Rob Bushway recently blogged about taking four tablet PCs into a customer and gauging their reaction. Interestingly they preferred the slates in the group.
“They were both immediately taken with the TC1100 – their overall favorite. They were majorly bummed when I told them that HP had discontinued the model – they loved the size and hybrid aspect. After the TC1100, their attention turned to the LE1600.”
Interestingly I too have been taking multiple device into a customer recently. I took the following devices into a customer looking for a device to form the basis of a new mobile solution for their field assessors.
· HP TC4200
· Toshiba M200
· Toshiba M4
· Motion LS800
· Motion LE1600
· Panasonic Toughbook CF18 (semi-rugged convertible)
· Itronix GoBook Tablet (MIL-SPEC rugged tablet)
I opted not to put up the HP TC1100 as it will be well and truly discontinued by the time the pilot finishes.
Interestingly we go a very similar result. The slates were the ones to capture the hearts and minds of the customer. In our case the customer also favoured the Motion Computing LE1600 over all of the convertibles. They were interested in the rugged stuff but it just wasn’t portable enough. The convertibles did not really capture their interest.
Sort of makes you wonder if dropping the TC1100 in favour of the TC4200 is the right move for HP… Or if Gartner is right that convertibles will dominate the market? I admit – I’m biased as one can be.