Tablet PC vs. Laptop for the first two years

[theaggie07]

I wandered over from the Pre-allo forum and got so excited about this thread. At my work for a hospital system in Dallas/Fort Worth, I use a tablet. It's a slate tablet from Motion. You have to be willing to traverse the learning curve of course to switch from laptop to tablet. When I start med school next year, I'm going to go with the Fujitsu Lifestyle CONVERTABLE tablet. That thing is SO amazing. You better believe that I'm going with the top of the line one too. Hospitals and practices are moving toward making the switch to electronic health record (EHR), clinical decision support tools (CDS), and computerized physician order entry (CPOE). This means that when I start my residency/practice, I will be able to use my tablet for the EHR et al. I want to be able to walk around the hospital looking at my patients' charts instead of being stuck to a desktop or COW. My two cents at least...

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[Dr. Weebs]

For those of you who don't want to buy a tablet, Dell has an INCREDIBLE deal on the Inspiron E1405. Here's what I just got for 1700 bucks:

14.1" WXGA+ with Glossy finish
Core Duo 2.0Ghz/667FSB
2GB RAM
100GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
8x DVD-RW, Dual Layer
Intel GMA 950 (This is new, and much better than past Intel Graphics Cards, DirectX 9.0, 224MB shared memory, will run Vista with Aero Engine just fine when it comes out)
Sound Blaster Audigy
XP Media Center
Mcafee Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, 36 months
Microsoft Office Small Business Edition
4 Year Warranty + Accidental Damage Protection (Will be covered for pretty much any damage at all during your entire medical school career.)

This was possible because one of the preconfigured models was 35% off at the register. You can customize it, which is what I did. I highly suggest this to anyone considering a non-tablet PC.

 

[UCFpremed]

I currently have a 12'' Toshiba M405-S8003. I got it from Costco.com. They have a 6 month warrentee on all of their computers so if you're not satisfyed during those 6 months, go and return it.

It weighs in at about 4.5 lbs and it's very useful for my pre-med science classes. I can audio record the lectures as I highlight powerpoint slides and write extra notes on top of the lectures. I'm not big on converting my handwriting to text but it's a cool feature and works well.

I used to have the 14'' toshiba satellite but this portege is much easier to travel with. I still have room to write on the smaller 12'' and it's MUCH lighter. If I didn't get a tablet I would go for the new macbooks. Hope this helps.

 

[Sust]

It's also a good idea to head over to hot deal discussion forums to see what kind of strange deals people can come up with:

Anandtech hot deal forum
Fatwallet hot deal forum

For both, just type the something along the word "dell" or "laptop" into the search box to get some hits.
Geeks and ebay-ers frequent these forums and ive found that ebay-ers whose lives and meals depend on their sales come up with some pretty cheap coupon combinations in the forums.

 

[beponychick]

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.

Just a general question, the powepoint slides are given out ahead of time, right? I had several professors in my grad program who used PP slides, but we got them after the lecture which i useless in my opinion.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

12" is a good screen size, roughly paper size.

The handwriting recognition is pretty good too. of course it depends on how sloppy your writing is. I think if someone else can read it, then the computer can too. the recognition may be a little worse than this, but it's pretty good.

If you are left handed they suck because they can't tell the difference between the pen and your hand getting in the way.

 

[RxnMan]

If you are left handed they suck because they can't tell the difference between the pen and your hand getting in the way.

Two nights ago I talked to the guys at Best Buy while testing out some tablets. They said that you can adjust the cursor to reflect left- or right-handed users (and they better, or else I woudn't get one!).

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Two nights ago I talked to the guys at Best Buy while testing out some tablets. They said that you can adjust the cursor to reflect left- or right-handed users (and they better, or else I woudn't get one!).

My problem is that I rest my hand on the tablet in order to see what I am writing. They can't change the fact that the computer is confused when you touch in in two different spots at the same time. So basically in order to use one I would have to write with my hand lifted up off the tablet, which takes me longer than it takes me to type out my notes. I think I am going to stick to paper and a pen for in class notes. We will see.

Let me know if you end up with something that works well because I will be out there trying it!

 

[RxnMan]

My problem is that I rest my hand on the tablet in order to see what I am writing. They can't change the fact that the computer is confused when you touch in in two different spots at the same time. So basically in order to use one I would have to write with my hand lifted up off the tablet, which takes me longer than it takes me to type out my notes. I think I am going to stick to paper and a pen for in class notes. We will see.

Let me know if you end up with something that works well because I will be out there trying it!

You know, I do the same thing and it didn't confuse the computer I tested. And I wear an Order of the Engineer ring (which is a steel ring worn on the 4th finger of the writing hand) too. If anything, you would think that would confuse the tablet software. I was just trying out the standard Best Buy models (Dells, I think).

 

[Sophie]

My problem is that I rest my hand on the tablet in order to see what I am writing. They can't change the fact that the computer is confused when you touch in in two different spots at the same time.

My tablet (X41) only responds to the pen that comes with it, and there was one other tablet I tested out (Toshiba, maybe?) that was like that as well. It doesn't matter if I touch it with anything else, or multiple things - it just writes wherever the pen touches. Then again, if you lose the pen, you're screwed.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

You know, I do the same thing and it didn't confuse the computer I tested. And I wear an Order of the Engineer ring (which is a steel ring worn on the 4th finger of the writing hand) too. If anything, you would think that would confuse the tablet software. I was just trying out the standard Best Buy models (Dells, I think).

Interesting. I will have to go to Best Buy and check those out. Thanks

BTW, what kind of Engineer are you? I graduated in Genetic Engineering (not at all like any engineering at all ) but my S.O. is a Civil Engineer and is working on the Naval Base near Pensacola, FL.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

My tablet (X41) only responds to the pen that comes with it, and there was one other tablet I tested out (Toshiba, maybe?) that was like that as well. It doesn't matter if I touch it with anything else, or multiple things - it just writes wherever the pen touches. Then again, if you lose the pen, you're screwed.

Ah, the ones I looked at you could use your finger to move the cursor and the like.

 

[RxnMan]

Interesting. I will have to go to Best Buy and check those out. Thanks

BTW, what kind of Engineer are you? I graduated in Genetic Engineering (not at all like any engineering at all ) but my S.O. is a Civil Engineer and is working on the Naval Base near Pensacola, FL.

I never wanted to be a civil, but those guys are always A-OK in my book - my dad is one. He also has my respect for being in the service. I wanted to do something radically different than my dad, so I made the huge leap to the completely different field of chemical engineering.

 

[ADDchild]

Tablet would be great since as mentioned you can jot notes quickly, draw on them(a lot of their slides have diagrams that are hard to type)-although better to pay attention to lecture than to jot everything down. But most importantly is is size/weight(with all the other stuff your going to be carrying you dont want a rock of a notebook-gets old quick), and battery life. Processing speed not too important your probably not going to run heavy programs just explorer, powerpoint and word. Storage space is good and need to have wifi connectivity. Battery life is also key since 4 hr's lecture will eat up most batt's (get the extended life batt)and sometimes finding a plug is scavenger hunt. You don't even need drives since anything you need can be transfered by a usb flash drive(get one of these regardless). For notebooks the dell latitude is a good pick. I got the inspiron 710m but my first choice would be the latitude(only 2.5lbs). No suggestions on tablets never used one.

Goodluck

 

[UCFpremed]

My problem is that I rest my hand on the tablet in order to see what I am writing. They can't change the fact that the computer is confused when you touch in in two different spots at the same time. So basically in order to use one I would have to write with my hand lifted up off the tablet, which takes me longer than it takes me to type out my notes. I think I am going to stick to paper and a pen for in class notes. We will see.

Let me know if you end up with something that works well because I will be out there trying it!

Tablets only respond to the pen and not anything else. The monitor is especially made for your hand to rest on it while writing. This is another reason why I like tablets...tbe screen is very sturdy and resistant to damage.

 

[Wee Free Woman]

I went to Best Buy and I only found a few models on the floor. No other store in the area is carrying convertible laptops. Are you guys ordering these things offline, and if so, what warranty coverage are you getting?

 

[Centinel]

If you are going to buy a laptop - ESPECIALLY a Dell - make sure you go to eBay and check out the coupons that they have for sale.

For example, I bought a $750 off of $2,000 coupon for $3.00. Click for more details on my experience with Dell coupons.

 

[dajimmers]

I went to Best Buy and I only found a few models on the floor. No other store in the area is carrying convertible laptops. Are you guys ordering these things offline, and if so, what warranty coverage are you getting?

My Best Buy only had a Gateway model to test. I never tried Circuit City, but I too wish I could have tried the things out more before buying... I went mostly with reviews and feedback from other forums and will just hope for the best.

I added a 3-year accidental damage warranty to the standard, so they'll fix it if I break it. I figure that, if I use it as often as I hope to, there will be plenty of opportunities to drop the thing. Added about $250 to the final price, though.

 

[Wee Free Woman]

How fast do these models work, when they have 1.5 GHz processors?

And can you transfer altered powerpoint slides (altered by your note-writing), to another PC using a flash drive? Or by emailing the slides? Or would the notes you entered onto the document not show up then?

 

[Sophie]

How fast do these models work, when they have 1.5 GHz processors?

And can you transfer altered powerpoint slides (altered by your note-writing), to another PC using a flash drive? Or by emailing the slides? Or would the notes you entered onto the document not show up then?

Speed is the one thing I really dislike about my tablet. It has a 1.6Ghz processor, 1 gig of RAM, and it takes a LOOONG time to turn on. Once it's turned on, though, everything works smoothly and quickly. Granted, I'm only running simple word-processing and internet programs - I doubt it'd do too well with Photoshop.

You can transfer altered powerpoint slides and have the notes show up. I actually did that today, from my tablet to my desktop, using a flash drive. Emailing would work fine, as well.

 

[Sophie]

I went to Best Buy and I only found a few models on the floor. No other store in the area is carrying convertible laptops. Are you guys ordering these things offline, and if so, what warranty coverage are you getting?

I tested a few models out at Best Buy and Fry's just to see what tablets were like, but ordered online. The model I ordered was one I was unable to try out in a store, so I was just going based off of reviews. The warranty I got is Lenovo's standard 3 year limited warranty.

 

[luhando]

I tested a few models out at Best Buy and Fry's just to see what tablets were like, but ordered online. The model I ordered was one I was unable to try out in a store, so I was just going based off of reviews. The warranty I got is Lenovo's standard 3 year limited warranty.

i have the same issue with my lenovo starting up...even after i removed all the random stuff that the comp is set to start up with. i just hibernate now. it moves the comps memory to the hard disk and shuts it off...so hibernating literally uses zero battery/power, but startup is much faster and continues where you left off. the only thing i would recommend if you do this is to restart your cop every once in a while to reset the memory.

 

[UCFpremed]

I went to Best Buy and I only found a few models on the floor. No other store in the area is carrying convertible laptops. Are you guys ordering these things offline, and if so, what warranty coverage are you getting?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11117910&whse=BC&topnav=BC&browse=

I got my tablet from Costco.com. I haven't seen this product in stores; I think it's only sold off of their website. Anyways Costco has the best warrenty I've ever seen for computers. They have a 6 month warrenty and if you don't like your computer for ANY REASON they will take it back no questions asked. I returned my old R15 toshiba tablet back in the store and they handed me my refund in cash. I bought this Toshiba M405-S8003 tablet and it does everything . If I was to get any laptop besides this I'd either go with a Sony Vaio or a Mac.

 

[Dr. Weebs]

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11117910&whse=BC&topnav=BC&browse=

I got my tablet from Costco.com. I haven't seen this product in stores; I think it's only sold off of their website. Anyways Costco has the best warrenty I've ever seen for computers. They have a 6 month warrenty and if you don't like your computer for ANY REASON they will take it back no questions asked. I returned my old R15 toshiba tablet back in the store and they handed me my refund in cash. I bought this Toshiba M405-S8003 tablet and it does everything . If I was to get any laptop besides this I'd either go with a Sony Vaio or a Mac.

6 Month? That is "the best warranty"? I really hope they didn't sell you that line at Costco, because you got ripped off. If you really can take it back for any reason, I'd take it back right now. 6 months for a laptop is an absolutely terrible warranty. I just bought a Dell, and I bought a 4 year warranty with accidental damage protection (meaning if I spill coffee on it, or drop it, etc. they will fix it for free). THAT's a good warranty. People on this forum who are looking for advice because you don't know a whole lot about laptops... 6 months is a terrible warranty. I would highly recommend ignoring UCFPreMed's advice (No offense to you UCF, but I don't want people to get steered the wrong way...)

 

[Sust]

Speed is the one thing I really dislike about my tablet. It has a 1.6Ghz processor, 1 gig of RAM, and it takes a LOOONG time to turn on. Once it's turned on, though, everything works smoothly and quickly. Granted, I'm only running simple word-processing and internet programs - I doubt it'd do too well with Photoshop.

You can transfer altered powerpoint slides and have the notes show up. I actually did that today, from my tablet to my desktop, using a flash drive. Emailing would work fine, as well.

It might not be your processor, but reading through that post could take a while too.
You might even try getting a new hard drive if you really want to eliminate as many of your bottlenecks as possible, but tweakXP should be the cheapest alternative.

 

[Wee Free Woman]

The deal for that Toshiba is pretty cool, but I'm queasy about buying offline. For your warranty, if your computer needs repair, are you going to ship it back to them, or is there a local service center nearby?

I'd rather buy from BestBuy, where I know I can take the computer to them physically in person if something goes wrong. At least the Best Buy near my house has an in-house service center.

I just don't like shipping my computers out for fixing. I have a laptop now that I got from Circuit City, and if there is a problem, I have to ship the thing out. Its really inconvenient actually.

 

[Dr. Weebs]

The deal for that Toshiba is pretty cool, but I'm queasy about buying offline. For your warranty, if your computer needs repair, are you going to ship it back to them, or is there a local service center nearby?

I'd rather buy from BestBuy, where I know I can take the computer to them physically in person if something goes wrong. At least the Best Buy near my house has an in-house service center.

I just don't like shipping my computers out for fixing. I have a laptop now that I got from Circuit City, and if there is a problem, I have to ship the thing out. Its really inconvenient actually.

Do NOT buy a tablet with a 6 month warranty. You are crazy.

You need at least a 2 year warranty. I'd recommend 3 years. That's the industry standard for business notebooks. Warranty's aren't so important for desktops, but with a laptop, you will regret it if you don't get an extended warranty.

 

[socalpremie]

Do NOT buy a tablet with a 6 month warranty. You are crazy.

You need at least a 2 year warranty. I'd recommend 3 years. That's the industry standard for business notebooks. Warranty's aren't so important for desktops, but with a laptop, you will regret it if you don't get an extended warranty.

You have Costco's warranty mixed up with the manufacturer's warranty. Costco's six month warranty allows you to return the item for whatever reason for a full cash refund (e.g. you simply changed your mind.) You still have the standard one-year warranty from the manufacturer, which can also be extended.

 

[Dr. Weebs]

You have Costco's warranty mixed up with the manufacturer's warranty. Costco's six month warranty allows you to return the item for whatever reason for a full cash refund (e.g. you simply changed your mind.) You still have the standard one-year warranty from the manufacturer, which can also be extended.

OK, my bad. I was just going off of what the person said before "It has a great 6 month warranty." It made me scared for them. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[UCFpremed]

You have Costco's warranty mixed up with the manufacturer's warranty. Costco's six month warranty allows you to return the item for whatever reason for a full cash refund (e.g. you simply changed your mind.) You still have the standard one-year warranty from the manufacturer, which can also be extended.

Thanks for clearing this up. I meant that Costco has an additional warrenty in addition to the manufactures warrenty. You just go to any Costco warehouse and return the product if you want, and they hand you cash for your product even if you paid by credit card online.

 

[Sust]

$1250 tablet here

It's 6 pounds though and it might not be in stock at your local CC either.

Original discussion thread here

 

[Beaner81]

Hi Everyone,
I've been reading this thread for a little while, and finally decided to buy a tablet. I had all but crossed the ThinkPad off my list due to its high price, but last night I discovered that if you go to the Lenova website to buy it, it's on a "back to school" sale for $400 off through the end of July. AND, they give you 512MB of extra memory for free. I just purchased this morning - got the best tablet on the market for less money than the HP, Toshiba, or Fujitsu. I hope this helps someone!

 

[ShyRem]

Thanks, beaner! I just put my cart together with the slim docking bay for the CD/DVD combo drive, MS OneNote, the extra RAM, a bag, and an extra digitizer pen. SWEET!



Now I just need an address for them to ship it to. I move in 8 days to GOK where. Think they'll deliver to an address of "the van down by the river"???

 

[tkdusb]

Hi Everyone,
I've been reading this thread for a little while, and finally decided to buy a tablet. I had all but crossed the ThinkPad off my list due to its high price, but last night I discovered that if you go to the Lenova website to buy it, it's on a "back to school" sale for $400 off through the end of July. AND, they give you 512MB of extra memory for free. I just purchased this morning - got the best tablet on the market for less money than the HP, Toshiba, or Fujitsu. I hope this helps someone!

It still costs $1499 for the X41 and it doesn't come with any optical drive right? I really want to get it, but the Toshiba R25 posted above is still significantly cheaper at ~$1200 and it comes with a built in optical drive and bigger hard drive. I really want an X41 and hope I can find the X41 for a lower price.

 

[RachMD]

Just a bit of information...
I just bought an X41 and it is wonderful. But, the point of this post concerns microsoft software. Many schools have contracts with Microsoft and offer discounted rates for windows, office, and one note. I bought office 2003 for $74 (retail $399) and One Note for $26 (retail ~$100) through my undergrad school. You just have to contact the IT department and they could tell you if you can get the discounted rates or not. The company my undergrad school goes through is called e-academy. I hope someone finds this post beneficial.

 

[chocolate-e]

Just finished first year with my convertible tablet (Gateway M275).

What I used the tablet feature for:
Drawing anatomy diagrams/study guides
Drawing diagrams for a take-home problem set
Occasional note-taking
Taking old tests for practice
Sudoku
probably some other stuff I'm forgetting ...

I haven't used it for notetaking nearly as much as I thought I would. For one thing, the professors at my school rarely post the up-to-date PowerPoint before the class; usually it's last year's version, so you're constantly clicking through trying to find the appropriate slide, picture, or whatever. But more importantly, I've found that I just don't like studying from PowerPoints (on screen or printed), since they usually contain far more information than I actually need to know and by their very nature lack good visual organization. The few PPs I did take notes on I never ended up referencing when I studied.

Still, I don't regret buying a tablet ... I really do like being able to draw in diagrams on the screen when needed, vs. drawing on paper and scanning or trying tediously to create them on screen with a mouse. Plus, I'm going to give tablet note-taking another try this coming year and see if I can make it really work for me ... maybe cut and paste essential details from the PP and incorporate them into the electronic version of the syllabus, with my own notes written in? If anyone has any interesting strategies for tablet notetaking, I'd be interested in hearing them!

 

[nojdog]

Some questions for Tablet PC users: When you are creating a drawing, like in "One Note", can you manipulate your lines by dragging it around or do you simply have to erase it like traditional pencil/paper drawing? Also, besides adding text to a jpg, can you edit it further by cropping, etc. in "One Note", or do you have to use another program like "Photoshop" for that? Thanks.

 

[Vox Animo]

So i just bought a cx2724 tablet gateway pc from best buy. ~1700, any opinions?

 

[SlippingSloth]

So i just bought a cx2724 tablet gateway pc from best buy. ~1700, any opinions?

ummm I knew that 1700 seemed high....
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7889207&type=product&id=1149206139931

Did you add things to the base cx2724?

 

[PlasticMan]

For those who want a good 17 inch laptop, Dell Home is having a sale right now. There's 35% off $999 coupons that were emailed out to customers; if you don't have one, you can get one on ebay for like $1. You can pick up an E1705 for like $1070 now.

 

[MollyMalone]

ummm I knew that 1700 seemed high....
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7889207&type=product&id=1149206139931

Did you add things to the base cx2724?

Speaking of the CX2724, I can't figure out what the difference is between that one and the CX210X that's on Gateway's website. Well, aside from the $150 difference in base price ($200 difference with the current sales).

Anyone know?

 

[Vox Animo]

ummm I knew that 1700 seemed high....
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7889207&type=product&id=1149206139931

Did you add things to the base cx2724?

The base price was 1100, i got the full warranty for 3 years 350, accidental ect, plus all the installation with geek squad + recovery cds (150) plus a carrying bag (30).

 

[Vox Animo]

Speaking of the CX2724, I can't figure out what the difference is between that one and the CX210X that's on Gateway's website. Well, aside from the $150 difference in base price ($200 difference with the current sales).

Anyone know?

they cx2724 i think is only availible through retail stores, i was wondering about that myself. But are they good computres though?

 

[md mayhem]

I know OneNote also recognizes pen input devices, like http://www.wacom.com/graphire/

has anyone had any experience using these? I know they are mostly geared for art students, but totally capable for note writing and a lot cheaper than a tablet PC!

 

[RachMD]

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 am just starting at UW with an X41. I was just curious if you ever ran into any problems not having an internal CD-ROM? Does UW use the internet mostly or are you ever given CDs?

 

[Wee Free Woman]

I have the tablet. I am trying to figure axis out how to write directly on the PowerPoint slides? Is the only way to write out my notes in this insert box and then click Insert? I thought I would be able to write directly on the slide?

 

[Wee Free Woman]

Also, how do you draw in general?

 

[XKV]

Also, how do you draw in general?

I'm no expert or anything, but can't you print to Windows Journal or OneNote, then open it up in one of those apps?

 

[Wee Free Woman]

I don't know
I am trying to use office 2000. Dowe have to use office 2003? As you can see, Iam having trouble writing with this tool. I make way too many emus because (errors), this writing tool is having trouble with my handwriting. My apologies. I'm trying to write directly on a class PowerPoint. Except that I car only wale in Ink mode if the paver point is in a slide show. If not, I cannot find a way to write directly in ink mode. And even if I wife in ink while its in slide Show, makes no difference because I can't save any changes while in slide show mode. Dart tell me I have to spend another couple of hundred on Microsoft office 2003?

 

[md mayhem]

I don't know
I am trying to use office 2000. Dowe have to use office 2003? As you can see, Iam having trouble writing with this tool. I make way too many emus because (errors), this writing tool is having trouble with my handwriting. My apologies. I'm trying to write directly on a class PowerPoint. Except that I car only wale in Ink mode if the paver point is in a slide show. If not, I cannot find a way to write directly in ink mode. And even if I wife in ink while its in slide Show, makes no difference because I can't save any changes while in slide show mode. Dart tell me I have to spend another couple of hundred on Microsoft office 2003?

you can get a 60 day trial of office 2003 by downloading it off their website, you can at least figure out if that's the problem. If you dont want to pay the full price for the software, check with your school's technology center, they offer good discounts to students for software like that.