RE: Viewsonic smart displays

["Steve Morgan" <wormpurple@xxxxxxx>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Gordon [mailto:paul_gordon@xxxxxxx] 
<snip>
> 
> Personally, I wouldn't recommend the "Tablet PC" for HA use,
> as they have an 
> active digitiser, which basically means thay *have* to be 
> used with the 
> special pen that is provided. The touchscreen absolutely 
> cannot and will not 
> work with a finger or any other object used as a pointer....

Indeed. TabletPC is itself an interesting technology, but the active
digitiser really means it's not suitable as a HA 'remote control'.
Digital Ink is going to be useful for certain business applications,
but
it's domestic applicability looks limited to me. I've been looking at
one to replace my laptop but current models have limited appeal - most
machines have a 10.4" display which is a little small for a decent
laptop, but the Tosh with it's 12.?" display is a little big for a
tablet. Most of the TabletPCs are a little underpowered, too, with most
running at 800MHz.

Smart Display is basically ePods on steroids. It's a Windows CE based
device running Terminal Services client and acts as a remote desktop
for
an XP machine. Having a passive touch screen, it's great for 'remote
control' type HA applications but it's handwriting recognition is far
less effective than Digital Ink on the TabletPC so it's not so good for
text input. Where it scores over a general purpose Windows CE device
like ePods is that it's set up to act as a remote display, so you just
turn it on and connect. One thing these machines don't do well is
display live video - there just isn't the bandwidth.

I'd consider waiting a little while. The Viewsonic is the first Smart
Display on the market and it's not shipping yet. I'm sure something
better wil be along shortly.

Anyway, I'd recommend Smart Display for HA use. Use TabletPC if you're
an insurance salesman.

> What do you want to bet that you only get 1 active pointer 
> supplied with the 
> unit, and replacements are ***ing expensive?!?!

Wacom supply the pointers and you can buy alternative ones directly
from
them (so, for instance, you can change a standard single-ended one for
one with an eraser). No idea how much they cost, though.

Steve



http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
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