Laptop vs Tablet Pc dillema

[bite^me]

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Many schools are now promoting the tablet pc as an ideal note-taking device. Most tablets lack internal drives to compensate for portability and expandibility is more limited than a laptop. Less importantly, tablet pc's run a hefty premium relative to laptops.

Does anyone with a tablet highly recommend/regret/indifferent to it over a laptop? Any models in particular?

 

[phremius]

I have an IBM x41. It's a convertible and really light.... great! though i don't use the "tablet" option as much as one would think...

 

[Medic_9]

I have a tablet pc and absolutely love it. I'm currently doing my undergrad and it comes in very handy. I have a HP TC4200 and it's a convertable tablet, meaning the screen flips to put it into tablet or notebook mode.

It's light (compared to my old laptop), small (8.5" x 11", the size of a piece of paper), extremely useful and of course there is the "wow" factor when you flip the screen over.

The tablet mode comes in handy for chemistry, calculus and anywhere where you want to do a quick drawing or prefer to write in your own writing.

 

[mochafreak]

I've had a Toshiba M200 for a couple of years now. I love it and haven't had any problems with it. It is a convertible model. I'd recommend getting a convertible for your first tablet, because it's nice to be able to type with it in a normal laptop setup and then flip the screen for tablet form. It's also fairly easy to draw illustrations on the screen when it's in laptop mode in the middle of typed text using One Note (what I did for microbio because the prof talked to fast for handwriting notes). A great website for research and questions is tabletpcbuzz.com 👍

 

[BallDontLie]

phremius (or anyone esle with a tablet),

i was thinking about getting the x41 too...is it a pain not having an internal optical drive? Like when you wanna install something from a CDROM, how do u do it without the drive? Maybe sending it wirelessly from a networked PC? Just wondering, cuz thats probably one of the few things holding me back from getting a tablet....

 

[defender90]

phremius (or anyone esle with a tablet),

i was thinking about getting the x41 too...is it a pain not having an internal optical drive? Like when you wanna install something from a CDROM, how do u do it without the drive? Maybe sending it wirelessly from a networked PC? Just wondering, cuz thats probably one of the few things holding me back from getting a tablet....

I currently use a tablet (convertible) at dental school. I have a Fujitsu 4020 with an internal CD-ROM, and I highly recommend this model. The drive is removable, and you can add another battery. I chose this model because it was the right size for me (about 12", not too big and not too small), it had a built in CD-ROM drive (while most other tablets did not), and adding an extra battery allowed me to take notes or study all day without having to find an electrical outlet.

 

[drengineer]

I need a portable computer that has a decent video card (atleast 256MB memory with 1.1 pixel shader) so that i can play all my hardcore 3d games. I bet there aren't any tablet pcs wih such config.

If you happen to find any, please please, let me know. I'm very interested.

 

[mochafreak]

nrlee: Yeah, not having the optical drive can be a pain. I've used network connections like you described. However, you can just buy a USB drive and plug it in when you need it. The reason they don't have the drives built in is for weight and battery life purposes. I did buy another battery for the M200, which gets about 4 hrs. on one battery.

Drengineer: If you go to tabletpcbuzz.com and search for gaming threads you'll find some. When I bought the M200 that was the best one for gaming. I think they were able to play Doom3 and Half-life2. They had screenshots that looked pretty decent. But, I think some were overclocking and had some add-on 3D programs. The new generation might be better, but they aren't gaming pc's by any means.