Story: Tablet PC shipments fizzle out

Posted by: Jeff Lewis (Wednesday 30 July 2003, 6:13 PM)

I was initially enthused by the Tablet PC, but have still not bought one. However, my reasons are fairly simple: cost, weight, lifespan, resolution and operations.

Problem one: price. While a case could be made as to why convertable Tablets like the Acer have to be more expensive, other Tablets are essentially normal laptops with the keyboard removed. Logically, they should be *cheaper* than a normal laptop, not more expensive.

So much of the cost has to be in the digitizer. For some reason Microsoft encourages using a Wacom-style EM digitizer which is expensive and quirky when used through a thick LCD panel. A much cheaper technology - resisitive film, used by companies like Fujitsu, would reduce the price and eliminate the need for a special stylus.

Problem two:operations. When you use the existing tablets, there's a noticable and irritating lag between the time you move the stylus and when the cursor catches up. This lag makes writing uncomfortable, but makes painting and drawing almost impossible. Another problem is the UI. Guys - WindowsCE. Microsoft already has a good solution for this product domain - why did they abandon it to come up with an entirely different, and in my opinion,harder to use UI?

Problem three is the screen resolution. 1024x786 is rapidly becomeing the 'minimum' screen resolution and is the low end price point, making the Tablet PCs seem even more overpriced.

Problem four: weight. and size. Many of these beasts are HEAVY and thick. They are awkward to hold and use. Again Fujitsu and a couple of other companies are much closer to the sweet spot, but a four pound notepad is unacceptable.

Problem five: battery life. Always too short. I know this is unreasonable, but anything less than eight hours on a charge isn't going to sail.

I believe it is possible to take existing technology and with a little reworking, make a tablet which will meet most of, if not all of these requirements. It's just that none of the existing offers do.