The NEW Sager 2880 discussion thread... - Page 2

Holy crap, its affordable! Have you guys seen the prices on some of the tablet pcs? They are twice the price of this!

Heh, just look at Toshiba! http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/t...il.jsp?comm=CS


And BTW, don't think that a P3 can't get a good amount of work done. You all have been spoiled by your 3Ghz P4s apparently.....just remember in the real world you are the minoroity. On UCF campus many of the systems are still P3 Dell systems.

It just so happens that Sager users are extremely loyal!

Hey, its going to be too heavy? Cripes, I'm an old man with enough dissabilities to warrant a handicap parking permit. And I'm the one that's wanting the extra weight.

Maybe you have the extra cash to have a couple three different kinds of machines, one for work, one for gaming, one for communications, one for school, but I don't. While I always like to have back up machines, so if something goes wrong I can send the bugger in without bringing my entire work schedule to a stop, what I need is nearly an identical machine, not some lightweight fluff.

While I grant there's probably a market for this and other similar machines, I am pretty sure the problem with acceptance of Tablet PCs has been they are so lightweight. The tech is old, the power is minimal. So it weighs a few pounds less. Big deal. If I am carrrying around my laptop, I am not carrying it in my hands, its in a backpack with good padding all around so my hands are free, one for the cane, the other for something to hold on to (used to be one for the ship the other scratch myself, but those days are gone). If its in a backpack, a couple of extra pounds or inches don't mean much.

And Myrkat is right. Those that are wired, they are wired already. Those that aren't, they aren't interested. My mom was actually afraid of her VCR and didn't feel comfortable with transistor radios, but we got her a MacIntosh and she took off on it. Her next down sister, not interested, under any conditions, period. The youngest of the three, she's one of my most prolific correspondents. Three people, same upbringing, same generation, two took to it, one did not and will not.

Its time to move on, lets use the power. If you want something really portable, get a PDA. Heck, in a year or so, your cell phone will boast a P3 and 128 MB ram with an upgradeable GPU, DX8 at least!!

So when will PCTorque begin offering this model? It should be a little cheaper than ordering direct from the Sager website...

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!! The Antaur processor looks like it can kick Pentium ass.... check out the specs.... It is def. at least as fast as a 2 ghz P4, I bet....

Doggonit (Hmm the new Fujistu Tablet PC is soooo much nicer)

I'm looking for a ultra thin tablet. True tablet pc not laptop /tablet swivel hybrid crap ALready have a pc for that.
Tablet should be abel to get atleast 8-10 hrs use off battery charge like the dell's or ibm thinkpad skinny lappys.

anyone know where to get an ultra thin, true tablet pc?

Hey you go to UCF?

I know with PDA’s there is a concern with scratching the screen while writing on it, have they gotten this problem licked yet.

First of all, this is an awesome price for a device like this. Very inexpensive, and even with things maxed out (60GB 7200rpm HD, 1GB RAM, DVD-R/RW drive) it doesn't top $1100.

The only two things I would add to this device are internal Bluetooth and an unpowered Firewire port.

I've seen BT on other TPC's, but they never seem to have even unpowered Firewire ports. I can't figure out why. Not having Firewire is enough to keep me from buying one of these units.

Otherwise, very cool, and very affordable.

...

Ok, you guys that are saying this is a very inexpensive tablet are missing one big thing. This "tablet" doesnt have xp tablet edition. ... Meaning... its missing all of the features(or at least most of the features) that are included in tablets such as the Compaq TC1000, the MOtion 1300, or others.

For those interested in learning more about tablets... go here

http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com

One last thing for those that might be interested in a new tablet. HP is about to release a new model the TC1100. This tablet has the best gfx chip (geforce4 go 32mb 4xagp) in any other tablet, since most others onloy have the intel extreme graphics crap. IT will be a Centrino 1ghz and it maxes out at 2 gb. HD max is the 60gb 7200. The current model which runs from a transmeta crusoe gives 6 hours of battery life when optimized to the max.

Should I or should i not

I was just wondering if a 2880 would be a good investment for a freshmen college student? Thanks

hand writing ?

Umm, will be surprised hand writing software has made it to linux yet. Will be nice tho. Who wants to start a project ?

Tablet PC's

I do believe a great deal in the Tablet PC Market, when properly used it is a great asset to to writers, students and business folks, but one must really clarify the intent of the machine itself. A tablet comp is meant as a lightweight, easy to use comp for menial tasks, IE word processing and such. It is not a gaming machine and really, if you have any need to use the capabilities of a tablet pc then youll know it, if not then stick with a regular laptop. The best way to look at it I suppose is this.

Will hand input be more than a novelty? (will it speed up you ability to communicate w/ the pc, or enhance it)

Will the barebones aspect of a Tablet hinder your work?

I am a graphics professional, and I have been looking at using a tablet since they hit the market... I use a wacom tablet to do most of my photoshop, illustrator and lightwave work.

Oh, and to answer the one gentleman's question, I recommend it for students that have a very specific set of needs, or that do not need access to CDROMS and such due to wireless networks. In a completely wireless working environment, a tablet is a great way to work, if not...... try something else.

And no-one has asked if they can get it custom painted to match there other sager.


I am suprised it doesn't come with internal bluetooth.

Linux and Tablet PCs

I was thinking the exact same thing. As soon as these take off someone will have a project on sourceforge.net. Hell they may already be working on the handwritting stuff right now.

Hmmm... I am very interested in this little machine here. I've done some search around the net and I didn't really find much about it to my surprise, I mean, shouldn't a $1000ish tablet pc get more buzz than this? I am considering buying one but judging from the miniscule info I've found about this thing, I have some reservations.... all I was looking for was a fair review that explores both pros and cons beyond the general tablet pc vs. desktop/notebook talk.

What I really wanna know is, I understand that this thing is pretty cheap for a tablet pc, so there must be somethings sacrificed in order to be able to sell it at that price.... all I've spotted so far is the processor and the minimal system specifications like 20 gb hd and no internal cd-rom and the like... but that doesn't really add up to $1000-1500 difference between this tablet pc and the others out there.... so this made me think that there must be more than just the surface configuration? Like, does it feel (or is) very fragile? or is it hard to write on? I keep getting the idea of there's something wrong with it hmmm...

All in all, I will really appreciate a fair review about this machine.... also, if anyone knows if there are any price drops in the near future (since this price has been there since september), please tell about it. I will be ordering from Canada and I've read the stuff about the extra brokerage and other charges we face just for being across the border, so for me, this machine is like a 2000 cdn+ investment, so I want to get my facts straight first... so please, I need some insight on this.

Thanks so much.

KDash the main reason this "tablet" is so cheap is because its not a true tablet. In the sense that it does not have Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Therefore you dont have all of the great handwriting recognition things that come with standard WinXP TPC Edition.

That is one of the main reasons why this tablet is so cheap. The reason why they dont have Tablet PC Edition? Its because so far Microsoft has been very strict in regards to what processors you can use ... and guess what... the Via Auntar isnt one of the ones on their list. The only ones that they have are the Transmetas and the Pentiums. This includes the Pentium-M (also referred to by many as Centrino).

Check out the great forums over at www.tabletpcbuzz.com if you want to learn a lot more about tablets.

Wow, thanks for the info. So WinXP Tablet Edition is that important huh...hmmm... so even if I have a version of tablet edition of my own, I can't install it onto the 2880 is that right?

Interesting thing though, I've been snooping around for similar deals and found one on pro-star:
http://www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?ma...ail&model=2873
which is the same bare model that sager is selling and they offer an upgrade to centrino for a few hundred bucks more. Does that mean I can install WinXp Tablet Edition on that?

Oh, as for tabletpcbuzz, great site... after reading a bit from their forums, it seems that people are pretty up and up about pressure sensitivity on the tablets, probably because they're artists? I dunno, I am just using this thing to jot notes down and at most doodle so I don't really need to use Illustrator and other progs, but out of curiosity, does this tablet have pressure sensitive features?

again, thanks for the info!

Win XP Tablet Edition is not sold like any other version of Windows. IN fact when you get a tablet you dont get any form of Windows XP cd at all. SO I doubt that you would be able to install XP Tablet Edition on the 2880.

About the prostar... I would be very careful and would do a lot of research beforehand. For instance you can start off by talking to Adam at PC Torque (sort of like the owner of these forums) since he also sells the 2880 (I believe) and he would be the best at giving you some information. Also ask Sager at.... Sagernotebooks.com THey also sell the notebook and they get it directly from Clevo (which is the taiwanese company that makes all Sager notebooks.

Pressure sensitivity is not really a big deal. Several of the first generation Tablet PCs lacked pressure sensitivity and they still sold well. For instance I used to own a Compaq TC1000, which does not have pressure sensitivity and it was perfect for me. I only used it to take notes in class and it worked great as an ultraportable. THe max battery life I could get from it after optimizing was 6 hours. of note taking. I really do not know if the 2880 has pressure sensitivity but I would guess that it doesnt...but yet again this is a question that would be best answered by Adam or Sager.

"REAL" Tablets

I'd be careful and have something cleared up 100% before buying this thing. From what I've read I understand that Windows XP Tablet Edition and Media Center Edition are merely XP Professional with a superset of software running on top of them.

If you want proof, download the Windows 5in1 distribution from a peer-to-peer service and see for yourself. Or, check out the MSDN forums. Microsoft allows certain MSDN subscribers to download OS distributions based on their subscription level. This includes 2 files needed for transforming XP Pro into Tablet or Media Edition.

That being said, I am confident that XP Tablet Edition could be installed on this device. It's just another operating system with the "superset" of Microsoft Journal and handwriting recognition apps etc, etc.

The most important part you need to pay attention to is "touch sensitive" vs "tablet". Having a touch sensitive monitor is not the same as having a true tablet. That means that if I'm left handed and my hand is resting on the screen, that will register as input along with the tablet pen.

A true tablet only responds to its input device.

A great example of this would be to go up to just about any notebook PC or Apple Powerbook, iBook, etc. If you take a plastic pen cap and try to move the cursor via the trackpad...it shouldn't work. But if you take your finger, it will move the cursor because most trackpads are electrostatically driven.

Likewise, most tablet pens run on batteries or have something that makes their input "unique" to the tablet. You shouldn't get the same results from using your fingers or hands.