Yesterday found me in a place where none of us like to be, the car repair shop. My old car was in need of some repairs, and I spent a few hours sitting in one of those comfortable car shop waiting room chairs. I knew I would have plenty of time on my hands so I brought two pieces of gear in my kit, the ThinkPad x200 Tablet PC and the Verizon MiFi.

I brought the x200 because of the flexibility it provides for working extended periods. It is thin and light, and the ability to rotate that screen around into a slate form insures it can be used comfortably, no matter the environment. That flexibility was the call of the day, so the x200 went into the bag.

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Now that Windows 7 is here, ASUS is updating its convertible notebook with multitouch display to match, Liliputing says. The original T91 is in stock for $484.99 at Amazon, but the new T91MT gets a few upgrades, not to mention a pre-order price bump to $549.99. What do you get in the updated model?

• More storage capacity — a 32GB SSD and 500GB of Eee storage in lieu of the original 16GB SSD, free 16GB SD card plus 20GB of free Eee storage online on the T91
• Newer operating system with native multitouch support — Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Microsoft Windows XP Home Premium, which offers a far better touch and ink experience.

Aside from those key differences, the T91MT looks much like its predecessor — 1.33 GHz Intel Atom Z520, 1GB of RAM (with support up to 2GB), 8.9″ display at 1024 x 600 resolution and integrated battery. ASUS still claims up to five hours on that battery, but I’d love to test it with the newer operating system. So far, my own testing — still in progress — is showing less battery life on Windows 7; at least on one particular model and in one specific test case.

I am finding a multitouch Tablet PC to be a great mobile computer that works well in any setting. The folks at Fujitsu have been making convertible Tablet PCs since the beginning, and the upcoming LifeBook T4310 adds a dual digitizer supporting multitouch to the mix. The T4310 is a lower-priced entry to the space, starting at $1,100. It is not the thinnest and lightest out there, but looks to be a very capable covertible.

The T4310 has a modular ultrabay that can accommodate a second battery, a second hard drive or an optical drive. The keyboard is spill-resistant, making it more durable than some touch notebooks. It has a 12.1-inch screen and will be available for order at the end of October.

Image taken with iPhone 3G

I am having lunch at the local Denny’s, enjoying the free Wi-Fi while waiting for my salad. The Lenovo ThinkPad x200 is perfect for this scenario. I have it in slate mode, using the touch controls to surf the web, check email and write this post. Life is good.

HP has updated the TouchSmart line with new entries, including the first consumer convertible notebook supporting Windows 7 multitouch. The tx2 is the evolution of the convertible notebook line aimed at consumers, and it brings Windows 7 multitouch to market starting at $799.

The tx2 is officially part of the TouchSmart line, HP’s product line aimed at bringing multitouch computers into the home. It features two digitizers, an active digitizer requiring a pen and providing full Tablet PC features, along with a capacitive two finger touch digitizer for finger operation. The 12.1-inch WXGA screen can swivel for operation in either notebook or slate mode.

The new tx2 runs the AMD Turion X2 processor and can be configured with either 4 or 8 GB of memory. The notebook features HP fancy imprinting on the case and the interior surfaces. The new Tablet PC gains the HP TouchSmart software as part of the rebranding.

Gateway has been largely silent on the Tablet PC front for a good while, but that may be changing soon. Engadget has gotten wind of a new convertible notebook by Gateway that will be running Windows 7 when released. Gateway has produced heavy, clunky tablets in the past, but the EC18T has a pretty small form with an 11.6-inch screen.

Not much is known about the this new Gateway, but the folks at engadget have a gaggle of photos of the new Tablet PC. We’ll have to see what kind of price Gateway puts on the this new convertible.

My very first Tablet PC love might have found new purpose in life. It was late in 2004 when I purchased a Toshiba M205 with the then very usable 1.5GHz Pentium M processor. Ah… but that was back in the days of XP Tablet Edition. What about 2009 and Windows 7 on this bit of hardware?

I installed Windows 7 Ultimate on the device and find it to be quite useful! My battery won’t really hold a charge, but what was once relegated to a dusty corner in my closet is now a journal-type device with all of the inking features of Microsoft’s newest operating system. Would I use this on a daily basis as a production machine for all of my needs? Nope. But I don’t have another large Tablet PC with an active digitizer, so this is fine for note taking and web surfing around the house. Yes, I could have easily stayed on Windows XP Tablet Edition, but I thought this was a good learning experience.

The initial Windows 7 install didn’t provide me with Wi-Fi, sound or some other updated drivers, but some nosing around on the web got me what I needed without too much hassle. In fact, Windows Update was a big help here, although I had to use an Ethernet cable for the initial connection. I’m impressed at how Windows 7 is moving along on hardware that’s five years old. The 32MB of video memory is a bit of challenge, but otherwise, I think my M205 has found new life with a new OS!

The Microsoft Courier is all over the news today, no doubt due to the two screens and special interface. Our readers quickly pointed out that they had seen a prototype of this before, and from Microsoft Research at that. It turns out they are correct, as Microsoft posted on one of their blogs late last year about the Codex. The Codex is a two screened device cobbled together out of two OQOs, those little 5-inch tablets.

The interface shown on the Codex is a hybrid implementation of a Microsoft tool made for Tablet PCs, InkSeine. The photos of the Codex show this graphical interface that is designed to be used much like the video of the Courier demonstrates. Write anywhere in ink and drag objects around. It is interesting to see where the Courier may have gotten its roots.

(images from Microsoft)

Gizmodo has sparked a lot of interest with word of a secret project within Microsoft that is a new take on the Tablet PC. Code-named Courier, the gadget is a dual-screen gizmo in a book form that works with both pen and touch. This isn’t surprising, given the Windows 7 focus on pen and touch. What is surprising is how far along in the concept stage the Courier appears to be.

What the folks at Giz uncovered looks to be a video showing off the Courier as a lifestyle gadget. This could be legitimate, as we recall that is how the ill-fated Origami product line surfaced on the web.  The Courier certainly looks compelling, although as shown might be awfully heavy to carry around. It looks like it’s an inch thick, too, and that would have to change for a consumer project.

It is great to see Microsoft hasn’t given up on the Tablet PC category. Those of us who are familiar with the technology realize the potential, but we’re the only ones. The Courier could change that if it becomes a real product. Stranger things have happened, right? Be sure to check out the Giz video — it’s pretty cool.

One of the things I have been enjoying is using the Tablet PC to stimulate the creative process for writing projects. Our friends at WebWorkerDaily recently extolled the virtues of pen and ink mindmapping for writing projects and they are absolutely right about that. Mindmapping is a great free-form way to capture ideas on paper and then run with them. Doing these maps with pen and ink definitely stimulates the creative process, far more than doing them on a computer. Unless your computer is a Tablet PC and you can do it with digital ink using MindManager.

For me the advantages of ink mapping on a Tablet are outstanding. I can capture ideas as they flow, just like on paper, but I also get to use sophisticated tools to organize the ideas once captured. In this five minute screencast I lay out a simple map for a real article I’m kicking around. You get a chance to see the ideas flow in real-time, duly captured in ink on the Tablet. Once the ideas are captured into a simple mindmap, you’ll see how I can turn it all into an outline in ink with one push of a button.