TeacherTabletPC

From GottaBeMobile.com:

Gateway is offering their CX210X Tablet PC for only $899.99 on their website now. Not a bad deal if you are looking to get into the Tablet PC arena without having to shell out a lot of money. … Thanks for the tip on the CX210 Josh.

This is undeniably a good deal for anyone looking to get started in the tablet world. This machine, however, is not one of my favorites. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s one of the few using an active digitizer that isn’t Wacom’s.

Spec highlights:

• Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2350 (1.86GHz, 533MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache)
• Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium (32-bit)
• 1024MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-512MB modules)
• 80GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive
• 14.0″ WXGA TFT Active Matrix (1280 x 768 max. resolution) w/ Gateway Executive Stylus w/ Continuous Sensing Technology
• 24x/10x/24x CD-RW / 8x DVD Combo Drive
• Integrated Intel® 3945 802.11a/b/g wireless networking
• Primary 8-Cell Lithium Ion battery w/ 1 Yr. limited battery warranty
• One type II PC card slot
• (3) USB 2.0, VGA, IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
• 7-in-1 media card reader (Memory Stick®, MemoryStick Pro®, MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital™, xD-Picture Card, Mini Secure Digital®, RS-Multimedia Card™)
• Integrated V.92 56K modem
• Integrated Intel® 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter

As I play more and more with my review X60, I am increasingly concerned that my reviews will turn into I-hate-Vista notes rather than actual assessment of Lenovo’s hardware offerings. Especially given that I was only given one 8-cell battery and one AC adapter with the X60 (versus the two 8-cell and one 4-cell batteries, stand-alone battery charger, and 2 AC adapters I use with my X41 to consistently achieve all-day and often two-day computing), battery life is high on my list of Vista concerns. So, here are a variety of relatively recent Vista Battery Life links:

• Sneaking Suspicion Dept.: Vista Battery Life Sucks kizo interesting info (May 4)
• Humor: Microsoft Vista Laptop Battery Enhancement Kit – In Stock : Meandering Passage (May 5)
• TechBlog: Vista, Aero, battery life . . . and Doom (May 5)
• nullstream weblog – UMPC Vista Battery Life Comparison Summary (May 9)
• jkOnTheRun: Microsoft weighs in on Vista battery life issue (May 15)
• Incremental Blogger: Aero consumes 1-4% of battery life (May 15)
• jkOnTheRun: Freeware of the Moment- Vista Battery Saver (May 15)
• jkOnTheRun: Vista Battery Saver first impressions (May 16)
• GottaBeMobile.com – The Vista Battery Conversation Continues, an App Comes to Our Aid (May 16)
• jkOnTheRun: Battery life in XP: 4 hours. Same battery in Vista: 3.5 hours (May 16)
• Save Your Windows Vista Battery (May 18)
• Techlogg.com – Five easy ways to improve Windows Vista battery life (May 19)

And so, I have just received this new loaner X60 from lenovo. Over the next several months I will be teaching a graduate class at the UIC and experimenting with the tablet to explore what advantages it may have to offer to the pedagogical process. It is a very interactive class in management for public health professionals. The group will have extensive case discussions and work live problems to gain experience and feedback from both faculty and other group members.

Any ideas? Presentation software, spreadsheets and mapping are typically used in delivering this course.

On Monday and Tuesday (well, probably mostly on Monday but with some delays at the receiving dock), I received two ThinkPad X60 units (hi-res screen and Vista Business) and an UltraBase X6 docking station, sent by Lenovo for evaluation.  In the coming weeks, I will be writing more about the X60 and how it compares to my X41 and how I’ve been using it (or not using it) in various situations.  Also, you will soon see some evaluation notes from a university professor on his experience with the X60 having never used a tablet before.

So far, I’ve found:

• Vista and my school’s wireless authentication/encryption infrastructure are not compatible, so no WiFi for me at school.
• Automatic screen rotation is the most immediately accessible “wow” feature.
• While Vista on the X60 is about as fast/slow to start up and shut down as XP on my X41, things like Firefox and Thunderbird seem faster on the X60.

The Lenovo Thinkpad x60 won the 2006 Engadget Award for Tablet PC of the Year, both as Readers’ Choice and Editors’ Choice.

I’ll follow the lead of Warner Crocker’s GBM post where I found this and make you go and read the article for the actual tip, since it’s just too cool.   From Vitamin CH:

Jim Norman invited me to speak at his Storyboarding Conference over the weekend. I showed off OneNote and learned quite a bit about storyboarding in general. But the best tip I think I got all weekend was from Jim himself.Jim got his first Tablet PC for a Christmas present. I was excited to see how he was adjusting to it, since he has been admiring my tablets for the whole time we have known each other. Right away, I noticed that Jim had adapted his pen. …

Though I’m still living in the land of XP, I have noticed a good bit of buzz lately about how Vista may or may not affect battery life. GottaBeMobile.com reports that Motion is delaying the Vista LE1700, possible because of battery life issues:

Motion Computing has been informing their partners this week that Vista based LE1700 Tablet PCs will be delayed until July 31. Here is the message that was sent to their partners and also posted in the GottaBeMobile.com forums :

Motion has postponed the shipment of Vista on the LE1700 to July 31, 2007 to allow time for further testing. Recent industry-wide testing of Vista has revealed critical errors that Motion has also observed while running Vista on the Motion LE1700. Although this postponement is very disappointing, Motion has made this decision to ensure a stable Vista environment for our current and future LE1700 customer base.

From CNET News.com:

Some of Microsoft’s most important customers aren’t happy with the battery life offered by notebooks running Windows Vista.

“It’s a little scary,” said John Wozniak, a distinguished technologist in Hewlett-Packard’s notebook engineering department, referring to the work HP needed to do on making Windows Vista more suitable for notebooks.

Brandon Paddock assesses the article, pointing out a critical error:

While I’m the first to agree with the fact that the out-of-the-box power settings are not ideal for my uses, I don’t think the article was particularly fair. For example, they didn’t even bother to cite actual battery life comparisons – nor compare the default power settings from different OEMs.

…

However, there’s a notable error in the article:

The Aero interface is automatically disabled when users put their Vista notebooks into the “power-saving” profile, one of three new simplified power-management states.

That is not correct. Switching to “power-saving” profile will disable transparent glass only when on battery power. That is not the same as disabling Aero by any stretch.

From my perspective at least, the flurry of posts started on GottaBeMobile.com with Rob Bushway’s “Microsoft, lets start an open conversation on Vista and battery life”

Over the next several months, I plan on taking the issues I raised and addressing each with its own focus with the end goal of bringing about positive change in the space. The first issue I’d like to focus on is battery life and Vista.

and continued with Warner Crocker’s “Vista Battery Life Conversation Heats Up”

Rob Bushway’s editorial yesterday about battery life woes for mobile users running Vista has sparked quite a bit of conversation. And as usual on the Internets, some of the talk can get a bit wacky. Apparently one meme in the thread has info reporting that the Aero interface is automatically disabled when users run under “power-saving” mode. As Rob pointed to in an update, Microsoft’s Brandon Paddock weighed in with a rebuttal to that point[.]

I think these are more announcement and pre-release at this point, but here are some links:

Fujitsu Lifebook T4220 Review by LAPTOP Magazine

The new Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 is a travel-friendly, well-rounded convertible Tablet PC that suffers from a few flaws. When it comes to computing horsepower and video quality, the newest addition to the LifeBook line reaps the benefits of Intel’s Next-Generation Centrino Processor Technology (codenamed Santa Rosa), but its battery life left us wanting more.

TabletPCReview.com: Fujitsu Announces T4220 Tablet PC

The LifeBook T4220 is a new edition of the popular T4215 convertible notebook. It is designed for on-the-go mobile professionals who require the flexibility of a tablet for note-taking or navigating through forms-based applications, along with the traditional keyboard input of a notebook.

HP Compaq 2710p laptop – First Look Review – Pocket-lint.co.uk

Being called a lightweight is not want you want to hear in the drinking dens of London, however that’s exactly what HP newly announced HP Compaq 2710p laptop is – lightweight.We got our hands on one at the HP Making Connections summit in Shanghai, so should you be packing this in your bag?

TabletPCReview.com: HP Officially Unveils 2710p Tablet PC

Starting at only 3.6 pounds, the HP Compaq 2710p, ultra-thin convertible tablet sports an innovative design. With a twist of the screen, it transforms from an ultra-light notebook PC into a pen-based tablet. It comes with Mobile Intel GMA X3100 graphics, an optional ultra-slim battery accessory, which allows users to enjoy up to 10 combined hours of battery life, and a convenient ultra-slim docking solution that features an integrated DVD /-RW drive.

In addition, it offers an optional integrated camera for convenient video conferencing and image capture, HP NightLight on the keyboard to improve visibility in low light and integrated business card reader software. The 12.1″ screen has a resolution of 1280×800 and it has an outdoor viewable screen option.

From CENTRAL OHIO SOURCE – The Daily Reporter, Inc.:

While many manufacturers offer extended warranties, they most often do not cover accidental damage or theft, and that’s where Columbus-based Safeware, The Insurance Agency Inc. enters the picture. The company is one of only a few in the nation that specializes in insurance for portable electronic items such as laptops.

…

The firm offers coverage for not only laptops, but also desktop computers, smart phones and the fast-growing segment of tablet PCs, where users can actually write or click on the screen using a pen-like utensil.

“Tablets are becoming very common, especially in the medical field or in construction out on job sites,” Cole [marketing manager for Safeware] said.

…

“A lot of schools are into one-on-one stuff, almost doing away with books, and they have a lot of liability with kids taking (laptops) out of the classrooms. Sometimes you have kids as young as fourth-grade handling them,” Cole said.

TabletPC2.com now has a review of the HP TX1000 Entertainment Tablet PC:

The first thing that comes to mind in terms of the HP tx 1000 is that its fun to use. I can’t put my finger on exactly why its such a pleasure to have around or to use but it is. What I can tell you is that it has a beautiful screen and the best sounding speakers I’ve heard on a tablet pc. Combine that with with all of the easy to use features and it makes it hard to put it down once you start using it. Another interesting thing I couldn’t help but notice was that people using the tx 1000 always seem to have a smile on there face.From the hard core experts at the 2007 Microsoft MVP Global Summit to my friends 3 year old twins everyone who tried this machine enjoyed using it.