Sahara NetSlate a510 User Manual

Download

User’s Guide

Sahara NetSlate® a510

12.1” Tablet PC

Preface i

Preface

This manual will help you get the most out of your new Sahara NetSlate® a510 Tablet PC. If you are a new computer user, or just new to Tablet PCs, read through this manual carefully before ﬁrst using your Sahara NetSlate. If after reading this manual you still have questions, visit us online at www.tabletkiosk.com for additional resources and information on using your Sahara NetSlate a510 Tablet PC.

©2012 Sand Dune Ventures, Inc. d/b/a TabletKiosk. All Rights Reserved. All product information is subject to change without notice. Sahara NetSlate, TabletKiosk and the TabletKiosk logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of TabletKiosk in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft Windows and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/ or other countries. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core, and Intel Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by TabletKiosk is under license. openSUSE and SUSE are trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

ii Preface

Disclaimer

The speciﬁcations and information in this manual are subject to change without prior notice in order to improve reliability, design and/or function. In no way does this represent a commitment on the part of the manufacturer. The manufacturer assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document.

In no event will the manufacturer be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising from the use, or inability to use, the Tablet PC or this documentation, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

This document contains proprietary information protected by copyright laws. All rights are reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced by any mechanical, electronic, or other means in any form without prior written permission of TabletKiosk.

If you have any questions regarding the Sahara NetSlate, or the information contained within this manual, please contact TabletKiosk at info@tabletkiosk.com.

Important Safety Instructions

For your own safety and the safety of your equipment, please follow these rules for the handling and care of your Sahara NetSlate. Keep this User’s Manual for future reference by you and other users.

Never use sprays, liquids or cleaning detergents to clean the Sahara NetSlate. Use a micro fiber cloth to clean the touch

screen. Avoid the use of tissue paper since tissue ﬁbers can easily lodge between the touch screen and the top cover of the tablet.

Never pour liquids into any opening or directly on the Sahara NetSlate. This could result in ﬁre or electrical shock.

Check that the voltage range of the power outlet is between 100V and 240V before connecting the Sahara NetSlate. Exceeding the maximum rated voltage may cause damage to the AC adapter or to the Sahara NetSlate. This could result in ﬁre or electrical shock.

Preface iii

When the AC adapter is plugged into an electrical outlet, place the power cord so it will not be stepped on or walked on. Do not place objects over or on the power cord.

Use the Sahara NetSlate in a clean, dry, temperature controlled environment. Do not use the Sahara NetSlate in areas of high humidity, around water (for example: near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink or laundry tub, in a wet basement or near a swimming pool) or outdoors while it is raining.

Never open or disassemble the Sahara NetSlate. For safety reasons, and to prevent permanent damage, the equipment should only be repaired by qualiﬁed service personnel.

Contact a qualiﬁed service center if any of the following issues should arise:

1. AC adapter, power cord or plug is damaged;

2. Liquid has been spilled into the Sahara NetSlate;

3. The Sahara NetSlate has been exposed to excessive moisture;

4. The Sahara NetSlate exhibits errors and/or does not function

according to speciﬁcations;

5. The Sahara NetSlate has been dropped or otherwise physically damaged.

Caution

Lithium-Ion batteries can be dangerous. There is a danger of explosion if the batteries are incorrectly replaced. Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the manufacturer. Dispose of used batteries according to state or local hazardous waste requirements.

Under no circumstances should the user attempt to disassemble the power supply. The power supply has no user-replaceable parts and its insides contain components that are electricallycharged with hazardous voltage levels that can cause serious personal injury. A defective power supply must be returned to your dealer.

iv Preface

Safety Notices for the Power Cord

This equipment has a 2 or 3-wire power cord. Replace the power cord if it becomes damaged. Contact your dealer for an exact replacement.

In the U.S.A. and Canada, the power cord must be a UL-listed detachable power cord (in Canada, CSA-certiﬁed).

2-wire cord SPT-2 18AWG

3-wire cord SVT or SJT, 18 AWG, 3-conductor

The cord should be provided with a molded-on cord connector body at the other end. The cord length must not exceed 3 meters (9.8 feet).

Outside the U.S.A. and Canada, the plug must be rated for 250 VAC, 2.5 amp minimum, and must display an international agency approval marking. The cord must be suitable for use in the end-user’s country. Consult your dealer or the local electrical authorities if you are unsure of the type of power cord to use in your country. Voltage changes occur automatically in the power supply.

Notice of FCC Compliance

a. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Requirements,

Part 15:

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1. this device may not cause harmful interference, and

2. this device must accept any interference received, includ-

ing interference that may cause undesired operation.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance

Preface v

with the instruction manual may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment oﬀ and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

 Increase the separation between the equipment and the

receiver.

 Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit diﬀerent

from that to which the receiver is connected.

 Consult the dealer or an experienced technician for help.

 Use only shielded I/O cables to connect I/O devices to this

equipment.

You are cautioned that any changes or modiﬁcations not expressly approved by TabletKiosk could void your authority to use the equipment.

b. Regulatory information / Disclaimers

This device must be installed and used in strict accordance with the instructions included in the user documentation provided with the product. Any changes or modiﬁcations (including the antennas) made to this device that are not expressly approved by the manufacturer may void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. The manufacturer is not responsible for any radio or television interference caused by unauthorized modiﬁcation of this device, or the substitution of the connecting cables and equipment other than the ones speciﬁed by manufacturer. It is the responsibility of the user to correct any interference caused by such unauthorized modiﬁcation, substitution or attachment. The manufacturer and its authorized resellers or distributors will assume no liability for any damage or violation of government regulations arising from the failure to comply with these guidelines.

vi Preface

c. For portable devices without a co-location condition (eg.

notebook pc)

FCC RF Radiation Exposure Statement:

1. This Transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.

2. This equipment complies with FCC RF radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. This device was tested for typical lap-held operations with the device contacted directly to the human body to the back side of the Tablet PC. To maintain compliance with FCC RF exposure compliance requirements, please follow operation instruction as documented in this manual.

The availability of some speciﬁc channels and/or operational frequency bands are country dependent and are ﬁrmware programmed at the factory to match the intended destination. The ﬁrmware setting is not accessible by the end user.

d. SAR Exp osure

This device has been tested for compliance with FCC RF Exposure (SAR) limits in typical ﬂat conﬁgurations.

In order to comply with SAR limits established in the ANSI C95.1 standards, it is recommended that the integrated antenna is positioned more than 0cm from your body or from nearby persons during extended periods of operation. If the antenna is positioned less than 0 cm (0 inches) from the user, it is recommended that the user limit the exposure time.

Note-TNV Safety Caution:

To reduce the risk of ﬁre, use only No. 26 AWG or larger UL Listed or CSA Certiﬁed Telecommunication line cord. Avoid using a telephone (other than a cordless type) during an electrical storm. There may be a remote risk of electric shock from lightning. Do not use the telephone to report a gas leak in the vicinity of the leak.

Preface vii

Caution: When using IEEE 802.11a wireless LAN, this product

is restricted to indoor use, due to its operation in the 5.15–5.25 GHz frequency range. The FCC requires this product to be used indoors for the frequency range of 5.15–5.25 GHz to reduce the potential form harmful interference to co-channel mobile satellite systems. High-power radar is allocated as the primary user of the 5.25–5.35 GHz bands. These radar stations can cause interference with and/or damage to this device.

Canada, Industry Canada (IC)

This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003 and RSS-210.

This device complies with Industry Canada licence-exempt RSS standard(s). Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

(1) this device may not cause interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device.

Canada, avis d’Industry Canada (IC)

Cet appareil numérique de classe B est conforme aux normes canadiennes ICES-003 et RSS-210.

Son fonctionnement est soumis aux deux conditions suivantes: (1) cet appareil ne doit pas causer d’interférence et (2) cet appareil doit accepter toute interférence, notamment les interférences qui peuvent aﬀecter son fonctionnement.

European Union CE Marking Declaration

This product has been tested and found to comply with the EMC requirement subject to the EU directive for CE marking.

Power Savings Reminder

Please remember to shut oﬀ your computer if you are not going to use it for an extended period of time in order to save on electricity.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ix

Preface i

Copyright i Disclaimer ii Important Safety Instructions ii Caution iii Safety Notices for the Power Cord iv Notice of FCC Compliance iv Canada, Industry Canada (IC) vii European Union CE Marking Declaration vii Power Savings Reminder vii

Getting Started 17

What’s in the Box 17 Setting Up Your Sahara NetSlate 18

Step 1: Insert the Battery Pack(s) 18

To Remove the Battery Packs 19 Step 2: Connect the Tablet PC to an External Power Source 20 Step 3: Connecting Applicable Peripherals and Networking Cables 20 Step 4: Powering on the Sahara NetSlate 21 Step 5: Completing the Operating System Installation 21 Step 6: Navigating with the Touch Screen and Digitizer (pen) 21

Touch Screen 22

Active Digitizer (pen) 23

Touring the Sahara NetSlate 27

Front View 28 Back View 29 Left View 30 Right View 31 Top View 32 Bottom View 33

x Table of Contents

Battery Usage and Care 35

Using the Batteries for the First Time 36

Calibrating the batteries 36

Charging the Batteries Under Typical Conditions 38 Problems Charging the Battery 38 Battery Status 39 Low Battery Warnings 39 About Battery Usage 39 Real Time Clock Battery 40 Storing a Battery 40

Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 43

Navigating in Windows® 7 on a Tablet PC 43 Selecting Multiple Items 45 Capacitive Touch Screen Calibration 45 Enabling, Disabling and Adjusting Touch Screen Features 46

Enabling and Disabling Touch Input 47

Touch Action: Double Tap Settings 47

Using the Touch Pointer 48 Panning Gesture Settings 49

Disable Single Finger Panning 49

Inertia 49

Resistive Touch Screen Calibration 50

Calibrating the Resistive Touch Screen 51 Draw Test 52 Edge Compensation 53

Conﬁguring and Calibrating the Digitizer 54

Calibrating the Digitizer 54 Pen Actions 56

Double-tap 56

Press and Hold 57

Start Tablet PC Input Panel 57 Pen Conﬁguration 58 Pen Pop-up Menu 58

Adding a command to the menu 59

Adding a Program Short-Cut to the menu 60

Entering Text with the Tablet PC Input Panel 61

Writing Pad 62

Tools Menu 63

Character-by-Character Mode 63 Help with Editing Handwritten Text 63 On-Screen Keyboard 64

Tools Menu 65

Table of Contents xi

Input Panel Options 65

Opening 65

Handwriting 65

Ink to text conversion 66

Insertion 66

Text Completion 67

Advanced 67

Improving Handwriting Recognition 67

Automatic Learning 68 Handedness 69

Using Gestures to Improve Productivity 70

Pen Gestures 70

Navigational Flicks 70

Editing Flicks 71

Customizing Pen Flicks 72 Touch Gestures 73

Enabling and Disabling Multi-Touch Gestures 74

Panning with (or without) Inertia 74

Selecting / Dragging 74

Zooming 74

Rotating 74

Two Finger Tap 75

Flicking 75

Programming the Function Buttons 75 Connecting to the Internet 76

Using a Wired LAN 76

Using Both DHCP and a Static IP Address 78 Using a Wireless LAN 79

Bluetooth® Wireless Connectivity 80 Intel® Graphics and Media Control Panel 83

Conﬁguring your Display Device(s) 84

Enabling Multiple Monitor Support 84 Changing Display Properties 84

Adjusting Power Settings 85 Enhancing the Display 85

3D Performance 86

Video Overlay for Windowed Video Playback 86

Video Settings for Full Screen Video Playback 87 Hot Keys 87 Display Schemes 88 System and Display Information 88

Getting More Help 89

Realtek HD Audio Manager 89

xii Table of Contents

Adjusting Audio Playback 90

Volume Level 90

Set Default Playback Device 91

Speaker Conﬁguration 91

Sound Eﬀects 91

Default Audio Format 92 Adjusting Audio Recording 93

Recording Volume Level 93

Microphone Eﬀects 93

Default Format 94

Windows Mobility Center 94

Securing Your Sahara NetSlate 97

Initializing TPM 98

Turning on the TPM 98 Taking Ownership of the TPM 99

Creating a Windows Password 102 Getting Started with the UPEK Protector Suite 104

Enrolling Your Fingerprints 104 Using the Protector Suite Applications 107

Application Launcher 108

Password Bank 108

Strong Password Generator (requires full Protector Suite) 109

Encrypted Archives 109

E-Wallet (requires full Protector Suite) 109

Biomenu 109

Protecting Your Files Using BitLocker Drive Encryption 110

Turning on BitLocker 110 Turning oﬀ BitLocker and Decrypting Your Drive 111

Upgrading Your Sahara NetSlate 113

Before you Begin ANY Upgrade Procedure 113 Installing a SIM Card for use with the Optional 3G Module 114

To insert the SIM card into your Sahara NetSlate a510: 115

Upgrading Memory (RAM) 116 Upgrading the Data Storage Drive (HDD or SSD) 119 Using the TabletKiosk Modular Expansion System 122

To attach an expansion module: 122

Troubleshooting 125

Audio Problems/Solutions 125 Battery Problems/Solutions 126 Internet Problems/Solutions 127 Networking Problems/Solutions 128

Table of Contents xiii

Power Problems/Solutions 128 Input and Screen Display Problems/Solutions 129 Upgrade Problems/Solutions 130 USB Problems/Solutions 131 Contacting Your Dealer 131 Recovering Your System 132

Launching System Restore from Within Windows 132 Launching System Restore at System Start up 133

What To Do After a Successful System Reinstall 135

BIOS Set-up 137

Entering the BIOS 137 BIOS Key Mapping Legend 138

Left Side Button Alternate Function Mapping 138 Right Side Button Alternate Function Mapping 138

Main Menu 139

System Time 139 System Date 139

Advanced Menu 140

IDE Conﬁguration 140 AHCI Conﬁguration 140 Trusted Computing 141 Battery Calibration 141 FAN Calibration 141 Wake on LAN from S4/S5 mode 141 Left Programmable Button 3/4 141 Bootup Num-Lock 141

Boot Menu 142

Boot Devices Priority 142 Hard Disk Drives 142

Security 143

Supervisor Password 143 User Password 143

Save & Exit 144

Save Changes and Exit 144 Discard Changes and Exit 144 Discard Changes 144 Load Optimal Defaults 144

This page intentionally left blank. 145

Speciﬁcations 147

Processor 147 Chipset 147

xiv Table of Contents

Power Management 148 Memory 148 Batteries 148 Data Storage Drives 149 Video 149 Input Panels 149

Resistive Touch Screen 149 Projective Capacitive Touch Screen 149 Wacom® Active Digitizer 150

Display Options 150

Hydis HX121WX1-101 color active matrix TFT LCD 150 Hydis HX121WX5-114 color active matrix TFT LCD 150

Audio 151 Gigabit Ethernet (LAN) 151 WiFi Wireless 151 Bluetooth Wireless 152 TPM Security 152 Fingerprint Reader 153 I/O Ports 153 Weight 153 Measurements 154 Case Color 154 LED Indicators 154 Function Buttons (Left) 154 Function Buttons (Right) 154 Control Switches (Top) 154 AC Adapter 155 Operating Environment 155 Storage Environment 155

Table of Contents xv

This page intentionally left blank.

Chapter 01: Getting Started 17

Chapter 01

Getting Started

Congratulations on your purchase of a Sahara NetSlate® a510 Tablet PC. Your dual mode touch screen+active digitizer or touch screen Tablet PC was designed to get you up and running as quickly and easily as possible. Because the Sahara NetSlate ships to various countries around the world, set-up may vary slightly depending on where you are located.

If you have any questions after reading this manual, please visit our website at www.tabletkiosk.com for more information or to submit a support request.

What’s in the Box

Your Sahara NetSlate a510 should come securely packaged in its shipping container along with the items listed below. Contact your dealer immediately if you ﬁnd that anything is missing or damaged. Note, however, that contents may be changed without notice.

1. AC Adapter with Power Cord

2. Microﬁber Cleaning Cloth

3. Neoprene Slip Case

4. Simple Stand

5. Quick Start Guide

6. Windows 7 Getting Started Guide (not included if purchased

with Linux)

7. Standard Lithium-Ion Battery Pack(s)

18 Chapter 01: Getting Started

8. Stylus Pen (may not be included with certain touch only conﬁgurations)

Setting Up Your Sahara NetSlate

Please read the following steps to begin using your new Tablet PC as quickly and easily as possible.

1. Insert the Battery Pack(s)

2. Connect the Sahara NetSlate to an external power source

3. Connect applicable peripherals and networking cables

4. Power on the Sahara NetSlate

5. Complete the Operating System Installation

6. Navigating with the Touch Screen and Digitizer (Pen)

Step 1: Insert the Battery Pack(s)

Turn the system over and place it (optionally), screen down on a solid, clean, ﬂat surface. You can also insert the batteries while holding the Tablet PC if you prefer.

CAUTION: When turning over the Sahara NetSlate, be careful not to place it on a surface that could scratch or damage the screen. You can place the included slip case on the surface before carefully setting the computer down to protect the screen.

Align the ﬁrst battery into the battery compartment and then slide it into the computer until it clicks securely into place.

Align the battery in the bay

and slide it into place. You will

hear a click when the battery is

properly seated.

Chapter 01: Getting Started 19

Slide the battery-locking tab (the tab closest to the top of the tablet) up to the “locked” ( ) position. Once the locking tab clicks into position, the battery should be securely seated.

Repeat for the second battery. While it doesn’t matter which battery you insert ﬁrst, if you are planning on running the system with only a single battery, it should be inserted into battery bay one ( ).

To Remove the Battery Packs

Remove the power cord from the “DC Power In” port if plugged in to an external power supply to minimize the chance of electrical shock. Turn over the Tablet PC and (optionally) place it on a solid, clean ﬂat surface. You can also remove the batteries while holding the tablet if you prefer.

Slide the locking tab down to the “unlocked” ( ) position to unlock the battery. Use your other hand to slide the battery release latch in the direction of the arrow engraved on the tab and hold it there. Carefully slide the battery out of its bay.

Slide the locking tab on the

battery to the locked position

to keep the battery secured

in the bay.

Slide the locking tab on

the battery to the unlocked

position and

slide the battery latching tab in the direction of the arrow and

hold,

then slide the battery

out of the bay.

20 Chapter 01: Getting Started

The batteries on the Sahara NetSlate a510 are hot swappable. This means you can change out discharged batteries for spare, charged batteries without ﬁrst having to power oﬀ the system. Note, however, that the Sahara NetSlate does not have a shortterm internal battery. Therefore, you must replace the ﬁrst discharged battery with a charged battery before removing the second battery if both batteries are completely drained.

IMPORTANT: If you plan on removing the second battery before replacing the ﬁrst battery you just removed with a charged spare battery, make sure you ﬁrst shut down the Sahara NetSlate before actually removing the second battery to prevent data loss.

Step 2: Connect the Tablet PC to an External Power Source

Locate the AC adapter and the power cord. Plug the power cord securely into the AC adapter. Plug the AC adapter’s connection cable into the “DC Power In” port on the top of the Tablet PC. Once the adapter plug is securely in place, plug the power cord into an external power socket.

NOTE: When you ﬁrst connect the Tablet PC into an external power source, the battery charge indicator will begin to glow orange. When the battery is fully charged the indicator will turn green. See the section entitled Battery Usage and Care for tips on maximizing battery life and performance.

Step 3: Connecting Applicable Peripherals and Networking Cables

If you would like to use any external peripherals with the system (i.e. USB mouse, USB keyboard, etc.) or are planning to connect

Plug the power cord into the DC Power In port on the top of the Sahara NetSlate.

Plug the power cord into the AC adapter brick and then into a wall outlet.

Chapter 01: Getting Started 21

to the Internet and/or a corporate LAN using a wired connection as opposed to wirelessly, connect the external peripheral or cable now. See the chapter entitled Touring Your Sahara NetSlate, to identify which ports to use.

Step 4: Powering on the Sahara NetSlate

Locate the three power switches on the top of the Tablet PC. The switch is the computer’s main power toggle. Slide it to the right and hold it there for three (3) seconds and release. The switch will then emit a blue glow and the Sahara NetSlate will boot up.

Step 5: Completing the Operating System Installation

When your system powers on for the ﬁrst time, Windows will have a few questions for you to answer in order to localize your installation. If you are planning on using the Fingerprint Reader to assist you in securing your system and logging in, you should create a password when you make your initial user account.

Refer to your operating system’s manual for information on any of the questions you are unsure how to answer.

Step 6: Navigating with the Touch Screen and Digitizer (pen)

Unlike a regular laptop or desktop PC, standard navigational activities on a Tablet PC are typically completed using your

Press and hold the power switch on the top of the Tablet PC for three seconds or until the switch glows blue. The system should then boot up.

Once the system is powered on, the power switch will glow blue and the battery indicators will light up (green if the battery is fully charged, orange if it is charging).

22 Chapter 01: Getting Started

ﬁngers or a stylus pen. Navigating with a touch screen is diﬀerent from navigating with a mouse, while using a stylus pen in Active Digitizer mode on the Sahara NetSlate a510 is actually quite similar to navigating with a mouse.

Touch Screen

The Sahara NetSlate a510 features two diﬀerent touch panel options to choose from. The ﬁrst is a traditional, passive resistive touch panel and the second is a projective, capacitive touch screen that supports ﬁve ﬁnger multi-touch. This means that the capacitive screen will register up to ﬁve simultaneous touches at the same time, thus enabling the use of ﬁnger gestures such as two-ﬁnger tapping, pinching, rotating and two-ﬁnger ﬂicking to initiate navigational and operational short-cuts.

The resistive panel recognizes only a single touch at a time, but still supports certain gesture motions such as swiping and ﬂicking to aid in navigational operations. While not as sensitive as the capacitive panel, it has the beneﬁt of being more durable and can be activated by pressure from any type of touch such as a stylus pen, bare ﬁnger tip or heavily gloved hand. The capacitive panel will only react to the touch of bare skin or, for medical professionals, an elastic gloved hand.

With either type of touch screen, simply tap on the element you wish to interact with in order to select it, or if the element is a button, to activate it. Sliding your ﬁnger while touching the screen will move the on-screen pointer around as if you were using a mouse and holding down the left mouse button. In other words, you would be performing what is known as a drag operation.

Also, as the screen is sensitive to touch, resting your palm on it while tapping with your ﬁnger may make the pointer react unpredictably.

Tapping on the screen will perform a standard left mouse button click. Tapping twice in succession is the same as double-clicking your mouse button. Pressing and holding your ﬁnger tip on

Chapter 01: Getting Started 23

the screen for about a second or so will perform a right mouse button click. An animated circle will draw around the tip of your ﬁnger. Lift your ﬁnger from the screen to complete the click.

TIP: When trying to select or activate something on the screen with the stylus pen, pay attention to the position of the pointer icon instead of the end of your ﬁnger.

Many newer Windows applications are touch aware. This allows you to navigate documents using what are collectively known as touch gestures and ﬂicks. For example, swiping your ﬁnger upward while reading a web page, or a Word document, will cause the screen to scroll downward (actually the screen moves up, you scroll “down” through your document).

Additionally, swiping your ﬁnger right on the screen will page you forward through your web browser history or Word document, while pinching two ﬁngers together will zoom out of (or magnify down) your page. You can learn more about touch gestures and ﬂicks in the chapter Using Your Sahara NetSlate

with Windows 7.

Active Digitizer (pen)

Using the Sahara NetSlate in Active Digitizer mode is similar to navigating with a mouse. If your Sahara NetSlate a510 came with a dual mode screen, it will also have come with a special stylus pen that you will use to interact with the digitizer panel. Only this stylus will activate the digitizer panel.

Hold the stylus pen as if you were writing with a standard pen. Place the tip of the stylus just above the screen and move it around without letting it actually touch the screen. The screen should automatically switch to Active Digitizer mode when it senses the stylus, and the pointer should follow the tip of the pen around the screen.

Moving the stylus away from the screen will cause it to autoswitch back to touch mode. When in Digitizer mode your hand may rest on the screen, since this will not aﬀect the behavior of the pointer.

24 Chapter 01: Getting Started

TIP: When trying to select or activate something on the screen with the stylus pen, pay attention to the position of the pointer icon instead of the tip of the pen.

Tapping lightly on the screen with the tip of the stylus will perform a standard left mouse button click. Tapping twice in succession will perform a double-click. If you want to perform a right mouse button click, press and hold down the tip of the stylus lightly on the screen. In a moment, an animated circle will draw around the pointer similar to when in touch screen mode. Lift the stylus from the screen to complete the button press.

Dragging the stylus around while touching the screen is equivalent to holding down the left mouse button and dragging.

Similar to when in touch screen mode, Windows 7 supports pen gestures as a way to invoke short-cuts to aid you while working. You can learn more about pen gestures in the chapter Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Windows 7.

Chapter 01: Getting Started 25

This page intentionally left blank.

Chapter 02: Touring the Sahara NetSlate 27

Chapter 02

Touring the Sahara NetSlate

The Sahara NetSlate a510 includes a number of physical characteristics designed to enhance user productivity. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the controls and Input/ Output (I/O) ports on the faces and sides of the computer. Understanding the layout of the system will help you use your Sahara NetSlate more eﬀectively while in the ﬁeld or on the go.

Sahara NetSlate a510 Tablet PCs feature an Intel® Atom D525 processor and can be conﬁgured with up to 4.0GB RAM for improved responsiveness in Windows 7 over the previous generation of Sahara NetSlate.

28 Chapter 02: Touring the Sahara NetSlate

Front View

1. Data Drive Activity and Battery Status LEDs

Blinks when internal HDD / SSD reads or writes data

Charging status of battery 1: green = 100% charged,

orange = charging, blinking = battery low (<10%)

Charging status of battery 2: green = 100% charged,

orange = charging, blinking = battery low (<10%)

2. LCD with Digitizer/Touch Screen

Screen may be resistive touch, capacitive touch or a dual mode active digitizer + capacitive/resistive touch.

On dual mode tablets, the input screen will automatically switch between touch and digitizer when the digitizer’s stylus pen draws near.

3. Stereo Speakers

4. Fingerprint Reader

5. Digital Microphone Array

Microphone array records stereo audio with higher ﬁdelity for more accurate voice recognition.

Chapter 02: Touring the Sahara NetSlate 29

Back View

1. TabletKiosk Expansion Module Port

Remove cover to install modular expansion modules

2. System Ventilation Port

3. RAM and 3G Module

Door covers SODIMM slot, SIM Card Slot and 3G Module

4. Docking Connector Port

For use with both i500 and i400 compatible docking plates and docking cradles

5. Stylus Pen in Garage

6. Hard Drive/Solid State Drive

7. System and CPU Intake Vents

Do not block to prevent overheating

8. Dual Hot Swappable Lithium Ion Batteries

Batteries may be exchanged without powering down the system.

Do not remove both batteries simulataneously without ﬁrst attaching to external power supply to prevent data loss.

30 Chapter 02: Touring the Sahara NetSlate

Left View

1. Carrying Strap Bracket Attachment Port

Used with optional shoulder strap or system handle

2. Antenna Port with External Antenna

Auxilary Port enhances 3G and GPS signal reception.

3. 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Port (RJ45)

4. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Ports (x2)

5. Audio Out / Headphones (3.5mm)

6. Audio In / Microphone (3.5mm)

7. Stylus Pen in Garage

8. Function Buttons

L1: Secure Attention Sequence (SAS) L2: Screen Rotation, [D elete] key in POST/DOS mode L3: Volume up or Increase Screen Brightness (user selectable

in the BIOS), [→] key in BIOS/DOS mode L4: Volume down or Decrease Screen Brightness (user

selectable in the BIOS), [↓] key in BIOS/DOS mode

Chapter 02: Touring the Sahara NetSlate 31

Right View

1. Battery Bay Two (2) with Lithium Ion Battery Pack

2. Function Buttons

R1: Top Button turns on/oﬀ touch screen R2: Wireless Mode Toggle, [Ent e r] key in BIOS/DOS mode R3: User Programmable, [F 1 0] key in BIOS/DOS mode R4: User Programmable, [Esc] key in BIOS/DOS mode

3. Battery Bay One (1) with Lithium Ion Battery Pack

4. Anti-theft Kensington Lock Port

Use with the locking device (sold separately) to attach the Sahara NetSlate to a desk, table, kiosk, or other stationary apparatus to help prevent the computer from being stolen.

5. Carrying Strap Bracket Attachment Port

Used with optional shoulder strap or system handle

32 Chapter 02: Touring the Sahara NetSlate

Top View

1. TabletKiosk Modular Expansion Port

Remove cover to install modular expansion modules

2. System Ventilation

Fan exhaust port for expelling hot air from the interior of the Tablet PC. Do not block to help prevent over heating.

3. WiFi Transmitter Power Switch*

Slide the toggle switch to activate the wireless networking adapter’s transmitter.

NOTE: When not connected to a wireless network, turn oﬀ the wireless transmitter to conserve battery power.

4. Bluetooth Transmitter Power Switch

Slide the toggle switch to activate the Bluetooth wireless transmitter. The switch will glow blue when powered on. Slide switch back to turn oﬀ Bluetooth.

NOTE: When not actively using a Bluetooth peripheral, turn the Bluetooth transmitter oﬀ to conserve battery power.

5. System Power Switch

Slide this switch and hold for 3 seconds to power on the computer or to resume normal operation if the computer is in Suspend Mode. Slide and holding for 6 seconds to immediately turn oﬀ the computer.

NOTE: Using this switch to power oﬀ the computer is not recommended unless the computer has stopped responding to user input as there is no time for the OS to shut down normally, and as a result, data loss may occur.

6. DC Power In

Plug the AC adapter’s connection cable into this port to provide power to the computer.

! @ # $ % ^

Chapter 02: Touring the Sahara NetSlate 33

Bottom View

1. Docking Cradle Stabilizing Groove

Used to help secure the Sahara NetSlate in its docking cradle.

2. System Ventilation Intake Port

Fan intake port for sucking cool air into the interior of the Tablet PC. Do not block to help prevent over heating.

* There are three available wireless modes on the Sahara NetSlate if the optional

3G/3.5G WWAN module is installed. The color of this light indicates which mode the system is currently set to operate (Blue = WiFi, Amber = 3G/3.5G, Purple = Both). You can toggle between the modes by using the Wireless Mode Toggle Function Button (R2) located on the right side of the system.

! @

Chapter 03 Battery Usage and Care 35

Chapter 03

Battery Usage and Care

Sahara NetSlate a510 Tablet PCs features two (2) Lithium-Ion batteries that are user replaceable, rechargeable and also hot swappable. This means that you can remove a discharged battery and replace it with a fully charged battery without putting the computer into hibernation mode, or fully powering it oﬀ, to prevent data loss.

Depending on your system’s conﬁguration and your application usage, a fully charged set of batteries should allow you to run your Sahara NetSlate for 3.0 - 3.5 hours before needing to start swapping them out.

Operations that will signiﬁcantly reduce battery life include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Using external bus-powered USB drives such as optical, ﬂoppy and hard disk drives.

2. Using wireless communications devices, including the internal WiFi networking card, optional 3G WWAN data module, Bluetooth adapter, or USB Cellular/3G modems.

3. Using high-brightness display settings, 3D screen savers, or other computationally intensive programs such as graphics heavy games, media players and 3D graphics applications.

4. Running the computer in maximum performance mode.

5. Using the computer in overly-hot environmental conditions.

36 Chapter 03: Battery Usage and Care

Using the Batteries for the First Time

Before using the Tablet PC on battery power for the ﬁrst time, the batteries should be fully charged.

On the front of the Sahara NetSlate are two battery status indicators just above the TabletKiosk logo. These indicators will track the charging status of the two Lithium-Ion battery packs located on the back of the tablet (see the chapter entitled Touring Your Sahara NetSlate for the location of the indicators and battery packs).

Partially discharged batteries will cause the indicators to glow orange when attached to an external power source. When each battery is fully charged, its corresponding indicator will turn green. Be sure that both indicators have turned green before attempting to run the Sahara NetSlate on battery power for the ﬁrst time.

Calibrating the batteries

After using the system for a while, you may ﬁnd that battery performance diminishes. This is normal for Lithium-Ion batteries, however if you see a large drop oﬀ in capacity, the batteries may simply need to be calibrated.

NOTE: This can happen if the Tablet PC is mostly used while connected in to an external power source. If this is your typical usage model, you should consider calibrating the batteries every month or two to maintain optimal capacity.

To calibrate the batteries, follow these steps:

1. Turn the computer oﬀ. Connect the AC adapter and let the batteries fully charge.

Chapter 03: Battery Usage and Care 37

2. Disconnect the AC adapter and power on the tablet. Let the batteries run down until the system automatically enters the Suspend/Hibernation mode and shuts down.

3. Reconnect the AC adapter, let the batteries fully charge (so both battery indicators glow green) and then run the computer with the external power still connected for at least a few hours before unplugging and running on battery power.

The battery packs should now be properly calibrated. If you ﬁnd that battery life doesn’t correspond to the battery status as reported by your operating system, repeat steps 2 -3 again.

If after performing a calibration for a second time you still ﬁnd you are having a problem with the battery life, you will need to go into the BIOS and perform a battery calibration.

1. To enter the BIOS, power on or restart your Sahara NetSlate and press the L2 (Screen Rotation) button as soon as you see the TabletKiosk logo.

2. Once in the BIOS, use the L3 button to navigate over to the Advanced menu screen.

3. Use the L4 button to go down to the

BAT Calibration item.

4. Press the R2 button to enter the Calibration routine. Make sure the Sahara NetSlate is attached to the AC Adapter and that the AC adapter is plugged into an external power source and then press any function button (except L1 and R1) to begin the calibration.

BIOS SETUP UTILITY

Main Advanced Boot Security Exit

Advanced Settings

 IDE Configuration

 AHCI Configuration  Trusted Computing

BAT Calibration FAN Calibration Wake On LAN From S4/S5 [Disable] Left Programmable Button 3/4 [Volume Up/Down] Bootup Num-Lock [Off]

Configure the IDE device(s).

 Select Screen  Select Item

+- Change Field Tab Select Field F1 General Help F10 Save and Exit ESC Exit

38 Chapter 03: Battery Usage and Care

NOTE: This procedure will take a while as the system will discharge the batteries and then charge them again. Make sure you have some time before performing this routine. This routine might be better run at the end of the day.

If you are still having problems, contact your dealer and arrange for replacements.

In general, running the system until a “Battery Low” warning indicator appears and then fully charging the battery (full discharge/charge cycle) will ensure the accuracy of the battery status gauge and prolong the battery’s charge eﬃciency.

Running your system until the batteries are almost totally drained, like described in the calibration routine, on a regular basis is not recommended as it can damage the battery’s ability to hold a charge.

Charging the Batteries Under Typical Conditions

When you connect the computer to an electrical outlet, the Smart Battery IC in each battery pack checks its charge level and temperature status. If charging is necessary, the corresponding battery indicator on the front of the tablet will glow orange and the AC adapter will automatically begin charging the batteries.

When a battery is fully charged, its corresponding indicator will change to green and the battery’s charge will be maintained while connected to the external power source. When the computer is disconnected from the electrical outlet, the battery indicators will turn oﬀ.

NOTE: The time to fully recharge both batteries is approximately 120 ~ 160 minutes when the computer is powered oﬀ. The time to fully recharge the battery when the computer is in use varies according to the power requirements of the operations that the computer is performing while charging.

Problems Charging the Battery

Environmental conditions can aﬀect the ability of the computer to charge the battery. If the battery is too hot from either being

Chapter 03: Battery Usage and Care 39

used in your computer or being exposed to an overly hot environment, the battery may not charge when you connect the computer to an electrical outlet.

If this occurs, disconnect the computer from the electrical outlet and allow it and the battery to cool to room temperature. Then reconnect the computer to an electrical outlet to continue charging the battery.

Battery Status

Windows 7 has an applet in the Control Panel that will display an icon in the Windows taskbar indicating when the computer is running on battery power or is attached to the AC adapter.

This applet also displays a meter that indicates approximately how much of a charge is remaining in the battery.

Low Battery Warnings

A battery’s indicator light will begin blinking orange to alert you to a “Battery Low” status. Typically, this is when the battery has reached a charge level of 10% or less.

When there is only one minute of battery charge remaining, the computer will suspend its current state to the hard drive and power oﬀ. Plug in the AC adapter and turn the computer back on to resume your work.

About Battery Usage

Over time, even with proper care, battery performance (the time the battery can operate the computer before needing to be recharged) will decrease. Depending on how often the battery is used, how many times it has been charged and the conditions under which it is used, you likely will need to purchase replacement batteries during the life of your Tablet PC.

40 Chapter 03: Battery Usage and Care

IMPORTANT: To avoid damage, only use TabletKiosk replacement batteries. To prevent loss of data, do not remove both battery packs at the same time while the system is powered on unless attached to an external power source. Also, be sure to check the status of each battery before removing it. If you remove a battery and the remaining battery in the system does not retain a suﬃcient charge, the tablet could power oﬀ unexpectedly.

NOTE: Do not dispose of batteries with household waste. When a battery can no longer hold a suﬃcient charge, call your local waste disposal or environmental protection agency for advice on how or where to dispose a lithium-ion battery.

Real Time Clock Battery

In order to maintain certain system information while the power is oﬀ, the motherboard contains a small built-in battery pack that constantly supplies power to the system.

If the computer is left without a power source for long periods of time, this battery can be exhausted and system information can be lost. This will not aﬀect any of your data stored on the computer’s hard drive, but rather the settings in the BIOS that tell the computer how to operate. It is recommended, therefore, that if you plan to store the computer for a long time you periodically attach the battery packs, plug in the computer to an external power source and allow the battery to recharge.

If you receive a BIOS error when booting the system for the ﬁrst time after removing it from prolonged storage, it probably means that the battery’s level got too low and the BIOS settings were lost. Enter the BIOS and choose to restore the settings to default. If this does not correct the error, contact your dealer or visit TabletKiosk’s website at www.tabletkiosk.com and submit a support request to obtain proper BIOS settings.

Storing a Battery

When storing your computer for an extended period of time, it is recommended that you remove the battery packs and store them in a dry, cool location.

Chapter 03: Battery Usage and Care 41

For optimal longevity of the battery packs, it is important to periodically charge them in order to keep their electrons moving. Even charging the batteries for ten to ﬁfteen minutes every 60 - 90 days should be suﬃcient to keep the batteries in good condition.

Since a battery will slowly discharge during prolonged storage, you should fully charge it before using it again.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 43

Chapter 04

Using Your Sahara NetSlate with

Microsoft® Windows® 7

Tablet PCs are nothing new to Microsoft. Since Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows has supported pen based computing. A few years later, Windows Vista™ added support for touch while considerably improving pen interaction.

As laudable an eﬀort as those two operating systems were for supporting tablet based computing, Microsoft upped the ante with the release of Windows® 7.

This chapter contains tips and details to help you get the most from your Sahara NetSlate when using Microsoft® Windows 7.

Navigating in Windows® 7 on a Tablet PC

Typically, when working on a Tablet PC, you use a stylus pen or your ﬁngers instead of a mouse and keyboard to interact directly with objects on your screen. You can open, move, edit and delete items — such as icons, ﬁles, windows and more — with easy-to-use basic functions similar to those performed with a mouse.

Stylus Pen/Finger Action Equivalent Mouse Action

Point (pen only) Move Mouse

Tap Click

Double-tap Double-click

Press and hold Right-click

Drag Drag

44 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

When using the stylus pen, hold it as if you were writing with a standard pen. When using a Sahara NetSlate model that includes a digitizer, simply moving the tip of the stylus a few millimeters above the screen will automatically activate the panel. Without touching the screen, move the stylus around and watch how the pointer (shaped like a diamond instead of a traditional mouse arrow) follows the pen just as if you were moving a mouse.

When you want to select or activate something, simply tap on it. This is the same as clicking the left mouse button. When you are using the system in digitizer mode, feel free to rest your hand on the screen as it will only react to the pen. Be aware, however, if you raise the tip of the pen too far from the screen, it will automatically revert to touch screen mode and the pointer may react to the presence of your resting hand.

When using a stylus or your ﬁnger in touch screen mode, instead of sliding the pen or your ﬁnger around the screen to move the pointer, simply tap on with what you want to interact. Sliding the pen while lightly touching the tip to the screen will move the on-screen pointer around as if you were using a mouse and holding down the left mouse button. In other words, you would be performing what is known as a drag operation.

To perform a right mouse click in both digitizer and touch screen mode, press and hold on the screen until you see a circle draw around the tip of your pen or ﬁnger, then release to perform the actual click.

NOTE FOR CAPACITIVE TOUCH SCREEN USERS: Additionally, to perform a right mouse click, you can tap on an object (desktop, icon, etc.) with one ﬁnger to select it and then, with you ﬁnger still on the screen, tap with a second ﬁnger to perform the right-click.

Also, remember that since the touch screen is, by name, sensitive to touch, resting your hand on the screen while navigating with your ﬁngers, or when using a stylus, might make the pointer react unpredictably.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 45

Selecting Multiple Items

Windows® 7 is well aware of how you manipulate items on your computer with a mouse and how selecting multiple items, for such actions as moving or copying, might be a bit more challenging when using a stylus pen or you ﬁngers. That is why Windows® 7 adds a selection check box in the upper left corner of icons and in the far left column of list views.

In digitizer mode, hover over an icon on your desktop or in a Windows Explorer windows and you will see this check box appear. Tap on it to place a check mark in the box. Hover over another icon and, when it appears, tap in its check box.

In touch screen mode, tap an icon to highlight it. The selection check box should appear. Tap in it to add it to the selection.

Now, press and hold either icon and start dragging and you should notice that both icons move together.

This multiple selection feature works with other types of operations such as cutting, copying and pasting. It also works with editing ﬂicks (see the section Editing Flicks a little later in this chapter).

Capacitive Touch Screen Calibration

Often times, out of the box, you will ﬁnd that the touch screen on your Sahara NetSlate work just ﬁne. Over time you may ﬁnd that the accuracy of either the touch screen or digitizer may begin to fade. When this happens, it is time to calibrate your screen.

46 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

In order to calibrate the capacitive touch screen:

1. Tap on “START g Control Panels g Hardware and Sound g Tablet PC Settings”

2. From the “Display” tab, tap on the “Calibrate...” button.

3. If your Sahara NetSlate only has a capacitive touch screen, you should see the Calibration screen. If you have a dual mode digitizer+capacitive touch screen, you will be presented with a dialog box that asks you whether you want to calibrate for pen or touch. Tap the touch button and the touch calibration screen will appear.

DUAL MODE SCREEN NOTE: To calibrate the touch screen you must use either your ﬁnger or a stylus meant for use on a capacitive touch screen. If you attempt to use the digitizer stylus to calibrate the touch screen, you will be presented with an error message.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to calibrate your screen. Tap in the center of each of the crosshairs that appear and then choose to save or discard the calibration data depending on whether you are satisﬁed that you accurately touched the center of each crosshair.

Enabling, Disabling and Adjusting Touch Screen Features

The “Touch” and “Panning” tabs in the “Pen and Touch” control panel are where the settings that control the touch interface reside. To get there, tap on “START g Control Panel g Hardware and Sound g Pen and Touch g Change touch input settings”.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 47

Enabling and Disabling Touch Input

To disable touch input in Windows, uncheck “Use your ﬁnger as an input device”. Click the “Apply” button and the touch screen will not longer accept any input. Make sure you have a mouse and/or keyboard available to attach to the system if your Sahara NetSlate doesn’t have a digitizer panel or you will not be able to control Windows. Re-check the box and click “Apply” to re-enable touch input.

Touch Action: Double Tap Settings

To adjust how fast and how far apart your ﬁngers can be to perform double tap enabled actions, tap on the “Settings” button to open the “Double Tap Settings” control panel.

If you ﬁnd it is too diﬃcult to perform a double-tap action, adjust the Speed control slider toward “Slow” and the Spatial control slider toward “Large”.

The ﬁrst time you calibrate your screen you will have to tap on 16 target points. Afterward you will only have 4 target points.

48 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

If you ﬁnd you are often double-tapping when you don’t mean to, adjust the Speed slider toward “Fast” and the Spatial slider toward “Small”.

Double-tap on the picture of the door to test your new settings. Adjust the sliders until you can comfortably open and close the door.

Using the Touch Pointer

Because touch screens do not afford the same pointing abilities as a mouse or digitizer pen, performing certain mouse related functions are not always possible (i.e. hovering over a link on a web page). This feature in Windows® 7 essentially removes this limitation.

When enabled, by checking the box “Show the touch pointer when I’m interacting with item on the screen”, a graphical representation of a mouse will appear near the on-screen pointer (now a standard arrow icon) when you tap somewhere on the screen.

While the mouse is visible, tapping on the left or right mouse button will perform the equivalent action the same as if you clicked with a real mouse. Tapping on the mouse and sliding your ﬁnger around the screen will move the pointer just the same as if you were moving a real mouse.

TIP: When using the Touch Pointer to move the pointer arrow around screen, remember to watch the arrow icon for positioning and not the mouse image or your ﬁnger.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 49

The “Advanced Options...” button opens a panel that allows the positioning (relative to the pointer arrow), appearance and velocity behavior of the Touch Pointer to be adjusted.

Panning Gesture Settings

Windows allows you to move— or pan—around in a document or window simply by placing two ﬁngers on the screen and then sliding them around. This is the most prevalent and often used touch gesture in Windows® 7.

Disable Single Finger Panning

Because sliding a single ﬁnger around on the screen is also used to select text and objects, you might ﬁnd it less confusing to only allow panning by using two ﬁngers.

To disable panning with a single ﬁnger, uncheck the box “Turn on Single Finger Panning”. Simply check it again to re-enable single ﬁnger panning.

NOTE: In order to pan left and right with a single ﬁnger, you must ﬁrst pan a short distance up or down to enable single ﬁnger panning left and right. This helps prevent accidental selecting and dragging of text or objects around the screen.

Inertia

Inertia is a property of physics that allows for the continuation of movement by an object in motion after the force that propels

50 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

the object ceases to exert its aﬀect. Windows inertia functions the same way and can be controlled or even disabled altogether.

Unchecking the box “Enable inertia after a pan gesture” will disable inertia altogether and only allow panning within a document or window to occur while your ﬁnger is in contact with the screen and in motion. When the box is checked, a document or window will continue panning even after you remove your ﬁnger from the screen.

Inertia allows for more eﬃcient panning within a very long or wide document. How far inertia will continue to scroll the page depends on how far and fast your ﬁnger moved.

TIP: The faster you drag your ﬁnger(s), the faster and farther your page will pan or scroll.

To allow a document to continue scrolling longer or faster after removing your ﬁnger from the screen, adjust the Inertia Settings slider toward “More”. For shorter and slower panning after removing your ﬁnger from the screen, adjust the slider towards “Less”.

To help identify when you have reached as far in a particular direction as you can pan, the document window will bounce back as if running into a wall. To turn oﬀ this animated visual cue, simply uncheck the box “Enable boundary feedback for pan gestures”.

Resistive Touch Screen Calibration

The PenMount Control Panel (accessible via a short-cut on the desktop) allows you calibrate your resistive touch screen, test the calibration data, and then adjust the way your screen processes positional input at the outer edges for maximum usability. The control panel’s interface is comprised of three main tabs. The “Device” tab hold the procedures and settings you’ll use to conﬁgure and calibrate your touch screen, the “Tools” tab is where you can test your screen’s calibration accuracy.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 51

Calibrating the Resistive Touch Screen

If the pointer isn’t properly following the touch of your stylus or ﬁnger, you might need to calibrate the touch screen.

1. Open the PenMount control panel and, in the “Device” tab, tap on the “PenMount 6000 USB” icon and then tap “Conﬁgure”. Alternatively, just double-tap on the “PenMount 6000 USB” icon.

2. Tap on the “Calibrate” tab and then tap on either the “Standard Calibration” or the “Advanced Calibration” button. Most of the time, a Standard Calibration should be suﬃcient to perform an accurate calibration.

NOTE: If you ﬁnd the “Standard Calibration” to be too imprecise, the “Advanced Calibration” mode oﬀers 9, 16 or 25 points for calibrating. We suggest starting at 9 points. For both modes, it is highly recommended that you use the stylus, rather than your ﬁnger, to produce to most accurate results.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions by pressing and holding on each red square that appears until you are told to lift to proceed. To quit this routine without saving the data, hit on your keyboard if you have one connected, or simply wait a few moments without touching the screen and the test will time out.

52 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

4. When the calibration is complete, you can test the screen accuracy by either tapping around the screen, or using the “Draw” test in the “Tools” tab in the main window of the PenMount Control Panel.

If you check the Plot Calibration Data option in the “Advanced Calibration” mode, a linearity comparison graph will be displayed after the “Advanced Calibration” is complete. The black lines reﬂect the ideal linearity assumed by the PenMount control panel, while the blue lines represent the approximate linearity calculated by the calibration.

There may be circumstances where you don’t want the calibration data to be stored in the controller. Perhaps you are only running a test, or you want the pre-calibrated state to be restored when you restart the system. In these cases, checking Turn oﬀ EEPROM storage will disable the write-in of calibration data.

Draw Test

Tap on the “Draw” button in the “Tools” tab to test the accuracy of your screen’s calibration by drawing on it. Using the “Menu” button in the upper left corner of the test window, you can hide or show a visual grid, display the point coordinates of where you touch the screen—and if a mouse button press occurs— plus clear the screen to start over, and lastly exit the Draw Test.

Touch each of the red squares that appear onscreen to calibrate the touch screen. Remember to hold your ﬁnger or stylus down on the square until it tells you to release.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 53

Edge Compensation

The edge compensation sliders are used to adjust your ability to reach the extreme outer edges of the screen. The four sliders in this tab aﬀect each of the four corresponding edges of the screen. Larger compensation numbers will “stretch” reachable points on the screen outward towards the extreme edges, while smaller numbers will pull back the points into linearity.

If you are having diﬃculty tapping on objects near the very outer edges of the screen, or when you tap near a screen edge the pointer is out of alignment (skewed either towards or away from the edges) try adjusting these controls to compensate.

Tapping on the “Draw” button will open the Drawing Test. Tap on the “Menu” button during the test to display a grid overlay, display the point coordinates of where the screen is touched, or to clear the screen so you can start over.

54 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Conﬁguring and Calibrating the Digitizer

The Electromagnetic Active Digitizer by Wacom® is the highest resolution input panel available on the Sahara NetSlate. In order to switch to it, all you need to do is bring the tip of the stylus pen to within about 10mm of the screen’s surface and it will automatically activate. Move the stylus away and, if your system also features a touch screen (either capacitive or resistive) it will automatically switch back.

There are a few diﬀerent control panels in Windows® 7 that conﬁgure the way the digitizer functions. The Tablet PC Settings control panel is where you specify your handedness and where you can go to calibrate the digitizer. The Pen and Touch control panel is where you can conﬁgure tap settings, pen ﬂicks and handwriting recognition. Finally, the Pen Tablet Properties con- trol panel is where you customize the pen settings and behavior, customize the pen pop-up menu, and also calibrate the digitizer.

All three control panels can be accessed by going to “START g Control Panel g Hardware and Sound”.

Calibrating the Digitizer

There are two ways of getting to the calibration routine for the digitizer:

1. In the Tablet PC Settings control panel, tap on the “Display” tab and then tap on the “Calibrate...” button. If your Sahara NetSlate only has a digitizer panel the digitizer calibration screen will appear.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 55

DUAL MODE SCREEN NOTE:

If you have a dual mode system that also has a touch screen, a dialog box will appear that asks you whether you want to calibrate for pen or touch. Select “Pen Input” and the digitizer calibration screen will appear.

2. In the Pen Tablet Properties control panel, tap on the “Calibrate” tab and then tap on the “Calibrate...” button to open the digitizer calibration screen.

When the calibration screen appears, follow the on-screen instructions by tapping in the center of each crosshair that appears on screen. When you have ﬁnished, choose to save the calibration data if you are satisﬁed with your results. If you think you may have missed the center of some/one of the crosshairs, click “Cancel” to abandon the calibration data and keep the

56 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

current calibration settings, or tap “Try again” and repeat the calibration.

Pen Actions

In the “Pen and Touch” control panel on the “Pen Options” tab is a table that lists the pen actions and their equivalent mouse actions, similar to the table at the beginning of this chapter. Below the table is a “Settings...” button that will allow you to adjust the way the pen performs these actions (all except single-tap which has no settings options).

Double-tap

Adjusts how fast and how far apart your pen taps can be on screen to perform double tap enabled actions.

If you ﬁnd it is too diﬃcult to perform a double-tap action, adjust the Speed control slider toward “Slow” and the Spatial control slider toward “Large”.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 57

If you ﬁnd you are often double-tapping when you don’t mean to, adjust the Speed slider toward “Fast” and the Spatial slider toward “Small”.

Double-tap on the picture of the door to test your new settings. You can continue to adjust the sliders until you feel comfortable opening and closing the door.

Press and Hold

Enables and disables the ability to perform a right-click by pressing on the screen and holding. You can also adjust how long you must keep your pen pressed to the screen before the circle appears and draws around the tip of the stylus (Speed), and how long you can keep the pen pressed to the screen and still perform the right-click when you release (Duration).

Start Tablet PC Input Panel

Enables and disables the ability to invoke (and subsequently close) the Input Panels by simply ﬂicking your stylus side-to-side, three times above the screen. You can adjust how long of a side-to-side motion you must make with the “Gesture setting” slider.

58 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Pen Conﬁguration

Using the Pen Tablet Properties control panel, you can adjust:

 How hard you must press the eraser and pen tip to adjust

the width of the lines they draw and erase (this is known as pressure sensitivity)

 What action

the pen button performs (if your stylus has only one button, it is programmed with the lower button on the control panel)

 How close

together you must click on screen to perform a double-click (same as “Double-tap” setting in the “Pen and Touch” control panel)

 Whether or not your system alerts you each time you tap on

the screen with the stylus by making a clicking sound.

Pen Pop-up Menu

The pen pop-up menu is a handy little feature where you can set up a menu of keyboard commands and program short-cuts that will appear near the tip of your stylus when invoked.

NOTE: You can also set the digitizer to work in either pen (absolute positioning coordinates) or mouse (relative positioning coordinates) behavior mode, but we recommend leaving your digitizer in pen mode as mouse mode can be a bit confusing for most people.

The Pen Tablet Properties control panel gives you access to the stylus pen’s advanced functionality provided by Wacom® digitizers.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 59

Adding a command to the menu

1. Tap on the “Add” drop down menu and select “Keystrokes...”

2. Tap on the “Add Special” drop down to choose from a predeﬁned list, or use either the on-screen or a USB keyboard, to enter your own custom combination (including modiﬁer keys). Tap the “OK” button to accept the keystroke combination.

3. Enter the name, as you would like it to appear in the pop-up menu, into the “Name” ﬁeld. Tap the “OK” button to add it to the pop-up menu.

The “Add” dropdown menu lets you select keystroke commands or program shortcuts to add to the Pen Pop-up Menu. In order to invoke it, remember to set the pen button to “Pop-up Menu”.

Enter a name for the keystroke short-cut as you want it to appear in the Pen Pop-up Menu.

Choose a key combination from the menu or enter your own from a keyboard.

60 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

4. Repeat as many combinations as you like and then go to the “Pop-up Items” ﬁeld and drag them into the order you would like them to display in the menu.

Adding a Program Short-Cut to the menu

1. Tap on the “Add” drop down menu and select “Open/Run...”

2. Tap on the “Browse...” button to open the “Application to run” dialog box and then navigate to the application you which to add and double-tap on it.

3. Enter the name, as you would like it to appear in the pop-up menu, into the “Name” ﬁeld. Tap the “OK” button to add it to the pop-up menu.

4. Repeat for as many short-cuts you want to add and then go to the “Pop-up Items” ﬁeld and drag them into the order you would like them to display in the menu.

Tap the “Browse...” button to open the “Application to Run” dialog box.

Navigate to the application you wish to add and then double-tap on it.

Change the program’s name in the “Name” ﬁeld to whatever you’d like it to display as in the menu.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 61

Entering Text with the Tablet PC Input Panel

Complementing Microsoft’s Digital Inking handwriting recognition technology is a special application called the Tablet PC Input Panel that accepts, and then converts handwriting into text, as well as provides a compact and convenient on-screen keyboard.

Typically the Input Panel sits docked just oﬀ the left side of your screen. Tap the edge of the panel to display the on-screen writing pad and keyboard. These input tools allow you to enter information directly into any application that accepts standard keyboard inputs.

NOTE FOR DIGITIZER USERS: By default, when using an Active Digitizer, the panel will be hidden until you bring the tip of the stylus near the screen. The edge of the panel will sit, just visible, at the edge of the screen. Hovering your pen over that edge of the Input Panel will cause it to slide out a bit making it easier to activate.

When using an application which is pen aware (at this time, most are) simply tapping where you would like to enter text will place an I-beam cursor and display a tool tip icon of the Input Panel. Tapping on this icon will open the Input Panel automatically.

By default, the Input panel sits docked on the left side of the screen.

Hovering your pen over the edge of

the of the Input Panel will slide it out

a bit, making it easier to activate.

}

Writing Pad Tooltip with the text insertion I-beam cursor.

Keyboard Tooltip with text selected. The tooltip that appears will be determined by the current mode of the Input panel.

62 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

NOTE FOR TOUCH SCREEN USERS: This also works with a touch screen. Just tap where you would like to enter text and an icon of a keyboard will appear. Tap on it to bring up the on-screen keyboard and type in your text. You can also switch to the Writing Pad to hand-write if you have a stylus, but ﬁngers don’t typically work well for inking.

If your Sahara NetSlate a510 doesn’t have an Active Digitizer, or the Input Panel isn’t docked on the side of the screen and you want to be able to display it:

1. Press and hold on a blank space on the Windows Taskbar to call up a context menu.

2. Tap on the top option entitled “Toolbars” and then tap on “Tablet PC Input Panel” option on the panel that appears. This will place a permanent button on the Taskbar next to the System Tray that will easily allow you to call up the panels whenever you like.

Writing Pad

This pad allows you to enter text on a word-by-word or character-by-character basis. You write on the lines inside the Writing Pad just as you would write on a lined piece of notepaper. When you reach the end of the line, the pad will expand automatically, adding another line, so you can keep on writing without having to stop. Windows will convert your handwriting into text on the ﬂy as you write, and then insert it in the appropriate location when you tap the “Insert” button at the bottom right of the panel.

Tapping on this icon will open the Input Panel.

Writing Pad in its default state. Has a line for writing and buttons on the right for editing.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 63

Tools Menu

To switch between wordby-word and characterby-character modes, tap on the “Tools” drop down menu on the Input Panel Title bar. From the drop down menu, choose the mode you wish to use.

You can also use this menu to invoke Windows Handwriting Personalizer, adjust where you want the input panels to appear on the screen, undock the panel to move it anywhere on the screen, or open the panels’ “Options” menu.

Character-by-Character Mode

This mode accepts input on a character-by-character basis and is useful for entering information that requires a higher level of precision, such as passwords, website URLs or e-mail addresses.

Help with Editing Handwritten Text

The Writing Pad, in both freestyle and character-by-character mode, supports a number of pen gestures that allow for dynamic editing and deleting of text as your are writing in the Input Panel. The gesture help button is located on the title bar of the

After you have entered some text, the “Insert” button will appear on the bottom of the panel that will allow you to place the text into your document.

64 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Input Panel just to the left of the “Close” button. Tapping on this bar opens a panel with buttons that, when clicked on, illustrate how to accomplish a particular editing action.

On-Screen Keyboard

Use it the same way that you would use a standard keyboard. By tapping on its keys, you can enter letters, numbers and symbols into documents and text ﬁelds, as well as perform specialized functions and keyboard short cuts. This panel can be re sized, increasing or decreasing the size of the individual keys. Windows will always remember how you size the keyboard panel for the next time you open it.

Input Panel Standard Keyboard. Can be resized to better support ﬁngers or the stylus pen. Buttons in the upper left corner of the panel switches between on-screen keyboard and writing pad.

Input Panel Extended Keyboard adds eight function keys to the right side of the panel. Extended Keyboard mode switch is located in the “Tools” menu.

The “Help” button in the title bar houses a panel containing additional buttons that demonstrate how to perform the diﬀerent editing gestures in the Writing Pad.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 65

Tools Menu

The Tools menu on the keyboard allows you to switch between the standard and expanded keyboard modes, dock or ﬂoat the keyboard, and open the Input Panels’ “Options” menu. Additionally, you can get more information about using the Input Panels by tapping on the “Help topics” menu item.

Input Panel Options

The Options panel contains six tabs that house all of the conﬁguration options for controlling how the input panels work.

Opening

This tab contains the option to open the Input Panels by tapping or simply pointing at the panel tab with the digitizer stylus. It also has options for where to show the Input Panel’s tool tips and tab, when to show and whether to hide the Input Panel and where to dock it. A link at the bottom of this tab will open a help window that explains in detail about moving and opening the Input Panels.

Handwriting

This tab contains an option for how thick you want the ink to appear as you are writing on the panel. It also has an option for how close you must get to the right edge of the Writing Pad before an additional line will appear.

66 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Ink to text conversion

This tab has options for adjusting when the Input Panel will automatically convert your handwriting to text as you are writing. The “Distance from Ink” slider determines how far away your stylus must move from the text you are writing before converting the text, while the “Length of pause” slider adjusts how long it waits, after moving your stylus away from the text, before converting it.

If you ﬁnd that the panel waits too long to convert your text, or conversely is converting your text while you are still in the middle of writing a word, these two sliders in conjunction will improve your handwriting experience.

Insertion

This tab lets you decide whether to display the Input Panel’s “Insert” button on the left or right side of the bottom of the panel as well as whether to insert the text when you simply point at the button (i.e. mouse over) or have to tap on it.

Additionally, you can choose to have your text inserted all at once, or letter by letter determined by a speciﬁc pause duration.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 67

Text Completion

This tab allows you to turn oﬀ and on AutoComplete and Predictive text options. These options work much the same way as they do on smartphones.

Advanced

This tab lets you change the Password security level, altering the way the Tablet PC Input Panel and the on-screen keyboard displays text and key presses when inputting passwords. For added security you can choose to hide the input as you write or type.

You can also choose to use Action gestures as they are used on common handheld computers or gestures from the Simpliﬁed Chinese (PRC) standard, GB/T 18790-2002.

If, after experimenting with any of the panel’s settings, you would like to return the Input Panel to its default conﬁguration, just tap the “Restore” button located near the bottom of the “Advanced” tab.

Improving Handwriting Recognition

Windows® 7 includes several utilities designed to improve upon its default handwriting recognition accuracy. To begin training Windows to better recognize and translate your handwriting, from the Input Panel, tap on “Tools g Personalize Handwriting Recognition” to open the “Handwriting Personalization” application.

Password Security settings allow you to hide your input on the writing pad and the onscreen keyboard while typing in passwords.

The “Restore” button returns the Input Panel to its default settings.

68 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

NOTE: You can also access the Handwriting Personalization application from the START Menu under “All Programs g Accessories g Tabl et PC”.

There are two diﬀerent training utilities:

Target speciﬁc recognition errors does spot training on letters and numbers that usually account for the most common translation errors. Choose this training if for the most part Windows is correctly recognizing your handwriting with the exception of a few diﬀerent characters.

Teach the recognizer your handwriting style is a total handwriting training session. You will be presented with a series of sentences to write that will cover all letters, numbers and symbols. This thorough training is more time consuming and only necessary if you ﬁnd Windows’s ability to translate your handwriting to be poor.

Automatic Learning

Another feature Windows® 7 oﬀers to improve handwriting recognition is handwriting personalization through “Auto-

Links at the bottom of this panel are short-cuts to performing some other handwriting optimation tasks. You can also learn more about handwriting recognition personalization by tapping on the bottom most link.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 69

matic Learning”. This enables Windows to learn your handwriting on the ﬂy as you write. This feature is enabled by default, so if you are the primary user of your Tablet PC you don’t have to do anything to enable it.

If your Sahara NetSlate is going to be used by many diﬀerent people, you may want to disable this feature and delete any user speciﬁc handwriting personalization data in order for Windows to recognize the widest variety of handwriting.

To disable Automatic Learning go to “START g Control Panel g Hardware and Sound g Pen and Touch”. Tap on the “Handwriting” Tab and choose “Don’t use automatic learning, and delete any previously collected data”.

Handedness

Lastly, telling Windows which hand you write with will also improve handwriting recognition, as well as adjust where pop-up menus and tool tips appear. To tell Windows your handedness, tap on “START g Control Panels g Hardware and Sound g Tablet PC Set- tings” and then on the “Other” tab, select whether you are right or left handed.

You can disable automatic learning if more than one person will regularly use the Tablet PC in order to keep Windows generic handwriting recognition settings.

Informing Windows of your handedness also improves handwriting recognition.

70 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Using Gestures to Improve Productivity

When using Windows® 7 on a standard laptop or desktop PC, many people take advantage of added eﬃciency provided by keyboard short-cuts. Tablet PC users have another way to improve eﬃciency while working by using Windows® 7 built-in screen gestures to open applications, close applications, move data between applications, and navigate within applications.

Windows has two diﬀerent types of gestures depending on the type of input screen used: pen gestures and touch gestures.

Pen Gestures

In the world of pen computing, a gesture is a quick movement of the pen that invokes speciﬁc short-cut actions normally completed by the press of a key on a keyboard. For example, you can enter a space, you can delete text and you can enter a line return. These actions are accomplished in the Input Panel.

At the top on the input panel, just to the left of the close button, is a button that shows how to accomplish a series of gestures. Tap on an individual gesture to display a short movie that demonstrates how to perform the gesture.

Another series of gestures you can invoke with a pen are known as “ﬂicks”. There are two categories of ﬂicks, navigational ﬂicks and editing ﬂicks and are used independently of the input panel anywhere in Windows.

Navigational Flicks

There are four default navigational pen ﬂicks in Windows® 7:

Flick Direction Action Performed

Up Page Up

Right Back

Down Page Down

Left Forward

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 71

Editing Flicks

In addition to the above ﬂicks, there are four default edit ﬂicks:

Flick Direction Action Performed

Up Right Copy

Down Right Paste

Down Left Undo

Up Left Delete

Four navigational ﬂicks are enabled by default in Windows® 7. The four edit ﬂicks will need to be turned on if you want to utilize them. The do this:

1. Tap on “START g Control Panels g Hardware and Sound g Pen and Touch” to open the Pen and Touch control panel.

2. From within the Pen and Touch control panel, tap on the “Flicks” tab.

The four default navigational ﬂicks are enabled in Windows® 7 by default. Editing ﬂicks must be enabled in order to customize pen ﬂicks.

The four editing ﬂicks can be enabled using the option box in the Pen and Touch Control Panel. Tap the “Customized...” button to edit their actions.

72 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

3. At the top of the tab there is a check box that should be selected called “Use ﬂicks to perform common actions quickly and easily”. Below it are two option boxes, select “Navigational ﬂicks and editing ﬂicks” to enable both types of ﬂicks.

NOTE: To disable ﬂicks altogether, uncheck the top check box “Use ﬂicks to perform common actions...”

You’ll know you have successfully invoked a pen ﬂick as the name and icon representing the ﬂick will fade in brieﬂy on your screen where you actually performed the pen ﬂick gesture.

Customizing Pen Flicks

If you would like to assign diﬀerent actions to any of the eight (8) ﬂick directions, you can do so by tapping on the “Customize...” button in the “Flicks” tab of the “Pen and Touch” control panel. In order to gain access to the “Customize...” button, both navigational and editing ﬂicks must be enabled. If you do not want to have all eight ﬂick directions enabled, you can choose to disable whichever ones you like in the customize panel.

In the customize panel, you can modify the action of any ﬂick direction either by choosing a predeﬁned action—of which there are 19—in a ﬂick direction’s drop

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 73

down menu or by creating your own custom action. To create a custom action:

1. Choose “(add)” from the speciﬁc direction’s drop down menu.

2. At the bottom of the panel are two ﬁelds that should now be active. Tap in the top ﬁeld labeled “Name:”. Enter the name you would like for the action you are about to create by tapping on the keyboard tool tip that appears. This is the name that will display in the drop down menu and as a tool tip when you invoke the ﬂick action.

3. Either tap on the “Tab” key in the on-screen keyboard or tap on the “Keys:” ﬁeld to switch focus to it and then enter your desired keyboard key combination for the action you want to create. For example, tap on the [Windows] modiﬁer key and then the [E] key to open the Windows Explorer.

4. Tap the “Save” button to save your custom ﬂick action.

When you are done customizing all of your ﬂicks, tap on the “OK” button at the bottom of the panel to return to the “Pen and Touch” control panel and then tap on the “Apply” button to activate and test your ﬂicks.

Touch Gestures

As the name implies, touch gestures are meant to be used when navigating on a touch screen. Windows Touch enables several gestures that support both single and multi-touch contacts.

74 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Standard Windows multi-touch gestures only support capacitive touch screens.

Enabling and Disabling Multi-Touch Gestures

Many of the most useful gestures built into Windows® 7 require two ﬁnger touch. To disable these behaviors, simply uncheck the box “Enable multitouch gestures and inking”.

Panning with (or without) Inertia

Panning is similar to scrolling up/down or left/right on a page with a mouse, except it is easier and more natural. You can use either one or two ﬁngers to pan up or down, but you must use two ﬁngers to pan left and right.

Simply place your ﬁnger tip or stylus on the page and move your ﬁnger in the direction you want to page to pan. To pan rapidly in a particular direction, swipe your ﬁnger and remove it from the screen.

Selecting / Dragging

This is similar to dragging with a mouse to select elements such as text. Using one ﬁnger, drag to the left or right over the objects or text you wish to select.

Zooming

Using two ﬁngers, place them on the screen and then pinch them together to zoom out for a larger view, or spread them apart to zoom in for a closer view.

Rotating

Place two ﬁngers on the screen and then rotate them clockwise or counter clockwise to rotate an object such as a photo or PDF

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 75

document. Alternately, you can place two ﬁngers on the screen and then rotate one ﬁnger around the other in either a clockwise or counter clockwise direction.

Two Finger Tap

Tap two ﬁngers on the screen around where your intended target is the midpoint in order to zoom into that area to perform actions on small objects such as tapping on a text link in a web page.

Flicking

Flicking is a quick horizontal or vertical swipe to scroll up and down or page forward or backward. To scroll down a web page, for example, ﬂick up on the page with one ﬁnger. To page forward or backward, swipe to the left or right.

Programming the Function Buttons

Your Sahara NetSlate has two or three user-programmable function buttons located on the right side of the system, depending upon your system’s conﬁguration. You can use the “Tablet Button” control applet, located in the system tray, to reprogram the buttons to activate a diﬀerent pre-programmed task, or to launch an application of your choice.

To launch an application, tap on the tools icon (rachet and wrench) of the appropriate function button you wish to program and then tap the “Open...” button to select the application. If the tools icon is not selected, the application listed in the text window will be ignored.

The ﬁrst function button (R1) toggles the touch screen on and oﬀ.

76 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Connecting to the Internet

Your Sahara NetSlate allows you to connect to the Internet in diﬀerent ways. The ways vary depending on the user’s networking environment as well as personal preference and available equipment. This section outlines two of the most common ways:

1. Using a wired LAN (Local Area Network)

2. Using a wireless LAN

Using a Wired LAN

To connect to the Internet via a wired LAN environment, typically an Ethernet port or a broadband modem must be within the reach of the networking cable you are using.

1. Connect an Ethernet networking cable into the LAN port of your Sahara NetSlate and then connect the other end into your broadband modem or the appropriate LAN port as instructed by your network administrator.

2. If your network or Internet Service Provider (ISP) uses a Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) server (as many do) you should ﬁnd that you can already connect to the internet. If not, continue to the next step.

3. Tap on START g Control Panel and then tap on “View network status and tasks” under the “Network and Internet” category.

4. Under “View your active networks” in the window, look for “Access type Connections” and make sure that the “Local Area Connection” is visible. If not, recheck that your networking cable is properly connected, or contact your network administrator.

5. Tap on the “Local Area Connection” link and then tap on the “Properties” button from the “Local Area Connection Properties” window that appears. If Windows asks you for permission to continue, tap on the “Continue” button.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 77

6. On the Networking Tab, you’ll see a list box called “This connection uses the following items:” Select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”, and tap the “Properties” button to open the “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/ IPv4) Properties” window.

Locate the connection type called

“Local Area Connection” and tap

on it to open its status panel.

Tap on the “Properties” button to

open the Local Area Connection

Properties panel.

78 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

7. If DHCP is used on your network, tap “Obtain an IP address automatically” and “Obtain DNS server address automatically”. Otherwise, enter the correct IP and DNS server addresses by selecting the two options that begin with “Use the following…” If you are unsure of which option to use, contact your network administrator or your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

8. After entering the correct information in the “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties” window, tap “OK” to accept your changes and close the window.

9. Repeat steps 5 through 7 selecting “Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) this time if your network supports it.

10. If you need to specify additional DNS servers, WINS servers or gateways, tap on the “Advanced...” button to open the “Advanced TCP/IP Settings” panel.

11. Tap “OK” in the “Local Area Connection Properties” window to ﬁnish and accept the changes.

Using Both DHCP and a Static IP Address

If you are using alternating networks with either DHCP or static IP addressing, you can use alternative settings that will enable simultaneous conﬁgurations of both DHCP and a static IP. This will allow you to connect to both of the networks without having to reconﬁgure each time you want to switch.

1. Follow steps 1 through 7 above when using a wired LAN connection.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 79

2. Tap on the “Alternate Conﬁguration” tab and select the “User conﬁgured” option. Enter the correct values in the appropriate ﬁelds. If you are unsure of which values or options to use, contact your network administrator or the technical support line of your ISP.

3. When you have completed the entire conﬁguration, tap “OK” to accept the settings and close the panel.

Using a Wireless LAN

The WiFi wireless network adapter built into your Sahara NetSlate a510 is compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networks, and therefore can connect to wireless routers or access points that support any of these standards.

1. Turn on the WiFi transmitter using the toggle switch on the top of your tablet.

2. In the System Tray on the Windows Task bar ﬁnd the wireless networking connection icon ( ) and tap on it to bring up the Wireless Network Connection list.

3. From the list that appears, choose the network you wish to connect to and tap the “Connect” button. If no wireless networks appear after a few moments, tap on “Refresh” icon above the network list on the right side of the panel.

NOTE: If you want to connect to this network automatically whenever Windows detects it, make sure the “Connect Automatically” check box has a check in it.

80 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

4. If the wireless network you are attempting to connect to is securityenabled, you will see a dialog box requesting a network security key. Enter the proper key and then tap “OK”.

Most failures to connect to a wireless network occur because the network security key has been improperly entered. Be very careful when entering this security key. If you do not know the correct security key to enter, or still can’t connect after entering the security key properly, contact your network administrator or the technical support line of your ISP.

Bluetooth® Wireless Connectivity

Bluetooth® is a short-range wireless technology you can use to transfer data between your Sahara NetSlate and other wireless devices that use Bluetooth, such as wireless keyboards and mice, cell phones, PDAs and even printers. Bluetooth-enabled devices can communicate with each other, without cables, up to a distance of approximately 10 meters (or about 30 feet).

NOTE: The wireless range can be shortened from interference caused by other wireless devices and/or by walls made of dense building materials.

To connect to a Bluetooth® enabled device:

1. Turn on the Bluetooth transmitter using the toggle switch on the top of your tablet.

2. If the Bluetooth Assistant is running, simply turn on your Bluetooth device and place it into Discoverable mode (see your Bluetooth’s device’s instruction manual for information on how to do this). After a few moments, the Bluetooth Wizard should start up. Skip to step 4.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 81

3. If the Bluetooth Assistant is not running, tap on “START g All Programs g Bluetooth g Add New Connection”. Make sure your Bluetooth device is powered on and in Discoverable mode.

4. The Bluetooth Wizard will search out all Bluetooth devices within range that are set to be discoverable. If there is only one device found, it will automatically begin the pairing process. If there is more than one discoverable device found, it will open a window prompting you to choose which device you would like to pair with your Tablet PC.

5. If the device you are pairing requires a security code to be entered, a window will open asking you to enter the requested PIN.

If a device is found that requires authentication, a dialog box will open prompting you to enter a security key.

Enter the code shown on your device to complete the pairing procedure.

82 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

6. The Wizard should complete the pairing process and inform you that your device is now paired and available. You will then be returned to the Bluetooth Settings panel where your Bluetooth device will be listed in the window.

7. If there were additional Bluetooth devices discovered by the Wizard, it should pop a new window asking if you would like to pair the additional devices. If the wizard does not appear, tap on the “New Connection” button to begin pairing your remaining devices.

8. If your additional devices are not found, simply place the target Bluetooth device into pairing mode again and start the process over. As pairing mode broadcasts an active signal, it draws additional power and therefore is set to last only a short duration of time to conserve battery life.

Your device(s) should now be connected to your tablet and available for use. If successful, the Bluetooth device(s) will be listed in the Bluetooth Settings window and a Bluetooth logo in the System Tray will be present with a green “B”.

Red icon means Bluetooth transmitter is oﬀ.

White icon means Bluetooth transmitter is on but no device(s) connected.

Green icon means Bluetooth transmitter is on and device(s) connected.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 83

If you have trouble connecting to your Bluetooth device, make sure you completed the above steps in the time period that your device is in pairing mode. If your device exits pairing mode before you can connect, re-enable it and, depending on the state of the connection process, redo any applicable steps.

If you are certain that you completed the above steps while your Bluetooth device was in pairing mode and still can not connect successfully, you may need to manually set the proper Bluetooth connection parameters. To do this, simply restart the Connection Wizard by tapping on the “New Connection” button, and when the Bluetooth Wizard starts select the “Custom Mode” option before continuing.

Intel® Graphics and Media Control Panel

Using the Intel® Graphics and Media Control Panel, you can adjust color and brightness settings of your display, monitor resolution, color depth, rotation, video playback, enable multimonitor support (using the optional Docking Cradle or VESA Mounting Plate) and more.

To launch the control panel, press and hold on an empty part of your desktop and then tap on “Graphics Properties...” from the pop-up menu that appears. Alternatively, you can tap on the control panel’s icon in the System Tray and select “Graphics Properties...” from the pop-up menu that appears.

You can double-tap on the Intel Graphics icon to open the control

84 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Conﬁguring your Display Device(s)

When the Intel® GMA Driver Control Panel opens, it will display the operating mode and display selection of the Sahara NetSlate's current conﬁguration. Unless you have the system attached to the optional Docking Cradle or VESA Mounting Plate and an external monitor is attached to the VGA port, you will only have the options of "Single Display" and the Primary Device as "Notebook" which is the internal LCD panel.

Tap on the help button ( ? ) at the top of each panel to display tool tips that will explain what each setting does.

Enabling Multiple Monitor Support

To enable multiple displays, be sure to have your external monitor connected and then select your desired operating mode from the drop down on the Display Devices Tab. “Single Display” uses only one monitor, “Clone Display” will show the same desktop view on both monitors, or “Extended Desktop” to use both monitors as one big desktop space.

After you have chosen your operating mode, select which monitor will be the Primary display and which will be the Secondary display. The Primary display will control the resolution of the Windows desktop, house the Windows Taskbar and be the only monitor active when operating in “Single Display” mode.

Changing Display Properties

The Display Settings tab is where you can set your display resolution, color depth, refresh rate, default screen rotation and scaling mode. Tapping on the "Aspect Ratio Options" button will

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 85

open a window that allows you to choose how your desktop will display on screen when resolution settings of an external monitor doesn't match the internal display.

“Scale Full Screen” will scale up the Windows desktop to ﬁll the monitor screen if the resolution of the monitor is set higher than the resolution of the Primary display. “Center Image” will center the desktop, without scaling, on the screen surrounded by a black border.

Adjusting Power Settings

To control how the system balances battery eﬃciency and display performance, tap on the "Power Settings" button to open a subpanel that will allow you to choose either one of four Power Savings modes, or to create your own custom power savings proﬁle. The "Modify Settings" button in the Power Settings panel exposes the complete set of available power settings for use with a custom proﬁle.

Enhancing the Display

The Color Correction tab is where you can adjust the Brightness, Contrast, and Gamma (mid-level brightness only) of the display for all color channels or each one individually.

86 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Two display boxes on the right side of the panel will allow you to monitor how your setting adjustments eﬀect the RGB displays as well as the output contrast and gamma curves of each channel. The entire desktop display will also update live as you make your adjustments with the various sliders.

If you dislike the changes you have made and want to revert to the default display settings, simply tap the "Restore Defaults" button beneath the two display boxes on the right side of the panel.

3D Performance

Tapping the 3D Settings button at the bottom of the GMA control panel opens a panel where you can adjust the 3D settings for better performance (higher frame rates) or better display quality (less screen tearing and better image smoothing). Tap in the value ﬁeld to adjust each attribute's setting. To revert to the default settings, tap on the "Restore Defaults" button located underneath the attribute list window.

Video Overlay for Windowed Video Playback

The Video Overlay window is where you can adjust how video looks when played back on your screen in a window on your desktop. These settings work independently of the Windows

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 87

desktop settings and only eﬀect the video playback window. You can use these settings if a video you are watching looks too dark, for example.

Video Settings for Full Screen Video Playback

The Video Settings window is where you can adjust how video looks when played back on your screen full screen, independently of the Windows desktop settings. You can use these settings if a movie you are watching looks too dark, for example.

Hot Keys

The Hot Key tab will allow you to enable and disable keyboard short-cuts for opening this control panel, rotating the screen, scaling the display, and enabling/disabling the display(s). Using keyboard short-cuts are much quicker than having to open the control panel by tapping on the desktop, opening the panel,

88 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

navigating to the proper section, etc. in order to make a commonly used settings adjustment.

TIP: Map these keyboard short-cuts to a pen/touch gesture to enable changes with a simple ﬂick of the pen or your ﬁnger.

Display Schemes

Since not all display settings are appropriate for all applications and uses, the GMA control panel includes the ability to save all of the settings you collectively make in this control panel to a custom graphics scheme that you can invoke whenever the need arises. Additionally, you can link a scheme to a particular application so that anytime you launch that application, the scheme will be automatically invoked.

Why might you want to create multiple schemes?

 You need better 3D performance at the expense of visual

quality for a particular graphics intensive application.

 When the system is docked on running on AC power you

turn oﬀ all power saving features for maximum graphics performance.

 When you are out in the ﬁeld you wish to maximize power

savings at the expense of 3D performance to enhance battery life.

System and Display Information

Tapping on the ( i ) icon in the upper right corner of the GMA control panel opens an Information window that displays a list of the system's graphics and display hardware information, including an overview of many important settings related to your system’s CPU, memory, graphics accelerator, Windows and DirectX versions, built-in display and attached display.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 89

Getting More Help

The Support tab in the "Information" panel provides links to the Intel website where you can obtain more information and program updates.

Realtek HD Audio Manager

The Realtek HD Audio Manager is where you can control how audio is recorded and played back on your Sahara NetSlate. To enter this control panel go to “START g Control Panel g Hardware and Sound” and scroll down to “Realtek HD Audio Manager”.

Alternatively, you can go to the System Tray and press and hold on the Realtek

90 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

HD Audio Manager icon ( ) and tap on “Sound Manager” from the pop-up menu that appears. The advantage here is that the pop-up menu contains short-cuts to other audio related controls in Windows 7, including the Sound Control Panel (Audio Devices & System Sound Settings), the Windows Media Player, the Volume Control and the Windows Sound Recorder application.

Adjusting Audio Playback

The Speakers tab is where you can control the way your Sahara NetSlate plays back audio. Here you can adjust the system volume level, set the default playback device (internal speaker or headphones/external speakers), specify the type of speakers attached to the system, set environmental presets for sound eﬀects, and specify the audio playback format.

Volume Level

The Main Volume section at the top of the Speakers tab has controls for stereo balance (left and right), system volume (aﬀects overall volume levels of all playback sounds, use the volume control panel to adjust individual sound sources), and

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 91

volume muting. The volume level applies to the default audio playback device.

Set Default Playback Device

This drop down sets which audio playback device (internal speakers, headphone/external speakers, connected USB audio device) will output system audio.

Speaker Conﬁguration

This sub-tab allows you to choose what type of speaker conﬁguration is attached to your system. If you do not have any attached audio devices, your conﬁguration will default to “Stereo” for the built-in speakers and be grayed out.

Press the play button next to the drop down menu to hear a speaker test play. If you do not hear anything from your speakers, check to make sure the volume level is turned up high enough or not muted.

To encode surround sound audio as stereo sound for transfer out of the analog out/headphone jack to a speaker system or receiver capable of surround sound matrix decoding, place a check in the “Virtual Surround” check box.

If you are playing back deep booming sound tracks that are causing your externally connected speakers to distort, uncheck “Full-range Speakers” to limit the output of lower frequency (deeper) sound.

Sound Eﬀects

This sub-tab is where you can apply sound eﬀects to your audio playback to simulate diﬀerent environments (regular room, bathroom, Auditorium, Concert Hall, etc.). Select an Environment from the drop down menu to hear how it aﬀects playback.

To constrain certain sounds from playing back too loudly or too softly compared to the average volume level of the currently playing audio content, put a check in the box entitled Loudness Equalization.

92 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Use the Equalizer to adjust the waveform of the audio playback to better conform to certain types of musical styles.

Use the Karaoke counter control to cancel out (tone down) frequencies associated with human voice sounds (singing).

Default Audio Format

Use this drop down to set the bit depth, sampling rate and frequency of the audio playback. The higher the settings the better quality the sound. There reaches a point of loss of distinction depending upon the speakers being used to play back the

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 93

audio, so higher settings may not also produce audio output that sounds better to the listener. Going too low, however, will produce audio that sounds poor.

Adjusting Audio Recording

The Microphone Tab contains controls to adjust the quality of audio recorded by the system via either the built-in digital microphone array, or an externally connected sound source.

Recording Volume Level

The Recording Volume section at the top of the Microphone tab has controls for stereo balance (left and right), input volume levels of the selected recording device, muting and microphone boost.

Microphone Eﬀects

This sub-section allows you to apply Noise Suppression, to cancel out background noise, and Acoustic Echo Cancellation, to reduce echo caused by the audio playing out the front speakers while recording.

94 Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7

Mobility Center

puts these import

functions together at

your ﬁngertip: screen

brightness, volume,

battery status and

power settings, wireless

networking, screen

rotation, external display

connection, sync settings

and presentation

settings (for hooking up

a projector).

Default Format

This sub-section is where you can choose the audio recording quality. Use this drop down to set the bit depth, sampling rate and frequency of the audio recorded. The two default choices are for CD quality and DVD quality.

Windows Mobility Center

Windows 7 includes the Mobility Center which groups together, into one panel many of the most common functions mobile users may need while on the go. To open the Mobility Center go to “START g All Programs g Accessories g Windows Mobility Center”.

Chapter 04: Using Your Sahara NetSlate with Microsoft® Windows® 7 95

This page intentionally left blank.

Chapter 05: Securing Your Sahara NetSlate 97

Your Sahara NetSlate is equipped with a security enabled BIOS, a Trust Platform Module (TPM) that is TCG v1.2 compliant, and a biometric ﬁngerprint reader that can help you better secure your system and your data from intruders.

Used in conjunction with the security features of Windows 7 and specialized security management software, a TPM provides facilities for generating cryptographic keys—as well as the ability to limit the use of such keys for authentication or encryption/decryption—and also random numbers. The TPM can also be used to authenticate a speciﬁc hardware device for use in platform authentication. For example, the TPM can be used to verify the authenticity of a speciﬁc hardware system for secured access.

The biometric ﬁngerprint reader can be used on its own as a method for entering passwords without the need for a keyboard, or in tandem with the TPM to create a secure and convenient way to protect system access rights and data availability.

This chapter will help get you started securing your system by showing you how to enable the TPM, and get it set to be used in tandem with either Windows 7 data encryption facilities or your security management system of choice, register your ﬁngerprints with the UPEK Protector Suite and begin using it to store and retrieve saved passwords.

Chapter 05

Securing Your Sahara NetSlate

98 Chapter 05: Securing Your Sahara NetSlate

Initializing TPM

The ﬁrst thing you must do in order to begin securing your computer is to initialize the TPM. This requires ﬁrst turning on the TPM and then taking ownership of the TPM.

Turning on the TPM

The ﬁrst step is to turn on the TPM in the system’s BIOS.

NOTE: The function keys on your Sahara NetSlate act as navigation keys in the BIOS. To make the instructions easier to follow, the keys will be shortened to L1-4 and R1-4 to represent the ﬁrst through fourth buttons on both the left and right sides of the system, with 1 being the top most button on a given side and 4 being the bottom. So, L1 is the top button on the left side of the Tablet PC, while R4 would be the bottom button on the right side.

1. Power on or restart your Sahara NetSlate.

2. As soon as the TabletKiosk logo appears on the screen

press the Screen Rotation (L2) button on the left side of the system.

3. When the BIOS appears, press L3 to go to the Advanced Menu and then go down to the Trusted Computing item by

pressing L4 twice.

4. Enter the Trusted Computing screen by pressing R2.

5. With the TCG/TPM SUPPORT option highlighted, press R2.

Highlight “Yes” by pressing L4 and then R2. The TPM SUPPORT entry should now read “Enable”.

BIOS SETUP UTILITY

Main Advanced Boot Security Exit

Advanced Settings

 IDE Configuration

 AHCI Configuration  Trusted Computing

BAT Calibration FAN Calibration Wake On LAN From S4/S5 [Disable] Left Programmable Button 3/4 [Volume Up/Down] Bootup Num-Lock [Off]

Configure the IDE device(s).

 Select Screen  Select Item

+- Change Field Tab Select Field F1 General Help F10 Save and Exit ESC Exit

Chapter 05: Securing Your Sahara NetSlate 99

6. Press R3 to Save and Exit, and then press R2 to commit the changes and exit the BIOS.

Taking Ownership of the TPM

1. To take ownership of the TPM you can use the TPM Initialization Wizard in Windows 7.

2. Go to “START g All Programs g Accessories g Run”

3. In the Open ﬁeld, type TPM.msc and tap the “OK” button.

4. The TPM

Management Console should appear. In the Actions pane, tap on Initialize the TPM. This will start the TPM Initialization Wizard.

BIOS SETUP UTILITY

Main Advanced Boot Security Exit

Trusted Computing

TCG/TPM SUPPORT [No]

Enable/Disable TPM TCG (TPM 1.1/1.2) supp in BIOS

BIOS SETUP UTILITY

Main Advanced Boot Security Exit

Trusted Computing

TCG/TPM SUPPORT [Yes]

Execute TPM Command [Don't change] Clearing the TPM [Press Enter]

TPM Enable/Disable Status [Enabled] TPM Owner Status [UnOwned]

Enable/Disable TPM TCG (TPM 1.1/1.2) supp in BIOS

 Select Screen  Select Item

+- Change Option F1 General Help F10 Save and Exit ESC Exit

◄ TPM is OFF

TPM is now set to be

enabled, but the system

must be restarted

before it takes eﬀect.

►

The TPM Management Console (TPM MC) will walk you through the process of taking ownership of the TPM. To access the TPM MC, you can also go to the START menu and type TPM.msc in the search bar and then tap on its link in the search results window.

Sahara NetSlate a510 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual