US Military Academy Cadets and Fujitsu Tablet PCs

Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 This past saturday, a user in the GottaBeMobile forums mentioned a very interesting article about Tablet PCs.

Specifically, it the article discussed using the Fujitsu LifeBook T4220, which is a “convertible” Tablet / Laptop (basically, the screen can swivel around and lay flat against the keyboard, turning it from a laptop form factor into a Tablet PC form factor), in an academic setting. The T4220 just became available (replacing the LifeBook T4215) and features a non-widescreen 12.1″ touchscreen display, along with running on Intel’s Santa Rosa platform. As such, it utilizes the latest Core 2 Duo CPUs, and unlike many other Tablet PCs in this class, it uses the non-Low Voltage/Ultra Low Voltage CPUs, such as the T7700 (2.4GHz, 4MB L2 Cache), etc. With the internal optical drive, it weighs around 4.5 pounds.

Excerpt from the article:

Fresh from acceptance into the Cadet Wing, the Class of 2011 took possession of their new computers Aug. 7, two days before classes started.

Features of the Fujitsu tablet computer model T4220 include an Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, two gigabytes of memory, an 80 gig hard drive, wireless connection and external mouse and keyboard.
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The committee evaluated various computers from technology providers based on the best fit for cadets. “This is a very competitive selection process, which includes running a battery of benchmarks, hands-on testing by committee members,” said Larry Bryant, academic computing director.

“The end result is a ‘best value’selection of a tablet which is required to last the cadets for all four years at the Academy.”

Mr. Bryant said the selection committee decided the educational reasons for choosing a tablet computer out-weighed the increased cost and weight for other computers since it can be used for taking hand-written notes in class, as well as math formulas, drawings, diagrams and other classroom formats.
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The tablet computers came pre-loaded with Windows XP SP2, Office 2007 and Academy licensed software for class like Autodesk, Vbrick and Raptor.

Link: Association of Graduates – US Air Force Academy
Via: GottaBeMobile forums