Okay… this posting is about my tablet. I did mention before that I was going to go a little more in depth on these bad boys so here it is. I know it’s only been a few days but I’ve found some pretty handy stuff to do with mine so I’m going to share. This thing has already become a welcome part of my life and has earned it’s place amongst my computers for being quite useful.

First of all. I want to say again that Tablets are not the most practical computers. I think Laptops are definitely much more functional and better suited. Either that or there is a new style of tablet out that is really just a laptop with a swivel digitized screen on it so that it can be set up like a laptop with a fully functional keyboard or the screen can be folded down hiding the keyboard completely making it into a tablet. But in terms of the price you are going to pay for a piece of equipment like that (anywhere from $1500 to $2500 brand new) you’re much better off getting a regular old laptop for functionality. One of the main reasons I can rave about my tablet so much is because it was free to me. Well mostly free. I received it as payment for restoring two other tablets to factory condition and removing a customer’s data from them per their request. Not a bad deal at all if you ask me.

So here is a list of software that I have found incredibly useful on my tablet. One of the remarkable things to note is that it does run Windows XP. Newer machines run Vista. These OS’s are fully functional so the only limitations on software are how you can interface with that software. In my case it can be difficult as I don’t have a keyboard and am relying heavily on the virtual keyboard. I’ll get more in that later. Here’s the list.

MS One Note - This software was included with the tablet. In-fact I received a copy completely unopened and I believe never installed! The way I describe it is to compare it to one of those tabbed and heavily organized college notebooks. Only with this software you get to completely customize your notebook. That is the program that is running in my header picture. I have fallen in love with the ability to write on my computer!

Digsby- Digsby is essentially an IM/Social Networking client. It works great for consolidating all of your buddy-lists and social networking sites into a friendly and miniaturized client. The miniaturized part is important considering the limited screen real estate available at only having a 12.5″ screen in which an entire third can be taken up by the virtual keyboard when “typing.” This software allows me to keep track of Twitter, Facebook, and all of my IM services from anywhere in the house in real-time. It is very functional software and best yet it is free!

Netflix- Okay… Netflix isn’t really software. It does install a small piece of movie decoding software but that’s beside the point. The main point is that I can use Netflix to watch movies instantly on my tablet. That rocks for two reasons. Reason number one, I can roam around the house taking my movie with me. That is handy when you have a 3yr old running around from room to room causing you to flee any room at any particular time to escape the noise and destruction. Reason number two, both my tablet and my docking station have VGA out. Guess what… my TV has VGA in. That means I can hook my tablet up to my TV and watch movies in full 32″ glory. No the quality is not the greatest. It resembles VHS in terms of picture quality but it’s still better than having to watch on a 23″, 19″, or 12″ screen.

Social Networking- Again… not actual software here either but it is nice to be able to pull up my social networking sites from anywhere in the house and keep tabs on who is online or throw out some quick tweets. Usually what I end up doing is checking to see if anyone is on-line and then running downstairs to my main PC to actually chat/interact with them as it’s much easier on an actual keyboard. However it does work just fine for Twitter or for updating status posts on Facebook as long as your not in any sort of hurry.

One thing I think I could definitely use this for is for work. At my job as a PC Tech/IT Guru guy (not so self proclaimed… I claim no above average abilities) I carry around a binder with business cards and a legal pad in it. This legal pad is my catch all for anything I need to write down. Phone numbers, contacts, IP address on particular machines, IP ranges of said networks, usernames, passwords, etc… Basically anything I might need to reference to do my job in any particular situation. The problem with this method is that my organization of all this information is a sheet of paper. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. It just gets jotted down. The beauty of Microsoft’s One Note is that it can be completely customized to suite any organizational needs. I think it would be a huge benefit to me in helping me organize my information better as well as giving me a digital copy of it all instead of relying on a physical piece of paper which can be lost, torn, spilled on, etc. I am however hesitant to do so simply because it’s a piece of personal property and I’m sort of afraid of losing it, dropping it, leaving it somewhere (as I do with my binder from time to time.)

In this section I’ve decided to do some pros and cons of tablets versus regular PC’s or laptops.

Pros:

• You can totally write on the screen like a piece of paper. This is awesome.
• It’s capable of streaming/playing videos. Can you say very portable movie player?
• The Stylus or Pen can be much more precisely controlled. This makes drawing and writing with the “mouse” much more effective
• The battery life is phenomenal on this thing. For being four years old, I get about 3-4 hours out of the battery. Brand new it’s advertised as running for up to 6 hours. Also it should be noted that I am a tool and I turn off all power saving features on any computer I touch. I hate throttled down processors and screens that go to sleep on me while I’m doing stuff that might not be actually moving the mouse around.

 

Cons:

• There is no physical keyboard. One can be plugged in via USB but that sorta kills the portability.
• The Virtual Keyboard is a pain in the ass to use. I have sorta gotten used to it but it’s definitely not IM worthy. Especially considering I can type somewhere around 60-70 wpm on a standard keyboard.
• The pen, while it can be controlled more precisely can also be trickier to use. The way the machine digitized the movement of the pen can be a bit flaky at times making it difficult to grab the edge of things for expanding them or for clicking on smaller buttons. I do suffer through quite a few “mis-clicks.”
• The screen on mine is a TFT and the refresh rate is horrid. I’m sure this has been addressed on newer models but it’s still a con considering I like to watch movies on it.
• This particular machine is a 1.1GHz with 1GB of ram with integrated graphics. Sometimes programs and movies just sorta crap out in the middle of stuff. Again, I’m sure that’s been addressed with newer models, especially now that dual core machines are available.
• Also, what’s really annoying is that when something is eatting up my clock cycles, it makes it impossible to type or move the mouse pointer around as that is all software driven.
• Another con is that since you are writing on the thing and holding it in your hands, carrying it around, or whatever, the screen tends to smudge up really quickly. It doesn’t seem to affect the view-ability too much yet but I do tend to carry a microfiber cloth around with me so I clean it frequently.

So there you have. My indepth view of my free tablet PC and a sort of insight on tablets in general. I still think they are completely impractical for 95% of all applications but using them sure can be cool if you can tolerate a lot of adjustments from your average PC. One of the things I am doing with mine is I am using MS One Note to start a personal journal. I’ve always wanted to do that anyways but writing in a journal book can be kind of a pain. With the tablet, it just seems easier and feels more natural. I’ve always loved to write. By that I mean pen and paper writing. The tablet allows me to do that and yet still make it digital. I like this.