tablet with a graphics card?!

[JSpitz]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi there! I have to hand in my "tech savvy college kid" card, because I cannot find a tablet PC with a dedicated graphics card (ATI/Nvidia, not Intel integrated graphics).

Anyone got options out there? It's driving me nuts.

 

[twelvetigers]

My husband has an HP touchsmart or whatever with a core I3, and it comes with an ATI mobility radeon card... So it's possible. 🙂

 

[Armymutt25A]

The question is, what do you need a separate graphics card for? Tablets are not designed to be a desktop replacement like an Alienware. They are designed to basically be a larger, more robust PDA and be part of a network. The integrated graphic should be more than enough to handle any MS office products you can throw at it, as well as PDFs and movie files. You're not going to play Crysis on one. More components equals more weight.

 

[JSpitz]

My husband has an HP touchsmart or whatever with a core I3, and it comes with an ATI mobility radeon card... So it's possible. 🙂

huh, i looked at HP and must have missed it...i'll look again, thanks!

You're not going to play Crysis on one.

dude, MY doctors play crysis during a physical and they are specialists!! how else do YOU diagnose??? jk.

anyhow, yea, i know i don't have to have one, but i generally don't trust them due to my bad experience with one single ultra-portable laptop. it can't even fullscreen videos without dropping the frame rates, which gave me headaches. supposedly the digital microscopy software will be graphics intensive, so i don't want it to lag on me 3 years down the road when it goes through the old age slow down.

 

[Pelagia]

Hey JSPitz, I just got the HP touchsmart tm2t, with the Intel core i5, which I love. You can PM me about it if you want more details about it. Like TT said, it has the ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card.

 

[Armymutt25A]

anyhow, yea, i know i don't have to have one, but i generally don't trust them due to my bad experience with one single ultra-portable laptop. it can't even fullscreen videos without dropping the frame rates, which gave me headaches. supposedly the digital microscopy software will be graphics intensive, so i don't want it to lag on me 3 years down the road when it goes through the old age slow down.

I suppose you have a point there. I figure as long as your software is written right and it isn't too taxing on the processor, there should be plenty of horsepower left for graphics. I'm look more along the lines of a power to weight ratio, judging by the lack of convenient electrical outlets I saw in the classrooms at NCSU. They are along the walls, but nothing near the desks. My battery is already going to have to run the HD, CPU, wireless, monitor, etc. Adding in another key component just sucks more juice. My HP Pavilion has a dedicated graphics card and the battery is only good for a couple of hours. I think my Lenovo is coming with the I7 processor. Going to be much faster than the Dell D630 Uncle Sam gives me, so I'm happy.

 

[twelvetigers]

lissarae also has this laptop, so she can provide some feedback on it as well.

Husband doesn't really like it that much, but he's picky. One good point he makes, though - the screen/hinge system is heavy and makes it really hard to sit in your lap while it's open. It tips backwards. Also, it's girly - it has all these pretty swirls on it. Which is fine for a girl, but less so for the husband. 🙂

 

[Armymutt25A]

Also, it's girly - it has all these pretty swirls on it. Which is fine for a girl, but less so for the husband. 🙂

A little flat black, OD green, or gunmetal gray spray paint, and you're in back in XY business.

 

[twelvetigers]

Haha. They're etched into the aluminum casing, inside (by the keys) and out.

 

[cowgirla]

lissarae also has this laptop, so she can provide some feedback on it as well.

Husband doesn't really like it that much, but he's picky. One good point he makes, though - the screen/hinge system is heavy and makes it really hard to sit in your lap while it's open. It tips backwards. Also, it's girly - it has all these pretty swirls on it. Which is fine for a girl, but less so for the husband. 🙂

I will have this computer in 5ish days. Very excited 🙂 And yes, the pretty etchings played a big role in my decision.

It only has a 512mg ATI graphics card, so it's still nothing amazing for hardcore gaming. My big laptop has a 1gb Nvidia Geforce/Cuda, and is capable of some awesome graphics and such, but it (combined with the i7 processor and other crap) definitely sucks the life out of my battery. I average about 2.5 hours on a 12 cell battery.

Either way, I'm excited about being a tablet owner. Easier to take notes on, easier to lug around, I'm happy.

 

[JSpitz]

thanks for the suggestions guys!

i'm definitely excited about the hp tm2t. pretty much what im looking for in a tablet: aluminum casing, dedicated graphics card, dual core processor.

no one thinks vet guys are macho anyways (unless they're in food animal/equine?) although i really wonder what the product manager was thinking....they should have unisex designs. and twirly things covering half the laptop is not unisex lol.

it's too bad the lenovo thinkpad x201 doesn't have a graphics card. they have a slightly more powerful cpu

 

[bre8162]

Okay for the person that sucks with technology what would be the reasoning for having the graphics card? I am pretty set on the Lenovo and don't know if the whole graphics card is gonna spoil that?

 

[Robdude]

Okay for the person that sucks with technology what would be the reasoning for having the graphics card? I am pretty set on the Lenovo and don't know if the whole graphics card is gonna spoil that?

I think the biggest reason would be the ability to play video games on it.

 

[quantized]

I've run a few games on my Lenovo. While it's not perfect, they were perfectly playable.

 

[JSpitz]

Okay for the person that sucks with technology what would be the reasoning for having the graphics card? I am pretty set on the Lenovo and don't know if the whole graphics card is gonna spoil that?

in my opinion, based on anecdotal evidence, PC slow downs that comes with age (2-3 years) tend to be slightly less of a problem with anything graphics related (full screen videos, large image files aka. digital microscopy slides) when you have a dedicated graphics card. on the flip side, decreased battery life that comes with age tend to be a larger problem with a dedicated graphics card.

someone correct me if i'm wrong or observed otherwise.

 

[Armymutt25A]

in my opinion, based on anecdotal evidence, PC slow downs that comes with age (2-3 years) tend to be slightly less of a problem with anything graphics related (full screen videos, large image files aka. digital microscopy slides) when you have a dedicated graphics card. on the flip side, decreased battery life that comes with age tend to be a larger problem with a dedicated graphics card.

someone correct me if i'm wrong or observed otherwise.

I haven't noticed any real slow downs that are hardware related. A good wipe and re-install usually fixes any issues. If you're exposed to a newer computer, you might perceive that the older one is slowing down. I had a Tandy 1000EX when I started college and it was just as fast in 1994 as it was in 1986. It just seemed to have slowed because of all the 200 and 300 MHz chips in the newer machines.

 

[JSpitz]

I haven't noticed any real slow downs that are hardware related. A good wipe and re-install usually fixes any issues. If you're exposed to a newer computer, you might perceive that the older one is slowing down. I had a Tandy 1000EX when I started college and it was just as fast in 1994 as it was in 1986. It just seemed to have slowed because of all the 200 and 300 MHz chips in the newer machines.

tandy 1000ex............ wow, my dad got a ibm 386 around 1990! hahaha, god, i don't even know where it is right now (and why he got one, he doesn't program). it is probably in pieces somewhere.

anyways back to the topic at hand, i reformat at least once by the 3-4 year mark and still observe the same problems. however, my methodology is not very robust since software, drivers, and standards are changing constantly. and yes, subjective assessment is not very reliable either.

i'll say this though, hardware should not matter if you reinstall with the original manufacturer disk, old drivers, and old software. maybe i should head over to a tech forum and see what the consensus is.

 

[Armymutt25A]

tandy 1000ex............ wow, my dad got a ibm 386 around 1990!

We upgraded to a Packard Bell 386 around Dec 1990. I got that computer my junior year. Even faster boot time. I would turn it on and head across the street to get Sunday dinner at Hardee's. It was ready to go by the time I got back. Somewhere around here, I have a case with an AMD Thunderbird 800 MHz in it. My main computers are a little more up to date - gets expensive trying to maintain three desktops.