Actually, I use the big 9x5" Wacom Bamboo Create. Yup. I'm low-brow.
I should've said flat surface. Cuz lets face it, only a straight up masochist would walk around with a Macbook Pro cradled in their arms, pecking at the keyboard and touchpad with a single finger.
...not that I'm judging anyone who does that. Well okay, maybe I am. Why the hell would you do that to yourself?
But you can do that with a tablet, which is kind of my point. The size, weight, and form factor means it's almost expected of a tablet PC, which is why I think battery life is such an important factor for them. You're going to be using it in the car, out in an open field taking pictures somewhere, in bed reading a book, or, if it comes down to it, on a flat surface typing up a report. Having a short battery life kills the utility it would otherwise be providing.
See, I think our disagreement comes from a difference in perspective. It seems you see a tablet as a self contained Cintiq, something you can draw on without having it attached to a desktop or laptop. You're going to be using it around the office more often than not, so having it hooked up to the AC while you're sitting in a chair isn't that much of a dealbreaker for you.
(though imagine how much better it'd be if you could use it for 5 hours straight without having any wires running to it. Awww ddaaammmm).
Me? I see them as a light computer you stab at with your fingers and a stylus. Being able to draw and model on them is only one of the many things I expect to do with it. If I have to charge it more than once a day, or keep it on a cord, it isn't a good tablet to me. The screen's too small to use as a laptop on a desk, so...yeah. I'd just rather forego it completely and get a laptop while waiting for battery tech to get to the point where I can do what I want with one.
So neither one of us are really wrong here. If it works for you, then it works for you. Thing is, the current batch of x86 tablets don't work for me yet. They're close, but I want one with decent battery life before I take the powerful tablet plunge.
And for the sake of saying it, and to feed into this whole victim complex thing that's going on in this thread, the iPad is in a similar situation, just from the opposite direction. It's got the battery life, but not the power.
