Nokia 770 Internet Tablet for $134.99

25 June 2007 Posted By: Andrew
Posted in: Low Budget Tablets

Woot.com is currently offering the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet for $134.99.

Here are the quick specs:

• High-resolution (800×480) touch screen with up to 65,536 colors
• Memory: Flash 128MB
• Memory card: 64MB RS-MMC (Reduced Size – MultiMediaCard)
• Option for extended virtual memory (RS-MMC up to 1 GB)
• Weight: 8.1 ounces
• Dimensions: 5.5 inches x 3.1 inches x 0.70 inch
• Operating system – Internet Tablet OS 2006 edition
• Standard Li-ion Battery 1500 mAh
• Browse Time up to 3 hours
• Standby Time up to 7 days

Studying in the Humanities – Part 1: My Electronic Filing System

24 June 2007 Posted By: Robert
Posted in: GoBinder, Note-Taking, Organization, Study Aids

If you’re going to succeed at being an efficient TabletPC based student (regardless of what program of study you are taking) then it really helps to get, and stay, as organised as possible, and even more so when you’re study routine is primarily digital in nature. Thankfully you can go a long way to achieving this simply by having a good electronic filing system for your notes in place. By doing so you’re not only putting yourself into a position to deal with the torrent of information that bombards you during the course of a semester, but you’re also gifted a ‘tool’ that helps you maintain relevant study focus, while at the same time helping you to work more effectively towards meeting your submission commitments. In this, the first in the series on how I use my TabletPC to study at university, I’m going to reveal the filing system I utilise in order to help me keep on top of my workload and take me one step closer to organised ‘nirvana’.

Before I begin there are a couple of points to note. Firstly it may seem, due to the commentary and screenshots I provide, that my note filing system requires the specific use of GoBinder. However I hope it will become quickly apparent that my system isn’t dependent on any particular piece of software and can be easily incorporated into any note-taking application of choice. Secondly, in order to provide the best illustration of my general filing system, I’m backtracking to a series of archived notes from a previous year’s study (imported into GoBinder 2006). Although I’m still as obsessed with keeping my electronic notes as organised as I’ve always been, the structure of my course has changed substantially with a lot less lectures and a lot more independent study to schedule. As a result I now arrange my electronic filing a lot bespoke to the more general method I’m going to be discussing. Oh and I should perhaps apologise beforehand about the long-windedness of my explanation. Although I’ve tried to keep things as concise as I can it does ramble on a bit but hopefully by using subtitles and bulleting I’ve made things a little more readable for you. Ok on with the show after the jump and please try to stay awake :o)

OneNote 2007 Tip: Extending Battery Life

24 June 2007 Posted By: William
Posted in: Software, Tips / Tricks

I haven’t had many battery life problems this semester except for every Friday where I had 4 consecutive lectures. 4 hours is a continuous stretch for any tablet taking notes and I struggled in the more writing intensive lectures.

Here is another setting change you can make in OneNote 2007. Tools>Options>Other>Battery Options and you can select a number of different levels from maximum performance to maximum battery life.

Keep in mind though that changing this effects the things that OneNote does in the background to make things more efficient but if that extra 15 minutes is critical for your note taking then give this a try.

OneNote 2007 Tip: Scratch Out

17 June 2007 Posted By: William
Posted in: OneNote

A quick tip that I picked up earlier today while studying for exams.

In OneNote 2007, rather than using the eraser on your pen to erase your misspelled word or accidental scribble you can actually just cross it out.

Just scribble a few continuous horizontal lines across your error and it will dissapear.

Evidently, this option is only available after OneNote 2003 SP1, however, it also works in the Tablet Input Panel (TIP) since XP SP2.

I dont know how I missed this shortcut but at least it has given me a chance to get my pen spinning down pat with all the eraser swapping that I have been doing.

If you’re buying a ThinkPad for Fall, buy one early

13 June 2007 Posted By: Tracy
Posted in: Choosing a Tablet PC, General Tips, Hardware

OK, so even without the good reason of many sales events over at Lenovo.com, there’s another reason to buy early if you’re planning on using a shiny new ThinkPad tablet this Fall semester, especially the late Summer semester. Lenovo is slooooooooooooow.

I had the privilege to have lunch with JK from JKOnTheRun on Monday and we were reminiscing about all the many slow launches Lenovo has had. The long shipping delay of the X40T (some people had three months wait time), the similar delay of the X60T, and now, again, a delay of the X61T. You think they’d get the hint by now that it’s not cool to do that, but I guess not.

Example Mindmaps

13 June 2007 Posted By: William
Posted in: MindManager

Admittedly, the recent review of Mindjet MindManager Pro 7 was a bit light on when it came to actual example Mindmaps. Fortunately, Benoît, one of our readers, whipped up a great example which includes all of the elements that are recommended in great mindmaps.

Download MindManager File - 28k Full Size Image - 242k

Since it is currently exam study time for me at the moment, I have been hard at work whipping up mindmaps too. Have a look at one of my subject wide examples after the jump.

Bedtime in a backpack

7 June 2007 Posted By: William
Posted in: Software Info

Do you sometimes forget to put your laptop on standby, to later discover that you have wasted all of your battery life and conceqently only have 30 minutes left for that important exam review lecture?

I found myself in that situation just the other day. It’s partly due to the fact that I have closed-lid-suspend turned off as my desk works in layers of mess and also due to the fact that I sometimes forget to power down at all.

Mindmaps with MindManager Pro 7

4 June 2007 Posted By: William
Posted in: MindManager, Software Info

Normally, day-to-day wise, I’m not a mindmap kind of guy. However, come exam time, they’re one of the only things that work for me. I was pretty excited to hear that the new version of Mindmanager was on its way. Mindmanager 6 was the most complete software I have ever used. It is extremely hard to come up with a feature that they had missed without resulting to the impractical like, it doesn’t make coffee. So, without further ado, lets look at the new Mindmap Pro 7 from the ground up.

More Discounts from Lenovo (this time for Father’s Day)

3 June 2007 Posted By: Tracy
Posted in: Low Budget Tablets, News

Save up to $420 instantly plus discounted upgrades on select ThinkPad notebooks this Father’s Day

Lucky for us, that includes the Thinkpad X Series tablets! That brings the X60/61’s down to a starting price of $1,400-$1,600. Nice! The UltraBase dock is also half price if you were planning on grabbing that.

Before you Google when Father’s Day is, it’s June 17th, so I’m guessing the sale is for the next 15 days or so.

Hypothetically, this would save me a lot of money on an X61…with Multitouch…and a 160 GB hard drive…hypothetically *cough*. So I heard, at least.

2007 U.S. Innovative Teachers Forum

3 June 2007 Posted By: Tracy
Posted in: Teachers and Tablets

I got an email from Zanoon Nissar publicizing a Microsoft event for educators that I thought I’d pass along since I know we have many that follow this blog.

I am a program manager from Microsoft who manages an event called the Innovative Teachers Forum.  It’s a great (and free) opportunity for teachers to apply for an expenses paid trip to Redmond, WA to network with other leading educators, and grow professionally through learning projects.  The forum takes place in late September, and our deadline is coming up – July 11th.  We seek to recognize and reward teachers who are focused on improving student outcomes through professional collaboration and 21st century skills.