Warner Crocker of Gottabemobile.com dropped some Sunday afternoon thoughts on us. I found his post interesting and thought I would respond to his points here.
I still enjoy the freedom a Tablet PC gives me in the workplace. Every day.
And I’m still frustrated by people who don’t have the confidence that handwriting will work for them. (grumble)
I’m increasingly trying to integrate a UMPC in those same situations but find that a UMPC is becoming a one task (note taking in OneNote 2007) device in most circumstances.
I have to disagree completely and I think it has to do with Warner being a Tablet PC guy first. That’s not a knock, just an observation. We get used something and find variations to be not as good. (By way of example, a Mercedes is a great car, but the window buttons in the middle, instead of on the door drive me nuts!)
I still wish Inking on a Tablet PC was more integrated in the OS and thus more transparent.
YES!
I still enjoy relaxing with a Tablet PC in slate mode and perusing the Internet or reading feeds. That is a singular joy for me.
YES!
Touch on a UMPC is becoming more of a use to me as a navigational tool the more I use it.
Touch on a UMPC still has a long way to go.
Isn’t there some happy medium between “hard touch” and “soft touch?” “Hard Touch” works better for me in Inking notes. “Soft touch” is useless in this case in my experience.
Warner, you all three of the touch points just right!
Small may be in, but I find that using a 12” convertible Tablet PC offers me less frustration than using a UMPC.
It depends on the usage scenario but I concede the possibility. For note taking, I find that I always want more screen space but never want a bigger device footprint.
If it came down to it, I’d choose power over battery life. Except when I need battery life.
I would choose battery life over power, except when I need power.
Vista has made life easier in some respects, frustrating in others (device drivers!!!!!) but I find that increasingly I’m not taking advantage of many of its “features” on a daily basis beyond the Tablet PC improvements.
I’ve found I like many of Vista’s subtle differences. I’m experiencing some XP double takes when I help folks using XP.
Stall surfing is underrated and shouldn’t be a dirty little secret.
Remember 2 words when borrowing Warner’s tablet - Staph Infection
Are we done seeing new applications for Tablet PCs and UMPCs? The standbys work well and are great. (TEO, MindManager, OneNote 2007, ArtRage, etc….) Anyone hear of something that really takes advantage of this technology on the horizon?
I hope we’re not done. It seems like we’re seeing super specialization right now. On screen keyboards for just a Q1 Ultra for example rather than apps for the whole spectrum. On the other hand, the Tablet/UMPC community seems to have a pent up demand for apps and when one comes out, the community is all over it. I feel late if I haven’t installed a new app 3 days after it’s come out.
OneNote 2007 is a life saver and a killer application. Someone tell Microsoft this so they know it.
This is a differentiating app. Apple doesn’t have it, Linux doesn’t have it. MS should be featuring it. When you tell people that it will index and search your handwriting they are blown away. Perhaps MS just isn’t used to having technology this cool!
Touch screens are magnets for dust, grease, fingerprints, and the like. I don’t think that will ever change. But it would be nice.
I disagree, I don’t have big fingerprint issues with my Q1. Maybe it’s a stall surfing thing? Maybe it’s because I end up having to use my fingernail rather than my finger on the Q1 digitizer.
Wow factor? It comes and it goes.
It always comes back when some sees the Q1 for the first time.
If there is a Vista SP1 in the works, I sure hope that the scaling of screens and windows with control boxes is a part of the effort. UMPCs are the bastard children of Microsoft until it pays attention to this.
I think my UMPC will continue to be a red headed step child for a while.
Are we ever going to see OEM’s name Tablet PCs and UMPCs with something other than silly alpha/numeric conventions?
I actually thought Q1, R2H and EO were pretty good starters. All of them are better than what HP and Gateway dream up. I think they just use a random number generator. Even Lenovo’s not great. Certainly Stormtrooper or Droid would have been more fun and everyone seems to have screwed it up since. (I can’t keep the EO models straight and the Q1’s need better differentiation.)
Whatever happened to that Ink on Video app that Rob posted an InkShow about?
A UMPC without a fingerprint reader makes no sense to me.
Agreed!
I still think an important differentiator for UMPC’s is price. You can’t get a 12″ slate for under a grand and you can only get a heavy convertible for that price. UMPC’s open up the tablet world to people who otherwise wouldn’t join. They offer a sub $1,000 option for either a companion device or an entry level PC.
Battery Life Specs
Loading ...
