Hi all,

Thanks to the admins for setting up this useful forum! I just finished grad school and am back in the workforce, doing project management for the IT division of a marketing firm. I'll be making a lot of client-site visits soon for requirements gathering and project definition and feasibility studies, and am thinking a tablet PC might be a good way to take and organize notes on such tasks. I only recently started considering them when I discovered the Averatec 3500, which seems to have all the right features at the right price.

However, in my past experience with laptops I've found that the screen size and quality is one of the most important ergonomic factors, and for that reason I'm also interested in the high quality wide-screens on standard laptops like Dells. Anyone know if there's a combination - a tablet PC with a high-quality wide-screen display?

Thanks!
Byron

Welcome!

Yes, certain displays are better for some uses than others.

- Today, there are Tablet PCs with 10", 12", and 14" displays.

- Today, all models use XGA (1024x764) resolution, with the exception of the Toshiba Portege M20X, which has SXGA+ (1400x1050).

- Do you want outdoor viewability? Take a look at Linda's pictures to see examples of differences between display viewability outside.

- There are rumors about Toshiba making a wide-screen Tablet PC display that would be "legal pad" size, but those are only rumors at this point.

- If you just prefer buying from Dell, then Dell offers the M1400 Tablet PC and you might like the display size for when you're collecting data and interviewing.

__________________
-- Lora Heiny

TabletPCPost | WhatIsNew | TechnologyQuestions

Thanks Lora, I appreciate your response, especially the link to the Dell page. After scrolling through that list of TPC's, I'm starting to think the Avertec 3500 is the best deal. All those TPC's have at best a 1.1GHz Pentium while the Averatec has an Athlon XP-M 2200+, for about the same cost. I'll be running a lot of office apps, dev tools, and compilers, probably simultaneously, so processing power and memory is important. I'll also need the full-size keyboard as well. Heat generation won't be a huge issue since I'll be using it on desks at work.

So, what TPC do you have? How's the handwriting recognition?

Byron

Welcome to the forums Bryon.

My first Tablet PC was an FIC SlateVision. I've also used Tatung's wonderful slate (Electrovaya's slate). I switched to an Acer C100 convertible with a smaller screen size.

Handwriting recognition in Service Pack 2 is quite remarkable. I spent a full week only using the pen and became quite comfortable surfing the web and writing responses. Sometimes, I found it faster to use the onscreen keypad, especially for passwords.

Recommendations:
Screen resolution: Toshiba M20x
Screen size & DVD: Acer C303
Battery life: Electrovaya
Outdoor/Indoor: Motion M1400
Price: Averatec C3500

Now, Lora is much kinder about Dell than I will ever be. In fact, this is a great letter to the editor of News.com. In 1988, Dell was hot and heavy with print advertising that used to really upset me. Their whole package was claiming to have representatives who knew what they were doing with computers. Of course, they all were protected by the lack of eye-to-eye contact or the fact a third party was really doing the tech support. But the press loved 'em and people bought in typical cattle drive fashion... mooooo. In short, you'll never find me recommending the Dell smell.

__________________
Layne P. Heiny / Administrator for Tux Reports Network

Please do not send private messages requesting technical support. Place your request in the proper forum and hopefully someone can help you.

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