TeacherTabletPC

Since I’m on spring break, my daily posts may tend more toward the afternoon… you know, when I wake up.

Warner Crocker at GBM picked up on a tip at Gizmodo, referencing a MacApper post about using the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to clean various case surfaces on various notebooks and tablets. While the concern over the chemical content/toxicity of the Magic Eraser seems to be unfounded, I might be a little concerned about the long-term abrasive effects of it, but given the results from so many people, I’d certainly give it a shot for a really dirty machine.

Gizmodo: Quick Tip: Use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to Clean a Black MacBook:

Those of us that own the black MacBook know that fingerprints are the devil. Smudges and fingerprints show up all over the black matte finish. Josh, over at MacApper, figured out the most efficient way to get rid of the nastiness, with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Josh put together some pretty detailed instructions about how to use Mr. Clean to tidy up that MacBook, so hit up the link and let us know how it goes, fellow BlackBook owners.

GottaBeMobile.com: A Case Cleaning Tip:

… what ends up on your fingers ends up as residue on your keyboard or your case. Greasy fingers make for greasy fingerprints.I’ve noticed this on the Lenovo Thinkpad X60 Tablet PC, just like I noticed it on my Toshiba M200. It is not a killer problem, but one of those niggling ones that drive me crazy every now and again.

A week or so ago I picked up this tip up from Gizmodo for cleaing cases on the Black MacBook and I thought I’d give it a try. Well, today during my lunch hour I picked up a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and gave the case a once over.

It works quite well in removing those greasy marks, especially on the space bar. Now if I can just find the self control to keep from eating at my desk.

GottaBeMobile.com video review of the LE1700 Tablet PC

We are very pleased to bring everyone this first look at Motion Computing’s newest Tablet PC, the LE1700, in this special launch day video review. It has been about two years since the release of the LE1600, and many people were wondering if this day would ever come. It has!

TabletPC2.com: Motion LE1700 Tablet PC Leaves the Competition playing Catch Up

Motion Computing®, a leader in ultramobile computing and wireless communications, today unveiled the LE1700, the company’s latest flagship slate tablet PC. The most feature-rich tablet PC on the market, the LE1700 integrates the latest technologies aimed at enhancing productivity of mobile professionals in healthcare, field sales and service, government and hospitality, among others. New technologies available on the LE1700 include Motion’s exclusive WriteTouch display option for dual-mode writing and touch-screen input; Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) integration; the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system; and Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile technology.

PC Magazine: Motion Computing LE1700 Tablet PC

Bottom Line: If working while standing is in your job description, this slate tablet is the best in the business. For all else, look for a convertible tablet that has a built-in keyboard.

Pros: Digitizer pen has no equal. Lightweight. Well connected with a variety of wireless options. Good amount of RAM to run Windows Vista Business.

Cons: Can get warm at times. Geared toward vertical markets. Add-on features can easily put this system above $3,000.

And some more:

• MobileWhack: Motion LE1700 Integrates Compelling Features, Ultimate Slate Mobility
• Mobile Magazine: Motion LE1700 Slate Tablet PC Boasts a Number of Firsts
• iTWire: Motion LE1700 tablet features inbuilt EV-DO or 3G connectivity
• MobileTechReview.com Forum: Motion Computing Announces their new LE1700 Vista Tablet
• TabletPCReview.com Forum: Hands On – Motion LE1700 Tablet PC

From GottaBeMobile.com, there’s a guy in the UK working on building his own tablet PC.  Nifty as this is, he has run into some snags.  I really hope he keeps writing about it and can finish the project, because this is just too cool.

Since I did that HP tx1000 post two weeks ago and the Lenovo X60 post yesterday, I figured I should go ahead and do a Toshiba Portege R400 post (and like with Lenovo, I wouldn’t mind a free one, but I doubt that’ll happen).

TabletPC2.com: Toshiba adds “WOW” Factor to their R400 Tablet PC

When you take the R400 out of the box and feel it in your hand for the first time, a audible *WOW* is likely to escape from your lips. The simple elegance of the high gloss piano white finish combined with high gloss Piano black trim of the R400 makes a for a great first impression. This is without question the most elegant computer design I’ve seen.

GottaBeMobile.com – CES Report: Two part demo of the new Toshiba R400 Tablet PC – Your Tablet PC and Ultra-Mobile PC news source

One of the main things we wanted to see at CES this year was the new Toshiba R400 Tablet PC. Today we got that chance in multiples! In this two part GottaBeMobile InkShow, we were able to get our hands on this new piece of hardware for a quick on the floor look and walkaround, plus got a full demonstration by Kevin Roberts, the product manager at Toshiba responsible for this machine.

Toshiba’s Not-So-Potent Portege

The Good: Nice design; e-mail and battery alerts even when computer is closed; bright display; elegant hingeThe Bad: Expensive; short battery life; lacks internal CD drive

The Bottom Line: Buyers on a budget may want to look elsewhere

Toshiba Breaks New Tablet PC Ground

With Apple MacBook-like looks, a fantastic widescreen display and the kind of portability usually found in Lenovo ThinkPads, Toshiba’s Portégé R400 is the most groundbreaking Tablet PC eWEEK Labs has tested. Unfortunately, users will pay for the innovation—in terms of both price and performance.

Toshiba Portégé R400 Tablet Laptop: Gadget of the Week – Popular Mechanics

Which brings is to the option-wealthy Toshiba Portégé R400, which has a touchscreen display, allowing it to be used as a tablet, as well as a tiny OLED screen that’s visible when the computer is closed. This Personal Information Assistant can only display one line of text and a few icons, but it lets you scroll through e-mail headers when new messages hit your Outlook inbox. No one, not even James Bond or Jason Bourne, needs this sort of preview feature, but it’s certainly cool.

Rob Bushway at GottaBeMobile.com has posted some info on the Motion LE1700 gleaned from some FCC filings, I think.  This could be the slate that would convert me from convertibles.

Mostly because I think it’s a good machine, but partly because I like my X41 so much and want an X60 and partly for the oh-so-slim chance that someone at Lenovo might decide to send me a free one (like that’d ever happen), here’s some recent stuff on the X60.

ForbesOnTech: Convertible Computing–What Works and What’s Needed

First, an observation: if you need an example of an ironclad bond between a user and their machine, look closely at tablet computer users. In my case, along with true persistent wireless connectivity it’s literally changed how I view personal computing. My tablet, a Lenovo X60 convertible notebook, is the first thing I pack when I leave my house. Leave my shaving gear at home? It happens. Forget to pack enough undershirts? JC Penney’s is a nationwide chain, so that’s not a problem either. Leave my power supply in my car? Well, I regularly get six hours of battery life out of my beloved X60, so I’ll get by until a kinsmen can overnight the power supply to me.

TabletPC2.com: New 2007 Editors Choice Tablet PC

Filled with exciting new features that include a touch screen, that can be viewed indoors or out and built in EDVO, The new Lenovo X60 has convinced this die hard slate style Tablet PC user that it was time to switch to a convertible. (Which for the record was no easy task) Before my first week with a pre production X60 Tablet PC was over, I knew that if the production unit of the X60 was everything the pre production unit was, there was going to be a new Editors Choice Tablet PC at TabletPc2.com.

First impressions: Lenovo X60 Tablet PC | Office Evolution | ZDNet.com

I’ve had the Lenovo X60 Tablet PC for about a week now and the system is configured for my trip to Seattle for the Microsoft Global MVP Summit next week (after a quick weekend in Phoenix to see some spring training baseball and an Eric Clapton show). I’m happy to report that my first impressions are almost universally positive.

WIRED Blogs: Gadget Lab

Even though Lenovo’s latest feels like it packs a lot of yesterday’s tech, it’s still a capable machine, at least for business users. The ThinkPad X60 doesn’t truck with such trappings as a touchpad or a widescreen LCD. This is strictly old-school: Its charms displayed on a 12.1-inch TFT and powered by a 1.83GHz Core Duo (and our test unit even ran XP instead of Vista). A few newish frills await the patient: Integrated WAN from Verizon, a touchscreen that works with pen or fingertip, and a surprisingly low 4.6-pound weight. With a battery life of more than four hours (thanks to a giant Frankenbattery), it easily trumps most notebooks in longevity.

Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet 6366 (Core Duo 1.66 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB HDD) Reviews. Laptops Reviews by CNET.

The good: Lightweight, portable design; comfortable stylus and keyboard; screen automatically rotates when you adjust tablet position; touch screen is usable in direct sunlight.The bad: Expensive; lacks S-Video port; price does not include an optical drive.

The bottom line: The Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet strikes the best compromise between a ultraportable tablet and a full-featured laptop.

• InkLearn is a tool for learning to write in Chinese—this looks very cool; I wish I’d had something like this when I was learning Japanese (from “InkLearn has a Home”).
• Lenovo is offering a free tablet pen for doing a survey—I strongly recommend having a second pen available just in case, since without the pen the tablet isn’t terribly useful; I personally use a Wacom-Cross pen nearly all of the time and keep the OEM pen as a backup, but I did the survey to get another spare anyway (from “Got a Lenovo? Get a Free Tablet Pen!”).
• Tracy’s thoughts on moving back to OneNote and how she uses it with Journal, et al. (“Sliding over to OneNote…again”).

In my quest to have interesting news and links to post about here, I’ve been reading bunches of other education and tablet blogs and looking at all sorts of web sites. If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve gotten to really like GottaBeMobile.com. They’ve got video blog entries they call “InkShows”—here’s their list from February:

Hardware Inkshows

• Fujitsu T4215 Tablet PC Hardware InkShow: Rob Bushway takes a look at Fujitsu’s convertible and does a comparison with the Lenovo Thinkpad X60.
• SR668 RuggedBook Tablet PC Inkshow: Rob and his son Dax do their best to beat up, drown, and otherwise destroy Samwell’s ruggedized Tablet PC.
• Quick Look at the LG XNote C1 Tablet PC: Just when you thought the CES coverage was over, Dennis Rice and Warner Crocker take a look at the LG XNote C1 Tablet PC.
• The Electrovaya PowerPad 95 InkShow: Warner Crocker examines the PowerPad 95 battery.

Software Inkshows

• PhatWare PenCommander Software Inkshow: Matt Faulkner walks you through using PhatWare’s PenCommander.
• The New York Times Reader Inkshow: Warner Crocker takes a look at The New York Times Reader.

PC World said:

An artfully designed ultraportable convertible Windows Tablet PC, the HP Pavilion tx1000 is geared for multimedia. It’s lightweight (4.2 pounds) and has some distinctive design touches, including a unique touchpad, that make it interesting. But its poor battery life and reflective screen make it a less-than-desirable traveling companion.

Warner Crocker at GottaBeMobile.com said:

HP’s latest entry into the Tabletscape is now available for ordering on the HP website. The Pavilion tx1000z series is a touchscreen convertible Tablet PC running an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor, touted as offering enhanced virus protection and well as longer battery life. There are more configuration options than you can shake a stylus at available from choosing which Vista SKU to install, to memory, to HD size, etc…

Plus, there’s a GottaBeMobile InkShow from CES on the HP tx1000.

Linda A. Epstein at tabletpc2.com said:

The HP tx100z is the first Tablet PC HP has designed for the consumer rather than the road warrior. With an AMD Turion 64 bit Dual-core processor, 2 gigs of memory and running Windows Vista™ Home Premium the HP ttx100 is the fastest Tablet computer I have ever had the pleasure of using..

The High-Definition Bright View Widescreen Display with Integrated Touch-Screen is simply amazing. Personally I’m not one to watch movies on my computer, in fact I’ve never watched a movie for more than a few minutes of a movie on any Tablet PC, UMPC or desktop computer. Now I am looking forward to watching a dvd on my next flight which happens to be to the Microsoft MVP Summit.

Looks to me like a very interesting consumer-level machine, though probably not something for the classroom.

My post this morning actually made me curious, so I went and did a little research. All data in the table is based on each manufacturer’s own web site. My minimum requirements were a 12″ screen with an active digitizer (not just a touchscreen). This table is probably not comprehensive.

Slates versus ThinkPad X60

My Thoughts

So, I stand by my thoughts that I can’t see a significant advantage to any of the slates—some are a bit lighter, which matters, but the trade-off is in battery life (important) and processing power (less so). The Fujitsu slates and the Sahara i440D are probably the most tempting.