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The advent of personal computing had many believing that the art of handwriting would be forever gone and banished to the realms of the 'Dark Ages'. But the pen is back!
As fate, and oddly enough technology, would have it we are seeing today, the return of the pen with the PC and the need to scribble notes yet again.
Those of you who've allowed your penmanship to go down the drain save for signing credit card slips, start practising those strokes again. The rage among PC-makers these days, seems to be the tablet PC.
Among Dell's latest is the 12.1 inch Latitude while Fujitsu has its LifeBook range that runs from the 12 inch T2010 to the 9 inch P1610. It's not just any high-tech 'scribble-pad' you'll with these devices since they still offer the option of a key-board for those times when it's much better to type, and the time comes to write or draw, just flip around screen to convert the PC into a tablet.
One of the earliest to introduce the 'twist-and-touch' design concept was HP, which has been offering tablet PCs since 2002.
Building on its know-how, it offered users the HP Pavilion tx1000 series Entertainment Notebook PC in early 2007, which is said to be the world's first touch notebook as users could work without a digitizer pen or add-on software enhancements.
According to HP's Serena Yong, GM, Personal Systems Group, touch-based interface technologies will be big in 2008 as they are naturally intuitive to use. As such, she said HP is building on its touch technologies to make it "insanely simple" for users.
Worth looking out for is the upcoming HP Pavilion tx2000 Series Entertainment Notebook PC which will offer a new, resistive touch-screen and built-in digitizer that recognises the rechargeable pen as it nears the screen and disables the touch feature to ensure easy transition between touch and handwriting.
In fact this same intuitive experience is also availble to some degree,in the currently available HP Compaq 2710p.
The 12 inch laptop may seem much like others in the HP notebook family with reliable HP DuraKeys to withstand any amount of keyboard pounding, and a sleek silver-grey skin.
The difference here is the swivel screen that converts the laptop into a tablet PC - great for those who need to collect signatures from clients daily or who are constant note-takers.
When I got the 2710p, I decied that one of its first tests would have to be at a meeting. There was no need to flex any muscles to get the notebook which weighed under 2kg,to the boardroom.
It arrived discreetly tucked into a plain office folder but the moment it slipped out, I noticed a number of stolen glances across the table. Alas, they weren't for me but for the HP Compaq sitting in front of me. The braver ones didn't hesitate to ask about the slim and attractive device or even to request a fleeting chance to try it out.
After the meeting, I was glad for all the notes that were taken swiftly but with some degree of error with blame to be shared equally between the handwriting recognition software and my poor penmanship.
Taking it further, I decided to handwrite this piece on the 2710p having conquered the script bar that appears when the PC is in tablet mode.
Initial reservations about pressing on the screen constantly and scratching or worse, cracking it accidentally were eased when it was revealed that the screen is made from chemically-strengthened glass for extra durability.
The other promise is a superior writing experience, and it's no empty pledge as the pen glides across the screen very smoothly.
Those who used to make their teachers agonise over their scripts will find the tablet PC very forgiving. As bad as my handwriting is (both my teachers and best schoolmate will easily vouch for that), the HP Compaq 2710p was able to input and convert the scrawl into text with near 99% accuracy. Pretty amazing.
The speed is also quite good although you are limited by the Script-box which can take up to six words - if you write with medium-sized script - before having to stop to get your words transformed and inserted as text into your document.
It also doesn't matter if you run out of space and don't want to stop - squeezing in letters outside of the Script-box can still result in the correct word (yes, I have always been a messy writer).
The screen is surprisingly, one of the reasons why the device is lightweight.
While the Illumi-Lite display also makes the device energy efficient, it can be a strain to view at times.
I tried staring at the tablet placed flat on the tabletop and holding it at an angle as you would a writing pad on clipboard, both had me squinting as I battled between glare and dimmed screen as well as reflections from overhead lights.
Perhaps the optional outdoor view display would've solved some of the problems as it's supposed to offer a significantly better display when working in bright light conditions.
Using a pen is much nicer than a mouse as your movements are much more natural, but don't expect precise movements when trying to control your cursor.
The HP comes with a trackball and pen for input, so those with an 'allergic reaction' to trackballs will have to contend with the pen which is a useful too not just for writing.
What's unique about the pen is the way it interacts with the screen - you don't always have to tap the screen to open a program, just hovering the pen over the target area can also do the job. The only problem is you must work out just how to click the pen without moving it away from the program or folder you want to open.
To remain portable, the 2710p did not have a DVD/CD slot although it is packed with other useful options, such as a pair of USB ports and docking connector to attach to the HP 2700 Ultra-Slim Expansion Base which offers a 7 mm DVD+/-RW SuperMulti Drive.
What makes the 2710p even better is that come March, the notebooks will come with Flash-based 64 GB solid state drives.
That means the notebooks will be able to better withstand drops and shocks and consume less power, so you get more from the battery life and more from your handy, little tablet.
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