Update: I had a brain fart when typing the name of the tablet I was using. I can't even call it a typo, it was just a mistake. The correct model is a Wacom Graphire 4.
In my review of the Acer Ferrari 1000 one of my criticisms of it was that it was not a tablet. This was only partially tongue-in-cheek. The fact is that I would not buy a pen and ink challenged computer as my main Mobile PC. But since I have this one, lets see what we can do about ink enabling a Vista machine that does not have a digitizer.
Full Disclosure: To do this I am using a Wacom Inspire Graphire 4 graphics tablet that was provided to me gratis by Wacom Australia.
This graphics tablet is one of several that were provided to selected MVPs for the purpose of demostrating Windows Vista pen functionality to their respective communities. I have a session prepared for my user group to be presented next time we have a speaker gap.
What you Need
On the computer side you need a Vista Machine that is running one of the following SKUs:
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows Vista Enterprise
- Windows Vista Ultimate
In other words, not Home Basic or Started as those SKUs don't have the tablet functionality such as the TIP and pen flicks.
In addition you need some hardware to replace the missing digitizer hardware. This is where the Wacom graphics tablet comes in.
The Process
- Connect the external tablet to the laptop. In the case of the tablet I have this is via a USB cable. At this point the pen will move the mouse pointer, but the position of the pen on the tablet will not relate to the position of the cursor on the screen.
- Install the Wacom driver and software (Note: I am currently using pre-release software, but I would expect that Wacom will release the drivers in the very near future.) At this point the position of the cursor on the screen is relative to the position of the pen on the tablet, but it still acts like a mouse cursor. There is a restart required.
- As Vista restarts it must detect the new hardware and enable the Tablet functionality automatically. You will see the TIP docked on the left. Pen flicks will now work. You will be able to use Jounal and if you have OneNote or any other ink enabled apps you will be able to ink directly into them.
If you want to turn it off again...
- Go to the Control Panel and select the Programs group
- Under the Programs and Features heading click on Turn Windows features on or off
- Clear the checkbox for Tablet PC Optional Components and click OK.