Technology Tablet PC

[southerndoc]

Anyone here have a TabletPC?
These things are awesome! I just got a Toshiba tablet. The handwriting recognition is unbelievable! Anyone have any software suggestions for the Tab PC?

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[stoic]

I'd also like to know about this. Trying to decide between an ultra-portable notebook or tablet for next year.

How usable are the tablet features? Can you take legible, lengthy notes on say a powerpoint?

 

[lf777]

Hi

I believe that the software used to take and organize notes is Onenote, but I haven't seen it in action or heard much from users. Maybe southerndoc could share his opinions with us !

regards,
leo

 

[generic]

I'm thinking the same thing! Laptop or Tablet? Do any med students actually use the tablet's functions in class or wherever? Are the advantages worth the extra cost and loss of speed?

 

[DOctorJay]

I don't really see the point of the tablet, UNLESS you type really slowly. I personally use my PDA with fold out keyboard to take notes if I have to in class. Typing for me is much faster and I can easily type up an outline of the key points of what the professor is saying. Then I can just pack it up nice and neat and not worry about carrying my laptop around.

Get a good machine for home and a PDA/keyboard combo.

-J

 

[southerndoc]

Here's the deal with the Tablet I bought... It's a Toshiba Portege M205-S10 model. I highly recommend it because it's both a tablet and a laptop. The screen rotates to become a tablet/laptop. It has its own keyboard. The battery life is about 5 hours when you run it in long life mode (it's slow, but that's ok if you're surfing the web or doing tasks that aren't processor intensive).

The OneNote function is pretty good, but there is a slight millisecond lag between writing something and it being translated to the screen. You won't be able to take notes as fast as you can on paper, no matter how much adapting you do. The text recognition is AWESOME. It's unbelievable how well it recognizes text, including cursive writing.

I now surf the web on the tablet while I'm watching TV, in a coffee shop, or during lecture (is my chief reading this??). If I want to take "notes" during the lecture (or burn off an email), I just rotate the screen around and use it as a laptop. The screen switches from portrait to landscape mode.

I haven't tried to see how long the battery life lasts with the 802.11b/g antenna turn off. I leave it on since the hospital and med school provide wireless access.

 

[canadagirl]

I've got a tablet, and while I like it a lot in general, I don't take it to class. Maybe if the style of our classes changes, I will, but right now it doesn't work for me. I like the feel of paper notes better, and I can write much more neatly by hand! I don't regret the tablet purchase, though. I was going to buy an ultraportable laptop anyways, the tablet cost about the same price, and there's no downside to it that I see!

For software suggestions, definitely check out www.tabletpcbuzz.com, the forums there are great.

 

[bananaface]

I have owned a Tablet PC for a year and a half now. Mine is an Acer c110Ti. My intention was to use it for notes and have everything in one place. Since my professors use a ton of coursepacks and handouts, that didn't exactly happen. Since there are things to draw in pharmacy school, I opted to handwrite all my notes. I was hoping to convert things to text and have them be searchable, but that was a no go. Until SP2 came out, the word recognition was almost totally worthless. It is much better now, but still not good enough to accurately convert my notes.

On a TPC, you can mark up PDF files. Last spring, I downloaded a ton of papers for a research project from the library server and just hilighted the things I wanted to pull out of my sources. It saved me so much time in the library printing and flipping through papers.

My tablet is very small, with just a 10.4 inch screen. It took alot of getting used to. I got a Tom Bihn Brain Bag to carry it in, which most people think is a thin, square purse.

This year, I figured out how to get Wi-Fi during class. It's great fun. Actually, I pay attention more easily when I am choosing to listen instead of feeling forced.

I haven't used OneNote. Last time I checked, you could download a trial version from the Microsoft website. Windows Journal is no good for taking multipage notes. Franklin Covey TabletPlanner is okay, but it randomly does backups on large documents, which can be a huge pain. I recieved their suite for free after beta testing, so I use that program to take notes in.

My TPC has no speed issues. I am not sure why the extra speed is necessary, unless you want to game. And in that case, getting a laptop would be silly anyway.

I my tablet PC.

 

[canadagirl]

Bananaface, my experience with notes was, I think, very similar to yours--if you're taking notes from scratch, then using the tablet is natural. But when we're getting loads of notes from coursepacks, etc, it just seems like so much work to get them into the tablet for a negligible benefit.

I love my braincell and brainbag too.

I love OneNote, and wouldn't even consider using my tablet for class notes without it.

I especially love the searching feature--OneNote can search through your handwriting on any page of your notes, tell you what notebooks it finds the words in, and highlights the pages for you in a convenient way. To me, this is the most useful think about having my notes in a tablet: months or years after a course ends, I can search for some random term and find every place that it's mentioned in my notes. It makes old notes actually useful instead of just taking up places on the shelf!

The way that OneNote organizes notebooks is also, to me, quite natural. I look forward to future versions of the program that will be even better! To me this was the dealbreaker between TabletPlanner and OneNote--I don't want to use something that will eventually be obsolete, and I suspect that OneNote will be the de facto standard in years to come.

 

[bananaface]

I was not going to bother scanning in thousands of pages from coursepacks and handouts.

I thought about a BrainBag, but I just didn't trust that my tablet would not get damaged when smushed up against 30 pounds of books. So, yours works fine?

 

[canadagirl]

I was not going to bother scanning in thousands of pages from coursepacks and handouts.

Yeah, exactly.

I thought about a BrainBag, but I just didn't trust that my tablet would not get damaged when smushed up against 30 pounds of books. So, yours works fine?

Yep, it works beautifully. The braincell snaps into the back of the bag, so it's suspended and can't fall out of place and get crushed or anything. Plus, the 'cell is pretty indestructible anyways. I love the combination! I have many times stuffed the bag completely full, including using the straps on the sides to try to cinch it tighter, and my tablet has been perfectly happy. The brainbag is also totally rainproof, so I don't worry about getting my tablet (or notes) wet when I'm walking in the rain, which was a major factor for me.

 

[Medstudinfinity]

I know this is a little off topic but I did some research on what tablet are good to buy for residency and which suck. Here it is I hope it helps:
Here are the things that I want in a Tablet PC, some great comparison
sites and info places. Please read this over and if you have any
suggestions or points I have not thought of, please feel free to let
me know. New stuff comes out every day so this wont be good forever.
probably in 6 months it will be useless. But the tablet PC sites
linked below are constantly updated. I want something that is good for
residency. That is my goal in this comparison.

Here is a link to a Tablet PC comparison page: there are 2 pages of
tablets compared.
http://www.tabletpc2.com/Compare.htm
Keep in mind that Lenovo = IBM Thinkpads

To compare, what we have now is the discontinued tecra M4, which is on
this page the 2nd column What we have now is a 14.1 inch screen,
weighing 6.2 pounds:
http://www.tabletpc2.com/CompareDiscontinued5.htm

Here are my 14 personal tablet PC/pen touchscreen standards:

1. Tablet Screen size:
from 5.6" to 12.1" (almost all are under 12.1 inches now)

2. Style:
Convertable: NOT SLATE! (you have to doc the slate styles)

3. Type:
Touch or pen only versions are fine
Toughbook is too expensive and all you are paying for is the titanium toughness

4. Weight:
from 1.56 lbs to 3.3lbs, not over 4 pounds for sure

5. Processor desires:
Intel(R) Core™ 2 Duo Processors T7100, T7300, T7500, T7700
(1.80- 2.4GHz)

Or

Intel(R) Core™ 2 Duo Processor Ultra Low Voltage 1.20 GHz
Intel(R) 945GM chipset

Or

Intel Core Duo T2600 2.16-GHz

6. Memory:
2-4GB RAM or virtual memory

7. Bluetooth:
I dont care

8. USB:
At least 2 ports

9. Integrated Camera:
I don't care

10. Features:
I would like Intel(R) Turbo Memory if possible just because it is cool
and makes startup instant
UltraLight screen if possible like the thinkpad by IBM has it

11. Hard Drive Storage Memory: I don't care: everyone uses an external
anyway but not under 60gb just to be safe

12. Battery Life: the longer the better

13: fingerprint reader: I don't care

14: Operating system: WINDOWS XP (NOT VISTA PLEASE!!!)

The Levinos looked cool so I went to their site and built a tablet
just how I would want it. They advertised on the comparison page I
linked above for $ 1609.00 but when I went in and made it nice, it was
actually more: From: $2,393.00* down to the actual Sale price:
$1,812.00*. Not a big difference but certainly noteworthy. Go try to
build your own and see if you can beat that price and still have a
decent computer . I like this computer. I dont like that the
touchscreen component is an upgrade but it is and I selected it.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...-category-id=329576204C9E42289967E79E0E7C9A2D

Another computer that caught my eye: The fujitsu mini-notebook U810. I
like the 5.6:" display and that it was one pound and would fit in my
pocket.
It is advertized at about 999, but I went through and built one that
would suit me and it was Subtotal $1407.95. This thing is TINY. And
the processor is not ultra fast but faster than the one we have
Intel(R) Processor A110. That p1407 price includes an extra battery,
but does not include the massive warranty you will probably be wise to
get. ON THE OTHER HAND IT WEIGHS ONLY A LITTLE OVER A POUND! But it
has no DVD drive and not very much onboard storage memory. The one we
have now only had like 30GB and it was ok though.
http://configtool.fujitsupc.com/ser...eId=first&CPN=A3H0H10006801000&lino=&GPID=101
I went on amazon to see what makes owners of this little thing that
would fit in my white-coat cry:
here were the complaints:
- It's about the size of a daytimer
- start up slow and you have to wait for it to finish doing stuff in
the background (slow processor)
- long battery life
- The battery life will give you just about a days worth of use
- in 40GB system: only 22GB is left after installation of OS
-space key (which also doubles as Tab) is too small
Because of the above, I don't want it.

On to the fujitsu lifebook which I would love if I could afford:
http://configtool.fujitsupc.com/ser...eId=first&CPN=AZ51H10308701020&lino=&GPID=101
- Again I like as a doctor because it has a smaller than 12" screen
(8.9" WXGA touchscreen display) so it will fit in my white-coat pocket
- Fast processor Intel(R) Core™ 2 Duo Processor Ultra Low Voltage
U7600 (1.20 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
- it weighs only 2.2 pounds!!!!!!! that rocks cause I am fat and
lifting weight makes me sweat allot.
- they say it is From $1749.99, but I went on and built one online
and it came to about a Subtotal of $2269.00 . But I really like this
one. That price is without warranties but with 2GB SD ram instead of
just one, and with 2 batteries instead of just one high-cap battery.
compare with the cheaper ones here:
http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=P1620
So I would get this if I could afford it. The cheapest I could get it
to stripped completely naked except for a 1GB SD ram was Subtotal of
$1994.00. That is more than 1749.99 if my maths are correct.

If you are die-hard toughbook here is the page for that
http://www.tabletpc2.com/CompareRugged.htm

I hope this helps you in your computer shoppings for residency.

 

[Tristy]

Errrr, a 2004 thread... But I can't resist advocating for tablets

Mine is a 2 year old Fujitsu Lifebook T Series (the convertible one), and despite the stupid heat problem (I know guys, I'm still trying to find a good cooling pad for it with decent reviews ), I loooooove it and will never go back to desktop or normal laptop again (unless I absolutely have to)

I bought mine w/o the DVD drive just for the weight. If I remember correctly it's somewhere around less than 3.5 lbs. So for me it's prety light and portable(I'm skinny and a bit small so everything seems heavy to me ). Then you can put an extra battery or whatever you want in the extra slot.

As others posters said, OneNote is AWSOME. Just AWSOME. You don't even need to save the document! Just write/paste/scribble/draw and it saves it automatically. Bookmarks, you got it. However, remember to optimize the files everyonce in a while, they tend to get huuge. But just like everything else, it's just a maintenance issue

Another WONDERFUL program designed for tablets is PDF Annotator. They finally fixed the bugs and added the ability to put bookmarks, search fx, and other things, so now it's well worth the $50 (and I believe there's a student discount in there too).

Other software....Not that I can remember now besides the Microsoft Experience Pack and the Education pack.

Just remember to put the screen protector on the tablet, otherwise the screen will suffer a bit if you write on the screen a lot.

Where to buy? I got it at Newegg. Pretty cheap considering everything I bought back then. But I'm sure there's more places where you can look around and compare, etc.

(I just felt relly dumb, this person bought the thing 4 years ago )

 

[deleted109597]

I bought an Acer C302 4 years ago, and still use it. It is on it's third battery, and one of the memory sticks got corrupted, but I still use it almost every day.
Surfing the web is so nice laying down. I don't use it to take notes anymore, but it still comes in handy for drawing pictures.