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Digital ink/tablet pc: worth the effort?

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Deozaan:
there is just no way taking notes with a pen on a tablet is going to be used over taking notes by typing on a keyboard, unless all he does is draw diagrams.

-mouser (February 01, 2008, 08:10 AM)
--- End quote ---

Or unless he writes faster than he types. Which is sadly still quite common these days.

iphigenie:
I had the fujitsu 9'' subnotebook (although before it had the flippable screen, the p1310 at the time) and I must say I still miss the touch screen!!!

I dont think i would flip it much to use as a pure tablet, but I know I used the touchscreen all the time - it means that on the road you dont need a mouse!

It wasnt to draw or anything, it was the drag, drop, click etc. day to day use of a mouse. Poking the screen with a fingernail to open, close, move things is just soooo convenient, especially on a small machine

It got stolen and I still miss it, and I wait for the day I can justify buying one again

kiwi2b:
I bought a portege 3500 and spent the first couple of years wishing I'd saved the extra 3000 NZ$ it cost me over and above the regular price for a regular laptop of the same specs.  :(

Now, I wouldn't buy anything else  :D Here's why I changed my mind. Two reasons anybody will find useful, annotating webpages for later use and using a full featured laptop discreetly.

For the webpages: I surf hugely for my work, gathering pages for newsletters, for projects, whatever, some will be vital, maybe months later. My workflow is like this, I import the page into Microsoft Onenote, scribble with the pen a few notes as to how we can use the information that is on the webpage. And it's all there ready for when we need it. If I had to type, it would be like work, rather than surfing. So the 'freeform' nature of the pen means I write more, far more, than what I would when typing. Critically, the notes are there, and searchable, to tell me why the page is important. Otherwise, the importance would be forgotten and the webpage would be useless.

For the discreet usage: For me, I do work at home, in cafes, wherever. Many times I feel it would be too rude and intrusive to open up a laptop and start typing away. Too big, too noisy, too much like he's working. With a tablet, you just flip the screen over, tuck it on your knee, hide the pen in your hand and jot and tap away. It's great.

Also, it's faster, way faster to surf through lots of links. With it on your knee, you can really find and tap the link very quickly. It also gives an option for those who find a mouse uncomfortable.

Now I just have to justify buying a new one.  ;D My advice is to wait until those solid state drives arrive in a full featured Toshiba tablet.  ;) Then I'll be dropping hints about what would happen if I dropped my old one.  :D

jgpaiva:
It's great to get opinions from people who own this kind of laptops! Thank you, please post away!!

KenR:
JG,
This November I will have had mine for 4 years. I think IRC is teh best place to do it, so let me know when you have some time and I'll happily tell you as much as you want to know.

Ken

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