Well, I wouldn't quite consider myself a "high-profile" tablet owner, but I'll reply :)

Whether a tablet is the right machine for you or not depends largely on what you want to do, and the way you work. For me, my tablet is ideal, because I spend a lot of time working on a desktop machine and need a light, small computer that I can use on the road and also alongside it. Hence, my Acer C111 serves me well.

The Tablet features really come into their own because I'm a big note taker - as a journalist, the ability to write on screen in meetings, rather than doing the intrusive typing thing, makes a real difference. The software, too, is a differentiator: as a Franklin Cover devotee, I love using Plan Plus for Windows XP, which is really well pen-enabled. And, with a pen, OneNote goes from being a nice application to a really good one - as does MindManager.

But it really, really, depends on how you work. For some, the regular laptop will be the right choice. For others, a slate is good. And for me, the small format convertable is what I need.

The article you linked sounds more like a rant about the Toshiba tablet in specific rather than a rant on TabletPCs in general. I believe every issue he raises is Toshiba's fault, not necessarily indicative of platform problems.

I have the same toshiba tablet Omar was using, and the screen is pretty bad. The anti-glare/protective pastic coating severly reduces the image clarity. Some people don't mind it, but for me it was unacceptable and I removed it.

Even without the couting, the screen doesn't have a wide viewing angle. For a tablet, that is absolutely a deal breaker, as it limits you to landscape orientation.

Omar's not kidding about Toshiba's overuse of additional hardware processes, too. It makes me appreciate my old Dell systems...

So don't get a Toshiba if you don't want to, but don't screw with Tablet PCs as a platform or relegate them to extinction because of one that has problems. Don't discourage people who might actually get use out of one. With all due respect, Omar's a petulant jerk.