Fortunately for me there’s no shortage of tablets on the market: Windows OS, Android OS, iOS. Crud, based on reports from CES 2012 I’ll have a much bigger selection within another 6 months or so.

The iPad is out. Been there, done that. It didn’t meet my needs.

I’ve thought many times about going with an Android device. After all, I’ve used an Android smartphone for the better part of 3 years and love the operating system. The Samsung line of Android tablets is awesome, and the Asus Transformer Prime is nothing short of spectacular. If I were to purchase an Android tablet I’m certain that it would be the Prime, but alas, as a productivity device the Android tablets suffer from the same shortcomings as that fruity device.

Which brings us to the Windows tablets. I’ve been eying Windows tablets for a while, but I’ve been a bit underwhelmed. In addition I’m a fan of convertible tablets and those have virtually disappeared as everyone seems to be going to a slate model these days.

After looking over my options I think the Samsung Series 7 Slate is my best bet. It’s a fully functional Windows computer with no compromise. In addition it has decent battery life, good specs and works well with both touch and a pen – yes, I still prefer a pen for note taking. A friend and colleague recently purchased a Series 7 Slate and he’s been raving about it. I spent a little time playing with it today and I must say that I found it to be quite impressive.

So there you go. If I were to purchase a new tablet today it would be the Samsung Series 7 Slate. Then again, I did drool a little when I read about the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga.

According to Tablets Planet the “Latitude ST tablet features a Intel Atom processor, Windows 7, Microsoft Bitlocker, Kensington lock, USB port, SD card slot, HDMI port, and a LCD that features finger multi-touch and a stylus for input, and there are also front and rear-facing cameras for video conferencing (front) and taking photos (rear).”

In addition the Latitude ST claims an 8 hour battery life. This is in line with the battery life claims of the Samsung Series 7 tablet.

Now if I could just get Samsung or Dell to develop a docking solution similar to the Asus Transformer we’d have something.

Lenovo T410S Laptop or Lenovo x201t Tablet PC – I go back and forth between these two machines. The T410S has a bigger screen, faster processor and more memory, but it’s not a tablet PC. The x201t is smaller, easier to use and I can take notes directly on the screen. The smaller size is especially important when I have a long flight; the T410S doesn’t fit well in the cattle-car seats on planes.

Motorola DROID – I love this phone and haven’t seen anything new to convince me to change, although I think I’ll have a Motorola DROID BIONIC shortly.

Kindle DX – Still nothing better than an e-ink screen for reading. Period. When I see a journal article worth reading I simple dump it in a “To Read” folder on my computer. Every so often I move those on to my Kindle DX and read them when I have down time. The DX’s large screen works well for PDFs.

Android Tablet (my rooted NOOK Color) – Games, email and social media in a small package with long battery life.

Verizon MiFi, a.k.a. “Mobile Hotspot” – Simply can’t live without connectivity

I recently purchased an HP TouchPad. It’s turned out to be a really nice tablet. I’ve enjoyed using it over the past few weeks.

On a recent trip to Cincinnati, OH I decided to leave my Kindle DX and Android tablet at home, and take the TouchPad instead. I used it for email, web surfing, social media and games; just like its Android counterpart. I tried using it for reading in place of the Kindle DX. It worked, but found that I like the e-ink screen better.

I’ve heard people say they use their tablets, specifically their iPads, for document creation, editing, etc. I managed to use the TouchPad to compose a blog post for another website while en route to Cincinnati, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it on a regular bases. Sure, I was able to create the post, but there were several things I missed. I’m not a natural writer and many of my blog posts go through several edits before getting pushed to the web. In my opinion a keyboard and mouse work better than a touchscreen for editing a document. Overall it worked, but certainly not as good as a laptop.

So, what’s the final verdict? The TouchPad could easily take the place of my Android tablet and my Kindle DX, but I still prefer the Kindle for reading. And you can forget about using something like the TouchPad in place of a laptop, it’s not even close.

In my mind the ASUS Eee Slate EP121 (who comes up with these names?) is currently the best tablet PC slate on the market. I’ve spent quite a bit of time messing around with it at the Microsoft Retail Store at Bellevue Square in Washington. The employees in there must think I’m some kind of stalker.

As far as the EP121 goes the inking is great, the touchscreen responsive, it’s fast, it’s the perfect size and it just “feels right” in my hands. So what’s the problem? The battery life is terrible? The information on the tablet states that the battery life is less than 3 hours. Online reviews have it at about 2 hours. That’s ridiculously bad in this day of hi-tech.

I looked hard at the Motion Computing CL900, but just don’t think it has enough muscle for me. It’s a bit slow and clunky. That’s a bummer as on the surface the CL900 looks like the perfect device.

While rummaging around the Motion Computing website for information on the CL900 I stumbled across an old friend, the Motion J3500. I’ve used it’s predecessor, the J3400 before and it was a great machine. I found the J3400 to be a good mix of functionality, toughness and battery life. With upgrades to the hard drive, processor and display the J3500 may just be the best option currently available, which says something about the tablet market; the J3500 is over a year old.

I have no idea why HP killed the webOS, but I’m sure we’ll find out more in the weeks to come. The operating system itself was awesome. I personally think it had the best user experience of all the current tablet platforms. I was looking forward to it’s maturation as a mobile computing ecosystem. With that said I think HP failed to offer the smartphone variety necessary to make the HP TouchPad meaningful.

I considered buying a TouchPad, but ultimately decided against it. Like many others I have a host of tablets to chose from these days. Why did I baulk at the TouchPad? Basically it boils down to cost, lack of smartphone choice and the feeling that the TouchPad still had some growing pains to go through. These are the same reasons that lead me to hold off on purchasing many of the early Android tablets.

Good-bye TouchPad. Your death was premature to say the least. Shame on you HP for destroying such a beautiful tablet operating system.

I jumped online and opened a ticket with Lenovo through their customer service portal. A few days later a box with appropriate shipping materials arrived. I packed it up, delivered it to the UPS store and sent it on its way. A few days later I logged into the Lenovo customer service site to check the progress of my repair. Imagine my surprise when I entered my ticket number and nothing appeared. A few minutes later I was on the phone to Lenovo. The gentleman on the phone was polite and courteous, but ultimately he couldn’t help me because my help ticket was no longer in their system. Doh!

Needless to say I was in a bit of a tiff wondering what the heck happened to my laptop. The next day I called the UPS store only to find out they couldn’t help me either. Double doh! Anyway, as I was ranting to my wife and threatening to hurt people I’d never met there was a knock at the door. When I opened it there was the UPS man headed back to his truck, and on the doorstep was my laptop freshly repaired by Lenovo.

Lenovo came through like a champ. They turned the repair around in just a few days and returned my machine to me in perfect condition. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

The most common problem, for me at least, has been short battery life. Less than four hours just isn’t an option, which eliminates what I think is the best slate tablet on market the Eee Slate EP121. So you can imagine my elation when I saw the specs for the Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q550. The screen size of the Q550 is a little small, but the pen and multi-touch input along with the claims from the manufacturer of extended battery life, up to 8 hours, caught my attention.

I had the opportunity to play with the Q550 today, and I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t impressed. Writing with the stylus was painfully bad. I use my tablet computers to take notes and prefer using a stylus over my finger for navigation in many cases.

One of the first things I do when looking at a new tablet computer is rest my hand on the screen and start writing. You can see the results in the image below; pretty crappy. The screen kept registering my hand, making writing difficult. The writing became instantly better when I moved my hand off the scree; bottom right of screen.

The other problem with the tablet was the speed. It was downright clunky. According to the placard at the Microsoft Retail Store the Q550 runs an Intel Atom Z670 1.5GHz process. Well, I don’t know how good the processor is, but it runs like a dog in this tablet computer.

Overall I was disappointed with the Q550. It’s not even on my list of potential tablet PCs anymore.

Still waiting for the right tablet PC to come along to waste spend my money on.

Update (8/4/2011): Someone commented that the problem was the settings on the Q550. I went back to the Microsoft Store and gave it another go. I changed the setting to be more pen friendly. It worked. The pen recognition was much better. Unfortunately it made the touch interface much worse. Doh!

AUSTIN, TX – June 02, 2011 – Motion Computing®, a leading global provider of tablet PCs and supporting mobility solutions, today announced that its first small form factor, rugged tablet PC designed for productivity and business integration, the Motion® CL900, is now shipping. With a 10.1-inch display that enables both touch and stylus input, powered by the Intel® Atom™ Processor Z670 Series and running Windows® 7, the CL900 is a robust tablet PC that offers seamless business integration and enables access to and utilization of data while mobile.

Tweet this: @MotionComputing ships the ultra light #rugged CL900 #tabletpc http://bit.ly/i5SaXR #mobilecomputing #ssd

Motion’s first shipments include customers and partners in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, Germany and the United States, representing industries across Motion’s target markets including retail, field service, construction and healthcare.

“Since Motion’s inception, we have continuously delivered unique, quality products that have transformed the productivity of mobile workers,” said Mike Stinson, vice president of marketing, Motion. “The first shipment of the CL900 is exciting news because it means that Motion is now delivering the broadest, most comprehensive lineup of tablet PCs available for business.”

For mobile workers, tablet PCs are powerful productivity tools used to access, enter and transmit up-to-the-minute data, increasing efficiency and saving both time and money. The CL900 allows users to continuously communicate as well as analyze, report and act on data findings, all while in the field. Lightweight at less than 1kg (2.1 lbs) and with a bright LED backlit display, robust connectivity options and a variety of peripherals to support field use, the CL900 delivers on-demand access to critical applications and information to mobile workforces.

The new Motion CL900 offers advanced durability, connectivity, and mobility features including:

• IP-52-rated, sealed exterior and chemical-resistant chassis with aluminum-alloy internal frame
• Up to eight hours of battery life for uninterrupted productivity
• Lightweight, thin design that offers the protection of the MIL-STD-810G specification and includes Corning® Gorilla® Glass for enhanced durability
• Robust connectivity with optional integrated Gobi™ connectivity with GPS, WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth® 3.0 and a wireless SIM port for advanced communications
• 10.1-inch display that enables both touch and stylus input
• 30GB or 62GB solid state drive (SSD), and up to 2GB of RAM
• Front and rear-facing cameras to support documentation, video conferencing and collaboration (3.0 MP Rear Camera and 1.3 MP Front Web Camera)
• A full complement of ports, including USB, SD Card, audio and HD video to simplify the use of industry standard peripheral solutions
• A unique countertop docking station that optimizes the CL900 for touch input and adds a simple and easy way to integrate peripherals

Additionally, IT serviceability and enterprise support options help ensure uptime and reduce IT resource drain. Business benefits include:

• Manageability and security offerings available with Windows 7 and Computrace® Complete by Absolute® Software
• The performance needed to simultaneously run multiple enterprise applications
• The ability to deliver crisp, colorful HD video and graphics (HD 1366 X 768 resolution)

The Motion CL900 Tablet PC will also offer a unique peripheral module that will enable simple device expansion. Tightly secured and integrated into the device, the peripheral module will incorporate key documentation tools without compromising durability. The optional feature is expected to be available later this year.

It will be interesting to see if the CL900 can keep pace with the slew of new tablets hitting the market. While it looks like it has potential the one thing that concerns me is the inking demonstration in the video below (about 1:08 in). The user never touches the screen with his hand. So can the device support inking while resting your hand on the screen?

Screenshot:

Video:

This is one of the best touch optimizations I’ve seen to date on a Windows 7 tablet PC. It makes me rethink my position on my next tablet purchase.

I can just see the discussion at Microsoft now…

Product manager: “Standard Windows 7?”

Others in the room: “Yep”

Product manager: “Some big buttons with scripts attached?”

Others in the room: “Yep”

Product manager: “$20?”

Others in the room: “Yep”

Product manager: “Uh, why didn’t we think of that?”

Blank stares.

Just sayin’.

The new x220t is every bit as impressive as the x201t, but has a slightly larger 12.5-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen. In addition it has a new ThinkPad battery pack that should provide the user some serious portability without the need to continuously be tethered to a plug. I get about 5-6 hours of continuous use  on a single charge with my x201t extended battery pack. I expect the new x220t will get at least that. Throw in the new batter slice and users could potentially get up to 16 hours on a single charge. You simply can’t ask for more than that.

In my opinion Lenovo tablets are the benchmark by which other convertible tablets should be measure. The only things I would ask from Lenovo if I had the chance to speak with them would be:

1. Option for convertible models offering 13.3-inch and 14-inch touchscreens. The Lenovo T410s that I have is one of the best machines I’ve ever owned. On occasion I reach up and try to rotate the screen and flip it over, which of course it isn’t capable of doing.
2. Develop an equivalent slate model

More information on the x220 Tablet PC can be found at the Lenovo site here.