IGGY & Svetlana wrote:

Smart phones are not that smart when it comes to web browsing and e-mail. Small keyboards, slow typing, small screen and low rez as well as slower downloads of graphics compared to laptop/tablet PC wireless data cards with cell phone companies are a drawback to me.

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I use my Treo 650 smart phone for Supra eKey, contact synching, dialing from the phone by name, taking notes, photos, videos, yet I find the laptop is much faster when it comes to typing and e-mail/web - I can put it on my lap and start typing away much faster than with Treo. 

We have a RED Tablet and I can send an email faster on the Treo 700p than on the tablet. Perhaps I am handwriting challenged, but it takes me forever to do anything with the pen on the tablet. Carrying the keyboard is a must if serious work is to be done. 

Tablet and convertible keyboard are fine for doing contracts and web surfing, but that's two pieces of gear to carry around. I had hoped for better from the handwriting recognition. 

Regards,

John Mitchener

Like many others, I, too, am in the market for a tablet and have probably over-analyzed the market for tablets. 

IBM's Lenovo tablet has an excellent reputation.  However, it is a "convertible"..... meaning you are forced to drag the keyboard around with you just like a notebook.  It's a great computer but, IMO, a convertible loses the portability advantage of a tablet. 

My choice is the Motion Tablet PC by Motion Computing: 

http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/index_in_alt.asp 

The Motion Tablet is a true "slate" tablet.  It's much more portable and the keyboard is an option to have with you, not a requirement.  You can also purchase it through a good re-seller: 

http://www.vreo.com/ 
 
Bob Leonard
bobleonard@remax.net

I use a VREO RedTablet (actually a MotionComputing LE1600).  I have a docking station that I slide the tablet into when I get into my office or my home and a 2nd Monitor (17in) at each location.  So no matter where I am (when not on the road) I have 2 monitors.  I leave my email/calendar "up" on the tablet screen and do all my other operations on the larger flat panel. 

Or buy a new inexpensive laptop but still use the 2nd "larger" monitor! 

Mike Nielsen

RoseAnne wrote: Does anyone use the Red Tablet PC?

RoseAnne,

I had a Dell laptop and decided to move to a Tablet for the purposes of e-signatures. After about 3 months of lurking, asking questions, going to websites of the manufacturers I decided that I am more interested in the e-signature that is similar to writing with pen & paper. After narrowing that part down, there are far fewer companies to deal with.

Switch topics: I have also had an 866 number eFax for over a year. My cost was twenty cents a page & $99/year after calculating the costs and how many pages I sent, I compared that to some of the other services including Red Tablet's system. Even with Red Tablets $24.95/month service for storage on line & 100 faxes per month it was cheaper than eFax.

Costs of tablets: as I was deciding what to get, a convertible laptop or tablet, I found 'true' tablets were way more expensive and usually don't have an internal CD/DVD Drive. Price between them was similar. I have a computer background, so of course I have to load mine up with at least 1 GB RAM, largest Hard drive that would fit in and very important was the warranty & customer service.

I settled on the Red Tablet because it is geared toward the real estate agent. The tech support is good, they have classes every week on line to teach you how to use it. I am very happy with it. Of course I will never use it to it's full potential, but it is there if I get there.

It does have the 'wow' factor for everyone that you show it to and doing the contracts.

My only mistake was not getting the discount that is available to us from the lists here or CAR membership (CA & AZ Licensed) There are discounts, use them.

Transition from laptop to tablet; EASY!. Came to me like second nature.

I still use my Mac for emails & web surfing! I will never give that up!

Eliot Finkelstein

Big reminder, the computer is only a tool. It is you and your knowledge and personality that will increase or decrease your business

I had a Dell laptop and decided to move to a Tablet for the purposes of e-signatures. After about 3 months of lurking, asking questions, going to websites of the manufacturers I decided that I am more interested in the e-signature that is similar to writing with pen & paper. After narrowing that part down, there are far fewer companies to deal with.

Switch topics: I have also had an 866 number eFax for over a year. My cost was  twenty cents a page & $99/year after calculating the costs and how many pages I sent, I compared that to some of the other services including Red Tablet's system. Even with Red Tablets $24.95/month service for storage on line & 100 faxes per month it was cheaper than eFax.

Costs of tablets: as I was deciding what to get, a convertible laptop or tablet, I found 'true' tablets were way more expensive and usually don't have an internal CD/DVD Drive. Price between them was similar. I have a computer background, so of course I have to load mine up with at least 1 GB RAM, largest Hard drive that would fit in and very important was the warranty & customer service.

I settled on the Red Tablet because it is geared toward the real estate agent. The tech support is good, they have classes every week on line to teach you how to use it. I am very happy with it. Of course, I will never use it to it's full potential, but it is there if I get there.

It does have the 'wow' factor for everyone that you show it to and doing the contracts.
My only mistake was not getting the discount that is available to us from the lists here or CAR membership (CA & AZ Licensed) There are discounts, use them
Transition from laptop to tablet; EASY!. Came to me like second nature.
I still use my Mac for emails & web surfing! I will never give that up!

Eliot finkelstein

I LOVE My RED tablet.

Had it almost a year -- it's about 3.5 lbs., Can take notes in seminars, draw floorplans,

talk to it and get clients to sign right on the screen!

Joeann Fossland

I've had mine for about a month, and have wrung it out.
I got it after seeing and playing with a couple of them at
the CRS convention in Las Vegas, and hearing raves about
it in the tech breakout session.

It's awesome. I hadn't really wrapped my brain around what
a tablet can do compared to a laptop, but now I get it. Forms
signed electronically, the pen functionality, the size factor,
etc. I'm still finding cool things that it can do...the
handwriting-to-text and speech-to-text apps are the best I've
ever worked with...not perfect, but getting there.

I highly recommend the Red Tablet (Red Tablet being a reseller
marque) Motion Computing M1400. As far as accessories go...I'd
say buy the maximum machine, i.e. Centrino, max RAM & HD + the
View Anywhere screen, and only add other accessories as you
need them, e.g. separate CD/DVD drive, keyboard lid [or any
keyboard], etc.

Red Tablet themselves are great to work with; I bought mine
from John-Michael there, who also turned out to be the initial
tech support when I ran into the inevitable problem (there's
always a problem of one kind or another, isn't there?). Here's
my definition of great tech support: He recognized right away
that the problem was beyond him, sent me to Motion Computing,
who after a short wait found the answer and I fixed it. Total
time investment: 20 minutes. Two days later, John-Michael from
Red Tablet actually called me to make sure everything was fine.

They've got my business. And this recommendation.

Richard K. Worthington