MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

Bob Russell · 01-17-2007, 03:41 PM

Have you got a hankering for a highly mobile TabletPC or UMPC, but find you are not quite convinced you want to spend so much money on one before it has your favorite features?

I've had my eye on the Fujitsu 1610 small TabletPC and the Samsung Q1P UMPC. The small form factor and touchscreen sounds very useful, while still mobile. But I just can't justify paying the price. I would buy one right now if it had Vista, 1gig ram, a decent power-conserving CPU, usable keyboard, SVGA or better resolution, wi-fi and 5hr+ battery life all for less than $1000.

I suspect that many others want to jump into the TabletPC, but are also waiting for the price/feature ratio to come more in line. So what are the alternatives in the meantime?

Standard Options

Option 1: Gateway Tablet PC -- They have two convertibles in the $1,000 price range and it has nice specs. Looks like a nice powerful full-sized option, but pretty big and heavy. Not sure about battery life and quality.

Option 2: New HP Tablet PC -- This HP tx1000 was recently announced and looks like another contender that may show up when consumer Vista notebooks come out.

Option 3: UMPC -- The Samsung Q1 or Q1P are pretty attractive alternatives, but are fairly pricy. Especially if you include the case and keyboard and extended battery, etc.

Update: I should point out that the Fujitsu P1610 is still pretty neat if you have a lot of dollars to spend.

A Couple of More Creative Options

Creative Alternative #1 -- Get a regular small screen notebook plus a graphics tablet. Craig Pringle explains this option at his blog article. You get tablet pc features on a Vista notebook, but you have to touch the external graphics pad instead of the screen. Still, it should allow you to do electronic note taking, and it probably isn't a lot to carry.

Creative Alternative #2 -- Get a scanner!
What does that do for you? Well it might not be of interest if you need the input to happen interactively. But if you just want to be able to get freehand stuff in the computer, then why not use paper (which is still a better way to write than a touch sensitive screen) and then scan the papers.

It's a little bit of hassle to process the papers. You have to scan them (hopefully with an auto feed scanner, like on some all-in-one printers have), and you have to get them into whatever program you will use to manage all the notes and documents you created during the day.

You can even make use of the scanner for book scanning and general document scanning, so if you don't like processing your papers this way, you still get your money's worth from the scanner.

But if you are just trying to get that stuff into electronic form to carry around with you, it might be another way to get a feel for things without jumping into a Tablet PC. Why buy a desktop and a TabletPC and a smartphone and a regular notebook, when your notebook can be dual purpose until you see what you really want on the market?

Conclusion

I do think that the TabletPC revolution is coming eventually, and well integrated touchscreen capabilities will be very useful. Especially for small form factors. And it will be a lot more powerful than what we see on PDAs and smartphones.

But until the technology advances a bit, we will have to accustom ourselves to some compromises. Price or specs or size for certain. Plus the typical usability issues with any immature technology.

Then in the years to come, when it catches on, look out!

01-17-2007, 03:41 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Creative TabletPC and UMPC alternatives Have you got a hankering for a highly mobile TabletPC or UMPC, but find you are not quite convinced you want to spend so much money on one before it has your favorite features? I've had my eye on the Fujitsu 1610 small TabletPC and the Samsung Q1P UMPC. The small form factor and touchscreen sounds very useful, while still mobile. But I just can't justify paying the price. I would buy one right now if it had Vista, 1gig ram, a decent power-conserving CPU, usable keyboard, SVGA or better resolution, wi-fi and 5hr+ battery life all for less than $1000. I suspect that many others want to jump into the TabletPC, but are also waiting for the price/feature ratio to come more in line. So what are the alternatives in the meantime? Standard Options Option 1: Gateway Tablet PC -- They have two convertibles in the $1,000 price range and it has nice specs. Looks like a nice powerful full-sized option, but pretty big and heavy. Not sure about battery life and quality. Option 2: New HP Tablet PC -- This HP tx1000 was recently announced and looks like another contender that may show up when consumer Vista notebooks come out. Option 3: UMPC -- The Samsung Q1 or Q1P are pretty attractive alternatives, but are fairly pricy. Especially if you include the case and keyboard and extended battery, etc. Update: I should point out that the Fujitsu P1610 is still pretty neat if you have a lot of dollars to spend. A Couple of More Creative Options Creative Alternative #1 -- Get a regular small screen notebook plus a graphics tablet. Craig Pringle explains this option at his blog article. You get tablet pc features on a Vista notebook, but you have to touch the external graphics pad instead of the screen. Still, it should allow you to do electronic note taking, and it probably isn't a lot to carry. Creative Alternative #2 -- Get a scanner! What does that do for you? Well it might not be of interest if you need the input to happen interactively. But if you just want to be able to get freehand stuff in the computer, then why not use paper (which is still a better way to write than a touch sensitive screen) and then scan the papers. It's a little bit of hassle to process the papers. You have to scan them (hopefully with an auto feed scanner, like on some all-in-one printers have), and you have to get them into whatever program you will use to manage all the notes and documents you created during the day. You can even make use of the scanner for book scanning and general document scanning, so if you don't like processing your papers this way, you still get your money's worth from the scanner. But if you are just trying to get that stuff into electronic form to carry around with you, it might be another way to get a feel for things without jumping into a Tablet PC. Why buy a desktop and a TabletPC and a smartphone and a regular notebook, when your notebook can be dual purpose until you see what you really want on the market? Conclusion I do think that the TabletPC revolution is coming eventually, and well integrated touchscreen capabilities will be very useful. Especially for small form factors. And it will be a lot more powerful than what we see on PDAs and smartphones. But until the technology advances a bit, we will have to accustom ourselves to some compromises. Price or specs or size for certain. Plus the typical usability issues with any immature technology. Then in the years to come, when it catches on, look out!