TabletPC - Maybe they ARE Disruptive Technology

Very few people know this, but a few weeks ago I picked up a TabletPC. It was time. My little Toshiba Portege 3480 just wasn't able to keep up with me. I loved it because it was so small and light (only 3lbs), perfect for all my traveling, but it was only a PIII 500 with 192 Megs of ram (the maximum ram for the thing). Although I can edit documents on it and show powerpoint slide decks (perfect little machine for my role as entrepreneur), I simply couldn't do much code on it.

Knowing I am heading down to the Microsoft campus to do some kernel mode dev work/testing in December in Building 20, I figured it was time to get at least a laptop that could meet my requirements for mobility, yet functionality.

Here is what I gave myself as a baseline:

• I want something of similar size to my Portege
  
• I want something weighing in at only a few lbs. Nothing larger than 5 lbs
  
• I would like at least a 1GHz processor
  
• Must support AT LEAST 1 GIG of ram
  
• Must have AT LEAST a 40 gig HD
  
• Must have AT LEAST a 2 hour battery life, full on.
  
• Must have integrated wireless, and a way to QUICKLY turn it off
  
• Must have integrated 10/100 network
  

As I started hunting around, I also compared my needs with a TabletPC. I noticed on average that the TabletPC with similar functionality was going for about another 20-25% more in cost. Didn't seem to make sense to even consider it.

And then, the moons were aligned and the gods must have been crazy as I tripped over a great deal on Ebay. Acer was selling refurbished units with full warranty that they had in stock of their Acer TravelMate C111TCi-G. And it was approximately the same price as what I would pay for the laptop I was about to order.

Now if you recall, I said I wouldn't buy a TabletPC blind. If I couldn't actually try this thing, I didn't want to bother. However, since it was a convertable laptop-to-slate mode Tablet, even if the Tablet sucked, I still have a half decent laptop at about the price I was going to pay anyways. And Susan has the earlier C110 model, and raves about it. So I bought it.

And BOY am I glad I did. What did I get? Well, I got a second generation TabletPC which not only met my requirements, it beat them:

• It's the same size as my Portege
  
• It is only 3.3 lbs
  
• It has a 1GHz Ultra low voltage (ULV) Intel processor
  
• Comes with 512 Megs ram, expandable to 2 GIGs!
  
• Comes with a 60 gig HD
  
• Comes with a 3 hour battery life
  
• Has integrated 802.11b AND g wireless, and a single button to QUICKLY turn it off
  
• Has integrated 10/100 network
  
• Has builtin Bluetooth, and uses the same single button as the WiFi to turn on and off
  
• Has pressure sensitive display when using the pen
  
• Supports dual head with an external monitor, great for coding
  

Using it for 2 weeks, I now GET IT. I understand what Robert is always raving about. If you have similar needs as me when it comes to meetings, reading and coding... a TabletPC might be for you. I am finding I am MORE productive with the thing than my old laptop, but thats not saying much when you jump with leaps and bounds to this peppy little thing.

There are a few things I don't like about the TabletPC though. And I am sure some of them sound fickle, while others may be a limitation on my model.

First and foremost, when Robert said that TabletPCs are a "disruptive" technology... he means it. For me thats a bad thing. What do I mean? Well my purchase was so that I have a more effective tool to do business. In the last two weeks I have had well over 10 meetings, and almost every one of them is "disrupted" when people in the meeting want to see my TabletPC. I am going to a meeting to get work done. I don't want to take the first 10 minutes to show you why you need your own. Maybe some people want the attention; I just want to get on with my work. Its a tool people... not a toy. (Although the Microsoft Tablet Pool Power Toy is nice :) )

On a more serious note, I did find some TECHNICAL issues with my Tablet. First off, it SUCKS in a well lit room with high powered halogen lights. It has a really ugly glare, making it impossible to leave the tablet in slate mode on the table. You can however tilt it a bit and its fine. I have come to basically put it on my lap and it seems to get around the issue.

The built in pen has much to desire. Acer sent me a REALLY nice after market pen which even includes a virtual eraser at the end. I wish the little pen in the Tablet included that functionality. It's just awesome to be writing, and flip over the pen to erase something. Hopefully someday soon someone will buy me the nice Cross Executive TabletPC Pen. Maybe my wife will get me one for XMas. :)

The design of my Tablet could have been better thought out. When you flip into slate mode, the screen covers up the speaker. So the result is a tinny muffled sound if you are listening to tunes while in slate mode. I would recommend that they find some way to move the speaker onto the screen, so it doesn't matter which orientation it is. Of course, I can simply put in headphones to get good sound if I need it for this thing.

A final "drawback" might be my expectations are too high on what is "inkable". I was expecting that I could highlight PDF files and store the strokes for later retrieval when viewing documents. I don't see why that couldn't be stored in metadata in the alternate datastream of the document... but it doesn't. Of course, maybe it can, and I just haven't learned about it yet.

I found a few things I didn't expect that I really like. While doing a bit of photo editing in Adobe Photoshop Elements I found I can do WAY more with the pen than I could with the mouse. Zooming in tight onto an image I can use the pen just like I would on paper, and that is just AWESOME when touching up edges and stuff. It was awesome to have that ability; I sure don't have that kind of control with the mouse. The other thing was flow chart doodling. With OneNote its awesome to quickly draw up a flowchart, add some text and later do a search for that text to bring up the chart in no time at all. I didn't expect OneNote to work that well for me. I will admit though that I think OneNote is overkill. Its got feature bloat that just isn't funny. I would bet I am not using 10% of what it can do. I kinda wish there was Microsoft Journal with folders/tabs. I bet I would be just as content with that as OneNote. Who knows.

Anyways, when you look at my issues, they aren't TERRIBLE to live with. My TabletPC works great and its now replaced my Portege. And the added functionality, flexibility and productivity I gained made it well worth it. And I am happy with the purchase.