Tablet PC, one month on

I’m starting to accumulate some hours on my Tablet PC, and that’s got me thinking about whether I’m going to keep it, upgrade it to a newer model, or return it. I haven’t used my ThinkPad in a couple of weeks, but I had to fire it up yesterday to read some DVDs. I was struck by how huge it seems compared to the TravelMate. However, that led me to think more about what I need in a machine, versus what is cool and desirable-seeming. I work in three different modes: writing / editing, doing “lab stuff”, and everything else.
In writing/editing mode, I want a great keyboard and as much screen resolution as I can get. My main work machine has a pair of 1280×1024 LCDs, which is just perfect– I can have Word, lots of browser windows, and an RDC session or two open at once. The ThinkPad weighs in at a respectable 1400×1050, which is big enough to display two facing pages in Word. The Tablet has a measly 1024×768 screen, and the brightness, sharpness, and clarity of the Acer LCD is mediocre compared to the Samsung, KDS, IBM, and Apple screens I normally use. I’ve also had a hard time adjusting to the Tablet PC’s keyboard, which is supposed to be 90% of the size of a full-size unit. It’s not. The ThinkPad keyboard, by contrast, has a terrific feel and good key spacing. I’ve tried composing email on the Tablet, but I can type so much faster than I write that it’s pretty much a losing proposition.
For doing “lab stuff”, I need a machine powerful enough to run Virtual PC or VMware. The Tablet ain’t it; its processor speed and RAM are too limited to run one VM, much less two or three. I don’t have to do this often, but when I do, there’s no substitute.
Third is “everything else”. For example, working on airplanes: the Tablet clearly wins here, since it’s tiny compared to the ThinkPad. Even though the smaller keyboard slows me down, I can still get decent work done (more so because the machine actually fits on the tray table!) I really like using the Tablet PC for marking up documents in Word, for which I use the pen and Word’s comment featureFor that size bonus, I have to give up about 20% of battery life and the built-in DVD/CD-RW of the ‘Pad. That would normally be a decent trade, although while in SLC I did wish for a DVD player (and yes, I know I can rip DVDs to ISO format and watch them using a software player; I just didn’t bother before I got on the airplane.)
What about the coolness factor? Clearly the Tablet PC wins here; I love doing the New York Times crossword puzzle on the Tablet, and FranklinCovey’s TabletPlanner shows promise. Lots of Tablet PC enthusiasts talk about how they take their tablets to meetings, take notes in ink, etc. This may be cool, but I don’t go to very many meetings, so it’s not compelling for me.
Bottom line: I’ll hang onto it for another month or so before I make my final decision; after all, the more powerful Centrino machines are dropping in price, and maybe IBM will eventually release their 12″ (and hopefully higher-resolution) tablet sometime this summer.