Getting Started: Active or Passive Digitizer
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Getting Started: Active or Passive Digitizer
Once you've picked a slate or convertible, you now have another hardware choice to make -- what kind of digitizer do you want.
Passive Digitizers
Passive digitizers are also known as touch screens. A Palm Pilot or Treo are examples of small scale touch screens. All the current UMPC devices are built on passive digitizers. The big advantage is that you can tap the screen or add ink strokes without a special pen. They also use less power and take up less space. Passive digitizers have resistance settings. These determine how much interference you hand will cause if you rest it on the screen while handwriting.
There are an increasing number of passive digitizer based Tablet PCs. See models from TabletKiosk and Motion Computing among others.
Active Digitizers
Active digitizers need special pens. There are two dominant suppliers of active digitizer hardware. They are Wacom and Finepoint. I won't go into the technical differences in the technologies except to say that Finepoint based systems need special pens that require batteries. When you touch the screen with your hand or any instrument other than the right pen, nothing happens. You can hold the pen a quarter inch above the screen and the mouse pointer will follow as you move.
Dual Digitizers
OEMs are beginning to ship dual digitizers. You get all the benefits of the pen, and the ability to tap the screen with your finger. Lenovo calls it "MultiTouch". See it here.
Which will work best for you?
The decision really depends on how you plan to use your tablet.
Many users report challenges with extensive handwriting on passive digitizers. Artists also seem to prefer the active digitzers for accuracy and control. Try them or browse forums to read real life experiences. Also, Allegiance Technology Partners has a 48 hour demo program.
User:Bishop 21 December 2006
