Advice Needed

Im stuck on what to buy. Im looking for a tablet/touchscreen laptop with a decent graphics card. Up until a few hours ago I was set on ordering a refurbished TM2T with the ATI mobility 5450, which with my experience with the 3000 series on an older laptop is plenty for the low graphics games i very occasionally play.

But then i discovered the DV6T with the touchscreen option and now im stuck. The DV6T trumps the TM2T in every specification. The only reason I am still looking at the TM2T is the smaller size is a huge plus for me, i went from a Dell 710m (12" screen) to a toshiba P305(17" screen) and while it was a nice upgrade a couple years ago i now realized i would much rather keep the smaller screen. And the other reason is the swivel tablet design intrigues me. You see I am soon to be deploying on a Aircraft Carrier for my first time in a few months and the tablet design would make it possible to view movies and use the laptop while in my rack. Not that ill have too much time for it but i still would like the possibility. But is it worth the lower specs and high price. Im really stuck here, i still really want the TM2T but i dont know if im making the right decision spending more just for portability.

 

You're getting deployed on an Aircraft Carrier?! How awesome is that! Is it on a Nimitz-Class Carrier?

I would definitely recommend the TM2T with an SSD (mine is a 64GB Kingston). I have the older SU9600 Core2Duo and Radeon 4550, and it's plenty fast. I go on week-long cruises with my family from time to time, and I must say, the slate-mode on the TM2 is a must-have feature. I made a custom sling that loops over one shoulder, so I can get up and go fast, while still retaining the ability to use the computer via the touchscreen while walking. You can't really use a standard clamshell laptop while walking, it's too clumsy.

If you get the TM2, I strongly recommend getting the latest copy of Windows 8 to play around with. The new Metro UI makes slate mode much more fun! It's also stable enough to use on a daily basis, and I can't imagine going back to boring ol' Windows 7!

 

I have played some games on mine, and although they aren't bad, don't try and play anything newer. Dirt 1 didn't run great, Starwars battlefront did, but thats real old, also halo 1 did ok also.

Thats with the default hp drivers which are real old, I just installed a newer modded driver that much newer, I will let you know later if they are any better.

I know in trackmania, the intel gpu was actually better than the ati gpu, I don't know if it was just a quirk when I tried it or maybe it was the game... once again ill let you know.

 

In my opinion a touch screen on a "normal" laptop is just a marketing add-on that looks nice on a specs sheet - I've got a Fujitsu T4410 convertible and although I use it in "laptop" mode around half the time due to having to type a lot on the keyboard, I basically only use the touch screen when it is in slate mode. Sometimes I remember myself that I've got the touch screen, and use it a tiny bit, before I completely switch to the trackpad again without even noticing it. When it is in slate mode, I love the touchscreen. So in your position I'd also rather go with the TM2 (I never want a normal laptop again, convertibles are fabulous!).

 

yea i see where your coming from with the graphics card, I dont expect a lot just enough to keep me occupied for a while. I used to play a lot of PS1 emulators and old snes emulators. The only game I ever played start to finish on my laptop was and at its lowest settings. And while the touch is intriguing to me its the fact that I can make a loptop compact. I won a used TM2T on ebay that should be coming tomorrow so i look forward to trying it out.

 

Congrats on winning the auction, am sure you will have lots of fun with it! Make sure to install the TM2 Touch Control by fellow forum member Kornelis, it is a tiny little utility program that nicely bundles a lot of frequently-needed control options like Touch ON/OFF, rotation, screen brightness etc.

You can find it here:

TM2 Control