I'm a nut about accessories for my laptop. The first two things I bought for it were a wireless router (what's the use of having a mobile device without the mobility.) and a USB TV tuner. I've gotten several other things since then. Some worked out well. (5.1 external sound device), and some just plain would not fit into my usage habits. (Microsoft Fingerprint Reader- pretty much just supports IE. I use Opera unless absolutely forced to by certain websites. Good thing I got it cheap.)
I recently purchased a Vistablet mini graphic tablet. I have to tell you - it fucking ROCKS!!! The only problem is occasionally that I'll make some stray mark, or tap something that will make everything go apeshit. Learning where the sweet spot is on the pen nib is a bit of a curve. How much pressure to apply, etc.
0ptical Character Recognition (OCR) is something that has finally come into it's own. Unlike voice recognition, it has progressed to the point that even someone with terrible handwriting (such as myself) can use it with a minimum of extra editing. And support for it is built into Vista.
The software itself is pretty intuitive -If you've ever used auto-spellcheck, then you would be familiar with the interface. And, like voice recognition, the more you use it, the better it works to your unique style of writing. Now if I can only make it recognize my signature. (working on that.)
While I can't seethe graphic tablet completely replacing my keyboard and mouse, I do like the fact that I can use just one input device rather than "mouse type mouse type."
The software does have multi-monitor support. But then it divides up the usable real estate between monitors, only giving you about a 3 inch square area to work with on each. I prefer to use the mouse for the secondary monitor, since I usually have static applications (such as the TV tuner - something I'm not continually having to fuck with.) running on it.
Unlike my Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, the handwriting is able to be free flowing, without the lag of translating it to text. The Nokia is so small, that for me, it's easier to use the stylus anyway.
