About a month or two ago I started looking into buying an eReader after seeing an ad for the new nook reader from Barnes & Noble. As an avid reader and graduate student I have more than a few books and the prospect of eliminating some of the need for bookshelves is pretty enticing. Ultimately after looking at various devices I discovered that Barnes & Noble provides their eReader software for free here. Once I realized that, I started to expand my search for a device and eventually decided that I could get a lot more functionality from a Tablet PC device for a cheaper price.
After researching my options for a new device, and given my available funds, I opted for an older HP tc1100 on eBay for right at the $200 mark. For those who aren't familiar with this device let me give you a quick run down. The tc1100 is a hybrid tablet PC that was manufactured by HP until late 2005. My particular model has a 1.1GHz Pentium M CPU with 2 GB of RAM. It has the ability to operate as a slate style tablet or with a removable keyboard it functions as a standard laptop as well. All that said, it's a modest machine when compared to current Netbook specs.
The great part of this device, and the point of this post, is that this Tablet PC is just powerful enough to run Windows 7 and take advantage of the great features it has! To be honest, I never really thought seriously about getting a Tablet PC. I always figured that a laptop was good enough for my needs. Well, I wish I had this Tablet a long time ago! Here are a few of the features that have sold me on this Tablet and Windows 7:
1. Free Form Handwritten Notes
The Windows Journal is absolutely awesome! At work my constant companion is a notepad, mechanical pencil and a large pink eraser. I often think best when I am writing things down, but I have also often wished that I didn’t have to deal with having to keep track of the multiple notepads. Now with Windows Journal I can take as many notes as I want and never have to worry about keeping track of multiple notepad again (much less running out of lead in my pencil, or having to deal with eraser dust!). There are a number of page templates from regular lined notebook paper to blank pages and graph paper.
2. Web Browsing
There are actually a couple of things I like about browsing the web with a Tablet PC. The first is that the form factor of this one is just the right size to hold in your hand for convenience without needing to have a laptop in your lap burning your legs. This particular Tablet has a 10.4” screen and the . Secondly, since it’s Windows 7 it is the full version of your favorite browser. I currently run IE 8 as my preferred browser. One really cool feature of browsing with the digital pen is that I can click on any link and drag the pen a fraction of an inch off of the link and it will automatically open the link in a new tab. This is a surprisingly convenient and intuitive feature.
3. Handwriting Recognition
Windows 7 has a handwriting recognition panel that can be displayed whenever the pen comes into active range of the screen. This panel provides a dynamically sized area that will convert your handwriting into text. I have been amazed at how accurately it can decipher my chicken scratch. There is something about the tactile experience of writing that is quite fulfilling, of course it’s also nice to have a 95% keyboard to make things go a little faster when needed.
4. The Hardware Form-Factor
The last thing I’ll touch on in this post is the actual form-factor of the HP tc1100. There are a huge number of things I like about the “convertible” Tablet PC form-factor. The ability to minimize the thickness and weight of the device by removing the keyboard is absolutely cool. I love being able to just carry the screen around without the bulk of the keyboard. Without the keyboard attached the design resembles a closed Macbook with it’s smooth rounded corners and edges. The three side hard buttons and jog dial are customizable. I was even able to add some custom script that locks the tablet when you press and hold it. Switching between screen layouts is a breeze with the press of a button. There are even three soft buttons built into the bezel of the screen that perform various convenient tasks. All-in-all I, along with thousands off others, wonder why HP chose to stop making this particular model when it was absolutely unique to the market (and still is) and has so many great features.
Finally, If you happen to be on eBay and can get a tc1100 for cheap then by all means I think you should give it consideration. (I recommend going with one that has either a 1.1GHz or 1.2GHz CPU.) Even if you don’t want to go the older hardware route, go ahead and check out a newer Tablet PC, I think you too will be surprised at what you find.
Tags: tablet pc, windows 7, hardware