Multi-Touch Screens on a Tablet PC

The phrase "multi-touch" has gotten confusing in the tablet PC industry. My Lenovo Thinkpad X200 tablet is considered to have a multi-touch screen because I can use my active digitizer pen or my finger as an input device. However, I can't use two fingers on the screen because it is a passive screen (not a capacitive touch screen like the iPhone or BlackBerry Storm).

I was walking through Best Buy today and I played with the convertible tablet PC made by HP. It was the HP tablet TX2Z that features a capacitive multi-touch display (which means that you can use two fingers on the screen and perform gestures).

Windows 7 will include the capability to use some of those cool multi-touch gestures. Apple already leverages this technology on the iPhone and on their MacBooks.

Dell XT2 Tablet

Speaking of the Dell XT2 Tablet, I've noticed that Dell knows who they are targeting on their website. This image was taken from their tablet site and you can see that they are advertising the "touch feature" of this tablet PC. My Lenovo Thinkpad X200 Tablet also has this feature. I can use my stylus pen (active digitizer) to write on the tablet and enter data. I can also use my finger (or any other passive device) to tap on the screen. This type of multi-touch allows you to quickly enter information and navigate without always relying on your digital stylus pen. I love where technology is taking us in the computing field.

Spoiled by a Multi-Touch screen

No, I'm not talking about the multi-touch that's found on Apple iPods or MacBooks. I'm talking about the multi-touch screens found on the Thinkpad X200 tablet if you get it configured with both an active and a passive digitizer. When I pull out the Wacom stylus pen, I can write on the screen with precision and I don't get any vectoring. Then, when I put the pen away (and it's out of range), then I can use the cool on-screen mouse that's found on Windows Vista (I know that some people really hate this on-screen mouse, but I personally love it). The tablet is both a touch-screen device and it's also an active digitizer tablet. So if I can't find my Wacom stylus pen, no worries! I can just grab any passive plastic stylus pen or even use my finger to tap on the screen. I can even use the tiny stylus pen from my Verizon Wireless XV6800 phone. Thank you Lenovo for creating such an innovative tablet PC.