So who is considering the X41 Tablet ?

[a31pguy]

Anyone considering this tablet?

[ThinkNick]

Absolutely. If I get into the business school I want to in the fall, they do not allow notetaking on a notebook computer in order to ensure class participation. But, the exception to this is a tablet pc, since everyone is taking pen/paper notes anyways, and there's no keyboard tap and less likelihood you're playing around online.

I only buy thinkpads, and I've lusted after the X4x series, so when I saw those X41 tablet pics I got very very happy

Besides, with $120k of school loans coming up, whats another $2k?

[lanes]

I am considering it.. (actually I'm pounding the wall with my head in frustration... I'm not able to choose which one=)

I have never had a tablet before.. how is the LCD on those? Will it be blurry after some time? Is it possible to change the screen cover (if there is such a thing)? I got a feeling telling me the LCD will get really nasty after some time...

Any chance of the tablet coming with a 2.5" drive??

[DavidNZ]

If I get into the business school I want to in the fall, they do not allow notetaking on a notebook computer in order to ensure class participation.

I teach in a Business School and this has to be the most bizarre thing I've ever heard. (Not a criticism of you, just the business school you want to go to!)

[admsteiner]

My problem with the X-Series is that it doesn't have a touchpad. I'm still not used to the pencil eraser

But with a tablet....I might spring for one.
--adam

[warmstrong]

Good chance, but I just got an X40! Prior to that purchase I was considering a tablet with the idea that I could use it to mark up drawings and other work done by my staff (we do archhitiectural and theatrical lighting) while running around to meetings and the like. I hesitated on a tablet because the only options were non-ThinkPads. I've never had anything but a ThinkPad going back to the first, a 700C.

Bill Armstrong

[emorphien]

I might be depending on the price and final specs.

[whizkid]

I cannot comment on the X41 tablet specifically (obviously), but the convertible I had (750P) and others I've seen had no issues at all with screen blurring.

Just keep your stylus clean. It will make trails in the oils and dust that settle on the screen, but they always came off with a good wipe.

The same problem that happens on PDA's can happen though: A tiny piece of grit can get between the stylus tip and the screen, and you can gouge the surface that way. Screen protectors will take the damage if you like, and they don't change the image much at all.

[TakiusProteus]

The last time I tried using a stylus on a PDA, my handwriting looked like crap. The words looked like a 5 year old's scrawl, were barely legible, and just looked awful. Possibly due to the texture of the surface and the feel of the stylus or even the software. The words tend to lag and appear long after you've written them... sometimes they didn't show up, sometimes they had gaps.

Then again, that was... like 5 years ago.

Has the computer+handwriting technology improved much since then?

[Orbitz]

In the PDA world, I am still not terribly impressed with handwriting recognition...I have tried 3 different pieces of software on 2 different pda's just recently and didn't find them to work well enough for me to be useful...for that matter the new voice recognition software is more useful. However, a friend of mine got a Sony Vaio U750p a few months back (dam is it impressive) and Sony's handwriting recognition engine was excellent by comparison. They have an app that allows you to write anywhere on the screen and it coverts it to text...for the 15 minutes or so I tried it I was amazed how accurate it was. My only complaint was it was somewhat slow in making the conversion...I am sure it was less then a second to convert a series of words but "seemed" longer...enough so that it broke the flow of writing a little. Of course, with a faster proc, better ram etc. it may very well have been fast enough to not be noticeable.