Tablet PC vs. Laptop for the first two years

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Seagal

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I can't decide between tablet vs. regular laptop. I hear tablets are great for anatomy and writing notes on pdfs. How sturdy are they?

Could people who are using or have used the Tablet PC for the first two years of med school share their experiences please?

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I second this emotion. I'm sitting on the fence, and thinking about buying an IBM Thinkpad X41 tablet. Thoughts, tablet users?
 
I suggest that you go Tablet. When you have powerpoints it is much easier to just write on them than to have to type. You can also alter any digital document by writing with a tablet. You therefore do not have to print nearly as many things out to be able to do this. They are extremely versatile and are worth the extra expense.
 
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I never saw any tablets in use during med school, but I didn't see THAT many laptops either.
 
I was JUST about to post a thread about this topic! =) I'm also debating tablet vs. laptop. I'm thinking about the acer c310 (314) tablet, and also would like to know whether people think they're worth it.
 
I'm a MS1 at Case Western and I think TabletPC's would be pretty useful here. Our lectures are streamed out over the internet and most of the professors provide you with their powerpoint slides beforehand. Several students pull up the powerpoints and type notes directly into the presentation. It seems to me, that having a tablet would be nice since you just write stuff in (especially if you don't type very fast. Also, the drawing feature is nice as you can use it as a whitebaord. There are small group rooms/study rooms which all have projectors you can hook your computers up. Group study would be nice as you can draw and project to others like it was a whiteboard, instead of having to turn on the lights and try and find a dry-erase marker (and believe me, $40k/ye of tuition doesn't include markers!).

On the other hand, take this with a grain of salt since I don't actually own a TabletPC, as our class was provided craptastic Dell laptops.

-X
 
I'm getting a tablet. Although some people have their fair share of complaints, I know that I'll save so much paper and time (organization will be sooo much better) with a tablet that the minor inconveniences (if there are indeed inconveniences at all) will be bearable. I would, however, recommend that you check out a site like http://www.cnet.com/ for product reviews, etc. For what it's worth, I'm probably going to get a Fujitsu.
 
Rogue Synapse said:
I second this emotion. I'm sitting on the fence, and thinking about buying an IBM Thinkpad X41 tablet. Thoughts, tablet users?

I've got the model you are thinking about buying and am so glad I decided to buy it for med school. It was enormously helpful during anatomy to circle structure the professor is talking about (as a previous poster mentioned). It is also very useful to write on powerpoint slides during lectures when the prof. uses a lot of pictures. I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary, but definitely nicer than a regular laptop. I think a wave of tablet users happened in my class where only a few people had them the beginning of the year, but then one by one, several of us got them after we saw how useful they were to take notes on. Also, you don't have to carry around tons of books or printed out lecture notes which is easier on the transport of study materials. :)

On a more personal level, I learn things better when I can write rather than type, so if that means anything to ya, I would suggest a tablet.
 
I just spent a few hours going through reviews and opinions at both CNET and tabletpcreviewspot, and a few other places. Like geekOCD, I've decided on the Acer C314 tablet. It's much heavier than the other tablets out there like the Fujitsu Lifebook or especially the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad X41, but I'm not planning on walking around the wards with it crooked in one arm. Mainly, I just need to be able to take notes on it during lecture, and I want to be able to run any graphically intensive imaging programs that I know we use, for example, in neuroanatomy. The Acer's extra power and much bigger screen clinched it for me over the Thinkpad X41 (thanks for your input though, MorningGlory).

My current laptop is a Dell Inspiron 5150, a massively heavy desktop replacement that has served me exceedingly well through the years. Never had a single technical issue, it has always run fast (though a little hot due to its pentium 4 3.07 GHz processor) and reliable, and has about a 4 hr battery life with the extended primary battery (which made the comp even more massively heavy). I'm contemplating keeping this aging laptop for med school, but I think the tablet functionality is too cool and useful to pass up. Plus, the Acer C314, though widely criticized as being too heavy (i.e. 2.5 lbs heavier than Thinkpad X41), is still about half the weight of my laptop.
 
How long is the battery life typically on these things? What is the lightest model? And if you're using them, do you walk around with them a great deal? Can it do nearly everything that a palm pc or pocket pc can do?
 
I should let someone that actually owns one of these answer, but having just done the research to buy one, I can't stop myself.

There are three types of tablet pcs:
1. Slate - doesn't come with a keyboard. Just like the name implies, it's basically just a touchscreen, and that's it. You use the supplied stylus to navigate through windows.
2. Convertible - Comes with a keyboard and looks like a regular ultrathin/light laptop (i.e. it has a keyboard), except the screen can swivel around 180 degrees and fold down over the keyboard, turning the whole computer into a slate
3. Hybrid - Comes with a small detachable keyboard, so it's not really a laptop, more like a slate with flimsy keyboard capabilities

Most models are convertibles, i.e. laptops with screens that can be folded down and written on. As such, they run a version of Windows XP specific for tablets. I've played with this windows, and I couldn't tell a single difference between it and regular old Windows XP. To group tablet PCs with Palm or Pocket PCs is wrong: they're actually full computers with the ample power and memory, capable of running any program or game that your current computer can. They have battery life similar to laptops: usually 3.5-5 hours. They're typically lighter/smaller than most laptops, or comparable to the ultralight/ultrathin/ultramobile category of laptops, which many of these tablet PCs are actually based upon, anyway. Most come with a 60-100 GB hard drive, at least 512 MB of RAM, and a 1.6-2.0 GHz mobile processor that you'd find in any laptop (Pentium M or Centrino). The lightest convertible tablets (e.g. Lenovo Thinkpad X41) weigh 3.5 pounds, and are designed with walking around and using them in mind, whereas the slate/hybrid tablets are even lighter, and sacrifice some functionality for total mobility.

I can see where some professional/business oriented people would want a computer they could carry around with them all day. However, the only reason I'm getting a tablet is for the ability to write on the screen and take notes on electronic handouts; I don't need the mobility of a superlight. I've chosen one of the heavier convertible tablets, and I intend to use it as my main computer, just like a regular laptop.
 
I played with a tablet at best buy and while it was cool, I didn't think it was cool enough. I've decided to get the best ultraportable (under 4 pounds) i can afford and get a docking station and a nice big lcd monitor for my desk. It'll either be a sony Sz series or perhaps the lenovo X60 (although the stupid thing doesn't have a built in optical drive). I have an old, heavy dell and while it's lasted 5 years it's useless as a laptop as i never want to carry it anywhere. I want to be mobile, baby!

rk
 
I am also thinking on going tablet this year and my candidate is the Toshiba Portege m400. So far the reviews I've read are decent, but I wanted to know if anybody here has had any experience with this model, and if you would recommend it. Thanks!
 
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I just got at Treo 650 smartphone and it's pretty cool. To answer the question about using a palm/hand held device over a tablet: I dont think that it would be as feasible as a tablet PC replacement simply because of the screen size, the somewhat clunky PC sync interface and limited memory for storage of documents.

Tablets are great and all for classroom use, but in all practicality, how often are you going to use the feature that you paid an extra grand for after the step 1's? Just playing devil's advocate...
 
Extra grand? I think maybe more like extra 200-300. Is it really worth the extra money to be able to write notes during anatomy et al.? I don't know. Is part of the reason I'm willing to pony up more dollars the cool tech factor? Maybe. Same reason I got a hybrid car - it's fun to have the coolest, highest-tech thing out there.

Actually, I got my new hybrid Civic for the same price as a non-hybrid one, so the price difference is not an issue, and it's saving me tons of money now. Maybe I can find a great deal on a tablet as well.
 
Rogue Synapse said:
Extra grand? I think maybe more like extra 200-300. Is it really worth the extra money to be able to write notes during anatomy et al.? I don't know. Is part of the reason I'm willing to pony up more dollars the cool tech factor? Maybe. Same reason I got a hybrid car - it's fun to have the coolest, highest-tech thing out there.

Actually, I got my new hybrid Civic for the same price as a non-hybrid one, so the price difference is not an issue, and it's saving me tons of money now. Maybe I can find a great deal on a tablet as well.

I was just throwing out a number...sweet deal on the hybrid!!!
 
Rogue Synapse said:
Extra grand? I think maybe more like extra 200-300. Is it really worth the extra money to be able to write notes during anatomy et al.? I don't know.

Considering we are paying $30-40k per year in tuition alone, an additional couple hundred for added note-taking convenience is pretty reasonable. This is especially true since most teaching is now done via powerpoint and being able to write directly on slides would be ideal.
 
also, tablets aren't neccesarily more expensive. The tablet I'm looking to buy is full-featured but is only around $1700, same price as a similiarly outfitted laptop. Regarding the toshiba portege m400, I would check out reviews (google, there's a great tablet review site that I don't remember the url of) b/c I was somewhat unimpressed by them when I was researching tablets.
 
hi, I've looked into this a lot and recently placed an order for the fujitsu T4020 lifebook. Here's why,

some good websites:
www.cnet.com
www.tabletbuzz.com

From everyone I've talked to, portability is the most important thing. So that knocks out Gateway, Acer, and perhaps HP. Dell and Apple do not make tablet labtops. Also, I knew I wanted a convertible, so that knocks out the slate models. Although I tried a Motion Computing slate (1 yr old) that was pretty neat. You could definitely hold this one for a while and toss it around like a book.
weight:
IBM x41 (3.5 lbs) < Fujitsu T4020 (4.3 lbs) < Toshiba m400 (4.6? lbs).

The IBM has the longest battery life and is the lightest, but it has a weak processor and no bay for a CD/DVD drive. I can't justify getting a replacement computer that's weaker than my current one! Also, in my opinion the worst part, THE IBM HAS NO TOUCH PAD! I decided against the IBM. By the way, I gave the x41 a test drive cause my friend recently bought one. It was pretty cool. I could manage the mouse joystick in the keyboard because it was someone else's computer. But if it were my own, it would drive me nuts.

The Fujitsu seemed comparable to the Toshiba, but lighter. From the message boards I read, people were generally happy with it. Plus I've been to three different Best Buys in the Bay Area, and all of them had returned toshiba's in the "opened goods" cage. Kind of a bad sign...

If you want to check out the Fujitsu T4020, they have them at Fry's Electronics. However, they don't have display models out yet, because it's a new item. I ordered mine from Japan (i wanted to customize), and it should be here in a week or two. then i'll post again.
 
geekOCD said:
also, tablets aren't neccesarily more expensive. The tablet I'm looking to buy is full-featured but is only around $1700, same price as a similiarly outfitted laptop. Regarding the toshiba portege m400, I would check out reviews (google, there's a great tablet review site that I don't remember the url of) b/c I was somewhat unimpressed by them when I was researching tablets.

Yeah, I finally decided to get the Fujitsu T4020 (I re-read the reviews on the m400 and that model seems to have 2 persistent problems) so I'm pretty excited :D (should be here on Friday :idea: ) BTW, www.newegg.com is awsome! Got a pretty sweet deal there.
 
geekOCD and Tristy said:
Gonna get the Fujitsu Lifebook
Cool! That one looks like a winner. I think I'll save a few bucks and get the Acer C314. Tons of power, but heavy, and portability is just not an issue for me. I've taken a few classes with medical students as a grad student, and I just plugged my laptop in and plopped it on the desk. I won't be doing much more than that with this new one, so I'm basically looking for a desktop replacement computer. I need the most power and functionality possible, and I'm strong enough to lug around the resultant extra two or three pounds.

This will be good, though, because we'll have a few different models to compare amongst us, and potentially offer advice to others on SDN.
 
I have an Acer C314 that I have been using the second half of my 1st year. So far I really like it. The weight is not too bad and because I don't have to carry around a syllabus it makes it that much more practical. We have lecture from 8-12 so I can get by on battery if I drop down the screen brightness and CPU speed. I use the tablet function about half of the time depending on the class. The tablet function is great for neuro diagrams and stuff like that. My only recommendation is to not spill coffee on your keyboard as you will have to wait a week for a new one to be shipped.
 
geekOCD said:
also, tablets aren't neccesarily more expensive. The tablet I'm looking to buy is full-featured but is only around $1700, same price as a similiarly outfitted laptop. Regarding the toshiba portege m400, I would check out reviews (google, there's a great tablet review site that I don't remember the url of) b/c I was somewhat unimpressed by them when I was researching tablets.

actually, tablets ARE more expensive. Depending on size and brand, they'll usually run you an extra couple hundred bucks. Probably not much more than five or six hundred.
 
BAM! said:
actually, tablets ARE more expensive. Depending on size and brand, they'll usually run you an extra couple hundred bucks. Probably not much more than five or six hundred.

The tablets are generally more expensive but I think it kind of flattens out when you start subtracting all the printertoner, paper, notebooks, pens, whatever else you would probably buy a lot more over the span of the laptop..I doubt it'd make up several hundred but stuff can build up after a while...(this is if you truly use the tablet features by the way) Also, if writing helps you learn better and you can carry your notes all on one little section then I think the extra money COULD be worth it. I really wish Apple made a tablet...I am getting a new laptop when I get home from study abroad since my dell finally quit on me...I really really like the macbook but I like the functionality of the tablets. My main problem is that I have lots of music and I'd prefer to not have to keep most of it on an external HD...the tablets seem to either charge ridiculous amounts for a larger HD or simply just have a 40 gig..I am also waiting for them to come out with the core duo and stuff...no way am I going to get a new computer with just about the same stats as my current one...lol
 
I am not in Med School, but I am doing my undergrad.

I have an HP tc4200 and I love it. I don't think I could ever go back to a regular laptop.

My tablet is a convertable tablet (the screen swivels and locks down to be a true tablet). My tablet also has the little blue mouse button (like IBM) in the keyboard as well as a touch pad. I like having both.

Don't forget to check out e-bay. I bought my tablet after much research off of e-bay. I was going to buy the basic model off of the HP website, but decided last minute to check out e-bay. I got a better, more equipped model for the same price I would have paid from the HP website.

Nothing beats a tablet, things that I specifically like it for:
- writing my notes for calculus, and chemistry (i'm sure physics as well).
- Because mine is a tablet for courses that are more writing bases (ie. Anthropology, histology etc) I can type for those courses.
- Graphic design for my current volunteer project.
- Size - mine is the size of a regular piece of paper.

I'm around if anyone has any specific questions.
 
Medic_9 said:
I am not in Med School, but I am doing my undergrad.

I have an HP tc4200 and I love it. I don't think I could ever go back to a regular laptop.

My tablet is a convertable tablet (the screen swivels and locks down to be a true tablet). My tablet also has the little blue mouse button (like IBM) in the keyboard as well as a touch pad. I like having both.

Don't forget to check out e-bay. I bought my tablet after much research off of e-bay. I was going to buy the basic model off of the HP website, but decided last minute to check out e-bay. I got a better, more equipped model for the same price I would have paid from the HP website.

Nothing beats a tablet, things that I specifically like it for:
- writing my notes for calculus, and chemistry (i'm sure physics as well).
- Because mine is a tablet for courses that are more writing bases (ie. Anthropology, histology etc) I can type for those courses.
- Graphic design for my current volunteer project.
- Size - mine is the size of a regular piece of paper.

I'm around if anyone has any specific questions.

I'm hesitant about buying a tablet because I'm already in the habit of just printing out powerpoint slides and writing my notes in pencil. Is writing on the computer screen similar to the way you can electronically sign credit card receipts now? B/c my handwriting sucks when I write on those screens!

Hmm, graphic design for your volunteer project? You mean you can just draw in your designs in as opposed to using a program? Now that's something I'd be interested in, as I have so much trouble using graphic programs. What's the cost of an HP tc4200?
 
funshine said:
I'm hesitant about buying a tablet because I'm already in the habit of just printing out powerpoint slides and writing my notes in pencil. Is writing on the computer screen similar to the way you can electronically sign credit card receipts now? B/c my handwriting sucks when I write on those screens!

Hmm, graphic design for your volunteer project? You mean you can just draw in your designs in as opposed to using a program? Now that's something I'd be interested in, as I have so much trouble using graphic programs. What's the cost of an HP tc4200?

No, writing on a tablet is almost exactly like writing on paper. You can re-calibrate the display whenever you feel that the pen tip isn't lining up with your writing. The main difference between writing on a tablet and paper is that writing on a tablet without a screen protector is smooth, it does not have the resistance that paper has (however small).

A tablet has specialty functions for almost every program. I can highlight words in any (all of the programs that I have at least) of my programs. Add notes etc. This is especially nice in power point where you can highlight and add notes to your slides. I have recently discovered Mindjet Mindmanager which is a nice program to have.

The graphic design I was referring to is designing posters and such. I'm using Microsoft Publisher for my designs. Being able to manipulate the size or position of a certain part of the poster is really easy with the pen functionality. I'm preparing a presentation for next year. We hope to go province wide (I'm from Canada) with this project next year. Maybe once i'm a little further along i'll post some details about it on here.

I paid $2000 (CAN funds) plus shipping for my tablet off of e-bay. From the HP website the starting price is $1,549 (US funds)
 
MossPoh said:
Worried about tablet having weak stats, small HD
The tablet I'm getting (Acer C314) comes with a 100 GB hard drive standard. Also, they make tablets now with the Core Duo processor standard. For example, the new HP Compaq tc4400
funshine said:
I'm worried that writing on the screen will be like signing for a credit card - all weird and stuff
I've tried most of these tablet laptops. Most of them have a screen that isn't glassy like the credit card signing devices at stores tend to be; these tablets have textured screens that feels literally like you're writing on paper. One of the criticisms of the HP Compaq tc4200 (and presumably the upgraded tc4400) is that the screen feels too glassy and not paperlike, but obviously Medic_9 had a fine time with hers (my bad).
 
Rogue Synapse said:
The tablet I'm getting (Acer C314) comes with a 100 GB hard drive standard. Also, they make tablets now with the Core Duo processor standard. For example, the new HP Compaq tc4400

I've tried most of these tablet laptops. Most of them have a screen that isn't glassy like the credit card signing devices at stores tend to be; these tablets have textured screens that feels literally like you're writing on paper. One of the criticisms of the HP Compaq tc4200 (and presumably the upgraded tc4400) is that the screen feels too glassy and not paperlike, but obviously Medic_9 had a fine time with his.

Hers...

You can buy screen protectors to protect your tablet's screen from scratches and it also adds that slight resistance that most people are used to.
 
Are Toshiba and Acer the only companies that make tablets with CD drives?...I don't want to deal with the hassel of an external drive.
 
BAM! said:
Also, in my opinion the worst part, THE IBM HAS NO TOUCH PAD! I decided against the IBM. By the way, I gave the x41 a test drive cause my friend recently bought one. It was pretty cool. I could manage the mouse joystick in the keyboard because it was someone else's computer. But if it were my own, it would drive me nuts.

Do you really need a touchpad if you have a stylus?
 
bruinH2Oskier said:
Are Toshiba and Acer the only companies that make tablets with CD drives?...I don't want to deal with the hassel of an external drive.

Check out the fujitsu T4020... that's the one I'm planning on buying.
 
bruinH2Oskier said:
Are Toshiba and Acer the only companies that make tablets with CD drives?...I don't want to deal with the hassel of an external drive.

An internal drive (CD or disk) just add weight. I don't have either. The only thing I have is a SD card. I have never missed having a CD drive. I can download programs that I need. I also have a desktop computer so if I need the CD I just save the program on my desktop and transfer it to my laptop. Not everyone will have that set up though.
 
xtracrispy said:
Do you really need a touchpad if you have a stylus?

yes, touchpad = less hand movement and more acurate than the stylus.
 
Hmmm. Has anyone looked at how much a lot of these things weigh even with the drives? I just got done looking at a bunch..the heaviest ones are a whopping 5.5 lbs...my laptop now is 8 and I could carry that in my arm all day but the I am not exactly a small guy I guess........I saw a picture of the Acer with someone's hand and it seems tiny compared to what I lug around now. Maybe the whole weight thing is relative though.lol I did use to powerlift.lol
 
I played with a few tablets (the acer, toshiba, fujitsu, and lenovo) in a store the other day and found that weight was a bigger deal than I'd thought. The lenovo and fujitsu are light as feathers and seem like a snap to take anywhere. The toshiba was somewhat heavier but still ok. The acer, the heaviest at ~6.4lbs, really felt significantly heavier - kinda like a brick actually. I'm not a small person or anything, and carrying the acer felt like some significant weight - I could not hold it comfortably with two hands for more than a minute, it would really have to be on a table at all times. I walked in w/ the acer as my first choice, and walked out thinking of the fujitsu. Also, as a side note, the acer's 14" screen is really unnecessary in tablet form, it's just gigantic. The 12" models looked much more natural, plenty of space but still comfortable.
 
MossPoh said:
Hmmm. Has anyone looked at how much a lot of these things weigh even with the drives? I just got done looking at a bunch..the heaviest ones are a whopping 5.5 lbs...my laptop now is 8 and I could carry that in my arm all day but the I am not exactly a small guy I guess........I saw a picture of the Acer with someone's hand and it seems tiny compared to what I lug around now. Maybe the whole weight thing is relative though.lol I did use to powerlift.lol
IBM has the lightest model at 3.5 pounds (everything included). The Acer is one of the heavier options I believe, but that's because it includes a significantly larger hard drive.
 
Bleh, geekOCD beat me to it and gave a much better answer. I, too, agree that the weight will be a big deal. It's pretty tough to find a good balance between weight and performance though.
 
I really contemplated getting a tablet PC for a while but I really don't think I'll be able to study off it. I could never study off the powerpoint slides my professors posted on the internet. I need to physically have a piece of paper in front of me. So if I'm going to be printing the lectures anyway, I might as well forfeit the tablet PC. Yes, I know I'm hardcore crazy but looks like I'll be getting a new Macbook.
 
geekOCD said:
I played with a few tablets (the acer, toshiba, fujitsu, and lenovo) in a store the other day and found that weight was a bigger deal than I'd thought. The lenovo and fujitsu are light as feathers and seem like a snap to take anywhere. The toshiba was somewhat heavier but still ok. The acer, the heaviest at ~6.4lbs, really felt significantly heavier - kinda like a brick actually. I'm not a small person or anything, and carrying the acer felt like some significant weight - I could not hold it comfortably with two hands for more than a minute, it would really have to be on a table at all times. I walked in w/ the acer as my first choice, and walked out thinking of the fujitsu. Also, as a side note, the acer's 14" screen is really unnecessary in tablet form, it's just gigantic. The 12" models looked much more natural, plenty of space but still comfortable.


When you are talking about weight, do you mean carrying your laptop around in a backpack or actually carrying it around with you on the wards? The latter case probably isn't practical or sanitary no matter how light your tabletpc is.
 
I mean just carrying it around my house, moving quickly between classes, etc. It is frustrating that the acer models are the only ones with high-end specs (good gfx cards, 1gb ram standard, large hard drives) but I really fell in love with a 12" screen and the acer c314 is 14" and their 200 series has this strange sliding system that leaves the screen unprotected all the time. Bah.
 
Hah! Glad I popped over from osteo and found this thread. I have been weighing the same decisions and finally went with the Acer C314 a couple days ago. I knew it would be a little heavier than some others, but it definitely has impressive bang for the buck. If I had wanted to wait, I would have kept my eye out for the Asus R1F. If I had an unlimited budget, Fujitsu would probably be it.

Since school doesn't start for a couple more months ;), I can't give any "real world" feedback yet, but I can say that surfing the web and reading pdfs in tablet mode is very cool and much more "intuitive" than with the keyboard. Feel free to PM if you have any questions about the Acer.
 
TheMightyAngus said:
When you are talking about weight, do you mean carrying your laptop around in a backpack or actually carrying it around with you on the wards? The latter case probably isn't practical or sanitary no matter how light your tabletpc is.

just sitting on a couch, surfing the net, it's way better to have 3-4 lbs sitting in your lap than 6-7. Granted I haven't started yet, from what I've seen, most med students don't have the need to carry around a laptop/tablet in the wards. However, it makes sense for attendings. I don't see how it's unsanitary.
 
i worked as a computer tech in the dorm and a comp sci major for two years and have talked to many many people about this subject. based on everything im hearing here i would choose between lenovo and toshiba personally.

if you ask a computer person though...if you want long lasting reliability and good parts...you need a lenovo or an apple. theyre the only ones that really engineer their laptops anymore and they use very high-quality hardware. you dont really need a cd drive especially if you have a pen drive (which you can get with the laptop for pretty cheap). also...i read in some reviews that lenovo does a really good job of giving their screen a "paper-like" feel. plus...3.5 pounds....

anyway...if you wait within the next 3 months lenovo is coming out with the x60 tablet...which will most likely feature an intel core duo processor. without going into the semantics of processors...i can tell you that the core duo will be SIGNIFICANTLY faster.

after lenovo and apple...id say the next most reliable is toshiba. dont know a lot about fujitsu but i think shelling out the extra cash for the lenovo is just better in the longrun. good tech support, good hardware, i love hteir keyboards, and who can say no to a fingerprint reader? :)
 
luhando said:
who can say no to a fingerprint reader? :)

I can say no to a fingerprint reader. They make sense for confidentiality, but a theif won't pass up stealing your laptop cause it has that extra layer of added security.
 
Yea I mean..I guess I just kind of mastered the one handed type while cradling my 7 or 8 lbs dell in my other arm.lol I am up in the air so much. I can get a lot more for my money stat wise with the apple macbook which I love..but I get a discount on lenovo through my uni as well....but it is paying more for less (outside of the tablet functionality) ..it is a tough decision because |am really not sure if I will fully use the tablet functionality.
 
BAM! said:
I can say no to a fingerprint reader. They make sense for confidentiality, but a theif won't pass up stealing your laptop cause it has that extra layer of added security.

errr...i was being slightly facetious
 
everybody said:
Light is imperative!
I guess it's subjective. We all have different priorities. My old Dell, with its 9-cell battery (yes, that's not a typo) and extra big hard drive, is more than 9 pounds. For me, it's a true desktop replacement, because it's hard to find a heavier laptop. Yet, I lug it back and forth to class and chill in the living room with it in my lap (with its four-hour battery life) all the time, and it doesn't bug me at all. For me, weight is a nonissue. In class, I'll be resting it on a desk, anyway. The only reason I would ever make a concession in terms of power or capability in favor of reduced weight is if I were to need to physically carry my computer around in my arm, like some engineers need to do. That's not the case for me, so you bet I'll buy the most powerful tablet I can possibly get my hands on, regardless of weight. Either the Acer C314 or the Toshiba Tecra M4, I'm thinking. The Tecra M4 can be customized with more memory and a bigger hard drive, so I'll probably go with that.
 
luhando said:
you dont really need a cd drive especially if you have a pen drive (which you can get with the laptop for pretty cheap).

what about if you want to load software or if you want to watch dvd's...then you have to deal with lugging around an external hard drive. anybody have an opinion on this. i know with the x41's you can buy their docking station,but that seems like such a hassel. also with the x41, i think it only has the pentium M 1.5ghz...is that enough. you can get it with a gig or ram though.

maybe i will just wait for the x60.
 
Rogue Synapse said:
The only reason I would ever make a concession in terms of power or capability in favor of reduced weight is if I were to need to physically carry my computer around in my arm, like some engineers need to do. That's not the case for me, so you bet I'll buy the most powerful tablet I can possibly get my hands on, regardless of weight.
Agreed. If your primary usage is "clipboard style" you'd probably be better off with a dedicated slate or possibly the Fujitsu P1510 or an Ultra-Mobile PC . The weight of the Acer works for me since it is really desktop replacement first and tablet second.

Any other ER junkies out there noticed the slates they're using this season? They look like maybe motion tablets?
 
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