I know it’s last minute, but if you’re in Melbourne this weekend, come down and get hands on with the latest Tablet PCs. Tablet PC is participating in the ABITE Business and IT expo at the Melbourne Convention Centre from Saturday to Monday.

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.

Do you think PowerPoint presentations are overused and boring? You wouldn’t be alone in the business community if you thought that. Well, Tablet PCs create a way for you to change all of that.

Hook your Tablet PC up to a projector and you’ve got a lot more than a boring slide machine… You’ve now got yourself an interactive presentation tool. That’s not just corporate speak, I’m serious!

Using a Tablet PC and PowerPoint you can:

• Replace flip charts and butchers paper
• Combine presentation slides with brainstorming and audience involvement
• Draw in digital ink to explain and illustrate concepts

Click on the picture above to download the sample PowerPoint 2007 file. By the way, you can use digital ink in Office 2003 too.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s very hard to use a laptop while you’re standing up. Tablet PCs slates on the other hand, are designed to be used when your standing up.

Think about the possibilities for this… For instance, a cold storage company recently told us that a Tablet PC will save them hours every day. How?

Well, each time they have a question in the cold store, they have to walk out of the store, into the office, look it up on the computer and then walk back again. It was a massive warehouse. Can you imagine how much time that takes up every day?

With a Tablet PC (in this case, the semi-rugged Motion F5) they can have the PC on hand, and look up the information while they are standing at the pallet.

Here is a list of just some of the places that you’ll see Tablet PCs where a laptop is not practical:

• In a warehouse
• On a building site
• On a farm
• At a hospital bedside
• On the street
• In meetings
• In hallways

By the way, a Tablet PC is easier to use on you lap when you’re sitting down too, since there’s no need to balance the keyboard and screen.

Tablet PCs are designed to be used on the move. Most full size Tablet PCs now have a 3G / Next G modem built right in. That means you can connect to broadband speed Internet from practically anywhere in Australia.

Earlier this month I arrived half an hour early to the launch of Motion Computing’s F5. So I sat out in the Melbourne winter sun by the Yarra River with the View Anywhere Motion LE1700 and checked my email. Now this is what working wirelessly was supposed to be about… It’s the stuff of Intel TV commercials.

Be aware, that overseas model Tablet PCs may work on a different mobile network to our Australian options and others be locked to one particular carrier. It’s a good reason to buy a locally sold Tablet PC.

Tablet PCs are great tools of education. Students use tablet PCs for things like taking notes, getting organised and composing music. And thanks to Microsoft’s Windows XP Tablet PC power toys, students can experiment with Newton’s laws too.

From the Tablet PC power toys page:

Bring your drawings to life with the Physics Illustrator, a motion simulator for the Tablet PC. Simply draw two-dimensional bodies, connect them in various ways, and apply forces, then watch as animation makes the bodies move, collide, and interact.

The Tablet PC physics tool is hours of fun, and you might just learn something too!

Dealing with email overload is one of the greatest challenges in running a business. Often, many of the emails that flood your inbox are internal communications that need a quick response.

Email - meet Tablet PC

With a Tablet PC and Office 2007 (or Office 2003) you can send email in handwriting. That enables you to send emails from places like:

• An airport lounge
• A doctors waiting room
• A cafe over coffee

Tablet PCs allow you to maximise your working time by enabling you to use a fully functional PC in places where you generally wouldn’t use a laptop.

Brush up your handwriting skills, because you’re going to need them again. Tablet PCs are great productivity tools.

Ever tried to use your laptop on a domestic flight in economy? It’s tricky.

Because a laptop screen hinges at the back, you need more at least 50cm of room just to open the laptop and tilt the screen to an angle that you can see. Then you need some extra space so that you can reach the keyboard.

It all adds up to bad ergonomics, RSI and neck strain!

With a Tablet PC however, you can work comfortably on even the most cramped budget flights.

Because you work on and over the Tablet screen, you only need about 30cm of space to work comfortably.

The Motion Computing CE 1700 clip on keyboard has the advantage of being centrally mounted which means that you can also use it in laptop mode with a keyboard in a more cramped space than a laptop would allow.

It’s great to be able to use that time when you’re stuck at 40,000 feet to get ahead on emails! In fact, I wrote this blog entry high above Canberra on the way back from CeBit in Sydney today.

Are you lugging around an A4 notepad and pen in that portfolio of yours?

There are so many places where Tablet PC is practical and a laptop just isn’t. Meetings with your clients are a perfect example.

You wouldn’t generally use a laptop in a round table meeting because the laptop screen creates a barrier between you and the client. Your clients also can’t see the screen, so they will be suspicious about what you’re doing in there…

If you place your Tablet PC flat on the table, there is no screen barrier and your clients can see the notes that you’re taking.

Also, when you get a Tablet PC, you will be showing a more impressive front to your clients. That’s because when you go into any meeting with a Tablet PC you will look more:

• Professional
• Impressive
• Technically superior
• Organised.

But the real kicker is that you can actually be all that!

A Tablet PC will allow you to:

• Never lose a note again
• Search through your handwritten notes
• Email handwritten notes
• Mark and action notes for follow up
• Audio record the conversation in sync with you handwritten notes.

It’s perfect for meetings, especially with clients.

Mind Mapping works better on a Tablet PC than on a desktop PC or laptop. Mind Mapping is a creative process that is used for capturing ideas, thoughts and concepts and organising them logically. It can also be used as a note-taking method and a memory aid.

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.
Source: Wikipedia

It’s often a process that involves discussion and brainstorming. Because Mind Mapping is a creative process it flows better in your handwriting.

There are several Mind Mapping software packages available that bring Mind Mapping to your PC. Mind Manager from Mindjet allows you to work in Ink on that Tablet PC. The ability to create a map in digital ink with your own hand means Mind Mapping that just works better on a Tablet PC.

Already a Tablet PC user? Click here to download a free trial of Mind Manager.

There are so many things that you take for granted once you’ve been using a tablet PC for a while.

We realised that laptop users need to know what they are missing out on, so we decided to start this list. Over the next few months, we will be posting one thing every day until we reach 101.

I’m looking for suggestions, so Tablet PC users: Tell me how you use your Tablet PC. Email me at: brettg@tabletpc.com.au

If I like your suggestion I will add it to the list. Also include contact details and your website if you want them included.