A review of PCs from tablet perspective

I had the opportunity to try several of the PC-type tablets that are now on the market. Wow, they are very different from the standard tablet. Here is my review.

I tried a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge "laptop", a Dell Inspiron "desktop", and an Apple MacBook "laptop". For the ThinkPad and Inspiron, I used Microsoft Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux. The MacBook ran Apple's MacOS.

I'm not sure where to begin with my review. The "PC experience" is quite different from the normal experience of a tablet.

The first difference is the size. PCs come in two basic styles: desktop and laptop. The laptop is similar to a tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard, except somewhat heavier. The keyboard is physically attached, which I found odd. I initially thought this was for protection (the keyboard is hinged and folds over the screen) and convenience in travelling (you won't lose the keyboard) but later I found that the real reason was quite different - various hardware is built under the keyboard, and wires connect the central circuitry to the screen.

The laptop flavor of a PC should really be called "desktop", since the only practical way to use it is on a desktop. One cannot separate the keyboard, and balancing the keyboard and screen on your lap is awkward at best. Both the Lenovo and the Apple PCs used this design.

The desktop version (the Dell Inspiron, but a quick survey shows that all brands use this design) is also incorrectly named. The screen is large -- too large to be portable. It requires its own stand, which places the screen at a comfortable viewing angle. (Most PC screens allow the use to adjust the height and viewing angle.) The desktop PC also includes a keyboard, one that is connected to the unit with a cable.

The name "desktop" is wrong because in addition to the screen and keyboard there is also a separate, large box that must be attached to the screen. (The keyboard connects to this box, not the screen.) This large box belongs not on a desktop but on the floor, and the users I talked with indicated that they all stored this box on the floor.

The desktop version of the PC is not portable. The combination of the large screen, separate keyboard, and large "processor" box are too cumbersome to carry. In addition, the screen and processor box both require power from 120VAC, and neither have the capability for battery operation.

The laptop versions of the PC are somewhat portable. They can fold for carrying, and they have battery for some use. (The manufacturers claim six to eight hours; users I spoke with indicated three to five hours. My tests fell in line with users.)

The next big differences one notices are the screen, keyboard, and touch interface. The screen is large, with ample real estate for displaying apps. The keyboards are physical keyboards, not on-screen keyboards (in fact there is no support for on-screen keyboards). Physical keyboards took some getting used to, since the keys do travel and provide excellent tactile feedback. But being physical, they cannot change to reflect different modes or languages, with the result being more keys to handle special symbols and indicators to show "caps" mode. (There were some keys with unusual names such as "Print Screen", "Scroll Lock", and "Pause", but I found no use for them. Perhaps they are for future expansions?)

Another noticeable difference is that the screen does not support touch. This was frustrating, as I kept touching the screen and waiting for something to happen. After a few seconds, I realized that I had to use the keyboard or a touchpad (or mouse -- more on that later).

The Lenovo and Apple laptops came with built-in touchpads. These are small (3" by 4") pads below the keyboard that let you control a small "cursor" on the screen. The cursor is normally shaped as an arrow pointing in the north-by-northwest direction (some modes change this shape) and you can move the cursor by touching and swiping on the touchpad. Since the touchpad is relatively far from the screen, this design requires the ability to touch the pad while you look at the screen -- something that I suspect few people will want to learn.

The desktops did not use a touchpad, but instead had an extra device called a "mouse". (Where did they get that names?) It is a small, roughly half-sphere, object that one drags on a flat surface. It too, controls a "cursor" on the screen, and it was harder to use than the touchpad! Proper use requires looking at the screen and holding the mouse off to the side, again using coordinated actions without looking at one of your hands. I found that my desk at home was a bit small for such a computer; I kept dragging the mouse off the edge of the desk.

The PC is not a complete disaster. All units I evaluated had a cable for internet access. I had to physically connect the units to my home router (finally understanding why it had those "extra" ports) and network access was fast and consistent. The Apple and Lenovo PCs (the laptops) also supported the standard wi-fi connections.

PCs have enormous memory, and apps can take advantage of it. My evaluation units all came with 4GB of RAM, which is small for PCs. This leads to apps that are much larger and more complex. More on apps later. RAM is temporary storage and not the usual memory we think of in tablets.

PCs also have enormous storage. which is the equivalent of a tablet's normal memory. My evaluation units came with 300GB to 500GB! The sheer amount boggles me. (Although to be honest, I'm not sure why one needs so much storage. With the fast and reliable network connection, one could easily push data to servers, without using local storage.)

A few more things about hardware, before I move on to operating systems and apps: PCs have lots of ports for accessory devices. Perhaps this is a result of their size; they can afford the space for circuitry and jacks. The PC seems designed for external hardware; the keyboard and "mouse" must be connected through these ports.

The laptop units had built-in forward-facing cameras, the desktop PCs had no cameras. Desktop PCs can have cameras as an extra device (using one of the ports).

None of the units had accelerometers, compasses, or GPS antennae. For the "desktop" units, that makes sense as they are made to be stationary. I'm not sure why they were omitted from the "laptop" PCs which theoretically could move, and certainly have the space for them.

I tried three operating systems: Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOS, and Ubuntu Linux. All are quite similar, and all are significantly different from the typical tablet operating system.

The Lenovo and Dell computers came with Windows 7 pre-installed. The Apple came with Apple MacOS pre-installed. I installed Linux on the Lenovo and Dell, using a technique called "partitioning". This technique lets you allocate the PCs storage between the two operating systems. (With 300GB of storage, there is a lot to go around.)

A "partitioned" system presents a menu when started, letting you select which operating system you want. The menu has a twenty-second timeout, starting Ubuntu if you take no action. (I think that this is configurable.)

All three PC operating systems use a desktop metaphor. The main screen contains icons for apps, and you start an app not by touching the icon (remember, the screen doesn't support touch!) but by dragging the mouse cursor to an icon and double-clicking on it.

With the large screen, apps don't fill the entire screen but take only a portion of it. The app displays a "window" (a term used by all three operating systems, not just Microsoft Windows) and you can run several apps at the same time. This is a nice feature of PCs, as you can see the status of multiple apps at the same time. (Although too many apps at once can be overwhelming.)

The smaller-than-screen size of apps also lets you move app windows on your "desktop". A complicated sequence of moving the mouse, pressing and long-holding a button, moving the mouse while long-holding, and then releasing the button lets you move windows on the screen. This lets you arrange apps you your liking and move important apps to prominent locations.

The different operating systems had different ideas about app purchases. Linux has a store for selecting and purchasing apps, much like a typical tablet. Apple MacOS has an "App Store" but many apps are not available though it and must be purchased separately. For Microsoft's Windows 7, all apps must be purchased separately. I found the Linux arrangement the most friendly, since there is one place to go for apps. [Edit: I later learned that in Linux you can also download apps from other sources.]

The lack of a central store for apps leads to another difference: updates. Without the central store to coordinate versions of apps, each app must check for its own updates. I can't imagine why anyone would want to distribute software without the infrastructure of an app store; doing so requires duplicating code to check versions, download updates, and apply updates in every app! It seems to put a large burden on the app development team (and the testing team).

All three operating systems handled updates for themselves. Windows, MacOS, and Linux all automatically found, downloaded, and applied updates. Ubuntu Linux, with its store, considered the OS update to be "just another update" and bundled it into a list with app updates. Windows and MacOS handled OS updates and did nothing for apps. (I suspect the MacOS app store would handle updates for apps, but I had none during my evaluation.)

PC apps tend to focus on office work, and given the hardware, this is no surprise. The physical keyboard excels at text entry, and the lack of geolocation services removes a number of apps from the PC's repertoire. An app such as FourSquare is not possible without location services, and Facebook is limited without a camera.

In conclusion, I find the idea of the PC misguided: its powerful hardware is torn between local applications (processor and storage) and normal service-based apps (reliable and fast network). The absence of touch support for the screen and the physical keyboard pushes one to text-oriented data, and the clumsy touchpad (or even worse, mouse) pushes one away from UI operations. Forcing users to hunt down apps without a central store places a burden on the users. Forcing apps to update themselves places a burden on developers.