Tablet PCs at Dental School

[Lefty7]

Anyone have opinions about using a Tablet during dental school? A couple students told me that the tablet is the way to go at UW. There are quite a few factors to weigh when choosing one to buy... The Lenovo Thinkpad X41 is pretty lightweight, but doesn't have an onboard optical drive. Is it necessary to have a "long" life battery (5+ hrs?). I've heard good things about the Toshiba M200. Since I haven't been able to even get my hands on any tablets to test them out myself, I'm a bit hesitant on my judgement of what is most important.

Anybody heard the rumors that there will be a batch of dual core processors out this fall? It seems like holding out would be cutting it pretty close for purchasing one in time for school.

Who out there uses a tablet and what are your impressions? If you could buy another one right now, which would you go for?

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[mochafreak]

I'm not a dental student yet, but I've had a Toshiba M200 for over a year. I used it for all my science classes last year and it was great. I could download the pdf's and mark them up in class and record the lecture at the same time. It's a convertible so you can write or type depending on the situation. When you get bored you can surf the web. I have two batteries which both get about 4 hours each with my power settings. The lack of an optical drive can be a bit annoying at times...if you want to read very good user reviews and get the lowdown on everything tablet pc go to tabletpcbuzz.com. It's an amazing website.

 

[llGSll K9]

I agree once u try a tablet u wont go back to normal notebooks..i also have toshiba M200 and im very happy with it....if u really want an optical drive toshiba recently came out with M400 i think its called which "replaces" M200 (doesnt really replace it) it is Dual core if u want to pay extra also has optical drive which i belive can be swaped with 2nd battery u know where to go to get info toshiba website and tabletpcbuzz...one of my friends is in dental skool and he bought the toshiba M4 (not to be confused with M400) and he regreted it once he saw mine cuz that thing is huge ...so i would suggest not going over 12 inches ..lol that sounds funny

 

[food4thots]

yeah.. i've been looking out for the "perfect" tablet for myself. but still waiting.

 

[rarm1]

I just saw u of Maryland's new dental building... computers will be manditory... and may/will be part of freshman equipment loaded with programs you may/will need in the school. The new building looks great... ultra modern

 

[phremius]

I have an IBM x41. Like it a lot, everything's really well engineered and tightly compact. Light as hell, I get about 3.5 hrs on an 8 cell battery.

Pricey yes, but after having grown up on thinkpads... I can't use any other brand consistently.

 

[Ruprick]

I have an IBM x41. Like it a lot, everything's really well engineered and tightly compact. Light as hell, I get about 3.5 hrs on an 8 cell battery.

Pricey yes, but after having grown up on thinkpads... I can't use any other brand consistently.

I work for IBM/Lenovo. If any of you need a good deal on a Tablet, PM me.

 

[food4thots]

I work for IBM/Lenovo. If any of you need a good deal on a Tablet, PM me.

i hear they have the x60 tabletpc on the horizon, is that true?

 

[Joeybag]

Personally I think the whole tablet phenomenon is overrated. I have a Toshiba (not sure the model name but its about 6 mos old) one for work and the actual table feature is not that great. Its difficult to write small, and your handwriting looks awful when it comes up on the screen, so it may be hard to read if you go back to look at it. Also when you fold down the screen in tablet mode you can only use your pen(stylus) as your mouse, so you're not going to have access to your keyboard, therefore typing in a web address for example, is very difficult as the computer doesnt recognize handwriting that well. For this same reason, apps like WORD are useless w/ the tablet as youll get all sorts of typos. Furthermore, when its folded down in tablet form, in order to see the screen well, you kind of need to tilt the computer upward so you see exactly what youre doing (like you wouldnt ever have your laptop screen all the way flat w/ the table) so you have to put it on your leg to angle it, then it gets burning hot. All in all I feel it's much quicker and easier to just type w/ the keyboard like on a traditional laptop. In terms of jotting some very very brief and sloppy notes, its not a bad option, but I wouldnt rely on it to take thorough notes. I would definitely give it a try and experiment w/ it before getting dead set on buying one.

 

[Ruprick]

i hear they have the x60 tabletpc on the horizon, is that true?

True Dat. Months away, though.

 

[BallDontLie]

Months? Months as in too late for someone starting school in August?

 

[eyeforstars]

i have a gateway cx200x, find it amazing
has 80 gb drive, 1 gig ram, comes with 14.1 inch hi def monitor and dual layer dvd burner/cd combo, has Continuous Sensing Technology, so no typos when ur writing.
if ur looking to do more writing than typing, plan to run some high end apps and burn few movies here and there then this is the convertible to go with.....i did 2 month research before buying this one and i love it.

 

[food4thots]

x60 and windows vista.. hmm.. that would be nice..

 

[dr_ben09]

I am a student at UDM's dental school and we are issued tablet PC's when we first start. The cost is included in tuition. They were kind of cool at first. But, at least the ones we have are really fragile and stuff breaks on them easily. We had to pay like $2000 for them and they are definitely not as good as a laptop for that same price. Supposedly they will soon be integrated into our clinic. If the school doesnt require anything, i would go with a laptop.

 

[INFNITE]

if you are going with a laptop, get a Mac. Especially the new ones with Intel processor (MacBook Pro). I recently bought one, and it is by far the best and the coolest computer I have ever owned. Plus Apple recently began to support Windows installation on Intel Mac's, which is damn awesome.