At another blog, someone was hoping I'd report on what it's like to use MoI (the Rhino-like Moment of Inspiration 3D software) with my new HP TX1220 convertable notebook computer.
It's okay. Just.
The problem is not the software; it's that the concept of the TabletPC is flawed -- even if Bill Gates declared it would be the biggest selling PC by last year.
I love interacting directly with the screen, which is why I love my PalmPilot and have owned five since Dec 1994. But PalmPilots are everything that TabletPCs are not. Here are the problems with the TabletPC:
-- too heavy to hold for long; must use it on a surface, like any other notebook computer.
-- too big to hold comfortably; and I own one of the smallest TabletPC-style computers, with just a 12" screen.
-- the widescreen format that currently monoplizes the notebook computer market is problematic when used in portrait mode, the normal TabletPC mode; the screen is too narrow.
-- surface is too insensitive.
Even when I get past the first two problems by having the computer on a desk, sensitivity remains a problem. I find I have to jab the screen hard for either MoI or the OS to register my taps. I think the screen is insensitive to avoid registering arm and hand brushes -- after all, that screen is a surface much larger than a PalmPilot.
And so these reasons may be why I heard a report that MoI was changing its focus from TabletPCs to regular PCs.
I realize this is a pretty old blog post, but the reason you experienced trouble with your tx1220 tablet and MoI is because the tx1000 series doesn't have a true digitizer - just a passive touch screen. This means that using a pen/stylus produces pretty poor results.
The newer tx2000 and tx2500 have real digitizer technology (from Wacom) combined with the old passive touch screen technology yielding a MUCH better performance (256 levels of pressure sensitivity!) with the pen.
Just thought you'd like to know..
Eric
Posted by: Eric | Jul 10, 2008 at 11:48 PM