General comment, if John Doe uses his notebook to do everything and never has to touch a piece of paper or a pen, then he would be fine to continue to use a notebook. Unless that, the benefit of a tablet is obvious to me.

A Tablet PC allows you makes it much easier to make notes on documents, its basically like a pen & pad of paper, with everything that a regular laptop has to offer and more! Carry ALL of your emails and documents with you all the time in one package (the tablet PC) - this means no need to worry if you forgot that certain document or spreadsheet or excel doc for that next meeting as its always on you!

Biggest benefit (IMHO): those wonderful brain storms, those little diagrams, all those things you're now doing on your legal pad can be done on the tablet, where they are filed and easily retrieved! It takes seconds to search for something on ry n tablet that would take me HOURS to find in paper files, even if they actually did get filed.

Second benefit: handwriting and drawing engage parts of your brain that typing doesn't. A find it far more natural for problem solving, for instance.

Third: you can all sit at the meetings and see each other without the screens in the way and without clattering keys. Much nicer.

I usually tell people who are infinitely intrigued by the idea a big fat "no" because I know the novelty will wear out. I ink a lot. Most people don't. Most people can't imagine getting out of the traditional pen-n-paper realm. They say that "it just doesn't feel natural." The convenient factor for many does not justify the price difference and that "unnatural" feeling. I know at least a few people who use their tablet pc's as a regular laptop.

No. You shouldn't buy a tablet PC. Seriously. You don't sound like you know what you want and are looking to be talked into it Yeah, I know, contrived circumstance, blah blah blah

Do you NEED to be able to write/draw on or touch the screen in order to MAKE MORE MONEY? Do you NEED to be portable? You don't NEED a tablet PC until you answer "YES" to both.

Sadly, after much maturation, the tablet PC platform is still very immature and the limitations are in your face all of the time. If we're talking business, then your ability to make MORE MONEY really has be impeded by the fact you NEED to be able to do something that an ordinary laptop or a PC with a graphics tablet attached can't do. And set your expectations low.

Even if you trail off on your inking usage, Tablet PCs still offer a good way to read.

- Portrait mode lying on the couch. Internet technical tutorials feel like you're curling up with a book, rather than working on the computer.

- Load all sorts of PDFs for reading, including scanned documents (especially easy when loaded with a no-fuss scanner like the Fujitsu S510).

- It's nice and natural to mark up PDFs or Word documents the old fashioned way, with a pen.

The reading features offered by Tablet PCs (color, portrait, annotation, full internet) are what we're waiting for the Kindle and competitors to offer. Now those devices are mostly for text-only books.

There are times, some of which are mentioned above, when typing is the wrong interface and a pen is much better. For signing documents created on the road, for mindmaps and other drawings, for simply kicking back like one would with a pad of paper and pen or pencil, for working on a plane with too little seat pitch to put a notebook up on a screen and type, for each of these, a tablet has advantages.

In most cases, these advantages are not needs, they simply are a way to do a job better and more naturally -- just as larger monitors, faster printers, newer software are. If making the work flow more smoothly is worth the extra cost, then get a tablet. If not, don't.

Xyz Architects and contractors can easily carry a project's complete working drawings to the jobsite, mark them up with bluebeam pdf review, and report the changes to the main office as soon as an internet connection is found. Photos of construction can be taken, and plopped into a pdf report, and annotated by sketching or writing right over the images.

Happiest for all, change orders and pay applications can be signed by all the necessary parties at the speed of e-mail. Assuming it cuts 3 days off the paper-signing timetable, and the money comes 3 days faster, and the invoice is $100k, that's $100 per job per month on a 10% cost of money. If it saves missing a payment cycle at a bank, thus avoiding a 30 day delay in receiving payment, that's worth $1000.

If XYZ is in real estate, and the ability to gather signatures on forms electronically and instantly means your offer got to the seller ahead of someone elses and was accepted, then the whole sales commission was gained because of having a tablet pc at hand

Yes you should get a tablet. Here's why
1) It is the future of computing
2) The amount of paper you can save. No more printing things out to read and mark, PDF Annotator.
3) Better battery life, well atleast tablets are more optimised.
4) Vista Handwriting conversion is nothing short of amazing. I have the worst.
5) Once you get one there is no going back.

To me, the best feature of the tablet shows in meetings. You can hold it in your lap like a pad of paper to take notes. You face and are clearly able to interact with the person with whom you are trying to interact.
Compare to a laptop - when the screen is up, it acts like a wall between you and the human you are trying to meet. Typing is audibly distracting. Combined, they can give the impression that you are not 100% engaged with the person.

Favorite app for a tablet? OneNote, of course (but then again, I am biased :) ...

John

If you want to beadle to think more creatively, or if you have a sales force who needs signatures, or if you want to never need to do "double data entry" again... then you NEED a tablet pc! Mind Mapping software (Mind Manager 7 ) will let you plan, brainstorm, and track new ideas efficiently and effectively. PDF software (PDF annotator) will let you capture signatures easily and quickly ; and forms software (Active Ink) will allow you to generate and transmit signatures and data. Plus you have a myriad of options to ensure that you never have to input any information more than once (Evernote, Outlook with TEO, Inkseine, OneNote, etc.)

It's funny. In my experience people either see it pretty quickly, or they don't. And weirdly to me, most don't.

Prior to the second version of the Tablet OS, I couldn't get anything to recognize my handwriting, but standing at Best Buy, ready for disappointment again, and seeing it work, I realized HAD to have one. But for the previous six years, I used a Palm, because although it wasn't my handwriting, it still captured what I wrote and made it searchable--in meetings, classes, notes to self, etc.

I love paper, all the different textures, thicknesses, colors, watermarks, pens, inks, stamps, printing techniques, stationaries, marbling, and still get excited in a stationary store, I can't keep track of it, don't know how to store it, find it, or keep it from getting frayed at the corners and edges. And I CAN keep track of email, folders, progressive versions of electronic documents, and work intelligently with searches. Maybe the file folder types can deal with paper in a way that I can't, but it seems like a waste to NOT have all documents in electronic, searchable formats.

I am a math teacher. Having a wireless Tablet in my classroom changed everything about the way I teach. I used to be "chained" to the front of the room, where my writing surface (whiteboard, Smart board) was located. If I wanted students to demonstrate their solutions, they would come to the front.

With a Tablet, I send my screen to my Smart board from anywhere in the classroom. I bring the writing surface to my students to demonstrate their solutions. I no longer stand with my back to the class while I write. Now, I watch the class from the back of the room while I write.

My students understand how to use this technology and they teach me.

I had tablet. This doesn'make sense. uncomfortable device. Almost the same I obtaine on my E90 & N810. Tablet's are very havy in normal usage, whe you walking and doing your job. Oposite when you siting. That's why I purchased N800 and N810. it's easier to make notes.

I'd like to echo Tom Escott's comments above.

I teach very technical English to a very demanding group of students. Course preparation is complex, ever-changing, and intense. Before I had a tablet PC I easily spent two or more hours preparing for each course hour. OneNote absolves me of worries about production, presentation, and distribution in one go. Like Tom, I'm able to move among my students while they are on group tasks--to those who aren't teachers, the individual instruction that you can give on specific problems that don't interest the whole class is crucial in language teaching.

So, my prep time is down to one half hour per course hour. So, yes, a tablet PC has allowed me to MAKE MORE MONEY as a previous poster so eloquently put it. (Using OneNote in private tutorials means I can do more of them). Going back to a traditional notebook would be too sad but also too inefficient. I could rightly say that my income level now depends on having a tablet.

Small but important aspect of the drawing capability: the ability to edit a drawing cleanly – using an eraser with pencil-on-paper is a messy business.

In the position of a software architect/requiremnts engineer I find tablet pc to be realy usefull. You have to analyse requirements and statndards and it's great that I can leave ink comments in the text or draw a small diagram that makes re-reading the text a lot easier. I also do reviews of documents and code created by my colegues so with a tablet I just ink in some suggestions right into the text, it makes the job a easier for me and for them.
But when I work as a software developer just creating code or finding bugs, I use my tablet just as any other notebook.

At home I spend a lot of time reading, or watching online lectures so the tablet comes in handy(just take a screan shot of the blackboard and paste it into onenote with my comments). And of course the tablbet is great when I am on the go.

So it really depends on what your employees are going to be doing and how flexible you want them to be.

Like all such mobile computers it really depends on the intended work usage. Tablets are not the be-all and end-all solution for everyone, although those with particular uses will benefit greatly. In my experience those whose work requires them to take a LOT of notes in their work and refer back to the will benefit greatly. Those who don't maybe not so much.

I see a lot of people with convertible Tablets who NEVER use ink. This tells me that they really weren't good candidates for one in the first place. If you need the technology you really need it. It's not a case for talking someone into needing it.

Like I said at the summit, I only use my tablet in tablet mode about 20% of the time or so. Especially in my line of work, typing is the primary interface to my computer. But I wouldn't give up that 20% for the world. If you use a paper notebook or if you have a paper organizer, then a Tablet PC is a great way to consolidate. But like one of the other commenters mentioned above, if you don't use an ink pen now, there's no reason to start using an electromagnetic pen. A tablet isn't for everyone, but a lot of people can benefit from it, particularly in an office setting. Why not? They're not that expensive.

I'm sitting here in my favourite bar, tablet hooked up to my cell phone using an EVDO connection to the internet and I wouldn't change my life for anything. A tablet is great, a GOOD UMPC would be even better and INK is the only way to go. I take my tablet with me everywhere I go.

I'm an IT Project Manager and I work in a large financial institution with a dozen other PMs. They all as me the same question; how easily does your ink get converted to text? My reply is always the same - why, can't you read your own handwriting? Obviously I use OneNote and have for about 5 years. Where my counterparts carry around writing pads to make notes for all the projects they're working on, I carry around one small tablet (Toshiba M400) and ALL my meeting notes neatly sorted and organized in OneNote. Their worksatations have piles of paper spread all over the place, mine looks like it's vacant! Funny, the only time I need to print my notes out is when one of the other PMs asks me for a copy of my notes! If they had OneNote I could share them instead!

More and more applications are changing their perspective in regards to how they interface with users - tablets, touch screen technology (Surface computing) and things like InkSeine are going to radically change our computing experienc. Get with the program - move to a tablet!

I have to wonder how useful the tablet would be for most business applications...

I have an X61 as my main machine. I bought it to take notes in class.... I work a full schedule and am about to finish an MS/CS at a local college...

There is no doubt that a tablet is GREAT for taking notes in those classes where the professor writes on the whiteboard... especially in those classes where graphical drawings are important, mathematical equations, etc...

In a previous job, I used one for a year in an office environment (one of two of us) and taking notes in meetings was somewhat helpful... I did have one of the execs sign a document ONCE on my tablet... but most of the time the tablet was in keyboard mode... typing is just plain faster than handwriting text... and efficient input to spreadsheets has to be from the keyboard.

No doubt, text is easier to input with a keyboard... graphical notes are easier with the tablet interface...

But in a buisness/office/enterprise.. get a notebook...

and.. as bluespapa said above.... either you "get" the tablet, or you don't... if you don't see the use, don't get it...

For people who attend lots of meetings, take lots of notes, enjoy giving PowerPont presentations, use a large black or white board to write but wish they could save all those notes as handouts for your students, then the Tablet PC is the only way to go.

In a large auditorium I can write to my hearts content and not bother anyone with noisey typing. I can record the lecture as I write and later review the audio while I review my notes. I can highlight PPT presentations on the fly. No regular laptop can do that! And best of all, it is the tactile feel of writing that has much more of a connection to the technology, less institutional, more natural, more connected. While I still use a real pen, I am unable to find the text need, but never loose any notes on my tablet because I can search the handwriting!

If you've ever searched through a pile of notebooks for that information you think you noted in that meeting last week... or was it the week before. You should have a tablet. If you jot notes or brainstorm while you're on the phone, you should have a tablet. If you are in situations where a screen can interfere with the interaction between you and someone else, you should have a tablet. If you mark up, read or comment on documents on a regular basis you should have a tablet. If you print documents just so you can sign them and scan or fax back, you should have a tablet. If being able to find information you've taken in type, ink or image at any time you need a tablet.

The simplest way to see if you need a tablet is to find out if it will make your life easier. If it will save you time, stress or money. Then get one. Marketing it as cool, or just demoing a feature and not a benifit is never going to convince anyone.

Gordon

I've pretty much gone back to my tablet as a laptop. Until handwriting recognition improves or my software becomes more touch friendly, I'm quicker with a keyboard and mouse. But it's still great for sketches and quick notes with the stylus.

BTW, why don't more tablet makers put a built in camera in their unit? The ability to take a picture and immediately mark it up and send/store it to a another person over the wireless all while in tablet mode should be a big selling point for people who work out in the field (realtors, repair, estimators, etc)

It is a wonderful tool to have in a preschool classroom. I use computers as tools with the children (4-5years old) rather than a way to play games or just be entertained. The children write and draw on the screen. We write down their stories that they dictate, record bits of conversations to track language and show and edit pictures with them. I use Onenote to keep their portfolios organized and to write observations of the children and lab students. I am hoping to get a grant program started to get more tablets into preschool classrooms.

Is a tablet worth the extra money (and potentially, the extra weight?)? The answer depends on how you work, so if you are thinking about buying a tablet, try to borrow one and use it for a while.

So far, not much has been said about software.
OneNote is at the top of the list of applications to try. But it is complex, and you won't get the most out of it until you have used it for quite a while. Note that you can begin to use it now, before you buy the tablet, because it works equally well with typed and inked text. There are some alternatives, such as Windows Journal, or Evernote, which has a new beta release which is getting a lot of buzz on the forums. I find OneNote so rich, that it will easily fulfill most of your inking needs, but also frustratingly complex, and optically "crowded" on the screen. But it has helped me file and organize notes from administrative meetings, saving lots of time--this alone is worth the price of admission to the tablet world for me.

Don't forget that MS Word provides a very good inking experience, and you may find yourself using it quite a bit, if only because it will already be familiar to you. But if what you do involves marking text precisely in Word, then be aware that the "ink" is treated as a layer on top of the text, and can, in some circumstances, move. So preview all documents before sending them out. Once a document is finished, you may want to save it as a .pdf to keep all the ink in its proper place. "Printing" a document to OneNote is also very handy.

Although it is not a tablet application, I also recommend Zotero (a free Firefox add-in)if you do a lot of bibliographic research on the web or carry a lot of .pdf's on your computer.

There are other applications, such as ArtRage, but I recommend that you start with just one or two new programs, and grow from there as you need to. And don't forget your existing programs--you will still be using them, thought perhaps not as much.

Jane Doe in ABC office has a tablet pc

I think the tablet PC is a great personal productivity tool but it's greatest benefit will be when businesses introduce them to their sales and service organizations. These professionals are generating tons of paper documents (sales orders, contracts, invoices, etc.). Imagine if they went digital and used their tablet PC to fill out these documents. They could capture the customer's handwritten signature and email the completed documents back to their headquarters via their wireless Internet card. The productivity savings would be in the elimination of faxing, scanning and retyping of data.

Steve Hoffman
Active Ink Software
www.activeinksoftware.com