Tablet PC Talk Forums

[Linda]

I'm not an attorney, but I'm researching Tablet PCs for an attorney.

He's considering the Acer Travelmate C300 or Gateway M275XL. Do you have any positive or negative experiences with these models? These models are notebook computers with a screen that swivels to become the Tablet for pen input. One thing I can't figure out is if you have the screen in Tablet position and you want to save a new file and provide a file name for it, how do you conveniently type the name in? Do you have to lift up the screen to get to the keyboard and swivel the screen around to see what you just typed? Can you use the pen to write in a file name?

What we want to accomplish is to annotate Word and WordPerfect documents, similar to marking heavy revisions on a printed piece of paper. The document with the annotations needs to be saved to a file. Is anyone doing this? I'm trying to get a feel for how practical this would be--would it be too clumsy to make heavy revisions? Will the annotations be transparent, and can they be made anywhere on the page? Are there any limitations as to how many revisions can be on the page?

Is there a way to annotate WordPerfect files directly in WordPerfect?

It would be even nicer if the handwritten annotations were converted to text. Is anyone doing that? Are the conversions accurate enough to be practical? Can you use the Input Panel to insert a word or two between other words? Will the text wrap? Word 2003 reportedly can convert text directly in the program--has anyone tried this?

In Windows Journal, is there a way to handwrite text, allow the program to convert it and then save both the handwritten changes and the converted text? The intent is to have the handwritten text in order to proofread the file. How do you bring the converted text created in Windows Journal into Word or WordPerfect? There doesn't appear to be an option to save in Word or WordPerfect format.

I know these are a lot of questions, but any feedback will be most welcome. The technolgy is very exciting, but we're not sure if the practicality is there yet.

[yvilla]

Linda, I'm too tired to actually write you answers to some of your questions right now, but here are some discussion threads touching on the use of Tablets in the legal profession that might help you some:
http://tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8817&SearchTerms=summation,
http://tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3524&SearchTerms=summation,
http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1237&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=board

[digital-doc]

Using Ink in Microsoft Word

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/vanwest/03may28inkword.asp
_________________
C.M.Wilkerson, D.C.
www.MedicalTabletPC.com
www.digital-doc.com

[url=http://www.digital-doc.com/C2/EMR.htm]TabletPCs in a Medical Environment[/url]

"Good software makes us think, good hardware and software, changes our lives."

[Linda]

Thanks for the hyperlinks; they were helpful. The attorney I work with ordered the Acer Travelmate C300, so he's going to jump in to see how the technology will work for him. If he shares his experiences with me, I'll report back.

Thanks for your help!

[Guest]

Am I right in interpreting from that link to the MS site, that you can only annotate if you have Word 2003 on the PC?
I've got Word XP (we have 2003 on order apparently), but when I try to annotate, it moves the text out of the way, and puts in a drawing box.

[Guest]

The Ink Annotations tool bar has three different pens: Ink Annotation, Ink Comment and Ink Drawing and Writing. If you don't see these options on your tool bar you can customize the buttons so they appear - just click on the down arrow on the end of the button row with save, new file, hyperlink, etc.

[Guest]

I wrote that wrong. It was supposed to say that Word has three ink tools. Sorry about that.