Some prospective iPad users have made the comment that you can get a stylus for capacitive touch screens, and that’s true. You can. The experience however appears a bit underwhelming – like drawing with a crayon.

Take a look at the following video from a long time Tablet PC user in Malaysia who compares the resistive touch screen on the Fujitsu UH900 to the capacitive touch screen on the Lenovo S10. During the video he shows:

• Writing with a stylus pen on the resistive touch screen – good experience on the fast and small UH900, although not quite as good as active digitizer
• Writing with finger on the the capacitive touch screen – no leverage, very hard to sustain for longer than a few seconds
• Writing with a pogo stick on a capacitive touch screen – like using a crayon.

Fast forward to about 6:30 to see the pogo stick (crayon) in action.

From this video you will see that a capacitive touch screen is fairly useless for pen-like or fine input – think sketching, drawing, note taking  and handwriting. To resolve that problem, Windows Tablet PC manufacturers include an active digitizer on their capacitive touch screen Tablets.

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.

It seems like the Netbook category has come full circle with the current generation of touch screen Netbooks. After all, the current netbook as we know it is based on an Intel Atom processor that came out of the original UMPC project.

One of the better convertible netbooks is the Gigabyte M1028 TouchNote. We’ve been using the Gigabyte M1028 around the office for a few months now and here are some of the key reasons that we like it:

• Good size keyboard (92% full size) with Function keys and good key placement
• High res 10” indoor touch screen (1366 x 768 pixels)
• Easy access to upgrade and expand – Standard 2.5” SATA hard drives can be upgraded easily
• 2 USB ports, Express Card Slot, SDHC Card Reader and more!
• Multi-touch track pad mouse
• Nice sturdy swivel hinge convertible design

Options include:

• 3G / Next G Mobile Broadband
• GPS
• 2Gb RAM
• Standard 160Gb or 250Gb Hard Drives
• 6 Cell battery option for 5-6 hour operating time.

The Gigabyte M1028 also makes a great eBook reader. So, if you are looking for a netbook, why not get one with a touch screen too?

Pricing

From $759 Inc GST

Contact Tablet PC on 03 9012 6602 or info@tabletpc.com.au for more information.

On the 20th of October Barnes and Noble introduced the “nook” eBook reader to the US market. No doubt this move was designed to compete with the success of the Amazon Kindle which until now has not been available to Australian customers.

Australian readers are probably thinking, “great, another e-reader that won’t be available to us.”

But dedicated e-book reading devices aren’t for everyone (I personally don’t want another device to add to my collection 10+ Tablet PCs!), so the good news is that Barnes and Noble trumped Amazon by also releasing their e-Reader software for PC as well as MAC and iPhone. Only days later Amazon matched them by announcing Kindle reader software for PC and MAC too.

So if you enjoy e-reading, you now have some new alternatives for reading eBooks on your Tablet PC. Of course, there eBooks have been around for a long time now, and there are many places to buy them online for PC. We list a few below, but feel free to add your suggestions in comments.

I guess the question is, what is the best Tablet PC to start e-Book reading on? Here is our list of recommended Tablet PCs for eBook Reading:

1. Motion F5, Motion C5 or Motion J3400 with Hydis AFFS+ – These are the top of the line Tablets with the best screen technology available by a country mile. You simply will not  get a better eBook reading experience on a PC (Best viewing angle, contrast, outdoor visibility and power consumption). So if you can afford it, start here. If you can’t, read on…
2. Viliv X70 EX Premium Air – A fantastic small and lightweight slate device with inbuilt 3G. Weighs only 660 grams and has a 7” colour screen that is not much bigger than an average paperback. Perfect for eBook reading.
3. Gigabyte M1028 – Reading eBooks on a netbook is not really a comfortable experience. Enter the Gigabyte M1028 – a touch screen netbook with a 10” convertible (swivel) screen. It performs fantastically as a netbook, but swivel the screen around and you have a colour eBook reader. Price is great too at less than AU$1000.

We’ll have to wait and see what Amazon come out with when they release their Kindle app next month, but in the meantime you can already get your eBooks on Tablet PC from a variety of sources:

• Barnes & Noble – One million titles
• Zinio – Great software and best source for Digital Magazines
• Adobe Reader Titles – Available in Australia from Dymocks
• eBooks.com – For all eBook formats
• Sony eBook Store – Download the software to use it
• Google Books – For out of copyright titles.

Here’s a snippet from the introductory post from the Barns and Noble “Unbound” blog:

There’s no denying it: eBooks are revolutionizing the way we read—and fast. Literature is moving from our shelves to our screens, and with it comes easy, instant access to eBooks, anytime, anywhere.

Computers and handheld devices are swiftly becoming the mediums of choice for many bibliophiles who no longer find it feasible to store and carry all of their physical books. And as a new generation turns to computer screens and PDAs for their information, digital learning is playing an increasingly crucial role in our schools.

There is a lot of anticipation for the release of Windows 7 next month because of the attention that has been given to touch screen support. In particular, people (us included) are excited about that fact that new “Multi-Touch” capabilities are built into windows 7.

Multi-Touch support means that Windows 7 will be able to detect and understand that you have touched the screen in more than one place at a time.

So, what’s the big deal about multi-touch? Well, we’ve seen some pretty cool games like this multi-player air hockey that was displayed by Gizmodo on an HP TouchSmart desktop PC early in the life of Windows 7.

Then there is the potential of finger painting…

iPhone style pinch zoom, rotation and scrolling features are enabled in Windows 7 too. But undoubtedly the real useful applications for multi-touch haven’t been thought of yet.

So before you run out and buy a Tablet PC in anticipation of Multi-Touch, there are some things you should know about touch screen and digitiser technology that you will find in Tablet PCs:

Capacitive Touch Screens

Capacitive touch screens have been on the radar for a while now, most famously on the Apple iPhone. The keys to this technology is that it is very easy to use.

It is able to detect and handle multiple touches at once and you don’t have to press hard either.

Capacitive touch screens use an electrostatic field to determine if contact (e.g. a click) has been made. They rely on the capacitance of your finger to work. So you can’t use your fingernail, a regular stylus, the back of a pen or a chopstick to make it work.

Advantages of capacitive touch screens:

• Supports true “Multi-Touch”
• Very sensitive – requires a very light touch
• Tracks very well for scrolling and panning (like in web browsing).

Disadvantages of capacitive touch screens:

• Generally can’t be used with gloves
• Can’t be used with a stylus
• Light touch makes accidental contact easy
• Overlay hardware degrades screen viewing
• Not pressure sensitive.

Capacitive touch screens are perfect for slate style web browsing, e-reading and games.

Early adopters of capacitive touch on the Tablet PC front were the Motion LE1700 multi-touch (Multi-touch version discontinued), the HP TouchSmart Tx2 and the Dell Latitude XT and XT2.

The biggest maker of active digitizer Wacom has now released a combination capacitive touch screen and active digitizer combination. On the back of that, Fujitsu has announced that several future versions of its Tablet PCs will include these capacitive multi-touch screens.

An upcoming version of the Lenovo X200T will include the Wacom capacitive multi-touch screen. Buyers beware that although the current X200T is labelled multi-touch, it is not multi-touch in the true sense. Lenovo’s confusing multi-touch label refers to the fact that some of its tablets have both an active digitiser and a resistive (singe touch) touch screen.

Go here for a list of Tablet PCs that include capacitive touch screens:

Resistive Touch Screens

Resistive touch screens have been in the mainstream for much longer than capacitive touch screen. Most current PDAs, UMPCs and touch screen phones used resistive touch screens, usually combined with a stylus.

Advantages of resistive touch screens:

• Relatively inexpensive (compared to active digitizers)
• Works with stylus or gloves
• Reliable and durable
• Good for basic data collection and basic input
• Ideal for touch specific applications like Point of Sale (POS).

Disadvantages of resistive touch screens:

• Does not support multi-touch features (There is some evidence that it may be possible, but it is not likely to be as smooth or useful as on a capacitive interface)
• Overlay hardware degrades screen viewing
• Requires harder contact to make it work – increases the chance of missed input
• Generally not great for scrolling smoothly
• Not pressure sensitive.

Resistive touch screens are perfectly suited to commercial applications that are designed specifically for touch input.

A good example of this is Point of Sale (i.e. big clear buttons). In many cases, resistive touch screens are used in conjunction with a stylus as cheaper alternatives to active digitisers.

Active Digitizers

Active digitizers have been around for years in the form of drafting and graphics tablets. Active digitizers are faster, more accurate and much more responsive than touch screens.

The Microsoft Windows based Tablet PC was born from the combination of an Wacom active digitizers and LCD screens. They are able to handle finely controlled input making them ideal for running windows. They are also pressure sensitive which adds significantly to the input experience.

Advantages of active digitizers:

• Fast, accurate and responsive
• Minimal reduction in screen viewing
• Ideal for fine input applications like handwriting and sketching.
• Offers fine pressure sensitivity (and sometimes tilt-sensitivity).

Disadvantages of active digitizers:

• Requires a specific and relatively expensive pen (usually from AU$50 – AU$100)
• Hardware is still expensive
• In many situations, having to hunt down a pen is less convenient and slower than poking with your finger.

Active digitisers are perfect for handwriting input, sketching, digital design and generally working with Microsoft Windows (of all versions).

Summary

Touch screens of all types are convenient but do not work well for handwriting or fine input applications (like running Windows). An active digitiser is far more useful for general Windows use. 

Fortunately there is a host of new touch screen Tablet PCs on the way that include both a pressure sensitive active digitizer and capacitive touch. This is by far the best option for a Windows based Tablet PC. You get the convenience and coolness of multi-touch and the accuracy and performance of the active digitiser pen – the best of both worlds.

Ultimately there is an important place for each of these input technologies. Talk to the experts first and be sure that you are choosing the right one.