Click for Andy's extended Tablet PC review and pictures.

Make way for new fancy laptops, ones with special pens allowing you to write on the screen. Writing is done with a special stylus, great for taking notes or drawing pictures. The laptop screen can rotate and fold down so that you're literally holding a tablet, a thick electronic notepad. When in notepad form, use the stylus as a mouse to interact with objects on screen.

These special laptops are called "Tablet PCs". Are Tablet PCs inventive and helpful, or just a gimmick? My answer is floppier than Gumby in a microwave: Tablet PCs are indeed a needed and handy new technology, but certain aspects need improvement.

Tablet PCs are pitched as standard laptops with super powers. When trouble threatens, they step into a phone booth, then leap out looking like a very expensive pad of paper. Luckily, this $1500 pad of paper comes with impressive benefits.

Tablet PC benefits

Draw on the laptop screen with a special stylus, and store writing and pictures electronically. Use the Microsoft OneNote software to save and sort this information. No more need for shuffling papers, or stuffing papers into planners and file cabinets. Easily store hundreds of thousands of handwritten notes and pictures on a single machine.

Tablet PCs are portable, and are usually lighter and more compact than standard laptops. Not just a flashy improvement in screen navigation, they're often easier and more intuitive than a mouse. As keyboards are good for fast text entry, and mice are best for precise object selection and movement, a Tablet PC excels with managing your written data and pictures.

Tablet PCs look cool. I've taken mine to airports, coffee shops and business clients. It's as if I'm carrying around a newborn baby: Everyone wants to know about it, and tells me how good-looking it is.

Tablet PC problems

Unlike Palm handheld devices, Tablet PC handwriting recognition takes a lot of tweaking and practice. Don't expect to have your handwriting converted into text reliably. For me, I can type far faster than I could convert my handwriting. I still write on my Tablet PC, but instead of converting to readable text for email or Microsoft Word, I leave my chicken-scratchings as-is.

My Tablet PC requires the stylus, limiting the touch screen capability. I'd like to use my finger to poke at the screen when needed, like when scrolling windows and selecting web links.

Conclusion

You need to be comfortable with computers, as the Tablet stylus isn't intuitive, and so requires experimentation and practice. Pack an adventurous techie spirit.

Tablet PCs succeed if you need to draw, sketch or take handwritten notes, and store it all electronically. They're not good for reliable and fast handwriting recognition. They're best for gadget freaks who like laptops with a little bit more functionality than most other tools.

Tablet PCs are new technology, so glitches are inevitable. But expect them to become more refined, impressive and pervasive. Tablets are overall a good thing, and the future will certainly bring more.