As a Tablet PC user though, I just can’t go back. Despite the trials that Vista occasionally throws at me, I just love the new features for Tablet users.

If you haven’t upgraded yet, in Windows Vista Microsoft added a few subtle but powerful visual cues for Tablet PCs including:

• Left click ripple
• Pen: Right button press cursor
• Pen: Right click ripple
• Mouse ghost for touch screens to enable easy right or left clicking

Vista is pen flicks which are a great time saver.

But the thing that I can’t live without is the upgraded recognition engine. The new engine does a much better job of identifying numbers, email and web addresses.

Unfortunately these new features don’t come without the Vista annoyances. For me, the two main culprits are:

• Speed - Vista is so slow!
• User account control - Could it be any more annoying to be prompted so often?

Speed

Tablet PCs are usually designed around a Low or Ultra Low Voltage processor. This facilitates the light weight and extended battery life, but it sacrifices some processing power.

Unfortunately Windows Vista is power hungry. However, there is a simple way to speed up Windows Vista on your Tablet PC:

Turn off the funky transparent window theme.

1. Click Start
2. Click Control Panel
3. Click on Appearance and Personalization
4. Click on Change the Theme
5. Select Windows Classic

It’s a simple thing to do, but you will be surprised how much faster everything runs!

Of course it doesn’t look all Apple Mac sexy, and you don’t have those pretty taskbar window previews but your graphics card and your watch will thank you!

User account control

User account control (UAC) is that thing that prompts you to approve things like installing a new program.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that UAC is good in principle… but the implementation of it in Vista would have to be one of the most poorly implemented features that I have ever seen.

Not only is UAC annoying, it also slows your computer down significantly too. So to speed up your Tablet PC, you can turn UAC off.

** Important Note: There are reasons that UAC could be useful for your computer, and this is only recommended for advanced, experienced users **

You must be an administrator to perform these steps.

1. Click Start
2. Click Control Panel
3. Type UAC into the search box
4. Click on Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off
5. Un-tick the Use User Account Control box
6. Click Ok
7. Reboot

Now you’re free!

These simple changes will speed up your Windows Vista Tablet PC and allow you to benefit from the good Tablet PC features without the crashing and slowness!

So how can you justify the additional expense for your application?

Well, getting your Tablet PC deployment right can mean a financial return that makes the initial price difference insignificant.

There are two keys to ensuring that your Tablet PC project achieves a high return on investment:

1. Choosing the right hardware for the job
2. Make your application easy to use on a Tablet PC

Choosing The Right Tablet Hardware

Taking the time to find the right Tablet PC for the job is crucial for a Tablet deployment.

When evaluating hardware, you need to ask questions like:

• Do you need to be able to work standing up?
• How long will the Tablet need to be carried at a time?
• How resource hungry are the applications that you will be using?
• What do you need to connect to?
• How long will you be away from a power source (240V or 24/12V)?
• Will the Tablet be used outside?
• Will the Tablet be used in a rough environment?

In other words, ask if the Tablet that you are considering is fit for purpose.

Making Your Application Easy To Use On A Tablet PC

Microsoft Windows XP Tablet Edition and Windows Vista include a set of Tablet PC software tools that allow you to take advantage of pen input with your Tablet PC right out of the box. The most noticeable of these is the Tablet Input Panel (TIP).

However, the TIP actually adds a layer of complication into the input process. Rather than just hitting a key on the keyboard, you have to invoke the TIP… then select the right input mode… Then type. So basically there’s three steps instead of one.

So how do you get real benefits from using the pen? You need to design your application to suit being used while standing up with a pen.

There are two very simple ways to achieve this:

1. Use digital ink controls
2. Design your user interface for the pen, and away from the keyboard

Microsoft went ahead and lead the way with Tablet enable programs starting back in Office XP. They’ve continued to improve the Tablet PC features in their programs ever since.

The flow on from this is that you too can easily build text recognition and digital ink controls right into your applications. Windows now includes Tablet PC Active X controls for you to use and distribute in your applications. That makes it very easy to ink enable your programs.

For example, in a program that requires a search, you could enable your users to write their search into the search box in handwriting. The control would then convert your handwriting to text and perform the search. I’ll demonstrate this in a later post for you developers out there.

The ultimate benefit of enabling your application for Tablet is that the Tablet becomes an easy to use and helpful tool that users will resort to.

With many of our customers, that in itself can be traced to a significant impact on your bottom line.

Current Tablet PC hardware does not support multi-touch in the iPhone sense. There are a number of Tablet PCs that support both Pen and Touch input, but only via one point at a time.

Does multi-touch make you think of scene in the Minority Report with Tom Cruise? An interface like that would have all sorts of un-dreamed of practical applications. Most technically inclined folks are aware of the experiments of the Microsoft Surface team. They have been demonstrating prototypes of this Minority Report style interface for a while now, so we know that this will ultimately become a reality.

The good news is that multi-point/multi-touch will probably reach the Tablet PC before it hits your desktop (or window, or wall for that matter). In fact the video below by a company called JazzMutant is a Tablet PC hardware demonstration on Windows XP that was posted to Youtube last year.

The demonstration uses both Pen and touch input, and it’s quite smart about giving the pen precedence over touch. That will make for an awesome input system.

I would hope that we will see hardware like this on the next generation of Tablet PCs in 12-18 months.

• AMD 64 bit processor
• Inbuilt DVD Burner
• Active digitiser pen.

HP Tx1000, the original model in this series left a lot to be desired. It was a touch screen only model. That was unfortunate because I’ve met dozens of people who bought the Tx1000 because they always wanted to try a Tablet PC and the Tx1000 was cheap.

Many of them were put off the Tablet PC experience altogether because of the touch screen.

With a touch screen it is very easy to accidentally confuse the PC. For example, when you’re writing it is natural to lean your wrist on the writing surface. A touch screen sees that as multiple points of contact and it get’s confused.

So a touch screen is not ideal for writing tasks, particularly when there is twelve inches of screen to connect with. People who bought the Tx1000 were very generally disappointed because of this.

Fortunately, HP listened and included an active digitiser in the Tx2000 and Tx2500 (They’ve been doing that a bit lately, listening). Tx2500 is a good improvement on the Tx1000 series and it is also still a cheap way to get into a Tablet PC.

That said, the Tx2500 “Entertainment Notebook” fits into the home notebook range. It’s not really ideal for full on business use and it’s certainly not rugged.

We’ve finally added the HP Pavilion Tx2500 to our online shop here.

The good news is that HP Have listened to users in the development of the 2730p. The 2730p looks much like the 2710p, but there are some subtle changes that make a big impact on the experience in use.

There are 2 key changes that we really like with this Tablet:

1. The inclusion of a side jog dial control for scrolling. This was a really awesome feature of the TC1100. We didn’t realise how useful it was until it was gone!
2. The pointing stick mouse has been supplemented with a touch pad.

Nice work on that HP! Check out the video below from the HP product manager.

HP 2730p EliteBook is a great choice for mobile professionals. This Tablet PC is powerful enough to replace your current laptop or desktop and it is ideal for anyone working in an office environment.

Details and specs in our shop…

HP 2730p EliteBook Tablet PC

We will be displaying a variety of Tablet PCs and accessories including:

• Motion Computing F5
• Motion Computing LE1700
• Samsung Q1 UMPC
• Sahara Slate
• Disto Laser Measuring Devices

For more details about the event, go to www.abite.com.au.

To get a free entry pass call us on 03 9012 6602 or contact us using the form below.

“I can type way faster than I can write.”

Well, duh!

It seems that some people think that Tablet PC pen input is an exclusive technology that supercedes and overrides all other input methods.

Now, before you decide to throw away your keyboard and mouse because you’re going to buy a Tablet PC… stop and pay attention:

Handwriting recognition and Tablet PCs are not designed to stop you from using a regular keyboard and mouse!

…or touch, or speech, or blink input, or deep brain magnetic resonance commands*, or whatever other new input technology comes out in the next 15 years!

Guess what? I too can type way faster than I can write.

Therefore, because my Tablet PC is my everyday computer, when I’m in the office I use a docking station with a large LCD screen, an external DVD writer and a wireless keyboard and mouse.

I also keep a convertible keyboard in my car for those situations when pen input just won’t do.

Of course, the addition of pen input means that you can use your computer in so many new ways and so many new places.

The fact is, no one is going to stop typing altogether on a keyboard any time soon!

*I haven’t invented deep brain magnetic resonance commands yet, but will keep you posted.

But… here’s what happens when you drop the Semi-Rugged Motion F5.

Most Tablet PC models are designed with shock absorbent bumpers to withstand a simple bump or a drop. For the average Tablet PC, you’re going to see some superficial damage, but the contents (the expensive bits) will remain intact.

In this case, as you can see, the F5 withstands a corner impact from over 1 metre. With it’s semi rugged design, the F5 will take more of a knocking than the average Tablet PC before it breaks.

As noted in the video though, there is no warranty that is going to cover you against dropping your Tablet PC, even with the Motion F5. So seriously, don’t try this at home.

So far, we’ve been through things like:

• Sketching and quoting jobs
• Making presentations
• Working in warehouses and factories
• Taking notes at conferences, at school and in meetings with clients
• Mind mapping
• Capturing signatures and signing forms
• Working on planes

After all that hard work, you deserve to have your Tablet PC working for you in your down time.

John Hancock of Adelaide, South Australia emailed me:

I have an XBox with the XBox media centre  software installed. This has a web interface and I can sit in my lounge chair with my tablet in hand controlling the media center using the pen. Much easier than using the remote. I was listening to some music last night and was browsing through my play lists selecting random songs. A very pleasant way to spend an evening.

Right on John.

I don’t want to sound like a geek, but… ok, who am I kidding?

Just quietly, there are many times that I have been caught sitting back on the lounge, enjoying a cup of coffee while surfing the latest Tablet PC blogs.

Actually, everyone I know who has a Tablet PC seems to indulge in some “couch surfing.”

Of course “couch surfing” is a pretty natural thing to do with a Tablet PC because it’s not like lugging around a laptop. It’s especially comfortable with a slate Tablet PC like the LE1700 that I use.

If you decide that a digital pen is not for you, then you could be left with an expensive machine that you don’t use to the full. For the same money you could have bought an awesome laptop.

Fortunately, Toshiba have produced a Tablet PC for people with commitment issues!

It’s the M700 convertible Tablet PC with a built in DVD burner. It’s really built to be a small portable notebook, and the Tablet PC features are an added bonus.

So with the M700, even if you never use the Tablet features, you will be left with a powerful and capable laptop.

The Toshiba M700 is definitely not as sexy as the R400, but it is a little more practical. For instance, the M700 does away with the R400s glossy screen. This screen has a matte finish to reduce glare.

It’s a little bit chunkier than the R400 due to the inclusion of the DVD drive. But it is remarkably light considering its size.

So if you’re looking to make the jump to a Tablet, but you’re not quite sure, this may be the Tablet PC to get you over the line.

Cheek out our video demonstration below:

Visit our online shop for more information on the Toshiba Portege M700 Tablet PC.