[presbyter]

Received my NEC a few hours ago and wanted to share some of my first impressions. The Versa LitePad came nicely packaged with great documentation--it has a printed owner's manual which I really appreciate. After unpacking everything I plugged in the AC adapter and fired it up! Setup was very simple and easy. I calibrated the screen (by the way--I like the larger pen that's supplied--easier to hold in the hand than the angular one supplied with the Toshiba 3505)and I was on my way.

The first thing I loved about the NEC was its weight--it feels great in my hand--very light and comfortable to hold (after using the Toshiba 3505 the NEC feels like a feather!!). The screen is nice and bright and it has good color saturation. The text is crisp and very legible. I fired up the Window's Journal program and tested out the NEC's handwriting recognition abilities--it did a good job (but, if I may humbly say, I am known for good handwriting (thanks to my elementary school teachers). That's about as far as I've gotten so far. I look forward to reading other people's impressions and I hope you all enjoy your new machine--I think NEC clearly has a winner here!!

[LarryYBH]

Man, the Tablet envy is already welling up in me!

One note, though; and maybe Robert can confirm/correct my impression:

Handwriting recognition is a function of Windows XP, not of the underlying hardware. So, differences between screens and styli aside, once your "ink" is on the screen, it's all up to Windows to turn it into recognized text!

Still in Amazon's "shipping soon" h*ll,

Larry

[bartok]

How is screen brightness, crispness compared to the other tablets you've tested or own?

[no_to_co]

presbyter, could you do a test for me? Could you turn the desktop color of your tablet to a solid blue and than draw in the middle of the screen with medium pressure. Do you notice any chromatic distortion? Is it any batter than the screen on the Toshiba, or just as bad? I am thinking of trading my Portege 3500 for the Versa LitePad if it has a less sensitive screen.

A.

[presbyter]

The screen is very bright and the text is clean and crisp. Concerning the chromatic distortion--I'm not sure what you mean by that--When I turned the desktop color to solid blue and drew a whiteish line appeared--is that the info you were looking for? Sorry if it's not--perhaps you can help me to understand better.

[no_to_co]

The line is just a selection. The chromatic distortion is quite noticeable on my Portege 3500 (at first I thought it was a defect, now that I have seen another Portege I know it is just the way the are build.) I got to test out a Viewsonic today and it has a much thicker plastic screen ant he distortion was about half that of the Toshiba. I think that since the NEC has a glass screen it will not have any distortion (I think,) since the screen does not give under pen pressure. But I would like to know for sure.

If you have a regular laptop or a LCD display, just gently press your finger against the screen and you will see the chromatic distortion I am talking about.

A.

[welwyngc]

Thanks for taking the time to give us your comments presbyter -

I have a Toshiba and want to get the NEC.

However, I feel so spoiled by the power of the Toshiba (especially after using the wonderful but sluggish Compaq)- and I am a bit nervous about the difference between the 2 CPU's (933mhz versus 1.3ghz)

Any comments comparing the toshiba with your new NEC will be appreciated

[InnaFire]

Wow, prespyter, congratulations to your new "toy". Seems like you´ll have to answer many questions here considering that you´re one (or maybe the?!)of the first owners of the NEC here.

I´m very interested in battery runtime, another thing is the speed: Does it compare to the Toshiba or is it noticeable slower?
And, yes, WiFi-Performance for sure.... oh, so many questions :-(

[presbyter]

Oh, yes, I see now what you mean by chromatic distortion. On the Toshiba it's very noticable but not on the NEC. When one pushes down on the Toshiba's screen in the middle it "bends" a bit under the pressure but the NEC's screen is thin glass with an anti-glare coating and there is no "bending."

As far as speed and performance of the NEC compared to the Tosh I really cannot honestly see that big of a difference--mind you I am not running power-hungry programs either but just the basic ones like Journal, Word, etc. Yes, from a subjective point of view I would say that the Tosh is a bit more peppy but the lightness of the NEC is more important to me for what I'm using it for.

As far as WiFi--we are just now in the process of making the transition to wireless so I can't comment on the NEC's performance in that area.

[scoble]

>Handwriting recognition is a function of Windows XP, not of the >underlying hardware.

Sorta. Some of the MVPs did some tests on ours vs. the Acer, for instance, and found that the ink on our screen was drawn much smoother than on the Acer's (probably due to our higher performance and our inclusion of a newer Wacom digitizer).

That did translate to better handwriting recognition. But, you're right. Once the ink is on the screen, it's all Windows and we shouldn't have much to do with it.

[scoble]

Thanks Presbyter for the very nice feedback. I just sent the URL for this forum to our entire team here.

As to wireless quality. I've used it on a lot of different wireless networks (Starbucks, friends houses, here at NEC, etc) and it's always been very good. Also, we're one of the first computing devices that ship with 802.11 a&b. So, we're all setup for when you upgrade your wireless networks as well. (A is a lot faster than B and it also is less susceptible to external interference -- my portable phone, for instance, used to take down my wireless network. That shouldn't happen with A anymore).

[bartok]

RS: How does the brightness/crispness of the screen compare to the Fujitsu or any other TPC (in indoor lighting situations)?

[scoble]

>How does the brightness/crispness of the screen compare to the >Fujitsu or any other TPC (in indoor lighting situations)?

In my experience the NEC is as bright and crisp as all the other Tablets. I'd rather have someone else say whether or not it's better, though.

[presbyter]

I would agree with Robert, the NEC's screen is bright and the text is very clear. In fact, when I had it running off of AC I found the screen too bright--so I dimmed it a notch and that worked best for me.

Today I'll take the NEC into my classroom (I teach freshmen and juniors in high school) and let them have a go at it. That will be a good test--if the students like it then that will be saying a lot.

[jimpilot]

The NEC is my first Tablet so my impressions may be suspect, but to put the NEC in a word

!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[scoble]

>!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you know how I felt for the past two months holding one and not being able to talk about it. :-)

[dewidkat]

Hi
Here on the new Nec from CDW. Beautiful, no dead pixels, and once I turned on thr wifi, I'm here. This is much lighter than I imagined and the screen at least as bright as a 3850 iPaq. Putting the hand on the screen really helps, though seems improper. I'm still charging so hard to reaaly evaluate my wifi distance. However, my D-link 614+ indoor business isabout 45% on tablet vrs computer one foot away at 75% with a D-link 520+ card. Speed surfing is normal. Carrying from room to room is no problem. The pen will take a little learning, but to be expected. More after loading e-mds coding software.
Mark

[jimpilot]

you have more
Self control
than I do!
(written with
wittings PAD

[Shrink]

Help! I'm going back and forth between the Fujitsu and the NEC, but can't find either to test drive. A few quick questions: does the NEC's back heat up, how loud is the fan, how often does it come on, is there ink-lag and how about battery life? Thanks!

[presbyter]

The back does gets warm--never hot (of course, it's all relative, I suppose). The fan rarely comes on unless you're running a processor-intensive program. When it does come on it's quite quiet. As far as battery life--I've never run it to the end of it's life and timed it, so it's hard to say. If I were to guess I'd say about 2.75 hours (in my opinion, the NEC's battery is not one of its strongest points).

[twills]

Shrink, what are your TPC requirements?

I am running both the NEC and Fuji. I've had the Fuji for 3+ months and the NEC for 4 Days. I'm going with the NEC to meet my requirements.

[dewidkat]

Not really noticed heating even on wall power, and quiet as a mouse.
D

[TheSlayer]

Finally got my Nec! It's awesome! But just one thing, whenever I right click on something, I have to hover over the options for them to show up, I don't know if I just need to put 512megs of RAM in there or there's something wrong with the tablet any ideas?

[bartok]

Do you experience "pen jitters" like the Fujitsu -- especially when the fan comes on?

[TheSlayer]

Ok installed the 512mb ram, and works much better now, right now downloading updates....so far everything is great, I love the form factor, and I finally figured out the stand...

Just one thing, I find the ac adapter connection when you plug it into the tablet pc is really tight, and makes a snapping noise when it goes in, anyone else have this problem? It doesn't sound normal, unless it's just really tight, and after some use it'll open up...

So far it's the coolest pc I've owned, well worth the wait...

[twills]

the A/C connection is tight and secure, but not a concern. Don't think there's any room for it to loosen. The Fuji plug loosened up quite a bit - doesn't feel good.

I agree it's the coolest pc yet!

[bartok]

Twills: The NEC is a tempting buy to replace my Fujitsu. You (and others have addressed two of my concerns). My third concern is pen jitters. How does the NEC compare to the Fujitsu in this respect?

[twills]

bartok, the NEC has been more stable in every aspect compared to the Fuji - including pen jitters (lack of). also have 512M RAM. Have not noticed any difference with fan on or off- have to listen for the fan. and no video dumps!

you will not be disappointed with the NEC. I've ordered a second battery, a USB IRDA and whatever else I can find.

Robert, instead of a Keyboard/mouse in each room to use with the tablet, I'm thinking of an NEC in each room ...

[bartok]

Thanks for the input/information from the various posters. You provided valuable information to assist in the evaluaton process.

Even though I have only had the NEC for a few hours, I clearly see why everyone is "wowed" by this machine -- even as compared to the Stylistic.

[TomTanida]

Here are some of my first impressions.

First off, the tablet is very nice. The screen is very bright, but like *any* LCD if are too close the backlighting becomes uneven. That’s not normally a problem but I guess having been nearsighted nearly all my life, I still have the bad habit of putting reading materials too close to my face. But I guess that shows I already treat the Tablet not like just any other computer. ;)

Accessories: The keyboard is OK. I can type letters OK but using the Alt or Ctrl keys, you really have to squish it. I like the optical mouse. The CD drive is also nice. The stand is kinda cheapy but I haven’t even attempted to set it up yet. I don’t care that much about the stand anyway.

(Remember, I’m used to my iPAQ, which is instant on and instant off, virtually no heat.)

After set up, the tablet felt warmer than I expected, but it doesn’t run at a scalding hot temperature like my g/f’s Toshiba laptop. And even at 2.1 lbs it is *still* heavier than I would like… so right now I’m sure glad I didn’t buy another Tablet.

The power button is kind funky. I always follow the same pattern: slide it over and nothing happens, then I slide it over again really hard and it works. I understand that you want one that can’t be accidentally tripped, though.

I wish it came with 512MB standard (I notice in Japan you can order from 123ware.com with 512 as an option). Whoever makes the 256MB SODIMMs in the NEC is probably pretty happy to be selling them. I also wish it came with even a very cheap plastic slip cover to protect the screen if/when I stick it in my backpack with some books. Right away these are my first two collateral expenses- a carrying case and a 512MB SODIMM.

As a bit of trivia, I noticed that when the Tablet arrived and I was setting up Windows, even though the time zone was US Pacific (GMT – 8), which is where I’m at, the actual time was 17 hours ahead. That’s Japan time. ^_^

-Tom

[LarryYBH]

My first impressions (after 2-3 days of use):

Pen: I don't know if this is what folks call "pen jitter", but I'm noticing occasional problems with the larger pen. sometimes, it seems to "skip" parts of what I've written in the little handwriting area (wreaking havoc with HW Rec). I'm not noticing that with the littler pen.

Also, occasionally, the ink on-screen looks like I've had a bit of a twitch while I was writing (is this "jitter", then?). Again, only the large pen.

The large pen also "misses" clicks and right-clicks more often than the little pen. In the manual, it speaks to changing pen tips. Can anyone comment on what happens to make a pen tip "go bad" and require replacement? also, does anyone know anything about how the pens work -- maybe I just have a bad pen?

Wireless: I notice that Robert's fielded a ton of comments on the subject, so I won't pile on. My data point, though: I'm using a Compaq CP-2W. although I show excellent coverage, I can't web surf worth a tinker's dam; except for the initial MSN site coming up OK most of the time, I have a heck of a hard time getting any other sites to load. (They work just fine when connected via Ethernet, so it seems to be a wireless, rather than general networking, problem.)

Tried to play Hoyle Card Games. Cool, but there are a couple of places where typing is required. (Entry of a player name, entry of a file name for a saved game, etc.) In any program that "takes over" the display, there's no way that I've found to get to the handwriting/keyboard panel. Can one of the buttons be programmed to bring up the panel? Also, under Hoyle Casino Games, pen calibration seems off, becoming worse as one gets nearer the edges of the screen. I'm not noticing that in Office XP apps, though. odd.

OK -- really, though, I wanted to play Sim Golf. Can't do it; the game requires the presence of the CD. Bleh. Now, if I could only get the dang game to think a USB-based SD card (or the CF) was the CD...! However, it's an interesting thought for software developers ... if you're gonna use CD presence as your copy-protection scheme (which is typical for gaming, right?), you're not gonna be too slate-friendly!

HW Rec: (OK, this is an XP Tablet Edition comment, and not specific to the VersaLite, but I'm gonna mention it anyway)...

One of the first things I've been doing is developing a small DB solution in Access. My HW Recognition rate has been high (much higher than I'd have expected), but, playing around in queries and macros, it's obvious that the HW Rec is word-based. Don't know how the implementation works, but clearly, it's trying to match up ink to known word shapes. (It's noticeable when you're trying to correct a couple of letters that were mis-recognized. Even though you only have a letter or two, it'll recognize them as a complete, distinct word!)

Also, word breaks don't seem at all based on distance between words (in ink). That's gonna be a real pet peeve for any programmers who want to develop in handwriting. (Is anybody else out there old enough to remember being harangued never to waste time-share time coding by the seat of the pants? we were taught to *always* sit down first, and write out our algorithms long hand. ahhh... how things come full circle!) In any case, writing "qryAppendTeachers" always comes out "qry Append Teachers". bleh.

mixed alpha and numeric doesn't fare well, either. if there's a preponderence of words, then any numeric data tends to come out as letters. (Can anyone using the Office 2003 beta comment on whether they're seeing this in, let's say, Excel?)

Finally, it's also a pain only having a "home" and "end" button on the on-screen keyboard, and not the on-screen writing panel.

Haven't used the easel yet. Used a full-size Logitec Optical USB Mouse that I always carry around, instead of the mini-mouse. (It's already slightly worn; why break in the new mouse, ya know?). Haven't used the keyboard too often, although it seems reasonable.

Larry