I'm getting a tablet PC next week! (as a replacement for my desktop) Does anyone else out there have one? I plan on reporting eveyrthing about it to you guys in case anyone else is looking for one :)

There is a great forum about them - I learned a lot of what I know from them. I'm getting an Averatec 3500, which is... well... supposedly pretty bad (if I had more money I'd defintaely get somthing better, but I don't) but I don't care becuase I'm SOOOOO excited!!!!

If you've never heard of them before, a tablet PC is basically a laptop who's screen can flip 360 degrees, and be layed down flat so you can write on it with a digital pen. So you can use it as a regular laptop or in tablet mode. You can write stuff in your own handwriting - there is also text-conversion if you want it, or you can leave it as pictures. WIth the softwares which comes with them (such as Microsoft OneNote, or Journal, or a bunch of others) you can write directly into other documents like powerpoint or word with your pen. I plan on using it to take notes in class directly on top of the notes my prof's post online. I can draw pictures with the pen, or anythign I want to do.

One thing I found really appealing as an ADDer is that there is TONS of organizational help - like MS OneNote has a totally cool way of organizing your documents and notes - you can import all sorts of documents in there, and tab them by subjet, so you enver have to go searching around anymore. THere's another thread about One Note on here so I won't go into it.

Another thing I thought was really cool as an ADDer is that a tablet "feels" more hands on. WHen you're using it in tablet mode, you are a lot more interactive with the computer - you are holding a PEN, you actually make bigger movements with your hands to do stuff, (like clicking on things and drawing) than you would with a mouse. But you can still use it just like a regular laptop for other situations.

I will report back as soon as I get mine and have used it! I'm hoping it will help me get my notes and eveyrhting organized.

OH!! And with MS OneNote you acna also do voice recording simultaneously with your written notes, so I'm going to do that with my lectures (instead of taping them) and then I can store allt he files for one day/class in one place.

here's a great article comparing the various software packages avaliable for tablets - such as OneNote, Journal, and PlanPlus.


http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/features/article.asp?ID=29

Christiana,

I remember reading this post back in April and it got me thinking about a Tablet PC. I've since bought a Pocket PC (Dell Axim X30) and it's really useful and it has saved me a few times from forgetting things and also from losing documents (I use it to store and backup all my important data).

Anyway, I'm going to be taking a course in another city starting in September and I'll be commuting 2 days a week for about 3 or 4 hours each direction... (includes a boat ride with nice little desks/cubicles available)

And from experience I know that ApeMan + lots of books + running to catch buses/boats = disaster...

So, anyway, a Tablet PC would be awesome because I wouldn't have to carry anything else except that, if I had all my stuff on it.

So, can you please report on your experience with your Tablet PC so far? Are there any that you'd recommend? How does OneNote work for taking course notes? I'm currently using it on my desktop PC and it seems pretty useful, but I'm guessing it would be much better on a Tablet PC...

Thanks,

ApeMan

i can't live without my hp compaq tc4200 that's for sure. sometimes it feels a little heavy for a 5'4" 115lb person like me, but that's no big deal. backpack makes the save always.

i just upgraded my planning software and planplus for xp v 5.0 is awesome.

Cant say I agree, I auditioned several tablets a few years ago and they all sucked unbelievably.

I have been looking at the Lifebook and the IBM one. Both are rated pretty high, but I may just buy an ultraportable instead. I would love a Sony TX750 with a table screen! That would be the bomb!

I have a Gateway Tablet pc. I've used it for over a year now and they are as helpful as you allow them to be. I would never buy a traditional laptop again.

The features are great - being able to write information on the screen and then convert it to text if necessary is really helpful.

I love using voice recognition for completing memos and reports. Once I completed a court report while driving to work by speaking into the computer. Spend lots of time training your voice recognition program and it will save you hours. You may never have to type again!
Good Luck!

Hey ApeMan, sorry I never looked back at this thread! I turned off my User CP thingy so that I wouldn't get emails everytime anything new happened here, but in return I have a hard time finding the threads I posted at in the past.

Anyways YES i LOVE my tablet - I've been using it for almost a year now; I got a Toshiba Portege M205, which is basically a really portable one. I wanted somthing lightweight becuase I take it everywhere, so I had to give up a few things instead: mine has no CD drive (I found out i really haven't needed it anyways, but if I ever do, an external drive is only $100).

I will NEVER go back to a traditional laptop after this... I've used it to take notes for all my classes, and I never lose anything anymore! It's true - it's only as useful as you allow it to be - you have to just START using it and building it into your life. But that's really the same as any other organizational system. If you don't work it into your life then of course it's not going to be useful.

I've found that it's most useful for taking notes when I have to write down formulas and graphs. If the notes I'm taking are just "words", then it's easier to type - but I'm an engineering student, so I use the pen function a LOT. The other time it comes in really handy is when the professor uses powerpoint slides or PDF files. As long as they post the files online before class, then I can download them and take notes right on the slides. It saves space in my room and also saves paper becuase I don't have to print anything out. It's also MUCH better than just taking notes on plain paper becuase i dont have to write so much stuff down - I can pay more attention to what the prof is saying. I used to have the most difficult time in the world keeping up in class, but not anymore! it's amazing - I didn't really think the tablet PC would help me THAT much.

I'm graduating now, so I'm trying to think about how I'm going to use it in other ways (besides school) - I'm not exactly sure yet, but I think that I'm going to use it to take notes during meetings and stuff like that. The other thing which is really awesome about tablets is the voice recognition that focused fidgiter talked about - I haven't used it too much yet, but I do PLAN to. I'm no expert, but I don't think traditional laptops have that... i'm not sure why.

Oh yeah, and aside from just being "useful", it's a lot of fun to draw with the pen and to sit outside and write on your screen. I really like doing crossword puzzles on my computer, there's just somthing about being able to WRITE on the screen thats a lot of fun. I feel like I can interact with the computer on a totally different level. When I "drag" files with the pen, it's like you're REALLY dragging them, if that makes sense.

At first I was scared to use it during class becuase I was afraid everybody would be looking at me funny, but then after I started using it, it wasn't really bad at all. Usually only the person sitting right next to me would ask me about it, I'm not sure if other people even noticed since it looks like I'm just writing on a notepad if you're far away.

I bought an external hard drive so I could store all my music files (since I have like 20 gigs of music), and I just back up my class notes there in case the laptop suddenly decides to die, or I destroy it. I am SOOOO rough with my things, so I have to be kind of careful about not dropping the laptop in the mud or somthing like that. I've been so worried about losing it, but since it's such a huge part of my life, that hasn't happened yet. I have a laptop "compartment" in my backpack, so that's been really nice.

word of warning: if you carry a tablet in your backpack, turn it so that the "hard" side (ie the base, not the screen) faces out. (towards your backbone). On my laptop, the screen is kind of soft (even when the LCD is closed, you can press on it through the back, i'm not sure why) and if you leave the softer side facing your backbone, it's easy to fatigue it. One day I ran really hard to catch the bus, and then later I opened the screen and there was a hairline crack running horizontally accross the screen, then when I pressed on it, it zippped all the way across the rest of the way. fortunately, it's not the LCD itself that cracked, but reather the "screen mask", which is like a sheet of plastic that protects the LCD from the pen (it is kind of soft, but it's fine if I lean on it or whatever, as long as when I lean, the weight is distributed more evenly - so not like just my elbow or somthing.)
Anyways the screen mask is only $100 to replace, which is a lot better than like $1000 or somthing for the entire LCD. (and you can even replace it yourself if you find the right website online) Anyways, that's the only bad thing which has happened to mine, and that only happened because I was running and it was slapping really hard against my backbone, with 30 pounds of books also. I never did replace the screen mask, and it still works fine, you can barely see the crack.


I definatley reccommend a tablet - especially the toshiba, although I've never tried any others. (I bought mine refurbished, online)

oh yeah, and one more thing about toshibas in general:

toshiba laptops sometimes have heat problems, so if you get a laptop which shuts down when you're in the middle of somthing (more than it should....) then send it back and ask for a different one. On The first tablet they sent me, it would shut down whenever I flipped around the screen to write on it for more than 5 minutes. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why it was doing that, even sent it in to be "repaired" (they repaired it, supposably, but it still didn't work when I got it back) The second time though, They sent me a replacement, and I've never had a single problem since then. Those problems might also have been becuase I bought a refurbished laptop though.