Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Gateway Tablet PC reviewed

Tonight I thought I’d take time out to review the Gateway TA1 Convertible Tablet PC.

Sitting down to post a review can sometimes be considered a burden rather than a challenge. In order to sit down and review the Gateway Tablet PC I first had to hunt one down. Knowing that Gateway had pulled out of the PC market in Australia meant that I was going to find my first task more challenging that initially thought.

I started by emailing Gateway, and then searching locally, and finally landing on the doorstep of Dr. Neil Roodyn. It seems that on one of his travels Dr. Neil had been given a Gateway tablet PC and had strangely left it to his Girlfriend to use as her desktop – “strangely” mostly because I've never witnessed a device leave his clasp, even the two PC’s and countless devices I’ve built for Dr. Neil are still housed and used in the same room.

I picked up my 14” widescreen friend, and headed to my den.

The first thing to comprehend about Tablet PC is that they are designed to increase mobility; tablet is meant to replace a traditional paper and pen combination with the new found might of Windows XP Tablet PC edition. As I hoisted the device from the boot of my vehicle, and took the 17 strides required to reach the home-office, I could feel a strange sense of fatigue come over me. As I reached my desk, and made a two handed clutch for Tablet, I realized that I’d spent more energy than usual on this simple journey from garage to office.

If you’re ever able to pickup one of these tablets the first thing that will strike you is the shear weight that is consumed by the 14” widescreen, DVD burner, 3 USB ports, firewire, VGA, card reader, PCMCIA slot and Bluetooth. Obviously I was not impressed but I remained open enough for the beast to tame my sense of mobility; perhaps under the hood the Gateway would befriend me?

As I fired up the machine I was pleasantly surprised to experience a substantially fast boot period. As I hunted for the pen I was greeted by my first bit of Tablet-specific Gateway thinking. The pen, unlike most Tablet PC’s, has been given its own push button release mechanism. Admittedly I was not a fan at first but after having spent the last several weeks with TA1 I came to the conclusion that this bit of Gateway genius would serve purpose on other Tablet PC’s too - you see the push-down and pop-out method adopted by most Tablet PC’s is considered FUNctional, until someone looses an eye that is!

Now with stylus in hand I decided to go for my first inking on this Gateway beast. Using the pen I clicked on “Start”, “All Programs” and then opened “Windows Journal”. All tasks performed very accurately and very responsively. With a new Journal page now staring back at me I made my move towards a blank line. As I approached, with trembling stylus in hand, my deepest fears were realized; not only would the pen not ink, but the entire system decided to think, hunt, process and memorize, all without reason – after all I’d only tried to write my name.

The following evenings were wasted trying to improve my angle of approach, my self control and most importantly my patience. As I planned ways in which my stylus could best talk to the tablet I realized that inking had now become a strategy, and sadly, had left the realm that I once defined as intuitive and instinctual. More and more I reached for the touch pad and left the stylus back in its well designed place holder. The more time I spent with this device I stopped seeing it as a Tablet player, and started to look at it as more of a notebook, with Tablet features. With this paradigm now shifted I gradually gained love back for the Gateway that had so quickly left my body.

Before I allow you to get carried away with my pessimism I have to pass on one very very valuable piece of praise that is well deserved by the Gateway team. It starts and ends with this: Tablet price!

We are probably all aware that Tablet PC carries a premium; some of you may also be aware that Gateway has aggressively challenged the Tablet space by dropping the price of its device when compared to equivalently spec’ed machines. However the one very piece of information that is missing from the equation is “just how did they achieve this”. How has Gateway been able to do this while other vendors insist on commanding nearly double for an equivalent beast?

To properly understand the math you need to know firstly that the Tablet PC premium is mostly eaten up by the magnificently crafted Wacom digitizer board, concealed in a Tablet PC and used to capture all our ink gestures. This board, which carries very few competitors in the market place, very often makes up more than 40% of the production costs of the Tablet PC technology. In the case of the Gateway engineers, they went off and decided to craft a new digitizer technology that would allow them to break into the Tablet PC space with prices previously unattainable by their competition. In turn the Gateway tablet ships not with a Wacom digitizer pack, but instead with a proprietary Gateway solution, designed to cut costs. For this feat I take my propeller hat off to them…well done boys, I love the intention.

What I find hard to believe is that they would go to market with something that works so poorly. If you’re thinking of buying a Gateway Tablet PC then you’ll need to look no further than the Gateway Website to do a little test-driving of your own. Just follow this link and ink with your mouse on the really neat flash intro they have. Of course the mouse will give you a less refined and more jagged writing style, but then again so will the Gateway machine itself. If you find the inking ability of this flash intro acceptable (perhaps left on the Gateway site as a stroke of marketing genius) then read on brother, read on….

If you’re in the market for a Tablet PC I must regrettably inform you that this is not for you. If however, and several of you are, you are in the market for a general purpose, DVD playing, widescreen, Bluetooth enabled notebook and don’t mind paying a small premium for some added Tablet features, then this puppy should be seriously considered.



I love that the Gateway convertible connected when I needed to connect (both Bluetooth and WiFi) and gave me unmatched Tablet viewing pleasure via its 14” widescreen technology. I really enjoyed having an optical drive on the Tablet, a now rare occurrence by most vendors, and also enjoyed the jog dials and bush buttons located on the tablet screen.

In conclusion all I can add is this: “If tablet PC were an NGO (Non Governmental Organization), and I were Kofi Annan, then all of my votes would go to supporting the Gateway project called “lets take away the Wacom monopoly and give Tablet PC back to the people.”

Thumbs up, and praise, for developing a really great notebook that ships with Tablet features; thumbs down however for thinking that tablet PC users wouldn’t want a more effective form of inking. I'm praying that Gateway Tablet generation 2 or 3 will house a more acceptable inking format, therefore proving that the Tablet PC price point can close the gap on their more traditional notebook cousin.



Next week...Lenovo X41 review

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a newer Gateway CX2618 owner. This is essentially the same device you reviewed, and I have to disagree with your assessment. I've only used one other tablet, the HP tc1100. All I can say is that I found inking on the Gateway to be a more positive experience than on the HP. Now, that may be, in part, due to the wonderful Gateway screen size, which I find much easier to work with. But the handwriting recognition and indeed, the entire inking experience was more positive than what you experienced. I don't know what the difference is, but we definitely had different experiences. As always, I would recommend that people get their hands on multiple models prior to purchasing, as tablets are indeed a very personal choice.

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Anonymous,

I thank you for your input here, as you might gather from my review I was disappointed with the results I had achieved with the version of Gateway Tablet I had been handed.

Knowing that you've experienced a better result gives me some hope that Gateway has a space in the Tablet market. What I do find hard to comprehend is your comparing the "inakability" of the Gateway to that of the HP TC1100 - a Tablet of much acclaim. If you say that the device you harbor is a better inking experience than a TC1100 then all I can conclude is that either I'm doing something wrong, or you're doing something really right!

All in all I would do a lot to support any OEM focused on dropping the price of Tablet PC! AS I stated earlier: “Gateway, great notebook with Tablet features!”

Anonymous said...

The Gateway Convertible is notorious for its pen problems. Luckily, they are easity replaced by their tech support.

I own a Gateway Convertible and had similar problems too. I would try the following:

1) Clean the screen (trust me it helps!)
2) Calibrate the pen to match how you hold the pen (it should be on the bottom right on the taskbar)
3) When all else fails, get a new pen from Gateway support.

The Tablet PC Buzz forums have a lot of help from other Gateway Convertible owners. I have also written a lot about it on my site.

I hope that helps.

Sid

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hey Sid,

Nice to hear from you mate! Just to clarify; the pen used in the sample model that I demo'd was on its second pen. Both Dr. Neil and I had given it the benefit of doubt and asked tech support for a second pen. Believe it or not my second experience was much better (with the new pen) than my first. I wouldn't have bothered posting a review based on the "first pen" experience.

It's so funny isn't it how keeping it simple is often the fastest way to improve a user experience. I own several Tablets and have 6 working devices sitting to the left and right of me as I type (Sahara, Lenovo, Xplore, HP & Gateway); the one thing that often enhances my user experience is cleaning the screen! LOL

Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the KISS (Keep is Simple Stupid) philosophy is pure gold.

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Oh Jim,

mate, sir, mate, you've cracked me up! Gateway tablet as a replacment for a personal trainer, now that's a tv commercial I'd love to see.

As a teacher you carry a great deal of leverage; I would do anything to support your efforts with exposing more users to the unique experience that is ink.

Thanks for your support too, and maybe one day we'l enjoy a fosters together!

Anonymous said...

I have had my Gateway for about 2 months now and I have to agree with one point. Its a laptop with tablet features but thats not Gateways fault. Tablet PC software is weak. The journal software is a weak effort. Just to make a square or convert text doesnt make sence. WHAT we need here is some decent software. There sint much out there?? Making office truely tablet compatable would be a start! Come on Microsoft. Lets Get Serios about this!

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Anonymous,

I find it hard to believe you'd dismiss Tablet PC is a whole. Software has always been a tool and not a feature. If you look at the role Microsoft plays it's not one of total control; they dish out the API's and and SDK's so that particular requirements can be used by specific fields. If your requiremnt is to draw squares (obviously it's more than that) then look at Apex Software.

It's important to take a good look at your specific requirements. What field are you in? What are you using the Tablet PC for, on a daily basis? What country do you live in (some countries are better supported than others)?

Then what you need to do is find bloggers, or forums that feed this industry. It's not hard to find a passionate blogger who will point you in the right direction for some Software that rocks.

I'M HERE TO HELP, SO IF YOU WANT TO ANSWER THE ABOVE QUESTIONS OR CONTACT ME DIRECTLY THEN I'D BE MORE THAT PLEASED TO ASSIST.

Anonymous said...

I bought on for work and have trouble with the pen working consisitently. It won't pick up the cursor or highlight pages on the screen. I guess I will have to order a new pen as that seems to be the new fix. MPW Chicago

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Anonymous,

I think you'll find the pen will make a considerable difference. It may even be worth buying this Wacom Cross Pen!

Anonymous said...

i drew comics on a gateway cx2619 for an hour or so just chillin at office depot today. i gotta say i was surprised by the review since the inking was really impressive, but i think maybe u reviewed an earlier model. the guy at the store did tell me he had problems when it first arrived, but they seem to have been resolved. i was wonderin whether or not it was wacom tech, thanx for the enlightenment =)
-baby!

leca1017 said...

I bought a gateway tablet pc TA1 and I am having serious problems with my handwriting recognition; maybe is the pen but I calibrate all the time and still doesnt recognize my writing and virtually doesnt write anything on the screen. How can I get a new pen? should I call gateway support or best buy which is the place that I bought it from and paid $1500 + $350 for a 3 year warranty. I am going to med school in 2007 and I bought this computer to take notes during class but up to now it really sucks. Help please !!!!!!

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Leca,

As you gathered from my own review the Gateway is not one of my prefered Tablets. I called it a notebook with "pen features" as opposed to calling it an "actual" tablet.

From what I know from other reports the magic to improving your gateway is the Pen. Call best buy and explain the situation and ask them for a new pen from Gateway. I know that they released an updated version of their pen so this should be enough information to get them working for you.

If this fails try Gateway directly and screem blue murder over the pen (they'll have heard it before, you're not the first) and that should be enough to get them working for you.

Let me know if this helped you, or others!

Anonymous said...

So... If I understand I can buy a Wacom Cross Pen Will works with a Gateway Tablet PC? And it can improve my inking experience...?

Sorry If it´s a stupid cuestion... I am thinking to buy my frist tablet, and I follow your blog (and other "inks shows"). I must say that I love yours videos, there are so funny...

Thanks a lot!

Best regards from Madrid (Spain)

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hola de Madrid,

Yes, if you buy that pen it will work very well on the Gateway. I just got to china!. I'm off to sleep so sorry abou the short comment!

Anonymous said...

Hugo:

That Wacom Cross Executive pen will Not work on any Gateway made since Oct-Nov 2005.

Gateway stopped using Wacom digitizers then and to cut costs went with a powered pan using Finepoint digitizers.

www.finepointinnovations.com/

J

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Oh Shit!

So sorry about that J. I should have sked which model you had first. Please accept my apologise on this one. My bad.

Hopefully you kept your receipt and can get a refund. I was told recently that Gateway will supply a replacement pen that has been enhanced for FinePoint. You will need to let me know though as I am not in the Northern Hemisphere and Gateway has pulled out of the Southern Hemisphere.

Thanks.

moon said...

Hello, I have owned the Gateway Tablet cx2619 for a month now. I have been using it in my classroom with windows journal and one note. Once several of my collegues seen me put it to use, they went on to the gateway website and purchased one as well. It is more stylish than the other tablets out there amd works great. I definetely would recommend the ectended life battery for a few dollars more. The really cool thing is that it is both a laptop when you want it to be and a tablet when you want it to be.

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Moon,

THanks for the recommendation, I know a lot of people are impressed.

Keep up the inking!

(It would be smart for Gateway to send me one to review.)

Anonymous said...

I have a gateway CX210X and am having a lot of trouble with the pens. When I first got the tablet it worked great for a few months, then the screen stopped recognizing the pen. Gateway sent me a replacement and the replacement worked initially, but then stopped being recognized after only a few hours. they sent me a second replacement which worked great for another few months. now, the second replacement is still being recognized by the screen, but it seems the pen's internal pressure sensor is messed up because it needs much more pressure to write. They sent me a third replacement which worked great for a few days, but sure enough started acting like the battery was dying after only a few days. The pressure of the newest replacement pen is fine when the computer will detect the pen. When the computer stops detecting the newest replacement, I try the second replacement (the one that only has a messed up pressure sensor) which the computer immediately detects. This leaves me to think that it has to be a problem with the pens, but after getting so many "bad" pens, I'm starting to wonder if there is something more seriously wrong with my computer's sensor... I know this entry is a bit hard to follow, but can anyone give me some advice? I find it hard to believe that so many new pens could be bad but at the same time, I have one pen that can always be detected even when other pens stop being detected. Thanks guys

Anonymous said...

i bought mine through my school, thank goodness for that too because it cannot take the wear and tear a student puts on it. I am really dissapointed because i paid the extra bucks to get my m280 for the tablet function, but it is becoming increasingly frustrating to use. My pen goes bizerk and clicks on everything and scribbles everywhere on the screen, right now we are beginning the process of trying to correct the problem, but from what i have read, it probably wont be corrected

Shawn said...

I actually picked up one of these fellows at a pawnshop recently and I have to say, your assessment is pretty bang on. But I will say that I bought this fellow with specific plans to use it for graphics. The expandability was a real selling point as I currently have gig of ram and have the ability to double that. This along with the Intel Celeron processor makes for a solid PC with really nice tablet features to it.

I really dig the stylus seat as well. It is a pretty simple design and once you get used to it it's fantastic. I don't think that the weight was as prohibitive as it could be but I haven't used many tablets before. I picked mine up as I like using my Wacom tab when working in Illustrator, less so with Photoshop where quick-keys area huge boon. So this was bought pretty task specific.

This is probably the best hybrid of tablet and lappy I've ever come across and have a number of coworkers jealous of my little second-hand 'puter.

Great review.

Anonymous said...

I'm having serious problems with their pen. I have the CX2620 model, and the pen seems to fail after a year or two. Gateway will not replace it for free.

Unknown said...

Has anyone had, or heard of, problems with overheating on this model due to fan issues? Mine has been having issues, and I've cleaned it and all that, and it still overheats and shuts down, if the dvd drive is running for longer than a few minutes.

Unknown said...

Hugo,

If you don't recommend this tablet, which one you do recommend, I want to buy one, and I want it to have Wacom technology inside. Would you give me a name please?

Thanks Hugo, your review has been very useful (I thought all tablet PC's worked with Wacom technology inside)

Anonymous said...

Yes Lauren - mine overheats and shuts done, especially when doing a virus scan (doesn't matter which brand) in which the hard drive is constantly reading. The fan kicks on. After a while, the fan kicks on to a higher speed. Then the laptop shuts down.

I never did like Gateway...

Anybody know of a fix?

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