I am constantly explaining this to people, and I'm keeping a running list (really, I just got tired to typing this entire thing out whenever someone on the
gentoo forums said they wanted to get a tablet). I had an Averatec C3500 from about Feb. 2005 to Aug. 2007 and I have come to the inescapable conclusion: tablet notebooks and convertibles suck. And before you accuse me of judging all convertibles/tablets based on my 2 year experience with a single laptop, I can tell you that I've dealt a fair bit with a few of the Toshibas also. Tablets are simple not worth it.
..:: Cons
There are just so many downsides to paying for and lugging around tablet technology.
- You have to write perfectly straight along the lines, or your text will be garbly when it converts to type.
- You have to write very clearly and distinctly. It's not as bad as the old days with palm pilots and those "grafiti" inscription models, but you still have to write rather clearly. The text translation will get some words entirely incorrect, and will ask you about others.
- Symbol notation simply does not work. If you're expecting it to translate integrals, summations, and other mathematical symbols, forget it. I don't know what software you'll have to add to get it to do it, and I don't know if any such software currently exists.
- I write at maybe 60 words per minute (just a reasonable guess). However, I type at about 120 words per minute. When professors go fast enough that most people who are typing cannot keep up, I'm definitely not about to start writing.
- The digitizer in most tablets is just not of very high resolution. This means that any sort of drawing program needs a digital smoother. While both OneNote and Photoshop have these, it's only so good. My digital arts major friends all had digital pen pads that were $100 or less and of grossly higher dpi, which results in a ridiculously smoother line. If you're into digital arts, the pen is alright, but currently the tech just isn't there yet.
- It's more hardware to drain the battery to death. So, you have to disable the digitizer when it's not in use (and some hardware profiles prohibit that), or let it kill your battery.
- Most applications are NOT capable of accepting handwriting. It's pretty much MS OneNote, Windows Journal, and then graphics programs (like Photoshop) that don't know you're using a pen. When using the graphics programs' text functions, you'll still have to type or use Windows' handwriting input tool. So no, you cannot natively use handwriting in web forms or instant messenger programs. The Windows' handwriting input tool is a small HUD that you write into and then hit "insert" and it places the text wherever you had the cursor set.
- You have to pay extra money for the digitizer technology.
- Digitizer technology thickens the notebook/convertible so it's not as thin as it would be without the digitizer.
- Convertibles almost all use a twist and drop joint mechanism for the monitor. The result is that after enough use, the internal cables get pulled and become either damaged or loose. The final result is that the digitizer and/or monitor stop working correctly, and then they become nonfunctional. This started to happen with my convertible after about 9 months. I had to send it in and they gave me a refurb... which started doing it again at about 2 years. My digitizer worked, but the screen would roll and sometimes pixels would only show cyan.
- Most digitizer technology is either a pain to get functioning or completely unsupported in linux.
And don't forget that because a convertible/tablet is still a notebook, it suffers from all the problems that notebooks suffer from.
- The joint that connects the female power jack in the laptop casing to the motherboard always ends up dying. I've had 2 laptops now and this has been the death of both of them. As the jack starts to die, it makes the terminal disconnect and reconnect rapidly whenever the wind blows. This kills your battery really fast. Then, you're left with a battery that lasts a few minutes at best, and a power jack that will rarely transfer power properly. Then it eventually stops transferring power and you need a new motherboard and battery. A laptop motherboard swap is $200-300 and a few hours if you do it yourself, or a month without your laptop and about $500-650 if you send it in. Then you still have to get a new battery which is $100-200. At this point, it's typically better just to get a new laptop.
- Battery life is typically horrible. I recently looked into getting a new laptop, and most laptops are in the 2-4 hour range, with most requiring a hi-capacity battery to get into the 4 hour range. There are some laptops that get a lot higher (Dell makes one that goes to 6, HP has one that goes to 8, and most of the IBM thinkpads can get 6-10.5 if you get all the battery options), but this usually requires lugging around lots of heavy batteries. The three types of battery options are:
- Hi-capacity batteries that typically stick out the back of the laptop behind the screen.
- Slice batteries which attach to the bottom of the laptop in the docking bay port.
- Bay batteries which can be placed in the bay of a removable optical drive -- you have an extra battery instead of an optical drive, and you can swap them out as necessary.
I could not find a single laptop on the market that supports all three, and most laptops don't even support two of the above options. Most convertibles and tablets simply don't get into this range of battery life because extra and hi-capacity batteries are too clunky.
..:: Pros
The upsides simply don't outweigh the downsides, and are way too limited in application.
- If you're in a meeting type environment (whether it's a classroom or an actual meeting), a flat writing surface is much nicer than a screen. Think about what an open laptop screen is between you and someone else you're talking to: a wall. The result is that because your unit is flat on the table, other people look at you less funny. When someone has to literally get up to see what you're doing, they're much more likely to distrust you. I've had classes where people not paying attention (playing poker or whatever) has become such a serious problem that the professors don't allow laptops in their class. A flat screen typically dispels this distrust, because anyone can see what you're doing -- not just people behind you.
- Walking or standing and typing at the same time is rather difficult. With a tablet or convertible, you can hold the unit in one hand and write with the other. If you do a lot of walking or standing when you need a computer, this might be a game winner for you. I simply don't.
- Diagrams and quick charts are much easier to make quickly with a pen. However, it's only of note quality because it's your handwriting. While the guy on the laptop next to you has to go through a chart wizard and hope a chart type exists for the appropriate model, you can just draw it out. Yours will take much less time to make, but his will look a lot nicer than yours.
..:: Conclusion
If there was some sort of digital pad that was standalone and designed to be rougher 8.5"x11", maybe a quarter inch thick, rather light, and coupled with a 10 hour battery, all for $200 or less, I could see digital writing surfaces being worth the time. Until then, do yourself a favor and just get a regular laptop.
Post Last Updated: Aug 5, 2007 10:21 am
