Fujitsu ST4110 Tablet PC with XP Tablet Edition 2005 (used) for $295

JohnWPB

Active Member
Well, this is a borderline post :) I know no posting of auction items is allowed in this thread, but this is one I think that should be an exception, as there are multiple tablet PC's that are all "buy it now", so technically, it is not an auction :)

I purchased one of these a few days ago, and it should be here tomorrow according to UPS. This looks like a great in wall solution for a touch screen, as it is firstly inexpensive, and all that is needed to run to it is simply a power source. No monitor cables and computer to hide somewhere.

Its roughly equivalent to a 1ghz processor, which should be more than enough to either run Remote Desktop, or stand alone to use the browser to control your HA system.

It has 802.11b built in, but you could easily make it faster by just plugging in a USB wireless device.

Here is the Link It looks like they are going to run out in the next 2 days or so.....
 
Well, this is a borderline post :) I know no posting of auction items is allowed in this thread, but this is one I think that should be an exception, as there are multiple tablet PC's that are all "buy it now", so technically, it is not an auction :)

I purchased one of these a few days ago, and it should be here tomorrow according to UPS. This looks like a great in wall solution for a touch screen, as it is firstly inexpensive, and all that is needed to run to it is simply a power source. No monitor cables and computer to hide somewhere.

Its roughly equivalent to a 1ghz processor, which should be more than enough to either run Remote Desktop, or stand alone to use the browser to control your HA system.

It has 802.11b built in, but you could easily make it faster by just plugging in a USB wireless device.

Here is the Link It looks like they are going to run out in the next 2 days or so.....

Will these work with a finger or do they require the stylus?
 
Since they are running XPTablet OS, they are very likely Active Pen models which will not respond to a finger touch. I have one of these since new and it is Active Pen. They did come out passive versions, but not with XPTablet OS, just XPPro.
 
Damn.... this was not something that I even though about..... Hmmmm I wonder if this can be overcome somehow with a 3rd party Touch Screen driver or something..... Is this even possible, or is it a total hardware limitation?
 
Sure, it's possible to add a touch-screen cover to any screen... but yuck.


I agree totally! I hate the add-on touch screen things.... I am not savvy when it comes to the types of touch screens, so I probably didn't state it correctly. Is there a way (software wise) to make it work with a finger? I would think that it is software that "narrows" down the active area, and that that area could be somehow software increased?

If not, its still a pretty good device for the price, and a fingernail "should" work to tap the area of the screen I hope. I should know in a few hours I guess, as it states "Out for delivery" :p
 
I'm fairly certain that an active touchscreen can *not* be converted to be used by mere touch.

The stylus that comes with it, will actually have some form of power in it, either by a battery or induction from the screen. So it won't work with anything but it's own stylus.
 
finger tap will not work and there is no battery in the stylus, but the stylus is the only form of user entry.
On the postive side, it's the only way to go for writing on the tablet - which is why Bill Gates made Active a requirement for an OEM to get the XPTablet OS.

So forget about mounting it in a wall, but it makes a very nice coffee table / TV room device (handheld wireless).
 
finger tap will not work and there is no battery in the stylus, but the stylus is the only form of user entry.
On the postive side, it's the only way to go for writing on the tablet - which is why Bill Gates made Active a requirement for an OEM to get the XPTablet OS.

So forget about mounting it in a wall, but it makes a very nice coffee table / TV room device (handheld wireless).

All 100% correct, using it today, I can see that it responds to the stylus alone. Even when hovering over the top of the screen about an inch or so away. I do have to say it is a very nice device for $295! The resolution of the screen is very impressive! I am streaming Xvid videos from the media center server to it and it looks great! Then for the heck of it, I hooked it to a LCD projector, and it looked pretty damn clear at 5 foot across on the wall :p

I may still decide to use it for a wall device, but with a mount where it is removable. I will just have to deal with a tethered stylus I guess......
 
I bought one of these last week as well. Works very good. I will be converting mine into a Digital Picture Frame for my parents. Yes I know there are $99 picture frames out there, but I needed one that I could drop in their house and update remotely. I have it set up with SLICKR which downloads pictures from a FLICKR account periodically. The wife and I are expecting a child and can't wait to surprise Grandma with new pictures weekly.

One thing different that I am doing with this is building a motion detector into it so that it is powered off when there is no motion in the room. I am using a cheap $5.95 "Spy Motion Alarm" found here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001A7VH...6228790-3868114 and a PIC 18F2550 with USB support. When I get done with the motion project, I will post a "How-To" on how to turn this cheap motion detector into USB Motion Power Control for the tablet.

Anyone looking for a cheap tablet to play with...this is the one for you...responds very well and I will probably purchase another for a tabletop HA control panel. Just wish it were finger touch capable...but for $295 beggers can't be choosers.

PiperPilot
 
Other than powering off, the Marine Aquarium screen saver looks fantastic on this thing!!!!! I plan to use that when the device is idle in the wall.

It also works quite well as a movie player! I have the 500Gig HD in the media center shared, and can watch any movie anywhere around the house on it. For business trips, just download a couple movies to it and go. For the price, I am finding a lot of kewl uses for it :)

Eventually, when it is mounted in the wall, with a frame around it, I am going to hinge the frame, and be able to take it out to do whatever with it. I already have a kewl picture in a frame, that is "box framed" meaning there is about a 1" gap between where the frame touches the wall, and the back of the picture. When the device is removed, I will just hang that over the unsightly hole in the wall, hiding the frame and all :)
 
Other than powering off, the Marine Aquarium screen saver looks fantastic on this thing!!!!! I plan to use that when the device is idle in the wall.

It also works quite well as a movie player! I have the 500Gig HD in the media center shared, and can watch any movie anywhere around the house on it. For business trips, just download a couple movies to it and go. For the price, I am finding a lot of kewl uses for it :)

Eventually, when it is mounted in the wall, with a frame around it, I am going to hinge the frame, and be able to take it out to do whatever with it. I already have a kewl picture in a frame, that is "box framed" meaning there is about a 1" gap between where the frame touches the wall, and the back of the picture. When the device is removed, I will just hang that over the unsightly hole in the wall, hiding the frame and all :)

If you mount it in a wall, don't forget about ventilation.
 
Other than powering off, the Marine Aquarium screen saver looks fantastic on this thing!!!!! I plan to use that when the device is idle in the wall.

It also works quite well as a movie player! I have the 500Gig HD in the media center shared, and can watch any movie anywhere around the house on it. For business trips, just download a couple movies to it and go. For the price, I am finding a lot of kewl uses for it :)

Eventually, when it is mounted in the wall, with a frame around it, I am going to hinge the frame, and be able to take it out to do whatever with it. I already have a kewl picture in a frame, that is "box framed" meaning there is about a 1" gap between where the frame touches the wall, and the back of the picture. When the device is removed, I will just hang that over the unsightly hole in the wall, hiding the frame and all :D

Just felt like piping in: I've had five TabletPCs as my main PC so far (had to use my fingers to count... M1200, M1300, M1400, and two M1600s now) and had a few others (wife had M1300, I used FIC Aqua, TC1000, LS800, and M400 for a while each). Each of the four/five were/are my only personal computer and I carry them everywhere for the most part. Years and years worth of notes all accessible in a second while only carrying a three- to four-pound device is hard to beat. I'm looking forward to the next one being a smaller unit (8.4" screen when they get XGA+ in that). Sure, touch-screens are the ONLY way to go for Home Automation, but Active TabletPCs are the only way to go for a truly mobile computer.

If you're enjoying carrying it, try using it for note-taking, scribbling, mind-mapping and other stuff that pen-based computing is good for.

Fun to see people getting a good experience with Tablets... and I'm not surprised that it needed to get to $300 for it to be worth "trying". :)
 
Sure, touch-screens are the ONLY way to go for Home Automation, but Active TabletPCs are the only way to go for a truly mobile computer.

I just do not, for the life of me, understand why both can not be combined! Make a high resolution touch screen like the tablet's have, and then with software, be able to easily distinguish between a stylus and a finger. A Stylus only registering a very small portion of the screen being touched, and a finger a larger area, that "caputres" the center of that touch, much like any old touchscreen works.

Is there something else that I am missing here?
 
There are a couple that have done this. TabletKiosk has at least one and Hammerhead has a couple. I have read of others, but they sure don't seem to be prevalent.

I agree completely (I think): slate format, touch or active by choice (both supported) - ideally with the "perfect" keyboard and docking options.

Having used so many of them, I've got some ideas of what I'd like to see... but it seems to me that each vendor draws conclusions of what the buyers want... but it always seems to me that they're only looking at their current buyers - rarely at trying to grow a new market or whatever one'd call that. Having grown an unknown market, I understand the reasons, of course... but don't like it when I'm the buyer. :)

I'm still MOST interested in something more like the OQO but one that "clicks" into different UI modules: 8.4" slate; 12" slate; 12" notebook; 15" notebook; simple desktop dock; etc. IBM demo'd something like this five-plus years ago - called the concept a "brick" or something like that. I believe that's the ultimate setup: carry all my data and main computer in my pocket (OQO) and use whatever form-factor suits the need of the moment.
 
Back
Top