Hi there!
I'm VERY UNHAPPY with my TABLET-PC!!!(Read below, to see why...I do
apologize for the length of the email...)

If anyone has had similar problems with the NEC VERSA LitePad, or any other
Tablet-PC, running Windows XP Tablet Edition, SP2, then I would really
appreciate your advice on how to solve these problems or on how to improve
performance!
Best regards,
Daniel Aspegren
------------------
PARTS OF EMAIL TO MICROSOFT/NEC:


Some of the problems that I experience, may not be Microsofts fault, but
others surely are.. (Don't worry- I'll CC this email to NEC, as well and
add the points that regard the low quality of their product....)

I am using a NEC VERSA LitePad,

( I just had some very aggrevating last 10minutes, trying to complete the
last sentence, but the screen freezes up and various windows pop up, if I use
the Caps Lock-button; a new problem,that I haven't even noticed before...
VERY IRRITATING STUFF!!!! )

a tablet-pc, with a 933 Mhz Intel Pentium3 with 256 MB RAM and a 20GB
hard-drive. (quite old technology- I agree...However, I've owned computers in
the early ninetys, such as the Apple Powerbook 100, which I used for quite
advanced stuff at the time, such as connecting to the net via Nokia 2110
cell-phone and pc-card-modem, later also various palm-tops, such as: Apple
Newton, Psion 3 + 3C, Ericsson MC12 and Palm Tungsten T, but those computers
and palm-tops all had one thing in common; they could all handle simple
word-processing, not surprisingly! However; my (fairly) modern tablet-pc
cannot handle word-processing !!! Some of it is due to the low-quality
key-board and mouse, but my main problems might well be caused by various
bugs in the OS...)
I do realise that this is a very CHEAP product, costing only slightly more
than 1000 USD (which is indeed small change, in the country where I now
live..), but one would still expect it to have the basic capabilities of a
COMPUTER !!! (Such as word-processing!)

So, here comes the COMPLAINTS:

* Every 5 minutes or so, the pointer jumps all over the screen; normally
ending up in the lower right corner of the screen, where it double-clicks,
on its own initiative, then starting the "Time and date properties"-window.
Sometimes as many as 10 windows will start, before I can do anything about
it. This now, obviously, chokes the processor completely and sometimes so
badly that the computer crashes.This has happened many times, since I bought
the computer, 3 months ago. It will happen, both when only using the stylus
and also when the mouse is connected via USB..

* Using the handwriting- or speech- functions willl instantly choke the
processor (I always run the computer with the Windows Task Manager open,
since it crashes so often and also to sometimes let me avoid crashing the
system, by shutting down applications.. (Now, for example, I never play MP3's
on it, since that alone will crash/choke the processor...So- now I only use
my old MMX Pentium (266 MHz), for this task, since it never crashes while
playing MP3's...)

* Starting up the computer, after having kept it in "Stand-by mode", will
often cause it to crash completely.If it doesn't, then it will be so slow to
start up, that I could easily have had time to start it up 2-3 times, after a
complete shut-down. This makes the Stand-by function useless..

* A bunch of other complaints, which may or may not have to do with XP
Tablet Edition,, so I will not trouble you with all of that
information....However- I just noticed that the computer can't handle having
the "Caps Lock"-button pressed and then released, as this will make
various windows pop up.. Also - various signals from this sub-standard
key-board will not reach the processor. (For example, the space-bar will
normally not produce a space, when pressed, but other keys will "get stuck"
and produce 2-4 letters instead of one and sometimes the space-bar will do
the same.....).
The sub-standard mouse will often make the application-window flash up and
down on the screen, as if I was fiddling with the scrolling-wheel. The
sub-standard external CD-ROM, will only work with some CD's. It cannot read
some of my CD's, even if it is a commercially manufactured music-CD. (This
doesn't matter much, though- since the Windows Media Player will generally
crash or slow down my system anyway, to an unacceptable extent....) I now
play these CD's on my +5 years old PentiumMMX...

SO- What have I done to DESERVE this ???
Well; except the obvious (buying your product:), I am using my computers
with various software that I have downloaded. (Some SW, as for example SW
for calculating decompression in technical-diving/CCR-diving, are not
commercially available, to the same quality as the free-ware (see
"V-planner").
HOWEVER- I've had these problems, since taking the product out of the
wrapping, so there can't be much of a connection, between the newly
installed SW and the problems.

AND- What have I done, NOT to DESERVE this ???
I have installed Service Pack 2 and I also use Computer Associates EZ Trust
Antivirus software, keeping it updated on a weekly basis. I also run Yahoo!
Toolbar, running their Anti Spy-ware and pop-up blocker (so now, the only
pop-ups that I have to worry about and suffer from, are the ones that
WINDOWS XP Tablet Edition, creates for me, every 5 minutes or so...


FINALLY- What can YOU do for ME ???

I would hope (but certainly not expect:) that a responsible company (are you
one??) would have realised, at least some of, these faults, before I did and,
hence, have come out with some updates/patches, dealing with your problems
and faults....
HAVE YOU ??? IF you have, then I would indeed appreciate information about
the same.
OR- What else can you do for me??? Refund me my money ? Let me test out a
better, updated product for you? Or just replace the product that I have,
hoping that these problems are just a stroke of "bad luck" ?

WHY should You EVEN CARE???
Because I, along with most people that will read this email/article, am the
MARKET.
We pay you, who read this, your salary, through buying your products.
You will not go out of business- neither tomorrow, nor next year.... BUT-
you might loose out on an exciting segment of the market (The more
adventurous part of the market, that have bought and will again buy, more
unusual products, such as Tablet-PC's and Palm-tops).
This segment will, more than most, influence and guide the other, less
interested, segments of the market.

WHAT can I DO to help YOU ???
I have included the information below, to help you answer my criticism or to
help you improve your product. I will also publish this email (and maybe your
response..) in a suitable discussion -forum, asking for info on how to make
your product (XP Tablet Ed.)useable.
I will also supply you with further info, to the best of my knowledge and
availability. So if you do have further questions (as I hope you DO!),
please email me back!
In the meantime, I hope that the spreading of this information, might
prevent other consumers of making uninformed decisions, such as buying this
type of Tablet-PC, before any improvements are made...
I would think that your software would be a lot better already, if all of
your customers were as difficult as I am...

SO- What do I LIKE with this product???
The weight is only 1 kg/2,2 lb and it doesn't take up much more space than
a regular frisbee...
Maybe the designer realised, at an early stage, that many customers in the
future will indeed treat their product as a regular frisbee and throw it far,
far away ;-)

Best, but dissatisfied, regards,
Daniel Aspegren
Cayman Islands, BWI



OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DANIEL
System Manufacturer NEC
System Model VL-PAD-933
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 11 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~398 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date NEC NOTE BIOS Version /355A0302, 1/30/2003
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180
(xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name DANIEL\Administrator
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 256.50 MB
Available Physical Memory 33.02 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 582.79 MB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys