Designed for truly mobile computing, there are two types of tablets:

• Convertible tablets, such as the ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which look like traditional notebooks but have displays that swivel and fold flat facing outward.
• Slate tablets, such as the Motion Computing LE1600, which have no attached keyboard and are basically all screen.

Both types of tablet use a special version of Windows XP that makes it possible to navigate and enter data using a stylus--no keyboard necessary.

While in the past tablets suffered from performance and battery life that were inferior to traditional laptops, that's no longer the case; most tablets perform just as well as their traditional laptop brethren. Still, tablets do tend to cost more than traditional laptops--a premium that's not necessarily worth it if you don't take a lot of handwritten notes.

Of course, there are lots of upsides to using a tablet. Here are three of the most oft-cited:

• You can write, rather than type, in a meeting.
• Your handwritten notes are immediately digitized, making them easier to amend, search, and share.
• You can more easily work with drawings, formulas, signatures, and other graphical objects that can be difficult to tackle on a traditional PC.