Back from vacations

Wow, I have been gone now for quite some time and I was away from my mobile devices and gadgets 98% of the time. We spent 5 days on the Big Island and then 5 days over in Soap Lake, WA camping with our kids. I spent a ton of time by the pool and recharging my batteries (solar power that is:)) I am going to work tomorrow for the first time in a week and a half and plan on cranking out the mobile device reviews again soon too. I am actually putting together this post from my trailer parked at my house as we are taking a little break from unpacking from our camping trip.

I only used my Fujitsu Tablet for Geek blurbs, but other than that I did not use my devices at all. I didn't even read ebooks like I normally do on vacation. It was refreshing to be unconnected, but I started to miss my devices too and am happy to be back in action. Look for more blog posts as I get back into the swing of things since plenty has happened in the mobile device world since I have been gone.

Having fun on the Big Island

My wife and I are having a BLAST getting pampered by the resort here on the Big Island. She was number 7 in the entire US so we received $600 cash, 1st class everything with a luxury suite, and lots of other fun gifts. I am off to have more fun so I'll post later.

Found Bible software for my Tablet PC

I appreciate the comments on my recent blog post and just finished downloading and installing the free e-Sword Bible application. I think this is just what I was looking for and really like the prayer request utility and ability to view up to 4 translations in a window with the commentary off to the side. Thanks again for the tips everyone!

Off to New Orleans, then Hawaii

I am off for a day and a half trip to New Orleans for a work meeting related to a Corps of Engineers lock project I am managing. I may try to go to Star Wars III late tonight/early tomorrow if the lines are not too crazy since I plan on taking my girls on Friday and would like to check it out before taking my youngest daughter. I also plan on putting together several reviews on the plane and in the hotel so I will be quite busy.

I am then off to Hawaii for 5 days very early on Saturday morning. This is the trip my wife earned from selling Party Lite products. She was in the top 10 in the country so we get a limo to pick us up, first class plane tickets, luxury suite, and more goodies for all her hard work. It will be a blast!

palmOne announces the LifeDrive

I posted a Geek.com blurb on the release of the palmOne LifeDrive this morning and have to admit the device looks like a good upgrade for my T3. I will hopefully be receiving a 30-day review unit when I return from my vacation to Hawaii and look forward to testing it out. I am curious if the drive will result in slower speeds since the zippiness of Palm devices is one aspect that keeps me using them from time to time. Are you looking to get a LifeDrive?

Tablet PC use at church

I took my Tablet PC to church on Sunday and used OneNote to take down my sermon notes. I kept them in my own handwriting rather than trying to convert into text. It was amazing to search for my terms in my handwriting and have OneNote bring back the correct results. I plan on taking and archiving sermon notes each week using the Tablet since it weighs only about 4 pounds and is nice to have a more permanent record of notes that I can later review. I used to use the back of the church bulletin, but then would lose them after services.

I also need to find a Bible program to take along with me. I have LessonMaker from WORDSearch, which is quite powerful for creating Bible studies, etc., but that is not what I am looking for. I would love to use Laridian's PocketBible on the Tablet since I like their interface and functionality. If any visitors here have suggestions, please feel free to post a comment or drop me an email. Thanks.

I have been reading several Tablet PC blogs lately and found Eric Mack's blog where he just received a new Tablet yet has not opened up the box. I found out that Eric is also a Christian and homeschools his children. We homeschooled our first two daughters until this year and we are now homeschooling our youngest. I have met quite a few Christians in the mobile device community and it is always encouraging to know there are others out there that share your same passion for the Lord.

BTW, was Moses the first Tablet user?

Microsoft will soon release full MSN Desktop Search

As readers to my blog know, I have attended the last two MSN Search Champs conferences and have been beta testing some pieces of MSN Search for the last few months. Tonight Microsoft will officially announce the move out of beta for MSN Desktop Search and also release the latest install that has some very nice improvements. You will be able to download the new MSN Desktop Search from the Microsoft site later tonight after the official announcement is made. I like the way Desktop Search pops up a window and starts filtering/searching as you enter text in the search toolbar. They also have a cool preview window, pop-up blocker, and highlight feature. Microsoft will be announcing the upcoming tabbed browser feature that I have been using now for a few weeks. After I bought the Tablet PC, I only loaded Desktop Search and use IE for all my internet browsing. I am a huge fan of tabbed browsing and used Opera and Firefox mainly for this feature. There is still some work needed on tabbed browsing, but it is working well even in beta so far.

I have tried Google Desktop and Copernic for searching, but I have personally found MSN Desktop Search to work much better at indexing and finding results across my work's network drives. Fellow coworkers have been searching using the default method in Windows Explorer and after showing them MSN Desktop Search on my Tablet I then have to show them where to download and install it. Microsoft will also be announcing they are working on a corporate desktop search solution that should work even better in my situation.

MSN Desktop Search will also give you one-click access to MSN services like MSN Messenger, Hotmail, internet Search and MSN Spaces.

Timbuk2 case rocks and other Tablet accessories

When I attend Microsoft events like Mobius or MSN Search Champs, we are usually given some great goodies. I have a two Mobius backpacks and a MSN Search backpack that I have stored in a closet at home because I am just not a backpack kind of guy. My daughters use them for sleepovers and things, but they are not used much. At the latest MSN Search Champs conference we received the very nice Timbuk2 Commute bag that I immediately switched to using. Before this I had a Trager bag that I used for over 10 years and then moved to the more spacious bag I received from CES 2005 this year. The CES bag was a bit too big for me and I found myself carrying too much. I then received the Timbuk2 and haven't looked back.

Now that I have the Fuji, it fits perfectly in the well-padded laptop slot in the bag and is well protected from Seattle weather with the rubberized bottom and rubberized/vinly top inside flap liner. I like being able to carry the Tablet in this bag where I carry other mobile devices, paperwork, pens, business cards, etc. and hated having to carry around a monster laptop only bag with the old Dell laptop I was given when I first started working at The Glosten Associates over 4 years ago.

Now that I have a Tablet I plan on checking out choices for screen protection (I have the included Fujitsu one on there now, which is acceptable for the time being), third party pen/stylus models, and maybe even keyboard covers. I already have a Bluetooth dongle and mouse so my kit is pretty well setup now.

T4010 review and Bluetooth experiences

As you know I bought the Fujitsu T4010 Lifebook Tablet over a week ago and am making it my main computer. I haven't even logged into my home desktop, which is a new AMD 64 baby I just built, since I have had the Fuji and feel a bit liberated by the ability to do everything from the dining room and rec room without having to be chained to the office desk. I just read the excellent MobileTechReview.com T4010 review and found out the Toshiba Bluetooth drivers are not preloaded on these units by default. You have to load them from the CD, which now gets my wondering if maybe I already have a Bluetooth radio and the previous owner just did not load the drivers yet. The guy I bought it from said he doesn't use Bluetooth so was unaware if this model had it or not. I will have to check it out when I get home tonight, unless I can get the CD and a CDROM from our IT guys at work who also have a T4010 they were testing out.

Speaking of Bluetooth, my contact at Bluetake just sent me their new BT500 Bluetooth mini mouse and BT007Si Bluetooth dongle that I received yesterday. I loaded the awesome IVT BlueSoleil driver and was able to connect the USB dongle to my Nokia 7610, Tungsten E2 I am reviewing, and their BT mouse in no time. I had to make a minor connection string setting in the Control Panel that was a bit of a pain to find, but I am now able to surf via BT while out and about. It is only GPRS speed, but it is actually not too bad. I will definitely be easily impressed with 3G speeds that hopefully will come in the next year or two. I was unable to connect to the 7610 using the older Ambicom Bluetooth dongle I tried and am very pleased with this Bluetake one that is about half the size. I also hooked up the BT mouse and am using that as my main mouse with the Fuji now. It is small, but still very comfortable and has performed well so far.

The Fuji stays and the Dell goes to another lucky associate

I talked with the IT guys today and told them to give the new Dell laptop to someone else because I will use my Tablet PC as my computer. Since my desktop was just upgraded last year, they told me to keep it for now and use it if my Tablet doesn't provide enough power, etc. I figure I'll keep it for a while just to make sure I don't need it, but so far the Tablet has been working well for me. There are still some occasional issues with trying to use GroupWise and Outlook together, but not enough to cause any major issues. I also will now have to keep the Tablet in my hands and can't go around getting rid of it like I did with my Palm and Pocket PC units because I need a mobile computer for salvage and travelling for work.

Uh oh, ink issues with first attempt at Word document annotations

OK, I just learned my first lesson when trying to use my Tablet to make annotations on a Word document in a conference call. Make sure the document is saved locally first or make sure you are in an area where a wireless connection is available. Apparently my other associate's office doesn't get a good WiFi signal like I do at my desk. I had a Word document opened up and ready to go, along with IE, OneNote, GroupWise 6.5, MSN Messenger, Windows Explorer, and a couple other utilities. When I started trying to annotate the document I found the ink would not work at all and had to resort to using a pen to write on a piece of paper. After I was out of range, lots of connection errors started appearing and I think that along with the autosave feature in Word really messed things up. I'll have to try again and remember to "grab" the document from the server first :)

Spreading the PDA addiction in my vanpool

It seems the PDA addiction is spreading in my vanpool now as two more riders have just receive Dell Axim devices (the solid X30 models) from their employer. They are facilities maintenance guys and their employer plans on sending work orders to them around the hospital so they don't have to keep reporting back and getting handed paperwork for the orders. This should save them some repeated trips back to the main station. It is funny to hear their awe when I tell them things like you can watch movies, listen to music, and even stream content to the devices in addition to using Word and Excel. I probably shouldn't tell them about all the great Pocket PC games or their boss may see them using the devices for the wrong purposes.

There is already another guy, Scott, who has at least two Dell Axim devices and so we now have 4 out of 9 with a PDA in their hands. I think Paul is the next to get one after listening to his brother talk about his new X30 so more than 50% will have Windows Mobile devices. I may have to see about setting up a Bluetooth access point with my T-Mobile Bluetooth phone and Belkin BT AP and get everyone surfing during the commute.

Tablet trials at work going well so far

I have now been using the Fujitsu Tablet for about half a day as my only work computer and so far so good. The Fujitsu has an amazing wide angle display where I can drop it completely flat and still read the screen as if it was right in front of me at 90 degrees. This is a great feature compared to laptops where you can hardly read the display at any unusual angle. I am also finding the WiFi range to be quite good and connect to my work network via WiFi at this time while I am testing out the Tablet to see if it will work as my only work computer.

I have a conference call today and plan on using OneNote to take notes. I am also heading to New Orleans next week for a day and plan on taking the Fuji as my traveling companion. This morning I was able to research and put together my blog entries using the Fuji connected to my Nokia 7610 via the USB cable. I am getting a Bluetake Bluetooth dongle and mouse soon to review and will then try using Bluetooth to connect. The older Ambicom Bluetooth dongle I have is not working and never really has very well with even my desktop computer.

All right! GroupWise and Outlook can play together

I did some chatting around the office and found another coworker who had both Outlook 2003 and GroupWise 6.5 running on the same machine since he was a BIG Outlook user and fan. I then gave my Tablet over to the IT department and asked them to go ahead and load the Novell client and GroupWise 6.5 on my new machine. After that I took it back and then removed the Windows Messaging utility from the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel since it prevents the two boys from playing together nicely. I then made a couple changes in the Outlook settings and now I have them both running like a champ on my Fujitsu!

I can't send emails from my personal account out with Outlook due to some firewall issues, but I can just use the web interface to get around that. The Calendars are also not integrated, but I can open and make changes to the GW one in Outlook. I have a pretty empty work calendar anyways so making duplicate entries for a few appointments isn't much of an issue for me.

They have my new laptop (Dell Latitude D610 labeled in a box and waiting for me, but I told them to give me a few days of using my personal Tablet to see if it will work for me as my only computer. I will still have my desktop at home that my wife uses, but I really do want to give this Tablet PC a chance. If I then decide to stick with and use my own Tablet then they will pass the laptop to someone else in the upgrade cycle (every 4 years for us here at work). This would probably then mean that I would have to stick with providing my own computer until my cycle turn was up again, which is 3 years since they just upgraded me to a new desktop last fall. I had to go with a notebook/Tablet though for salvage cases as I mentioned in an earlier blog post.

I think this would be a much better choice since work would save a few bucks and I wouldn't have to try to figure out how to juggle two notebook/Tablet computers. I may also be able to then get them to purchase another battery or more advanced screen protectors. If I do go this route then I will be the Tablet envangelist at work and try to show them how Tablets can be useful in the engineering field.

I am posting this blog now from the T4010 via a wireless connection here at work. They will also provide a docking station I can use with an external monitor and keyboard if I want too. I imagine if it starts to bog down later I can also get a RAM upgrade in the future.

Do you think the Tablet is a better alternative than the D610?

Windows Mobile 5 announced and Dell and HP will provide free upgrade

It looks like the Axim X50v is THE device to own as Dell announced they will be providing a free upgrade to Windows Mobile 5.0 (not WM 2005 as rumored) that was announced at MEDC this morning. It sounds like the OS won't be coming until a bit later this year with Dell shipping out CDs in the 3rd quarter.

HP also announced they will be providing upgrades for most of their new iPAQ line, so that too is great news for HP owners.

I hope the new OS takes advantage of the ROM area for program installation, etc. because then the X50v with 64MB RAM and 128MB ROM may be better utilized.

Can my Tablet PC be used for work too?

I am enjoying the use of the Tablet PC so far, but need to spend more time with the handwriting usage and stop using it so much in laptop orientation. It is a tough habit to break and at this early stage it seems almost cumbersome to handwrite instead of type. I just started using OneNote a bit last night and really need to figure out how to use the program since it seems like a great way to capture thoughts, plans, etc.

I am supposed to be getting a Dell laptop soon at work and now am wondering if the Tablet was a necessary purchase. I needed to move from a desktop to a notebook since I travel for salvage cases and need a device more powerful than a Pocket PC or Palm PDA on the road to build ship models and run my analysis. One big issue for me though is the work laptop has to be configured to a certain standard, which includes having to install and use GroupWise 6.5. GroupWise is a big step up from the crappy Pegasus email solution we were using, but I still think it is a far cry from Outlook 2003. I just took a look at the Novell site and the Sequoia version of GroupWise looks almost like Outlook 2003 and should be a nice improvement. My problem is that Outlook works so well at syncing with Palm and Windows Mobile devices and the third party applications I have tried have issues syncing at times and are not as intuitive. I also cannot run Outlook 2003 and GroupWise 6.5 on the same computer because they use the same MAPI profile.

I want to use the Tablet PC to its potential, but if I can't use it during my day job then I am missing out on a large chunk of time when I could be using its powerful handwriting features. I suppose I could take my notes, etc. using OneNote and convert them into Word or something and then transfer them to my work computer, but I have to look into this some more. I would prefer to use the Tablet at meetings and when I am making notes on phone calls instead of using the steno notebooks I use now for these tasks.

Loading up the Tablet PC

My new Fujitsu Tablet PC was waiting for me when I arrived home on early Saturday morning and I spent most all my free time over the weekend installing applications on it. I have installed Office 2003, OneNote, MindManager, ActiveWords, MSN Desktop Search, EverNote, MessagEase, Shark, ActiveSync, FileZilla FTP, NewsGator, WinZip, Trend Micro Internet Suite 2005, Mirra, Nokia PC Suite, TextPad, MSN Messenger 7, and the Experience pack and Power Toys for Tablet PC.

I haven't even begun to tap into the power of OneNote, ActiveWords, or MindManager and look forward to seriously checking these and more out on this Tablet PC. So far I am quite happy with the hardware and just need to get Bluetooth figured out. At this time, I can use a USB cable connected to the Nokia 7610 and get online anywhere and I will use this for now until I get a compatible USB dongle or internal Bluetooth radio that I can install.

Traveling home from Hawaii

I am on the way home from a 5 days in Hawaii and am writing this blog entry on my Dell Axim X30 and Think Outside IR keyboard. I would have taken my Axim X50, except I do not have an extended life battery for it, while I have the Mugen Power one for the X30 that seems to last forever. My new Tablet PC should be waiting for me when I get home and I cannot wait to fire it up. I was on vacation for about 4 days and working for a day in Hawaii and only used my mobile devices to write my Geek news blurbs and check email occasionally during lulls in the action. I used the Nokia 7610 smartphone most of the time and was extremely pleased with its performance.

There were a couple of times when I was limited by what I could do or had to spend more time than I really wanted to when using mobile devices. I had to use the hotel's internet computer to check in for our return flight and get our seats together since my flight was booked separately from my wife and daughters. I also wish I had the Tablet to surf more websites and manage my email a bit better. My wife also wanted to check and write emails, but doesn't like the small display and text entry options on a Pocket PC. As I posted about a couple weeks ago, my wife and I are going on an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii in a couple weeks and I plan on bringing the Tablet along. I won't live on the device and will only use it just before going to sleep or early in the morning to stay in touch with the world and get my required blurbs posted. I did well this trip in hardly touching my devices and enjoying myself and plan on doing the same next trip.

In Hawaii this week, limited postings

I am on a work (with 2 days of vacation) trip to Hawaii this week so there will be limited postings on my blog until I get back and should find my new Tablet PC ready and waiting. I actually brought my wife and oldest daughter (her 11th birthday present) along since my flight and hotel was paid for by work.

I brought my Tungsten T3, Dell Axim X30 (it has a high capacity battery so the X50 was left behind), and Nokia 7610. I am actually writing this entry with my Think Outside IR keyboard on a Dell Axim X30 connected to the Nokia 7610. I also just submitted my Geek.com blog news entries and it takes a lot more work using only mobile devices and I can't wait to try traveling with the Tablet PC next time. PDAs and Smartphones are the way to go for mobile data, but when you are in your hotel room and want to get real work done they can make life a bit difficult and tasks can be a bit more timely.