I’ve been playing with a Lenovo X61 Tablet that I got at work, and have to say: it’s kind of cool. It certainly take a bit of getting used to, and it’s not for everyone, but once you work through some of the quirks, it’s pretty nice.

Things I like:

• Portrait-mode! I work in portrait mode all day at work, and highly recommend it for daily tasks such as email, browsing, office apps, etc. The ability to work in portrait on a portable PC is welcome – I just don’t understand why people stick to landscape for anything other than games.
• The Pen/Stylus for scrolling. Again, once you get used to this, it’s hard to go back to scrolling with the mouse (wheel or otherwise). I really like the ability to just click (anywhere) and drag and have the window respond perfectly.
• Handwriting recognition. This is a software function, and I think Vista is better at it than XP, but they’re both pretty good.
• Finger-browsing. Yes, it’s possible to use your finger to ‘click’ and drag. It’s very crude, and leaves your LCD all messy, but it’s cool in a crunch.
• It’s kind of obvious, but sketching with the tablet works well. I’m pretty good at drawing with a mouse, but it’s much, much easier with a stylus.

Things I don’t like:

• Switching into hand-writing recognition-mode ranges from just OK to downright annoying. It should come as no surprise that Microsoft products such as Internet Explorer function better than Firefox, but I have a feeling that some "anti-FF" code has been worked into the Tablet software by Microsoft. Just about every other application has its text boxes recognized by the utilities. Still, it’s always possible to launch the interface by hand… it’s just annoying to have to click outside the box.
• The dimness of the screen. It’s fine for office- or couch-browsing, but in a brightly lit room or outside, you really have to work to see things clearly.
• The speaker. It’s tinny and installed on the bottom of the PC. I’d prefer to have a speaker with higher volume on the top of the notebook, so when I use it on my lap, I don’t have the sound blocked.

 I’ll keep playing with it.