Avaratec Tablet PC

My kids have had a couple of computers in their playroom for years --- one of the benefits of starting and shutting down a bunch of companies over the last decade is a bunch of old hardware! For school this year, though, it made sense to get her a laptop that she could take to school and use in her room, etc.

I ended up getting her an Avaratec Tablet PC, which is at the low end of the tablet market. At just about $1,200 when I got it, it was a great deal. The first one was DOA which was a pain, but Circuit City took it back without any problems and then second one has worked great. It's a convertible, which means it can work as a traditional laptop or a tablet.

Mostly she uses it as a laptop with the traditional keyboard. But for drawing the tablet is really nice, and it has proven useful in a number of other ways as well. I just finally got a tablet for work (the Toshiba Tecra M4) and have been suprised how much I use it as a tablet. Microsoft One Note is actually a really nice app for taking notes during meetings, and I find myself actually sketching out block and flow diagrams rather than using my old standby #2 pencil.

I presume that sometime soon tablets will be the standard for the laptop form factor. And from my experience, it's no longer too bleeding edge to give it a try. Go for it!