The inking in Evernote has been such an irritant to me, the interface and recognition results feels like I stepped back in time three to five years. Yes, OneNote is that much better in terms of inking, recognition, and mixed notetaking support, that I’m willing to sacrifice the mobile and seamless sync features in order to keep all of my ink and text notes in one place – OneNote.

I’ve made numerous pleas with Evernote to address the inking issue in their otherwise fine notetaking application, but their focus is set elsewhere: syncing, mobile, and multiple client support. Evernote – if you decide to make ink a higher priority in your superb notetaking application, let me know. I’d love to start using it again. OneNote Team: get going on some Evernote-type-of-sync, k?

Anyone else struggling with the ink in Evernote?

If you're new to Tablet PCs or just want to learn a bit more, this series is for you.  I've been using a Tablet PC exclusively for the past two weeks, and in this GBM InkShow, I share my experiences.  Learn more by checking out our Tablet PC 101 series.

Our InkShows are brought to you by TechSmith:

Check out the other articles in this series:

Part 1: The plan to purchase a Tablet PC.

Part 2: Selecting a unit to purchase.

Part 3: Tablet PC arrives and first reactions.

Many of our readers have asked for head to head comparison photos between the Lenovo X200 Tablet PC and Dell’s Latitude XT Tablet PC. Here is the first set of comparisons. I’ll post pictures of the docking stations next, as well as some benchmarks and battery life comparisons later next week.

Follow the Read More link for impressions of the two tablet pcs, as well as a lot of comparison pictures.

I'm still trying to wipe the puddle of drool off my keyboard after seeing this demonstration from Microsoft's Jonathan Cluts. The interactive 3-D Gray's Anatomy with various systems of interest a touch away is truly amazing. Speaking of touch, Microsoft seems to have fully implemented its capabilities during this demonstration. Not once was an active digitizer used and the accuracy of touching the screen with a fingertip is truly amazing. I wish this technology is out now! Or at least have it coming soon, please Microsoft?

The true capabilities of tablet computing, especially in an academic setting, is very well illustrated in this video. There are also brief screenshots of a future version of OneNote where Onenote is seamlessly integrated into the tablet experience as well as a timeline-like utility that allows you to quickly recall information from years ago. The most fascinating part of the video is towards the end where Jonathan Cluts reveals the future of tablet PCs resides in both cloud and client-based software. The two conjunctively working together enables what is shown in the video. I just can't wait to see more on this!

John Guinn has created a new PowerToy for OneNote that will make it easier for those to live in OneNote to create calendar pages. Essentially you enter in your start and end date and the PowerToy will create a page for each day for you in OneNote. If you wish to add an agenda for each day you can do so and specify start and end times for that as well.

Check out the details and download the OneNote Calendar Page Maker here.

I’ve been living vicariously through Warner and his awesome Lenovo X200 Tablet PC reporting – man, he has done a fantastic job reporting on the X200, comparing it to the HP 2730p, and more. I believe a full X200 review is just about ready to get published, so stay tuned.

Fortunately, I no longer have to rely on Warner’s reporting – Lenovo just sent me a X200 Tablet to evaluate and I’m going to be doing just that over the next 90 days: giving my own impressions of the new design, the ultra-base, and also comparing it to the Dell Latitude XT. Unfortunately, I don’t have the touch unit, so I won’t be able to do any touch comparisons. I’m sure they will send one when those units are ready.

Meanwhile, I have to say: as much as I enjoy using the Latitude XT, there is nothing like a ThinkPad keyboard and trackstick. As soon as I started typing on the X200, my fingers felt right at home. The flush bezel is also a major improvement in usability for the tablet pc user.

I should also point out that Lenovo really outdid themselves on the new X200 ultrabase. Not only can the ultrabase charge the extended battery while plugged in to the tablet pc (which the Latitude XT docking station cannot do), but the new ultrabase also has a charging port that will charge an additional battery – that capability allows you to charge two extended batteries at the same time – that is a HUGE benefit to the mobile worker.

Here is a picture of the charging port on the new X200 ultrabase, with the old ultrabase sitting on top of it, as well pictures of the ultrabase charging the extended battery using the charging port. Stay tuned while I put the X200 through the paces – should be fun.

I’m always amazed at the size of packages I receive whether it be for a gadget or whatever. 7 times out of 10 the packaging is way too large for what is being shipped in my opinion. Just a few minutes ago the DHL guy popped in with a box that contained the new Apple mini-USB plug. You might remember that Apple issued a recall on these a few weeks back. Inside that box was the single plug and an instruction sheet for how to return the defective plug, along with lots of foam padding.

It seems like a waste to me.

(By the way, the instruction sheet says that if you don’t return the defective plug, Apple has the right to charge your credit card for it.)

I find it intriguing and predictable that we’re starting to see various flavors of Netbooks from more than just Asus these days. The MSI Wind U120, (starting to be called the Wind 2) which is being characterized as a more business like netbook (curious?) is one of those new flavors. We’re seeing pictures pop up all over the Internet today. Apparently the differences here are the design and the inclusion of 3.5G WWAN, and a 120GB HD, with SSD options to come later. Interesting to note that MSI is holding off on WiMAX at the moment. (I guess the marketing data for Baltimore didn’t look so good right now.) Price is around $600 and word is December is when to look for these.

More pictures at Fudzilla

Vassar College has put together a great series of videos on how they have used Tablet PCs out in the field.  There are 5 videos in the series covering a range of areas related to using their Tablet PC’s in the field.  All the HP Tablet PC’s were a part of a grant that was awarded to Vasser last year by the HP Philanthropy & Education fund.  Check out each of the videos – it’s a very cool what they did, but as a GIS guy, I might be a little biased :)

Make sure and keep up with all that Vasser is doing with their Tablet PC’s over on Meg’s blog.

The longer of the 5 videos is below – check out the rest on the YouTube Channel for the project.

Given all the depressing and uncertain financial news the world over these days, something tells me price points are going to be one of the first things that both consumers and manufacturers look at when it comes to mobile computers. Face, it, we all look at price anyway and the rise of the Netbook certainly proves that it is a key factor. But in tougher times, I’m guessing it may become even more of a differentiator.

Apple is getting ready to make yet another announcement this month. This one (still in the late rumor stage) is that Apple has come up with a change in its manufacturing process that will allow it to offer lower cost notebooks. Late speculation and tips from “reliable sources” peg the news that Apple will be unveiling an $800 notebook of some kind. No one knows if this is a new device, a reshaping of existing lines to be produced with the new process, or what is really up their sleeve. Supposedly whatever it is, it has the name of “The Brick.” Of course part of the speculation is that this might lead to that hoped for Apple Tablet. Again, no one knows for sure and I doubt we’re going to see an Apple Tablet anytime soon.

That said, Duncan Riley at The Inquisitr is trumpeting an exclusive on the $800 price point and that retail stores are receiving info that lists 12 different price points between $800 and $3100. If true, Apple’s plans seem to have been to target a larger range of customers who are more price sensitive. I’m guessing no one expected how price sensitive things might actually be in the near future, when this all began. (Note the picture is from VentureBeat and is obviously a mock up.)