Tablet PC's

[epj3]

I'm going to be buying a laptop within the next couple of months for college, and I already know I'll buy a Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Ibm or Acer. The thing I have to decide is if I should buy a regular laptop (which I've already had an HP which was nice) or if I should buy a tablet PC.

Every tablet PC I've seen, the clear plastic thing over the screen wasnt very noticeable unless you were close to it -- which I would be if I had it on a desk in front of me. Does anyone own a tablet PC, and if so, do you like it? It sounds like it would be cool to have, but I couldnt deal with stairing through a piece of plastic that isn't completely clear.

 

[xLibelle]

Personally, i am interested in looking at a Tablet as well. as long as its got built in wireless NIC. (but they all prolly have that standard)

 

[KevRC4130]

excuse my ignorence but...whats a tablet pc?

 

[jrt67ss350]

I'm personally not a big fan of the tablet PC's - don't really see the point, and you have to compromise some in the use of it as a regular laptop as far as the screen goes.

I like my IBM ThinkPad R40, and recommend a ThinkPad to you if you elect to not go the tablet PC route. I think that IBM makes some of the best, most solidly built PC laptops around, and they have great keyboards for laptops. In my experience, Dell laptops don't have the rigidity, durability, and workmanship that the IBMs have.

 

[Bear6360]

excuse my ignorence but...whats a tablet pc?

It's an over-glorified laptop. It looks similar to a notebook. I heard they're hard to write on....but I dont' really know for sure.

 

[dzervit]

If you know how to type at a decent speed, then skip the tablet. You don't need to write anything, type it all. IBM's are solid machines. So are Toshiba Tecra's. Look into the IBM T series, not the R. A little more pricey, but woth it. Or, whatever you buy, for the love of pete make sure it has the PENTIUM M processor. Not a P4, not a P4 M, or anything else. My T40 gets nearly 7 hours of life on a single charge. It's insane. And fast, too. Perfect for somebody on the go...

 

[epj3]

Well I dont think I'll get a tablet PC, for the price of a tablet PC with a 14.1 inch SXGA screen, I could get a nice IBM with a 15" screen (wxusga+++ whatever the hell they call it now)

 

[jrt67ss350]

If you know how to type at a decent speed, then skip the tablet. You don't need to write anything, type it all. IBM's are solid machines. So are Toshiba Tecra's. Look into the IBM T series, not the R. A little more pricey, but woth it. Or, whatever you buy, for the love of pete make sure it has the PENTIUM M processor. Not a P4, not a P4 M, or anything else. My T40 gets nearly 7 hours of life on a single charge. It's insane. And fast, too. Perfect for somebody on the go...

I agree 100%. If you are considering an IBM, definitely look at the T series, not the R. I have the R40 with a 2.0 GHz P4 M because that is what my school bought us (Wake Forest provides everyone a new laptop when starting school, ours to keep when we graduate). I like it alot, but 7 hours on a charge on a Pentium M is awesome compared to the 3 hours I get on my machine.

 

[epj3]

I agree 100%. If you are considering an IBM, definitely look at the T series, not the R. I have the R40 with a 2.0 GHz P4 M because that is what my school bought us (Wake Forest provides everyone a new laptop when starting school, ours to keep when we graduate). I like it alot, but 7 hours on a charge on a Pentium M is awesome compared to the 3 hours I get on my machine.

A good battery time would be nice, though in classes and such I wont use the battery at all -- though I dont see why not, if I would only use it for a few hours of classes a day. I know IBM puts all this stuff into their laptops, like the new hard drives that sense the laptop is being dropped, and it shuts off the hard drive and braces itself.

Anyone know how the performance of the Centrino processors are? If I got a centrino processor, it would be atleast 1.6ghz. It's not like I'll be playing games on it or anything (which I probably will, but it's not necessary), but I know dell has (or atleast used to have) laptops where you could put a second battery in it and get about 7 or 8 hours run time. I wish more companies would use the atlon xp mobile processors. I had it in my previous laptop and the van rarely ran, unless I was doing something like photoshop. All P4 laptops have a spastic and annoying fan. We sell some laptops with an athlon xp mobile processor at staples, but they are HP's, and I dont want to buy an HP again - i was happy with mine, but now they are all 15.4" wide screen laptops with the funky keyboards (they have an inch of space on each side which looks stupid).

Any ideas?

 

[jrt67ss350]

A good battery time would be nice, though in classes and such I wont use the battery at all -- though I dont see why not, if I would only use it for a few hours of classes a day. I know IBM puts all this stuff into their laptops, like the new hard drives that sense the laptop is being dropped, and it shuts off the hard drive and braces itself.

Anyone know how the performance of the Centrino processors are? If I got a centrino processor, it would be atleast 1.6ghz. It's not like I'll be playing games on it or anything (which I probably will, but it's not necessary), but I know dell has (or atleast used to have) laptops where you could put a second battery in it and get about 7 or 8 hours run time. I wish more companies would use the atlon xp mobile processors. I had it in my previous laptop and the van rarely ran, unless I was doing something like photoshop. All P4 laptops have a spastic and annoying fan. We sell some laptops with an athlon xp mobile processor at staples, but they are HP's, and I dont want to buy an HP again - i was happy with mine, but now they are all 15.4" wide screen laptops with the funky keyboards (they have an inch of space on each side which looks stupid).

Any ideas?

There is no such thing as a Centrino processor. Centrino laptops have the Pentium M processor (a different line of processors - not the same as the Pentium 4M). In order for a laptop to be labeled a Centrino, it has to have the Pentium M processor, a specific Intel chipset, and one of the Intel wireless cards. You could configure a Pentium M laptop with a non-Intel wireless card, and it wouldn't be labeled a Centrino laptop. It's all about marketing. Don't be swayed by Intel's marketing scheme.

That being said, the Pentium M processor and the accompanying chipset are awesome - very fast and provide amazing battery life. As far as ThinkPads go, you can pop the optical drive out of the UltraBay slot and put a second battery in there. The fan on my P4 M isn't too bad. If I'm not doing anything that doesn't require alot of graphics activity, it never comes on. I can sit with the laptop on my bed all day long with PowerPoint and Word open studying my lecture slides and notes, and the fan will never come on. I know that those aren't very taxing applications, but alot of PC laptops out there will cycle the fan constantly even when using these apps. The fan runs periodically when listening to mp3s.

 

[jszar]

yes, make sure it has the M processor. those kick ass, and are plenty fast. also, stay away from sony. IBM thinkpad's are very reliable, so are gateway's. toshiba's are in between. but do not buy sony, they are over rated on their PC's and laptops.

 

[epj3]

I've heard IBM is great, which would explain why most businesses go with IBM. Gateways are way to expensive and I dont think Gateway will be around much longer (they are shutting down all of their gateway country stores due to poor business.)

Toshiba's just look good, and the sony's have the best screens you can find on a laptop -- but I dont need all the other stuff sony has (like firewire, memorystick reader, etc.)