Axiotron Mac Tablet

[VetDJ]

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hey what's up guys I know a lot of vet schools are starting to integrate tablet Pcs with veterinary education, and I know my school next year, Oregon state, does not force students to purchase tablets. However, I know that i will be purchasing one once I arrive in fall as I believe they can help alot. I was wondering if any of you heard about the recent modded Mac book tablet by Axiotron.

if you guys haven't seen this product check it out at
www.axiotron.com

I was just wondering if anyone knows that since it is a Mac if this could be a valid alternative to the PC ones. I.e. have the same programs for note-taking on powerpoint and such.

Thanks =)

 

[OSJ]

I was talking with an IT guy at Miss. State ( we were next to each other on the plane.) He was telling me that you can run windows off of a mac (maybe this is obvious, but I didn't know that!) He said with the tablet on the mac you can do just about anything you can do on a tablet PC. Just mac hardware and windows software (if needed- you can of course you the apple software for the tablet.)
I am thinking about getting a mac, just not sure how much I'll use the tablet for the extra money.

 

[dyachei]

keep in mind it's not convertible. Meaning that to type instead of write, you need to buy a USB keyboard. If that's what you want, go for it. I would want to be able to use it as a laptop when I had papers to write (and we still have them) or when I comment on SDN without buying yet another piece of equipment or being at an awkward angle.

 

[lailanni]

Hey that looks really awesome!

I'm curious if anyone has used tablet PCs in the classroom? Does it work well for you?

I'm more of a hand written notes kind of person. For me, it may be easier just to use a notebook so I can flip back and forth, and spread out all of the pages to study -- has anyone else like me transitioned to a tablet PC? Is it hard to get used to?

 

[pupsforseeing]

Hey that looks really awesome!

I'm curious if anyone has used tablet PCs in the classroom? Does it work well for you?

I'm more of a hand written notes kind of person. For me, it may be easier just to use a notebook so I can flip back and forth, and spread out all of the pages to study -- has anyone else like me transitioned to a tablet PC? Is it hard to get used to?

I was all about the paper notes in high school/community college. Then I got to my 4-year school and we are all issued HP tablets. I am sold on them! It is so great to not have to carry notebooks for each class, and instead have it all on my computer. And, I can go from typing notes in a lit. class to writing out biochemical pathways in my next class to jotting down notes on a power point in the next one. It just gives a lot more versatility than a regular laptop. For some classes, I go back through and re-write my notes into a paper notebook to study, but it's still saving paper because those are classe I would have rewritten my notes for anyway. Further, instead of wasting sheets and sheets of paper on practicing problems, I can just pull up a new page on OneNote, write out problems, and then erase it when I'm done.

I'm a big fan and my next computer will definitely be another tablet.

 

[VetMed555]

I know University of Illinois basically runs on PCs, so they told us having a Mac Tablet is possible, but not the best option. VMRCVM doesn't require tablets, but I'm thinking of buying an HP tablet anyway--if nothing else, it's a great toy/tool for my art =). The fact that (I may be wrong) Mac Tablet is not really made by Apple makes me a little nervous.

 

[wi girl]

I have to admit, that would bother me as well (the non-apple thing). And there's no way I'd go to a PC, I'm just too mac-oriented. So ... it seems like the mac options are (a) this tablet or (b) buy one of the USB-powered mini-tablets that hook up to a normal laptop. I'm more inclined towards B ... but have never seen anyone with one ... any thoughts? Bad experiences? I know its off topic, but its mac love, kinda ...

lailanni: I don't know if you saw the thread http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=498554 ; it's all about transitioning to a tablet. It got buried, so I thought i'd reference it for anyone who wants a look! 🙂

 

[Tsuky2008]

I too am a mac lover looking for a tablet option! I got an iBook when I graduated high school and I don't plan on having a PC ever again unless it's required. That being said, I'm hoping that Apple releases their own tablet at next year's expo, especially since they already have several patents on a laptop touch screen! ...can you tell I've though about this before? haha.

I've only used a tablet once while I was bored at Fry's (my SO loves that store) and it was uber cool, even considering its PC-ness. It seems like such a convenient way to keep everything organized especially when you have so much information being given to you all at once. Come on Steve Jobs, help me out here!!!

 

[BartonVet87]

I am concerned about the lack of a full warranty. You can only get a 3 year limited warranty. With something so new, I would need a full warranty to justify it. Also, I can get a better set up for less money if I get a PC, but isn't that always the case with Macs?

I loooooove 😍 my Macbook, however Illinois does seem to be mainly PC based. I would definitely worry about the glitches with Office 2007 not being compatible with Office 2004 for Macs. I ran into that problem in my Animal Behavior class at SIUE.

Also, Axiotron mentioned somewhere on their website that the Modbook is an "Apple authorized product"... not an actual Apple product. Darn! Apple just needs to bite the bullet and release the iTablet 🙂

 

[SweeTeaPie]

Sounds like a really interesting product, but I have to worry a little bit. Has anybody ever had an experience with it crashing and/or losing notes? Oh my gosh, I would just die if there was some sort of glitch and I had lost everything. There's just something comforting about the idea of having your notes on a piece of paper. That way no matter what happens to your computer, you can still open up your notebook and read them. And (this may be a bit extreme), but what happens if your battery dies and you (God-forbid) don't have any electricity? Ok, like I said that's really out there, but still.

I had a problem once in my Junior year of undergrad where I kept writing this paper for a class, and everytime I tried to send/save it, the whole thing would dissappear (and this happened at LEAST three times in a row)! From that day on, I always wrote out my work on paper before transfering it to a computer.

Any thoughts on this, or are the programs fairly infallible?

 

[dyachei]

Sounds like a really interesting product, but I have to worry a little bit. Has anybody ever had an experience with it crashing and/or losing notes? Oh my gosh, I would just die if there was some sort of glitch and I had lost everything. There's just something comforting about the idea of having your notes on a piece of paper. That way no matter what happens to your computer, you can still open up your notebook and read them. And (this may be a bit extreme), but what happens if your battery dies and you (God-forbid) don't have any electricity? Ok, like I said that's really out there, but still.

I had a problem once in my Junior year of undergrad where I kept writing this paper for a class, and everytime I tried to send/save it, the whole thing would dissappear (and this happened at LEAST three times in a row)! From that day on, I always wrote out my work on paper before transfering it to a computer.

Any thoughts on this, or are the programs fairly infallible?

Its my opinion you should be backing everything important up anyway. You have similar problems on a tablet that you have with a laptop. Invest in a large (200 gb) external hd and it shouldn't be a problem. I can't speak for the Mac tablet, but the HP I use for class has never had that problem. You can save in the middle of your notes just like you were typing. The biggest problem I've had with my tablet is that it has some interesting issues - like pulling the cursor to the side of the computer. Or having the screen act as if I've just put it in tablet mode or if its in tablet mode, it acts like its been put back to normal with no actions from me. Nothing that makes me lose my notes though.

 

[WishingnHoping]

OMG ... I definitely hope I do NOT need a tablet. 🙁 I just got a tablet PC as a replacement laptop and I sold it on eBay to purchase a Macbook! 😱 Ugh! I love my Macbook and I definitely do not want to go back to a PC.

Anyone know if at Ohio State, UPenn, Tufts, or Purdue they require/want you to have a PC and/or tablet?? 😳

 

[projekt]

I'm in love!

 

[greenie53]

I sat in on a 1st yr Purdue class during my interview day, and everyone was taking notes on just printed off power point slides. They never mentioned laptops/tablets in the handouts or orientations either..

I don't know about the rest of those schools

 

[PrimalMU]

Looks sexy, but man, the price! I'll wait until Apple releases a tablet. And if they don't, I'm comfortable enough on a PC (regularly use both PC and Mac) to get a PC tablet.

 

[HeartSong]

One thing to consider is the tech support supplied by the school. My school is solely Gateway so anyone with the recommended Gateway tablets can get tech support in the same building as their classes. There have been countless times when my computer has acted up or I did something stupid to it and I could just dash it off to the in-house tech guys between classes to have it fixed up. Someone with a different brand computer can't do that.

One semester, something happened to my powerjack or cord or something so that I couldn't charge up my computer or even run from an outside power source. Of course this had to happen the Friday evening before finals week when all the tech guys were gone. Yeah .... I had all my notes on that computer and they were basically unaccessible to me until Monday evening. Moral of the story: Back up everything! (And have good friends that will help out in times of emergency. 🙂)

 

[pressmom]

I have a regular Mac now, and there are times I wish I had a tablet, but I wouldn't go back to a PC. I just bought my MacBook last year and can't afford another one right now, but that tablet looks darn good.

The only issues I have had with a Mac and PPTs, even with Microsoft Office for Mac, is that certain PPTs won't open. There's no rhyme or reason to it. Like 7 virology PPTs will work and then the next one will come up with a "this file is corrupt" or "you cannot open this file with this program" error message. My "neighbor" in the seat next to me with a PC will have hers open fine. This can be frustrating, but on the all things have been fine with a Mac at UTK.

 

[PrimalMU]

FYI, Microsoft just released the newest Office for Mac in January. Alternatively, Apple's Keynote should be able to open any PPT file, and OpenOffice.org (free) has a presentation program that should be able to open PPT files.

 

[projekt]

I think it'd be good to support this sort of "hand-in-glove" collaboration. Apple really screwed up the first time they recruited external system integrators for MacOS. This time, they're using the MacBook basis and modding it. If Apple let people do this sort of thing more often, we'd have more tablet and micro macs than we'd know what to do with!

 

[VelcroSky]

I think Heartsong hit the nail on the head. I think it is really important to make sure that whatever you get the IT department will support it. You don't want to be stuck with a Mac if every time you have a problem you have to ship it out. You need to be able to get it fixed fast!

 

[dyachei]

I think Heartsong hit the nail on the head. I think it is really important to make sure that whatever you get the IT department will support it. You don't want to be stuck with a Mac if every time you have a problem you have to ship it out. You need to be able to get it fixed fast!

Any Apple store can fix it, you don't have to ship things out unless its a hardware problem, which is similar with PCs. Yeah, it means you have to go to an Apple store, but depending on the IT at your school, that can be just as convenient (or inconvenient).

 

[lailanni]

I have to admit, that would bother me as well (the non-apple thing). And there's no way I'd go to a PC, I'm just too mac-oriented. So ... it seems like the mac options are (a) this tablet or (b) buy one of the USB-powered mini-tablets that hook up to a normal laptop. I'm more inclined towards B ... but have never seen anyone with one ... any thoughts? Bad experiences? I know its off topic, but its mac love, kinda ...

lailanni: I don't know if you saw the thread http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=498554 ; it's all about transitioning to a tablet. It got buried, so I thought i'd reference it for anyone who wants a look! 🙂

Thanks! I missed that thread. Good info! I think I'll seriously consider one of these things. However my bank account probably wouldn't appreciate it.

 

[projekt]

Yeah, lack of local support will not force me to use a PC ever again. PCs are just too much stress. Sure, you'll have tech support. You'll need it.

I switched from macs to PCs at my first school (computer science) because they were using the Borland tools for the first few courses. After that, it didn't matter what computer you used. I wish I had kept using macs instead. I would have made much better decisions, overall 🙂 Perhaps I would have gotten into biology/pre-vet much sooner!

 

[Biomajir]

I was thinking about a tablet pc for school as well. I just am not really sure how they work lol. Can you actually write down all of your notes from all your classes, and it just saves them? I would get one if it could be used like an actual notebook just without the paper because I remember information better if I write it rather than type it.