As Tablet PC resellers, we have helped many, many Mac users switch to the PC platform. The best kept technology secrets (Windows 7 Tablet PC with OneNote) once discovered are so compelling that even the best of Apple’s marketing machine can’t compete.

The ability to take handwritten searchable notes on a powerful PC platform – once discovered – outguns the slickest, shiniest gadgets that the market has to offer.

Don’t believe me? Then read this from a Tablet PC teacher who wrote in to John Guin’s OneNote blog:

From: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/johnguin/archive/2010/12/16/a-nice-letter-from-a-teacher-using-onenote.aspx

This is reminiscent of many of our experiences in switching Mac users to the Tablet PC.

I hope folks high up in Microsoft and their hardware partners take note of comments like this. Many companies like HP, seem to have swallowed the rhetoric on multi-touch and have become blinded to the untouched market for real productivity Tablet PCs (Perhaps why the are jagging around with the HP slate 500).

Fortunately, some companies are alert to the power of Tablet PCs with touch AND pen (Running OneNote!) and you’ll see a number of new tablets emerging shortly into a new age of accessible Tablet PCs for the mass market!

Cheek out the OneNote Facebook page to see how many Mac uses are begging for a Mac, iPhone and iPad version… it’ll never happen of course. Ok, so onenote for iPhone is out now in the US only which will be a big bonus for the masses of PC based iPhone users, but still no sign of Mac and iPad versions…

Most Tablet PC users agree that Microsoft’s best kept secret is OneNote. It’s a brilliant tool for a regular PC, but when you use it on a Tablet PC with digital ink it reveals it’s genius.

Here are a couple of OneNote highlights:

• Digital note taking with background handwriting recognition
• Searchable handwritten notes
• Automatic synchronization to web, network shares or USB key – Auto backup
• Powerful heaper linking (down to paragraph level)
• Automatic saving – never lose unsaved work again!

OneNote Resources for you!

To help you get started with Microsoft OneNote, you should check out the OneNote Facebook page. Note the number at Mac users pining for OneNote for Mac, and feel the satisfaction of using it on your tablet PC!

You should also keep tabs on this blog which is the most informative OneNote blog l have found. Don’t let the name mislead upon, although its author John Guin is in the OneNote testing team, this blog offers many helpful tips, power, toys and solutions for regular OneNote users!

Happy Inking!

One Note allows you to record audio with your notes, play back the audio and see the notes that you wrote in real time. Want to see how it works?

Current generation Tablet PCs like the Motion LE 1700 enhance this function with array microphones that allow you to get better audio quality.

A Tablet PC goes under the radar at a conference because it takes the expected form of pen and paper.  On the other hand, if you pop out your laptop, the people around you might suspect that you’re hacking the Internet or something!

Because you write on the screen flat on your table or lap, it’s also harder for the people sitting five rows behind you to glance at or be distracted by your screen.

Tablet PCs are designed to last for hours on a single charge thanks to the use of Intel ultra low voltage processors. That means that your Tablet can practically go all day at a conference on a single charge.

Using Microsoft OneNote to organise your conference notes and capture the audio at the conference will help you to make use of valuable information.

TIP: Want your Tablet PC to last a couple of extra hours at the conference? Turn your screen brightness down to the minimum you can practically use and detach unneeded peripherals.

1. Digital note taking and recording
2. Mobile computing.

Of course, a regular laptop can do mobile computing.  However any time you need to take notes, a Tablet PC comes into its own league.  That’s because for taking notes a regular laptop with keyboard is:

• Too slow
• Too noisy
• Too distracting
• Too difficult to balance.

Note: Many people tell me that they can type faster than they write. That might be true when handwriting an email using text recognition, but not usually for note taking when text recognition doesn’t matter.

Watch the Microsoft Tablet PC Education Presentation

A Tablet PC allows a student to be organised to an unprecedented degree. These are just some of the things that a Tablet PC will allow you to do:

• Organise lecture notes into a digital folder
• Audio record lectures with your notes (with Microsoft OneNote)
• Carry your entire note history, handouts and recordings with you at all times
• Access the Internet from anywhere with Wi-fi or 3G.

The only drawback for many students is the higher price of a Tablet PC. So the question is, will it add value to your education? If it can help you to get organised, to get ahead and pass exams then why wouldn’t it be worth it?

Read Microsoft’s top 10 benefits of Tablet PCs in education.