Tablet PCs

Tablet PCs are arguably the most versatile machines in the laptop genus. Their screens react to input from a finger or stylus, letting you enter notes and drawings freehand. Light weight and long battery life make them suitable for life on the go.

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What Are Tablet PCs?

Tablets come in two types. Slates are machines without a physical keyboard, with all the guts of the PC residing behind a screen.

Convertibles look like traditional laptops, but the screen can be swiveled and folded flat against the keyboard, essentially turning the machine into a slate form factor. A convertible model gives mainstream users the best of both worlds (a keyboard when you need it, a slate when you don't), while slate tablets give users a full-fledged PC and large screen in an exceedingly light package.

Who Are They For?

Tablets appeal to a wide spectrum of users. Among consumer buyers, a convertible tablet is ideal for a student who might prefer to jot handwritten digital notes in class, rather than type. Typical home laptop buyers, too, might prefer the flexibility of a tablet when surfing the Web on the couch.

In business, a convertible can serve creative professionals who need to turn ideas into sketches, as well as workers in the medical profession, warehouse personnel, and field employees that need to fill in digital forms.

What Can You Expect From a Tablet PC?

• 8.9-inch to 12.1-inch screen
• AMD Turion 64 X2 or Intel Core Duo processor
• Windows Vista Business or XP Tablet PC Edition
• Integrated graphics

Simple Buying Tips

• Convertible or slate? For the vast majority of buyers, a convertible tablet is the right choice. They are generally thicker and heavier than a true slate, but having the option of switching between a slate and a regular laptop makes the machine much more usable. For vertical applications, where pen input and lightweight are key, a slate will suffice.
  
  
• Touch screen or digitizer? Not all tablet screens are the same. Some feature touch screens, which handle simple on-screen navigation, button-pressing, and some ink input. Better systems feature a digitizer, which can sense when the stylus is hovering over the screen and also register different results (in some pen-aware applications) based on the pressure you write with.
  
  
• Look for bundled pen-aware applications. The Windows operating system (either Vista Business, or the older XP Tablet PC Edition) that comes preloaded on your machine will feature some pen-aware functionality and utilities, such as the Tablet PC Input Panel for adding notes to almost any document, and handwriting-to-text technology (with accuracy that varies according to the OS and the quality of your penmanship). But look for other bundled applications that also lend themselves to pen input, such as Microsoft OneNote.
  
  
• Watch the screen size, type. Choosing the right size screen is a balancing act: too small, and you may have trouble accurately selecting menu entries and other items on the screen; too large, and you wind up with a heavy machine that isn't comfortable to use as a slate for long stretches. Also, field workers will want to be sure they get a screen rated for both indoor and outdoor use; a standard LCD panel is useless in bright light.