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KenK · 01-31-2010, 12:11 AM

I've been experimenting with a lot of different devices for academic use. For me, "academic use" mainly consists of:

Brainstorming (sketches, diagrams, scribbles)
Taking notes at conferences and meetings, and in the lab
Reading PDF files of papers (journal articles) and marking them up
Reading reference books and documents (PDF)
Proofreading documents (PDF, Word and Powerpoint) - i.e. adding handwritten comments and annotations

I've owned the Lenov X61 tablet, Motion Computing LE1700 slate, Kindle DX, iRex DR1000s, Fujitsu P1630, Fujitsu T4215, and Fujitsu T2020. Some were successful to some degree; the X61 became my main PC for a long time, and after it broke, the T2020. Based on this experience, my ideal academic tablet would have:

PVA or IPS LCD display, at least 1000 pixels wide in portrait mode. At least 10 inches.
Active digitizer (Wacom style) is a necessity. If it has touch sensitivity in addition to that, that would be a nice bonus.
8+ hours battery life, stretched to 10+ in the lowest power setting (screen brightness low, etc). A conference usually lasts all day.
Convertible is nice, but detachable keyboard would be OK.
Light weight as possible, naturally. 3.8 lb is almost unbearable for all-day use. 2.5lb would be nice.
Ideally it would run Windows. If not, there needs to be software that has the features of OneNote (i.e. handwriting input and network synchronization), and also a PDF markup software.

01-31-2010, 12:11 AM	#13
KenK Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Kindle I, iRex DR1000S	I've been experimenting with a lot of different devices for academic use. For me, "academic use" mainly consists of: Brainstorming (sketches, diagrams, scribbles) Taking notes at conferences and meetings, and in the lab Reading PDF files of papers (journal articles) and marking them up Reading reference books and documents (PDF) Proofreading documents (PDF, Word and Powerpoint) - i.e. adding handwritten comments and annotations I've owned the Lenov X61 tablet, Motion Computing LE1700 slate, Kindle DX, iRex DR1000s, Fujitsu P1630, Fujitsu T4215, and Fujitsu T2020. Some were successful to some degree; the X61 became my main PC for a long time, and after it broke, the T2020. Based on this experience, my ideal academic tablet would have: PVA or IPS LCD display, at least 1000 pixels wide in portrait mode. At least 10 inches. Active digitizer (Wacom style) is a necessity. If it has touch sensitivity in addition to that, that would be a nice bonus. 8+ hours battery life, stretched to 10+ in the lowest power setting (screen brightness low, etc). A conference usually lasts all day. Convertible is nice, but detachable keyboard would be OK. Light weight as possible, naturally. 3.8 lb is almost unbearable for all-day use. 2.5lb would be nice. Ideally it would run Windows. If not, there needs to be software that has the features of OneNote (i.e. handwriting input and network synchronization), and also a PDF markup software.