Hello :)

I just registered here and fresh from posting in the introductions forum. I have a question for you.

Anyone experienced with using tablet pc's as an ebook reader? WinXP Tablet pc version and various ebook reader software.

My eyesight is getting worse and I find I need a larger screen than the 6-8 inch screens available on a lot of ebook hardware, so I'm looking at the Fujitsu (new or used) Stylistic STxxxx lines of tablet pcs. I don't see plugging it in occasionally as an insurmountable problem. I can live with it, I'm just looking for something I can sit in the den or bedroom and read, not stuck sitting in front of the pc. If I'm looking for "carrying it around with me outside the house" functionality, I think I'll just have to wait until there is a larger size dedicated reader device available. One thing I've noticed. I think I read too fast to be comfortable with turning them sideways and reading one paragraph at a time. Can't seem to get right with that.

Can anyone share their experiences or offer me any commentary about using tablet pcs or alternative poor eyesight situation solutions?

I'd appreciate it :)

I use the HP tc1100. The keyboard is detachable, which makes a smaller lighter reader. There is also a toggle input on the side which allows 1 handed page turns without touching the screen.

Just as an FYI, I also read books on my pda phone, and I am a fast reader. Even though I may only view a paragraph or less, the refresh is so fast it doesn't bother me. It is important to note that that is in part because it is so light, and that I can hold and operate the reader with one hand.

So far as I know, software e-book readers are not customized for WinXP tablet edition. However, there is a large selection of WinXP e-book software that should work well. Some of these have PDA/tablet roots, and so need little tablet customization anyway. I like FBReader for non-DRM content, and MobiPocket's Reader - but there are plenty of others. On my Pepper Pad 3 and Nokia 770 I actually dislike the "tablet" aspect (i.e. the need for a stylus). For reading (page turning) it is typically possible to avoid this, but not always for navigation between titles.

Finally, e-book reading is not CPU or graphics (or disk) intensive. So if this is your primary use for the tablet don't go for the top of the line model. Look for the cheapest model with the screen that you want.

I googled it and this rave review (http://www.tabletpc2.com/Review-Fujitsu4121.htm) makes it sound great! I wonder too, if the Asus EEE 701 (http://www.hothardware.com/articles/Hands_on_with_the_ASUS_Eee/?page=1) laptop would be suitable. It is very light and holdable -- much like a hardcover book. Weight is an issue with these readers unless you want to prop it on a table. But then why not read on your PC?

I find that screen size is not so much the issue, but font size is. A PDA screen can give you large text with a short line length. That is good for a fast reader. If I were wanting to view PDFs I would want a large screen. For fiction, it doesn't matter.

You can play with conversion methods on the Sony Reader to give you the font sizes you need. This is easy to do and the results are good. If your eyes feel better with backlighting, you might borrow someone's Palm (http://www0.epinions.com/content_2285281412) to see if that is a suitable solution and if you can get the font sizes you need. For a mid-sized screen the eBookwise-1150 (http://www.ebookwise.com/ebookwise/ebookwise1150.htm) is cheap and good.

If you can't get a comfortable read otherwise and decide to drop > $2000 on a tablet PC, I am sure you will have a great time with it. The Fujitsu sounds like a supurb machine.

2 obvious plusses for a tablet PC, as opposed to a dedicated e-book reader: You can read e-books in as many formats as you can find readers for your PC (I have 5 on my PC now, including the Sony Connect emulator); and you can use the PC for things other than reading.

Something else to consider is how comfortable you are reading an LCD screen, which is what you'll get with a tablet PC. Many of them should give you the options of adjusting your font resolution (the "Cleartype" setting), as well as size, to get the optimum reading comfort for you.

As for any purchase that is that major, I would highly recommend getting a first-hand look at the device before you buy, to make sure it will work for you... catalogs and websites can't tell you what it's like in your hand.

Re: Font sizes:

If you are reading correctly formated pdfs on a windows devise using adobe reader, there is unlimited enlargement of the font using reflow and magnification. Lit files have to be reformatted to get sizes past a certain point as do Sony ebook files.

Re Tablet pc's:

Windows Tablet edition is XP Pro with pen input support. While most reader programs may have limits on how the font size/style can be manipulated, there are settings in XP to help with vision issues, and if those are not enough, other programs are available to do even more.

A "seconded" on the any format point. A tablet will let you read any format and treat even locked PDFs as a readable size mostly. Especially nice reading things in portrait mode instead of the standard laptop mode.

But due to their generally more power intensive use they need to be plugged in almost constantly to be useful as well as booted up (unlike most dedicated ereaders). But since it sounds like you were planning on treating it like an appliance anyway, 'sall good.

On the third hand...er, foot...limb, whatever, it makes a fine reader when reading from a comfortable chair or couch. Depending on you eyesight you won't be needing much of a reading lamp either. Add a nice adjustable book holder and it gets even better.

My two favorite programs are Ubook (cheap) and Ybook (free). Both do basically the same thing but differ in bell and whistle allocation.

Of course, it never hurts that low end convertibles are finally starting to show up. Saw several in Sundays ad section at the $400 mark that would be fine for reading as well as general household use (email, web, finances, text, maybe some board games).

I read mostly flat on my back. A laptop is better because the screen is already at the right angle and you don't have to hold it up like a tablet. We should have eink though. LCDs are killers for old eyes.

Of course, it never hurts that low end convertibles are finally starting to show up. Saw several in Sundays ad section at the $400 mark that would be fine for reading as well as general household use (email, web, finances, text, maybe some board games).
That sounds interesting! What are you referring to?

I concur mogui, Links are good...

I read mostly flat on my back. A laptop is better because the screen is already at the right angle and you don't have to hold it up like a tablet. We should have eink though. LCDs are killers for old eyes.
if you get one of those laptops that also doubles as a tablet, then you have the best of both worlds.

I think convertible refers to a small laptop that can rotate its screen around and become a tablet. But the prices are intriguing :)

I have a Fujitsu 5030 tablet with the 8-hour battery and I used that for a year as a reader. PDF's looks great. But there were a number of negatives (weight 5lbs), size, etc. So I recently got a Sony Reader and after learning how to convert my PDF documents with RasterFarian, have been exclusively using that. Think I will sell the tablet on Ebay.

if you get one of those laptops that also doubles as a tablet, then you have the best of both worlds.
Good idea JS. I'll keep an eye out, I need a new business machine.

I currently own an eBookwise 1150, a Nokia N800 and a Fujitsu 5031 Tablet PC. As others have stated, the tablet is the most flexible and obviously has the largest screen.

On the tablet, I have FBreader, CoolReader and MS Reader for reading most ebooks. CoolReader gives a more book-like experience, but FBreader reads some ebook formats that CoolReader doesn't. MS Reader only reads LIT files, but there is a Tablet PC specific version that is very nice. For reading a PDF, I use either Acrobat Reader or PDF Annotator, if I want to markup the text. The main drawbacks to the tablet are portability, weight and battery life (3-4 hours w/o WiFi).

On the Nokia, I use FBreader, because that is the only ebook reader available that I know of. FBreader has improved greatly in recent versions. The Nokia version seems to lag behind on features compared to other platforms (you can get a version for the PC and several other computers). After I changed a few settings (font size, paragraph spacing, etc.) in FBreader, I find the Nokia is just fine for reading ebooks. Although the screen is small, it is very readable, especially with a larger font for my aging eyes. The battery life is very good. I get 6 hours of reading with the WiFi turned off. One drawback is the paging key position (top edge, left). I'm going to try remapping some keys in FBreader. For reading a PDF, the small screen size is an issue. You have to zoom and scroll, but for occasional PDF reading, it isn't too bad (much better than on the PDA phone I used to have). You can either use the built-in PDF reader, or install Evince, which seems to do a better job.

As for the eBookwise 1150, it is still a very nice ebook reader for the money, which is much less than most other solutions. However, with the Nokia and the Tablet PC, I don't use it anymore. In fact, I still have it for sale if anyone wants one.

One additonal comment that applies to all of these reading devices and software: the markup capability varies from nonexistant to useable. FBreader is planning on adding bookmarks soon. CoolReader does annotation, bookmarks and highlighting, but the interface is kludgey. MS Reader (tablet version) does rather well with all of these. Acrobat Reader supposedly has limited annotation capability, but I couldn't get it to work with any PDF at all (unprotected ones included). That is why I bought PDF Annotator (not perfect, but useable).

Thank you all for taking the time to reply :) The information is very helpful. I've never done much with a tablet pc before and I've never even had my hands on an ebook reader. I know they're too small though from trying to read on my home pc. All the reading I've done is on one of my "too big to move around" home pc's. One day they'll make a reader with eInk that's big enough for me.

Since none of you posted "DON'T get a tablet pc" heh... I guess I'll give that a shot. To the kind person who mentioned the cost of the tablets, that's just what I was thinking :) .... No, I have no intention of blowing $2k on this, there are 250-500 $ reburbished Fujitsu tablets with 10 or 12 inch screens on ebay, Toshiba M200's similar price, Motion Graphics a little higher. I could go through quite of few of those for the same money - and since all I want to do is be able to move to the den or porch chair or flop on the sofa somewhere, power (with an adapter) is available and one of those should suit me.

Couple of things about buying used pc's for those not familiar. Because you folks have been so kind and because I get the impression one or two of you may not have realized used ones were affordable. :)

I was head of IS for 20 years, currently underemployed :) and have bought millions worth of computer equipment. Though not on Ebay. I'm willing to risk my own money :) Here's a few things I've thought while considering buying a tablet there.
-----------------------

Some come with the cds for WinXP Tablet Edition and some don't. If it doesn't, you want to check and see how much those sell for because you'll probably want it sooner or later. Don't buy one that at least doesn't say it has the COA (certificate of authority) stuck on the back of the unit.

Don't hesitate to ask a seller questions. Don't do business with one with bad customer comments in their profile.

Check out the cost and availability of the accessories you think you might want before you decide which brand. Some brands, a new accessory might cost as much as the used tablet.

Some have reflective front lit screens for outdoor use, some have transmissive back lit screens for indoor use. You folks probably know all about that already.

Always google the brand and model name and find professional reviews of the product you're interested in. Motion and Fujitsu and Toshiba and Lenova/IBM (too expensive even used for me). Other customer comments are revealing but not entirely what you want to base a purchase on.

You can search on ebay and other places like google using the same operands commonly used searching databases. ie: You can use * as a value for a discrete character, you can use -<value> to exclude things from a search. For example you can go to "tablets" on ebay and in the search block,

key in --- Fujitsu st**** -- it will return models ST4010, ST4011, ST5011, ST5020, ST5021, ST5022, ST5030, ST5032 etc...

key in --- Fujitsu ST5*** -- it will return just the ones beginning with ST5. :)

key in --- Fujitsu ST**2* -- it will return just the ST4020, ST5020, ST5021 and ST5022.

key in --- Motion LE**** -LE1800 and it will return just the LE1300 LE1400 LE1600 and LE1700 and "not" the LE1800.

Don't forget to go into advanced search and search for completed sales of the same item and you can get a feel for common, recent prices.

Always make sure you find where the shipping cost is hiding.

It looks to me as if sometimes people don't know what they're selling. Be sure you're buying a tablet or a convertible tablet/laptop and not a non-convertible laptop. Some vendors, the difference is only 1 digit in a model number. Couple of the Dell's and the Lenova X60 are like that. The person selling an item doesn't always realize that and list something with the word tablet when it really is a laptop. It's up to the buyer ultimately to know what he's buying and not buy things that aren't exactly specific. Don't be in a hurry :) It's not a good deal at any price if it's not what you want.

I'm not posting links to any of them because I don't want you to think I'm one of the ebay vendors just fishing. I've never sold anything there before. hehehe...

Edit #2 - btw, I've been using ICE Book Reader on the home pc and rather like that. I'm going to give a try to a couple of the ones you've suggested.

Wayspooled,

Thank you! As someone who is also likely to buy a tablet PC to replace my laptop (when it finally gives up, anyway), all of that info is useful to me!

It's just a shame that there are fewer and fewer venues to go to and physically check out a particular model... it makes it tough to get what you really need. But your tips will make such a purchase that much safer for the rest of us.

My Fujitsu 5031 is a refurbished unit. I got it on ebay, as that seems to be how Fujitsu is selling all their factory refurbished units now, as opposed to selling them direct. I am very happy with it. It came with a 90-day warranty, a new battery (3-4 hours of use) a mouse, screen protectors and the software CDs.

My one complaint about it is the quality of screen protector that Fujitsu uses. It noticeably blurs the screen. I still haven't found another vendor with a screen protector for this model. I may have to custom order one.

Unlike a lot of PDAs and even my Nokia N800, the 5031 really needs a screen protector. The front of the glass looks like it is coated and would scratch easily. This may only be because it has the indoor/outdoor screen. I would like to know if the indoor-only screen is the same or not.

The latest model from fujitsu is the ST5112. It's a dual cored beast. There's a great review on youtube here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYzsj2YMYAE). If you're going to be using a tablet for reading, I'd recommend going for the latest like the IBM X61 convertible and ST5112 slate. They have a better quality of screen than previous models. You can still pick up a factory refurb quite cheap on Ebay if you live US (<$1000).

Buying the latest tablet will also allow you to run vista in all it's glory (ie with aero). That might not seem important, but bare in mind that Vista has significantly better support for tablets than XP tablet edition. The handwriting recognition is more adaptive, the on screen keyboard is more refined/integrated and the speech recognition is better afaik. You may be able to run vista on the old tablets, but you'll likely be stuck in 'basic' mode, which really does suck.

I personally wouldn't recommend a tablet for plain reading purposes tho. It's heavy, the battery life isn't great and even the latest screens have glare (more so that a desktop TFT because of the extra screen protection and the digitizer). I personally find them difficult to read from or concentrate on for long periods, so I have to take breaks at regular intervals to give my eyes a rest. The noise from the fan irritates me too at times, although this might be specific to my slate (known in the US a an Electrovaya sc3100 (http://www.tabletpc2.com/Review-Electrovaya%20Scribbler%203100%20Tablet%20PC.htm))

I'm waiting for a large format eInk reader, but until then a tablet really is the only thing to do most of my books justice (well, an Iliad might at a pinch, but it's too expensive). Even when I have an A4 Eink reader, I'll still keep the tablet. I just don't think I could live without OneNote and Photoshop.

So far as I know, software e-book readers are not customized for WinXP tablet edition.


I believe there is a Tablet-optimised version of Microsoft Reader. That's the only one I'm aware of, though. I certainly wouldn't have to like to use the stylus to turn each page.

I wonder how Digital Editions would perfom on a tablet. Any Windows machine would do well, how about those? Anyone tried?

I wonder how Digital Editions would perfom on a tablet. Any Windows machine would do well, how about those? Anyone tried?

I just tried it. What a useless, buggy waste of space! Is there a point to it that I'm missing?

Bugs?
Well I haven't found any in the 3 months I used it! I like it because it works quicker than Acrobat, that it's a dedicated pdf reader and does only that. I use it to browse through the pile of parts catalogs I need for work, they're all pdf with lots of graphics and pictures and I have no time to convert them. It does a decent job so far and it's the quickest to use.

What do you use for reading on that tablet?

For pdfs? Foxit. It's quicker than d.e. Especially at page scrolling. And it has full screen mode, which i didn't see in d.e. Admitedly, it doesn't have a fancy bookshelf thingy, but i tend to use explorer for that. It's less hassle than watching d.e. crash every time you drop 2000+ pdfs on it.

I hadn't realized prices had come down so far on used tablets. Last I looked they were all over US$700 still. This is great -- while I wouldn't use one for reading (too hot), I would like one for creating/editing artwork. :D

Duplicate post, sorry.

This one seems like what you might want.
http://www.alltp.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=452

Some opinions of it here
http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23896

My Fujitsu 5031 .....
My one complaint about it is the quality of screen protector that Fujitsu uses. It noticeably blurs the screen. I still haven't found another vendor with a screen protector for this model. I may have to custom order one.

Unlike a lot of PDAs and even my Nokia N800, the 5031 really needs a screen protector. The front of the glass looks like it is coated and would scratch easily. This may only be because it has the indoor/outdoor screen. I would like to know if the indoor-only screen is the same or not.

wayspooled, I'm looking for an older tablet that has a pressure sensitive digitizer-- I want to use it for artwork. It can be older because I plan to use ArtRage, a natural-media program that is fairly lightweight and doesn't require a system with a fast CPU or piles of RAM. However, I've been having some trouble finding out whether tablets listed on eBay have pressure sensitive digitizers or not. Do you know of a comparative matrix somewhere that I could check? (Or if you'd like to make recommendations, that would be great too!)

Thanks!

wayspooled, I'm looking for an older tablet that has a pressure sensitive digitizer-- I want to use it for artwork. It can be older because I plan to use ArtRage, a natural-media program that is fairly lightweight and doesn't require a system with a fast CPU or piles of RAM. However, I've been having some trouble finding out whether tablets listed on eBay have pressure sensitive digitizers or not. Do you know of a comparative matrix somewhere that I could check? (Or if you'd like to make recommendations, that would be great too!)

Thanks!

Howdy Nekokami :)

Let me start with the last question first. No, I sure wouldn't have any recommendations for you. I had to look up a couple of your terms to be sure I knew what you were talking about <laughs>. So you wouldn't want my advice on which tablet for art I think.

I don't see any charts comparing surface pressure and levels of pressure density anywhere. I looked around and I did see a number of artists asking questions similar to yours and also answering the same. About the best I could do is point you towards those. Several times I saw folks saying the number of levels after 256 had greatly diminishing returns.

Couple of them you have to just keep reading down through the thread until you get past the folks going ooh and ahh about each others artwork <grin>... I guess the main point of the first one is to ensure this is the type of artwork of which you're thinking. (Might have to copy and paste a couple of these links)
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=89032

This one is an artist discussing what he does with his Acer
convertible tablet/laptop.
http://www.highend3d.com/articles/reviews/21.html

News story about ArtRage winning a WinXP Tablet edition award. There are a couple links in the story that look promising.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/dec04/12-01TabletPCWinnerPR.mspx

These newer Axiotron Modbooks seem to have 512 levels but they're very new so hard to find used.
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=36&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=81&tx_ttnews[backPid]=2&cHash=882b9ab7c1

Commentary here
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/showthread.php?t=6701

and here
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/showthread.php?t=8668

and here
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/showthread.php?t=9143

And I just found it while I was typing, some tablet pc recommendations from the forums at Ambient Designs, the folks that make ArtRage.
http://www2.ambientdesign.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2393&highlight=slate

Hope that's helpful to you. Of course in all of those forums you can post a question too. They do seem to like the Toshiba M400 and Fujitsu st5121 (or 20, whichever was the bigger screen)

Good luck!
-w

Thanks, wayspooled! But to simplify my question, I'm just looking for a way to find out which tablets use a pressure-sensitive pen, if you like, vs. those that are "touch sensitive" and will work with any stylus (or a fingernail). I am not, at this time, concerned about how many pressure levels are supported, or niceties like that. :)

Other good sites for info on tablets, UMPCs and functionality are:

http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/

and

http://ubertablet.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-to-buy-umpc-or-tablet-pc.html

of course both of these guys are on the front uber-techno edge of what is curently out there. they both post vids of products in actual use however.

Thanks, wayspooled! But to simplify my question, I'm just looking for a way to find out which tablets use a pressure-sensitive pen, if you like, vs. those that are "touch sensitive" and will work with any stylus (or a fingernail). I am not, at this time, concerned about how many pressure levels are supported, or niceties like that. :)

My understanding is that a full-size Tablet PC, running Windows has to use a Wacom digitizer and pen, as the specs from Microsoft dictate. This means that a Tablet PC can't be used with your finger or other object. It only works with an active stylus. I know this is true of my Fujitsu tablet. This may not be true of early tablets, before MS defined what a Tablet PC was.

I don't know the specs on the UMPC (Origami) devices, but I think these use a passive stylus?

My Lenovo x61 tablet has both as an option -- you can either touch the screen or you can use the Wacom pen. I thought I'd use touch sensitive most, but I'm finding that I love the Wacom pen.

I'm pretty sure that whilst tablets need to be penabled, they needn't use Wacom digitizers. Microsoft would be sued into the gutter if they only supported one particular brand.

A "Tablet PC" might have to use a pressure-sensitive pen, however, as opposed to a touch sensitive screen. That would leave the digitizer vendor open. Any confirmation on this?

My Lenovo x61 tablet has both as an option -- you can either touch the screen or you can use the Wacom pen.Motion Computing offers a switchable model too (http://motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc_le17wt.asp), I'm very interested to see others doing the same, I thought they were the only ones. :pleased:

That sounds interesting! What are you referring to?

Annnnd a month later, he answers! (Sorry for the long delay. Combination of temporary boonies assignment and burglared apartment.)

Anyway, you are correct. The lowend price I mentioned was for refurbished and overstock that a local dealer here in Kansas has occasionally. Still, to me that means if you keep you eyes open and can find them in this technological wasteland the same must be available in areas of REAL civilization. However, this is an assumption on my part and the word "assumption" is based from the word "assume" so.....

(Though I was also trusting that one of the models I saw was a convertible since a friend of mine says that it was the same as his model. Turns out he meant BEFORE he modded it into a tablet with some machine work and an Airmouse. Should have known. This is the same friend who modded his Newton into a tricorder replica. To many of my engineering associates are cheap. Brilliant but cheap.)

Someone in another thread mentioned the HTC Advantage (http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/easy_to_build_desktop_cnc.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890). It is not expensive and you can even use it as a cell phone.

Someone in another thread mentioned the HTC Advantage (http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/easy_to_build_desktop_cnc.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890). It is not expensive and you can even use it as a cell phone.

Makes it look too easy! I'd figure there is an additional two weeks worth of parts making and machining to factor in also. If your time is worth something, buying one like a Roland is much cheaper.

Nekokami, If you're still wondering about the pressure-sensitive models, thought I'd pipe in my 2 cents. Most Tablets have nice hard screens so you can apply as little or much pressure as you're comfortable with. I'd stear clear of any that doesn't have this feature, otherwise you'll scar it up pretty quickly (not to mention, it feels weird trying to write/draw on a semi-giving surface). My Compaq TC1000 has a nice hard screen and I have yet to scratch it, though the pen requires a AAAA battery. While some people like batteryless pens, I like mine due to it actually feeling substantial vs. holding a straw. A while back I had Photoshop loaded on it and fiddled around quite a bit, I also tried the Alias Wavefront version, both were a lot of fun. It's nice being able to actually draw using a pen and seeing results without having draw in one place and see your output elsewhere.

One other thing to note, if you're mainly going to be using the TabletPC for drawing, you may want to stick with one that is slate-mode vs. convertable spin-around types, which tend to be a bit bulkier than the minimalist slates. Good luck!

I think I need to explain what I meant by "pressure sensitive." With some pens and screens, if you press harder, you get a thicker line (or more bleed, or a different, darker color-- it depends on what the drawing software supports). These screens only work with specific pens. A common vendor is Wacom.

The alternative is a "touch sensitive" screen, which will work with any blunt instrument (including a fingernail) and will sometimes also pick up stray marks from your hand touching the screen.

I'm interested in a tablet with a pressure sensitive screen because the art programs that support it use it to make a much more naturalistic drawing/painting experience. Artrage (http://artrage.com) is a good example of an inexpensive program that can do this without requiring a blazing processor, though it still prefers a fair amount of memory. The Gimp is a free program that needs a faster processor and more memory. Photoshop can support these pens and is quite expensive and needs a fast processor and tons of memory.

Hopefully that will help explain what I was asking about, which will in turn help anyone who wants to try to provide useful information to me (which I always appreciate!)

I'm fully aware of what a pressure-sensitive screen is, if that comment was for me ;) . I merely summed up my experience for you based on what I gathered from your earlier posts; i.e., you didn't want a pressure sensitive screen a la PDA device and wanted something you could draw on without any issues. There are several different varieties of Tablets available, though the slates tend to lend themselves better for art usage; unless you want to lug around the extra weight of a larger battery or the keyboard. While the Compaq TC1000 does use an active digitizer pen, it didn't support various pressure levels, though the TC1100 may have. Some even have digital erasers built-in, so you can flip the pen over and erase any errors that you made.

The OQO I have now, while it has a built-in Wacom digitizer, is too small for any practical drawing applications, unless you like doodling on large Post-It notes! Not to mention the screen is of the variety I mentioned in my earlier posts; i.e., it doesn't have a hard piece of plastic stuck over it so it always feels as if you might accidentally smash it in if you press too hard.

Good luck on your search!

Thanks, Azayzel. I'd as soon have a slate, as I have other computers for more text-oriented purposes. I have a convertible on loan from work, and it's ok, but doesn't have enough memory to do much in the way of art. (It runs ArtRage ok, but can't handle large files.)

I'd really prefer something that would allow me to use the pressure sensitivity with Linux, but that's a whole 'nother ballgame. I've got Linux installed on the unit from work, but though I got the pen working, I couldn't get the Gimp to recognize the pressure levels. (I also couldn't get the screen to rotate, though that's a very secondary issue in my mind.)

I have used Fujitsu ST4xxx series Tablets, a Palm T|X, and a Sony Reader.

At the time I found that Fujitsu tablet most excellent for ebook reading using eReader Pro and MS Reader. And the programs are optimized for Tablet PC IIRC - at least both work nicely for either portrait or landscape mode. I usually used it in Portrait mode.

So why did I go on to get a Sony Reader, and use it exclusively for pleasure reading now? Two reasons:

a) I'm married, and the Tablet screen light, even on dim, disturbed my wife's sleep. No matter how I oriented myself in bed, the light flowed from my screen towards me and thus to my wife. A backlight for the Reader doesn't do that, and I can use a dimmer bulb than the lowest brightness setting on the Tablet. (Plus the frustration of having to play with the Tablet's brightness settings twice a day - not a long process, but tiresome in repetition.) Now she's happy at night, and I am too. :)

b) While the Tablet is holdable in one hand, it's still pretty large and cumbersome. I didn't mind it - and preferred the larger screen to any handheld PDA. But when an alternative became available, I snapped at it as quickly as I could.

and a bonus c) The hard drive burned out on my first Tablet after about eighteen months of hard usage. I don't have to worry about a hard drive with the Reader.

That said, a Tablet is still a very good choice. You have color if you wish and if supported, and display of PDF in letter size is very readable and nice. Even though I've switched to the Reader for all casual reading, that's a very individual decision and mileage varies much when considering the decision of what to purchase.

Best, of course, is if you can find what you're interested in and try it out before buying. Then you know you've gotten what you want. ;)

I have been looking into convertible tablet/slate PC's as my next computer purchase. I have eliminated the slate for lack of a keyboard with no real weight savings. I have recently purchased(?) the Sony eReader with Sony points. I have found that one of the better sources for tablet PC info is from Gottabemobile.com (http://www.gottabemobile.com)

Motion Computing offers a switchable model too (http://motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc_le17wt.asp), I'm very interested to see others doing the same, I thought they were the only ones. :pleased:

There is also Tabletkiosk's i440D that swithes between touch and active digitizer with a button click.

As for any purchase that is that major, I would highly recommend getting a first-hand look at the device before you buy, to make sure it will work for you... catalogs and websites can't tell you what it's like in your hand.

I whole heartedly agree. I think it was mentioned earlier that you can get a 48 hour test demo of select tablet PC's from allegiance Technology Partners (www.alltp.com (http://www.alltp.com))

The main drawbacks to the tablet are portability, weight and battery life (3-4 hours w/o WiFi).

There are a number of tablets (convertibles) that have come down in weight to around 3-3.5 lbs. and have battery lives around 7-9 hours (Fujitsu t2010 and HP 2710p) Slates tend to weigh a little less but don't have a keyboard. The Fujitsu has hardware buttons an the bezel(?) that will allow for page turns so you don't need to use the pen. To be honest, touch screens don't interest me as I'm comfortable using a pen and if there are hardware buttons for minor tasks all the better. Using my desktop to read eBooks just doesn't cut it and the Sony eReader does what I expect from it wonderfully. A tablet I believe will combine the best of both with the biggest plus being able to read many different formats.