Welcome to the second issue of the new TabletPCBuzz newsletter. I would like to welcome all of you who have recently subscribed. As promised, we're giving away copies of my new book, How to Do Everything with Your Tablet PC to newsletter subscribers. We are in the process of contacting our first winner, and will announce him/her next week.

The following story is my view on one of the most important uses for Tablet PCs, as a high-tech tool for taking notes.

Why It Makes Sense to Take Notes with a Tablet PC
By Bill Mann

Researchers have reported that more than 90% of the population in developed countries takes notes. We take notes at work. We take 'em in school, around the house, while we're on the phone or in a store. We take notes to record all those important bits of information that flow through our lives each day, figuring that if we don't write this stuff down, we won't remember it later.

So we record all this important information in notebooks, scribble it on napkins, jot it down on the palms of our hands, wherever. Then we lose it. We throw away the napkin, wash our hands, misplace the notebooks.

Even if we don't physically lose it, we can't efficiently access it. Over the years I worked at my last job, I generated a stack on notebooks a foot high. You can probably count the number of times I got useful information out of that stack on the fingers of one hand. It was just too much work to find anything in those thousands of pages of notes.

So I've given up on notebooks and use a Tablet PC instead. While a Tablet PC costs a bit more than a stack of paper notebooks (figure $2000 against 20 bucks), it addresses the main problems of using paper notebooks. Using Windows Journal, you can take as many notes as you wish and not have to worry about losing them. And because the Tablet PC converts handwriting to text in the background and uses that information to create an index of your documents, you can actually search for information in your notes with a reasonable chance of finding it.

It'll be even easier to store and search your notes when Microsoft works all the kinks out of OneNote, the new note management application that will ship later this year. Whereas Windows Journal works like an infinite pad of paper, OneNote works like an infinite notebook with an unlimited number of sections and an unlimited number of pages in each section. OneNote will be a great framework for storing all the kinds of information you used to include in paper notes, as well as things like information from web pages or snippets from other documents, things that were hard to deal with using traditional handwritten notes.

While some people will say that replacing a paper notebook with an expensive, heavy, fragile, battery-powered Tablet PC is crazy, I think the benefits of doing so will become clearer and clearer as time goes on. Within a few years, as Tablet PCs become lighter, less expensive, sturdier, and able to run all day on a charge, people will get used to the idea of taking their notes on a computer screen instead of a piece of paper. Seeing someone scribbling notes on a Tablet PC in a meeting or around town will no longer be a novelty.

Matthew Green is a senior lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton in the UK. He bravely volunteered to tell us a bit about how he uses his Tablet PC.

TPCBuzz: What kind of Tablet PC do you use?
Matthew: The Compaq TC1000
TPCBuzz: Where do you use it?
Matthew: I use it in all aspects of my work and personal life. I give lectures and runs tutorial and computer laboratories on it, using projection lecturns or portable projectors to make the information visible to the entire class. I've just added a wireless network to my home so I can sit outside in the sunshine and check my email and grade papers.
TPCBuzz: When working on emails and papers, do you use the pen or the keyboard?
Matthew: For marking papers, I like to use my own handwriting (pen) as I like these to appear more personal. I then convert this to text to store in my files. For emails I like to type. As I'm sure most frequent users of computers would agree, my typing speed is faster than my handwriting (most days!)
TPCBuzz: How do the students react to your Tablet PC?
Matthew: With interest, excitement, and maybe a little jealousy. Most are intrigued. The general response is "wow."
TPCBuzz: Did your TC1000 replace any PDAs or PCs in your life.
Matthew: It has replaced 3 of my computers - my PocketPC, one of my home computers, and my work desktop PC. One of my challenges was remembering which computer a document that I needed was on, and which version it was. Now, all my documents are on the tablet - a one stop shop.

And there you have it. One man's experiences with his Tablet PC. We're looking for more brave volunteers to share their experiences with the TabletPCBuzz community. Email me at bill@techforyou.com and share your experiences.

Bagguswest: Thinking of buying the HP TC1000. Some reviews say its resolution is "stuck at 1024x768." What's that mean? You really can't change the resolution setting like you can on any other Windows PC?

TabletPCBuzz: You can adjust the resolution on the TC1000 from 800x600 to 1024x768, but like most laptops and tablets 1024x768 is the highest resolution supported by the display. If you hook up an external monitor to the TC1000, you can go up to 1600x1200.

Got a question about the Tablet PC OS? A specific Tablet PC? Wondering how to do something with your Tablet PC? Whatever your question, send it to Ask the Buzz at spg@tabletpcbuzz.com. Thanks!

For all TabletPCBuzz members, we will be holding a contest this next week on the site. We will be giving away a couple of TabletPCBuzz shirts, and perhaps some other TabletPCBuzz gear from our logo store. If you haven't already, you can also check out our logo store at - http://www.cafeshops.com/tabletpc. Watch the site for more on this contest coming up this week!

How To Download And Install PowerToys
Downloading and installing PowerToys on your Tablet PC is easy. But remember that PowerToys aren't officially supported by Microsoft. If one doesn't work for you, you won't get technical support on it. Here are the steps to download and install Tablet PC PowerToys:

1. Go to the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition web page at: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/tabletpc/downloads/powertoys.asp.
2. Find the setup file for the PowerToy you wish to download.
3. Download and run the setup program.

Once you install a PowerToy, you can run it from the PowerToys for Tablet PC folder. To reach this folder, tap Start | All Programs | PowerToys For Tablet PC | and the name of the PowerToy you want to run.

This week's poll question:
What stage of the "Tablet PC Experience" are you currently in?
Vote now at http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com!

Here is an interesting new entry into the Tablet PC arena:

"TDV Vison, a new global power in LCD monitors, today announces the nVision 1000 and nVision 1500, full-featured tablet PCs that will both be priced at $999. These are believed to be the first tablet PCs on the market for under $1,000. Both the TDV nVision 1000 and nVision 1500 are 12-inch LCD PCs and notebooks in one product that can be used in landscape or portrait. These products feature a wireless keyboard, a Transmeta 1Ghz processor, a 20GB Fujitsu hard drive, an 8MB SiliconMotion VGA Lynx 721 graphics card, and 256MB of SDRAM memory.

The nVision 1000 has an XGA TFT LCD touch screen allowing users to input data using the wireless keyboard, the virtual on-screen keyboard, the stylus pen or their finger. The nVision 1500 has an RF digitizer with active stylus and features the Windows XP Tablet edition. Both contain ports for USB 1.1, PCMCIA 1X Type II, LAN RJ45, 56K fax modem, 1394 IEEE for DVD/CD connection and audio connections for earphones and microphones." "The nVision 1000 and 1500 tablet PCs come with a wireless keyboard and presentation stand and features a 3600 Li-Ion battery that lasts up to 3 hours."

Looks like no 802.11x features, but with the price it may not matter. This does appear to be the first Tablet PC under $1,000, good news for those who have been looking at Tablet PCs but are turned away by pricing. Hopefully this will help bring this great technology to the masses.