A lot of designers ask us if Tablet PCs are good for mobile sketching and drawing. The answer is an overwhelming yes! Many of our Tablet PCs like the HP TouchSmart Tm2 seen below use a Wacom Active Digitizer pen that is proximity and pressure sensitive up to 512 levels.

Whilst they might have a touch screen the Active Digitizer technology is different. It allows you to:

• Rest your hand on the screen without interfering with your sketch
• Use pressure sensitivity in Photoshop – press harder for a thick line, soft for a thin stroke
• Work quickly – the combination of the Wacom Active Digitizer and modern Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors means that there is no lag while you are drawing.

Check out the video below from a Tablet PC user in France who is drawing on a HP TouchSmart Tm2.

So if you are an artist or graphic designer and you’re wondering what Tablet PC is best for you, feel free to contact us to discuss.

HP have added some fuel to the ongoing Adobe and Apple flame wars with a new video jointly created with Adobe and spoken by one of their marketing team.

One of the things that does bug me on the iPhone is the lack of flash support. The reason that it bugs me is that it completely limits the viewing of websites like YouTube. Yes, “there is an app for that”, but as the video here points out users should not have to be thinking about apps all the time – besides the YouTube app on the iPhone is unreliable and very limited in my experience.

So with Flash Player on the HP Slate device,  I’m able to access the full web and not just a part of it. – Alan Tam, Adobe Flash Marketing

Fortunately as you will see in the following video, soon we will have a consumer oriented slate device that will support flash in the HP Slate.

After my fantastic experience with Windows 7 multi-touch on the Fujitsu T4310, T900 and HP Tm2, I think it is definitely worth passing over the iPad to wait for a real consumer slate that acts just like my PC.

HP has been developing their new Slate Tablet for 5 years now, and we finally can get a better look at it via a special update from HP.

What we do know is that the HP Slate:

• Runs Windows 7
• Has a 10” multi-touch screen
• Is designed for viewing media
• Runs flash!

According to this video, HP has been holding back on the Slate for two years now to make sure that you could afford it!

We’re looking forward to getting our hands on the HP Slate soon!

HP has introduced an upgrade to the 2730p Elitebook aptly named the 2740p and featuring Multi-Touch.

The 2740p retains exactly the same form as the 2710p and the 2730p with the welcome addition of a multi-touch capacitive screen and the new Intel i7 processor.

Cheek out the gottabemobile.com review below:

The upcoming HP Tm2 Tablet replaces the long running Tx series, and it is certainly a massive improvement.

There are several major improvements for the TouchSmart Tm2:

• Wacom digitiser pen – better pen experience in general
• Capacitive multi-touch screen
• Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage – Cooler, quieter, better battery life
• Sleek new design – no optical drive cuts down size and weight
• Much better build quality – in line with the HP Envy series
• Dedicated ATI graphics – one of the only Tablets with this feature.

The Tm2 is still sports a glossy screen and is very much aimed at the consumer, but the move to Intel processors and Wacom Digitizers brings the Tm2 closer to the business market.

MobileTechReview.com HP Tm2 Video Reviews – 3 Parts

We’ll let you know as soon as it becomes available.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introduced a new HP slate Tablet PC at this weeks CES Show in Las Vegas USA. HP have published a little teaser video, but not much more information just yet:

Welcome HP and others back into the real Tablet PC market! This year you will be spoilt for choice in buying a Tablet PC.

We finally got around to reviewing the multi-touch HP Tx2! The Tx2 has been a very popular Tablet PC and it is introducing many newcomers to the wonders of touch computing.

The HP Tx2 is a great way to get into Tablet PCs for a very good price. While most full sized 12” Tablet PCs are selling for over AU$3000, the Tx2 is under $2000.

Best of all, it’s packed with goodies like the iPhone style multi-touch capacitive touch screen.

We’re looking forward to trying out Windows 7 on this machine! Roll on Tablet PC air-hockey and finger painting.

The out of the box experience of multi-touch in Windows Vista will be limited to third party software at this stage, but Windows 7 takes multi-touch the whole nine yards.

The following demos from Gizmodo are of the HP TouchSmart desktop PC, but you can expect the same experience from the HP TouchSmart Tx2.

Windows 7 Touch and Multitouch on HP TouchSmart PC from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

As you can see, the multi-touch experience is built into the system from the ground up… it’s even in good ol’ paint.

Multitouch Air Hockey in Windows 7 on a TouchSmart PC from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

Air Hockey on a Tablet PC! Now that will be something special! We’re excited just thinking about the possibilities of multi-digit, multi-hand and multi-user interaction…

After spedning the last four weeks with the HP2730p Elitebook, it was very hard to let go.

The 2730p is super light, powerful and yet kind on batteries. We got at least for hours of full-on use from each battery cycle. The portable expansion base (with a tiny 7mm thich DVD burner in it) made it all very convenient.

Take a look at our video review here: 

The 2730p ticked all the boxes for us. If you want to know more about the HP 2730p EliteBook, visit our website.

You may remember that we wrote about the HP Tx2000 / Tx2500 “entertainment” Tablet PC earlier in the year. It included a couple of really great features like:

• 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.