I mentioned yesterday that I was feeling the urge to get the old faithful HP tc1100 Tablet PC out of mothballs and give it a go. Last night I made good on that urge; I pulled the tc1100 out and started assessing what I needed to do to make a serious run with it.
The tc1100, with its hybrid design, makes it a stellar mobile computer that can handle virtually any task I might throw at it. The keyboard turns it into a full notebook-type of computer and the ability to pop the screen off and carry just the slate can’t be beat.
The tc1100 is currently running Vista Ultimate, that’s what my step-daughter has used since Vista was released and it’s served her surprisingly well. I’m not too happy with the pokey nature of the device under Vista so I’m pretty sure I’m going to be changing that. I haven’t decided if I’m going to restore it to factory conditions with Windows XP Tablet Edition or step up and install Windows 7 on it. I’m going to do some research online to see how many have successfully gone the Win7 route and see what issues that might create.
My short time with the tc1100 has led to the discovery of some problems that I need to solve. The A/C adapter will power the Tablet but will not charge the battery unless the device is off. I left the tc1100 off all night, plugged in, and the battery was 100% charged this morning so I thought the battery was OK but the adapter might need replacing. Unfortunately when I unplugged the device and started using it sans power the battery went from 100% charged to 7% in just 5 minutes. Uh-oh, could be the battery. I have a second A/C adapter and battery for the tc1100 around here somewhere so the first step to solve this is to find those and see how they work.
The other problem I’ve encountered is that I can’t find the XP recovery disks that shipped with the tc1100. I have not used (nor seen) the device for a couple of years (while the kid was using it) and those disks are nowhere I can find. That might force me to go the Win7 route anyway. I intend to get this baby fully up and running and will continue to share this journey with you as it unfolds. One thing I have already discovered: You can still buy these Tablets on eBay for around $300 and they are far more capable than any netbook out there. Of course, you have to make sure you get the real deal on eBay and not junk. There are full accessories for the tc1100 online, too.
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