8 reasons to check out a Tablet PC
Monte Enbysk is a lead editor for the Microsoft.com network and writes occasionally about technology for small businesses.
By
Monte Enbysk
So you've decided to buy a new laptop PC. It's a logical thought.
After all, prices are low, models are more powerful and easier to use, and you can get an affordable one with desktop PC capabilities and a long-life battery in a package that weighs only a few pounds.
Hold on for a moment.
There is an alternative. The Tablet PC, a fully equipped PC the size of a letter-sized notepad, is worth checking out. It weighs less than four pounds. (For all you cynics: Yes, I work for Microsoft. But Microsoft will be just as content if you buy that laptop running Windows XP. I'm just suggesting you've got choices.)
For the same price as a midrange laptop -- Tablet PC prices will range from $1,600 to $2,500 -- you will get everything a notebook PC has to offer and more. Specifically, it is a more convenient size, has a pen-activated screen, and is easier to use at meetings and while traveling. It offers Microsoft's most advanced operating system to date and allows you to run any Windows XP-compatible applications.
Best of all, it enables you to edit documents and send e-mail messages in your own handwriting, and translate most handwriting into text. Included is a feature to help decipher bad handwriting (for really, really bad handwriting, maybe you should stick to typing). Some models also have voice-recognition input capabilities.
For road warriors and meeting hounds
Granted, not everybody is going to want a Tablet PC. Some will lament the cost, now that laptops can be purchased for under $1,000. Others won't like a smaller keyboard. Still others may have little use for digital penmanship, or the increased mobility, or will simply be cool to the novelty of a new form factor.
But "road warriors" and "corridor warriors" -- people ensconced in meetings most of the time -- will be prime candidates for Tablet PCs. So will students, salespeople, doctors and other health-care workers, architects, engineers, researchers and others who need an easy-to-operate, easy-to-transport PC.
"I've sat through a number of product demos, and I find it to be quite impressive," says Alan Promisel, a research analyst at IDC. "It's really pretty cool. And it will make some people's jobs easier." He adds that Microsoft's handwriting recognition technology -- a key ingredient of the Tablet PC -- has made "enormous leaps and bounds" with this offering and will continue to improve. "As it improves," he says, "more people will embrace this form factor."
'Convertible' and 'slate' models
The Tablet PC comes in two basic designs -- "convertible," a tablet-sized screen with an integrated keyboard that you can fold over like a notebook PC, and "slate," where the screen is detached from the keyboard and can be hooked together at a docking station.
It is manufactured by major computer makers such as Hewlett Packard, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Acer and Gateway, and runs on Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system. You won't need specialized software -- Office and any line-of-business applications you use with Windows XP will work on a Tablet PC.
"The Tablet PC is the evolution of the notebook PC," says a Microsoft product manager. "It has all the power and performance of a PC, plus many new enhancements. And you can take it just about anywhere you wish."
Why do I think a Tablet PC is worth checking out?
1. It will run Microsoft's most advanced operating system to date. Windows XP Tablet PC is actually a superset of Windows XP Professional, with the power and capabilities of XP, plus additional features to allow "pen-based computing." More on that in No. 2.
2. It will extend the way you use a PC. You can still type your notes and text, and use the Internet the way you would a notebook or desktop PC. But with "pen-based computing," you can incorporate digitized pen-and-paper into the PC experience. Using a special "digital pen" that comes with it, and the Tablet PC's "input panel" utility (which is like a keyboard on the screen), you can write directly on the screen and save notes in your handwriting or convert them to typed text. Your digital pen can take the place of a mouse and keyboard, or you can use a regular mouse and keyboard, if you wish.
3. You can take all your notes electronically. The Windows XP Tablet PC Edition comes with a note-taking utility called the Microsoft Windows Journal, which lets you create and organize your handwritten notes. Notes, diagrams and drawings — all that you would normally create with pen and paper -- are captured and stored in the Windows Journal. The Tablet PC's advanced handwriting recognition technology allows you to search your handwritten notes quickly to find what you need. (In a demo, Payne did a search and found all the notes he'd written that included the word "budget.")
4. You can work from anywhere, and you won't disrupt meetings. Some companies prohibit or discourage people from using notebook PCs in meetings. Why? Because the laptop screen creates a barrier of sorts between the user and the speaker. You lose eye contact while you're plunking away on keys. By using a pen and a letter-size screen (with the keyboard folding over), a meeting participant can maintain normal eye contact and still take notes at a meeting -- he can even sneak peeks at his e-mail or the Internet. Meanwhile, the same mobility and wireless capability that a laptop provides enables Tablet PC users to likewise work in coffee shops, in class, on planes and in hotel rooms.
5. The Tablet PC can be your primary PC. Remember, it's a fully equipped PC, not a PDA, so you don't have to "synch" it up with your desktop PC. The "convertible" model, as I said, comes with an integrated keyboard that folds into a tablet. The "slate" model comes with a docking station for easy access to a keyboard while at your desk. Removal is easy, and the Tablet PC also has a speedy "resume-from-standby" time. Over time, more and more users will regard their Tablet PC as their primary PC, predicts IDC's Promisel.
6. You can collaborate with co-workers effectively. By downloading the Office XP Pack for Tablet PC, you can apply your digital penmanship to core Office XP applications (not any pen will work). For example, you can add handwritten comments or draw pictures in Microsoft Word 2003 documents, emphasize key points in PowerPoint 2003 presentations, write and send handwritten e-mails through Outlook 2003 -- and share handwritten documents with other PC users, regardless of whether they have a Tablet PC. You can highlight items, cut and paste handwritten items as you would text, and convert as much handwriting as you want into typed text.
7. You can personalize and international-ize. Tablet and pen settings allow you to customize your Tablet PC for left- or right-handed operation, and to program buttons to complete a variety of tasks. Also, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is offered with English, German, French, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), and Korean. And it supports the Windows XP Multilingual User Interface, which lets you change dialog boxes, menus, help files, dictionaries and proofing tools for each user's language.
8. Your data is encrypted and protected. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition offers all of the protection features of Windows XP Professional, including the Encrypting File System security feature and the "access control" feature, and it supports the secure logon using a single CTRL+ALT+DEL button.