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I have been uising a Compaq Tablet PC since September. Here are some of my observations during the time I have been using this wonderful device.
How I work with computers and a little bit about me.
Let me start by telling you a little about me and how I work. I teach part time at SJSU part time and work most of the week running a software development firm. Unlike your average CEO type, I actually
spend time programming and working with the programming staff. At some point, I will hire a CEO type to run the basic operations while I focus on the software architectural issues (much more fun.) But
for now, I wear both hats.
I already have a laptop on which I do all my development. This is a Dell Latitude with all kinds of bells and whistles (and lots of stuff available via USB 1 & 2.)
My first laptop was a 486 based laptop and I have purchased quite a few since then. This is my first tablet PC.
What else.
Some of my observations may be incorrect. This is because the information isn’t clearly available on how to do it. If you feel any of my statements are invalid, let me know. But if they are, then they need to come up with a way to make it easier to address.
Things I like about the Tablet:
The most wonderful thing I have found with the Tablet it that it finally fills the role of a fully portable computer.
I can take this anywhere. While I can work on my laptop in many places, it is often a pain to always have to set it up, plug in a mouse, worry about batteries, etc. And it is bulky (at least compared to a Tablet.) I mean, this is actually something that CAN be taken to the restroom.... With built in wireless, book reader, adequate screen size (1024/ ), and long life battery, it is truly portable. I almost always use power when I use my laptop. But the Tablet is almost always run on battery with the charger only used to recharge.
I really like the mechanical pen - I don’t have to worry about hitting the screen while I write.
But I am always paranoid that I will accidentally forget it somewhere and be unable to get much done until I get it replaced. I almost wish that the tablet came with two, the main one and an emergency back up (smaller, more tucked away, but functional enough for me to use until I can replace the main stylus. I prefer this much more than the PDA type touch screen.
The Journal feature that comes with the Tablet PC is great. It is not quite complete, but for what you get from it, it’s great. You can use it just like a notepad, writing on it as you would with a
notepad. Unlike a notepad, you can insert space, rearrange text, etc. Later, you can convert the handwriting to text that can be pasted into Word.
Things I don’t like or would change (if I coule) about the current Tablet I am using:
The Journal’s interface does have it’s problems.
It’s a pain to quickly change pen colors. The delete scratch out option is inconsistent. The interface to convert the ink to text is too small and doesn’t allow me to see enough to know I am making the correct changes. This window should be resizable (or even better, just show the actual form.)
The default case that comes with the unit is cool.
It makes it look like your basic day-timer rather than a computer. So people are less likely to try to swipe it vs. a laptop which clearly looks like a computer. But it would be nice if it had pockets to hold business cards, loose papers, etc. I don’t want a bigger case, just some thin pockets that can hold these things.
While using the handwriting recognition (Tablet PC Input Panel - writing pad), I have problems occasionally with how it interprets my writing. I am sure it is in here somewhere, I can’t find where I can tell it to
recognize certain things.
For example, I always write an I to look like “I” - a vertical line with a perpendicular line at the top and bottom. But this is often misinterpreted as a J. If I use a vertical line, it works fine. Also, whenever I write out SJSU, I usually get 5350, not SJSU. It would be nice if I could teach it how I write an I and that SJSU should usually be interpreted as SJSU, etc. As I said, it is probably in here somewhere, but not intuitively obvious where.
It also has support for “Character Recognizer” which allows you to use some of the weird characters (Graffiti for example) you might have used on a PDA. I never used a PDA and don’t know any of these.
But I can’t find anywhere to teach it things like above.
One thing I do like is the two line mode. As soon as I start writing on the second line, the information from the first line gets converted and pasted into the active program (Word for example.)
It has something that seems cool, a “Write Anywhere” feature. But I can’t get it to work in my Office XP version of Word (via the tools/options settings.) So I turned it off and just use the writing
pad for Word.
One minor frustration is that in the version of XP on this machine, the tool tips that appear when the mouse hovers over an item in the taskbar appears behind the taskbar - how can I see it? This doesn’t seem
to happen with my desktop version, just the Tablet.
Another gripe is the useless help system. To learn anything you have to click and click and click and half the time, not get what you want. Why isn’t there a simple “Hey, tell me quickly and easily how to
use this feature” option? For example, if you notice that the table supports speech and you want to turn it on, what do you do? Here is what I did:
In the writing pad, choose the tools menu (it’s the only menu) and select options.
There you will see a number of tabs. Click on the Speech tab. Ok, well now what. I have some options, but nothing that seems to say “Turn this On or Off.” But I clicked on the link to “Voice Command Configuration”. This brought up a dialog pane with some checkboxes on it. They were all checked. When I clicked “OK” nothing changed. So I cam back and this time, clicked on “Help” This brought up a help window with four options (“Customizing speech”, “about speech”, “about voice commands”, and “Using the What can I say feature”.) Well, this went on and on.
My point is that the Tablet gives us some really cool new tools.
But they don’t make it really easy to figure out. You have to go from help screen to help screen, etc., until you give up or figure it out. At this point, I don’t want to learn all about it. I just want to find out if it is a tool I can use or not. But I don’t have this option.
Another option might be to have a link to a video that shows how this feature can be used. Something short that gives me an idea of what it can do and if I want to use it or not.
Eventually, I figured it out. But why make a cool thing like this so difficult to figure out and implement?
Another feature I would like in the Writing Pad would be for me to teach it my short cuts to insert stuff when I type - so I don’t need to use the mini keypad to the left (or right) of the writing area.
Bugs, Oddities, etc. that may not be the tablets fault, but I noticed anyway:
I have my start menu/toolbar set to autohide. At times, it seems that the tablet can’t detect that the pen is where it should be to pop it up. So I have to turn on the keypad and double click the start
menu key twice (it looks like a flying window on most keyboards.) I don’t know if this is XP, or what
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