Tablet PC's

[skiz knot]

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I am interested in purchasing a tablet PC for med skooool.

Does anyone have one? Do they work well? Can I draw on, for example, any word doc and save that? Does it take crazy amounts of space to save those files? Does it save as a .pic/jpeg/gif etc... or as .doc?

I was just interested in the pros and cons.

Any help is appreciated. 🙂

 

[CaptainJack02]

I am interested in purchasing a tablet PC for med skooool.

Does anyone have one? Do they work well? Can I draw on, for example, any word doc and save that? Does it take crazy amounts of space to save those files? Does it save as a .pic/jpeg/gif etc... or as .doc?

I was just interested in the pros and cons.

Any help is appreciated. 🙂

I had one temporarily.
I don't think it's a mature enough technology to warrant plunking a grand down the drain. notebook's are much faster, have more memory, etc. Plus I had some trouble with the handwriting features.
If you're one of those early adopters, you might like their novelty. But from my experience the average computer user should steer clear of them. For now anyway.

 

[HNS]

I just got one and am planning to use it for class. I for one believe that the TPC is up an coming. I purchased the Acer 302 modle. It has everything a normal laptop has but also the function of writing on the screen. It is expensive,but so is our education. As to applications, team going to download GoBinder tomorrow while at work. If you really want to do some research on the subject try going to www.tabletpcbuzz.com I have found all my questions quickly answered.

 

[HNS]

Ps: I wrote that out on the computer and it even cought some spelling mistakes.

 

[flighterdoc]

Ps: I wrote that out on the computer and it even cought some spelling mistakes.

I guess it didn't catch modle

 

[RLMD]

At howard we are required to have the toshiba tablet pc's as part of our tuition and fees. Almost no one uses the tablet feature, but it does come in handy occassionally when a professor puts a drawing up on a transparency or something - you can quickly draw it out on your computer screen. The learning curve is pretty small and I can see some potential upsides to having one, but overall it doesnt help much in day to day med school work more than a conventional notebook, and doesnt warrant the extra money.

 

[southerndoc]

I'm a geek and love new gadgets, but I'm waiting for the second generation to come out.

 

[Jaded Soul]

Ah yes...the yearly Tablet PC thread. Came a little early this year. Interesting how people have advocating for its for a few years still haven't seen the full integration of the tablet into academic/educational computing.

 

[16846]

From what I have read lately, MicroPlop is going to pull the plug on the Tablet PC after Service Pack 2 and let the concept die a slow death, They are quite sure there will not be a Longhorn Tablet, but who knows, Bill also said that 640k would be more than enough memory for anyone.

 

[southerndoc]

From what I have read lately, MicroPlop is going to pull the plug on the Tablet PC after Service Pack 2 and let the concept die a slow death, They are quite sure there will not be a Longhorn Tablet, but who knows, Bill also said that 640k would be more than enough memory for anyone.

Bill Gates pledged support for the "next generation" Tablet PC with the Longhorn Tablet PC edition.

I think the program is in its infancy, and is probably a few years ahead of its time. In a few years, there will be a larger demand for it, especially with better software.

 

[mward04]

How well do other schools have computers integrated into the classroom setting? At Emory, computers are not incorporated at all. You have to go and download all of the notes after class and you take notes by hand. Just curious what other schools are doing...

Mike

 

[mlw03]

This person makes a good point - what particular use does a tablet PC have to a med student that would warrant the significantly greater cost than a notebook. Perhaps an engineer, architect, or designer might have use for them, but there's not too much drawing in medicine. Any figure a professor posts is likely to be too complex to quickly jot down (and is presumably online somewhere anyway).

If anybody can think of any uses for a med student that would justify the increased expense, please share them with us.

At howard we are required to have the toshiba tablet pc's as part of our tuition and fees. Almost no one uses the tablet feature, but it does come in handy occassionally when a professor puts a drawing up on a transparency or something - you can quickly draw it out on your computer screen. The learning curve is pretty small and I can see some potential upsides to having one, but overall it doesnt help much in day to day med school work more than a conventional notebook, and doesnt warrant the extra money.

 

[phenolphthalein]

Benefits:
1. You can go paperless. Take all of your notes on the Tablet (MS OneNote works amazingly well) after which they indexed and searchable.

2. Many lecturers use PowerPoint slides; you can annotate these directly on your Tablet.

Check out these Tablets, they're expensive but v. cool: http://www.motioncomputing.com

 

[mlw03]

You weren't exaggering when you said expensive. to get the same machine you would (as a regular notebook), you'd probably have to spend a grand more.

as for the benefits:
1. wouldn't it be easier to type your notes in Word instead of writing them on a tablet? i don't know anyone under 30 who writes faster than they type.

2. yeah, that'd be good, but WAY more costly than it's worth, in my opinion.

thanks for the good ideas.

Benefits:
1. You can go paperless. Take all of your notes on the Tablet (MS OneNote works amazingly well) after which they indexed and searchable.

2. Many lecturers use PowerPoint slides; you can annotate these directly on your Tablet.

Check out these Tablets, they're expensive but v. cool: http://www.motioncomputing.com