Science student gamer

[hrynpl]

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm feeling kinda lost and overwhelmed with all of the choices. Had a Mac for the past 8 years which I loved to bits and pieces, which finally gave out So now I'm in the market after a long time. I hope to find my perfect computer!


1. What is your budget?

Cheaper would be better, but I'm definitely open to high end prices as well. I would prefer to save up for something perfect that can get me through my masters at least (5+ years) if not a phd.

2. Would you consider purchasing used/refurbished?

Maybe, but would probably prefer new or custom built.

3. Do you prefer a Slate, Convertible or Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC)?

Convertible

4. What size Tablet PC would you prefer?


Mainstream ~ 12.1"
Large ~ 13.3"

Either mainstream or large... my old laptop was a 15" so stepping down will be hard.

5. Which country do you intent to purchase from?

USA

6. Do you have any preferences to brand loyalty or dislikes?

As I said, I loved my Mac, but realize that it's not what I need anymore. I'm not that familiar with other brands.

7. How many hours battery life do you require?

The longer the better. Minimum of 4 hours.

8. What will be the primary usage scenario of this tablet? (Email/Web Surfing/Drawing/Word Processing/Entertainment/Notetaking etc)

Note taking / word processing / drawing chem molecules / writing reactor physics equations / web surfing / gaming

9. Do you have an OS preference?

I prefer the Mac OS, but realize that this will probably be a no go with my requirements. I will say that I am open to anything including Linux.

10. What software and tasks do you intend to run? (Microsoft Office or other Word Processing Suite/Photoshop/3D Studio Max/Autocad etc)

Microsoft office / LaTeX / oddly specific chem programs / MCNP processing maybe some video editing software?

10. Do you intend on playing Games? If so please list.

Yes, I do. I'm not hardcore into them, but I will be playing my favorites. League of Legends is primary, also portal, braid, some counter strike and minecraft.

Screen Specifics

1. What resolution do you prefer?

I'm open to whatever, but prefer higher resolutions

2. Do you require the screen to be readable in sunlight?

No, it rains all the time where I live

3. Do you prefer your display to be glossy or matte?

Prefer matte, but open to either.

4. Do you require Touch? (without pressure sensitivity) (Which one: resistive or capacitive)

Not necessarily

5. Do you require a Pen? (with pressure sensitivity) (Which one: Wacom or N-Trig)

Yes - I plan on using a pen a lot for note taking, etc.

Note - I tend to write with a fairly high pressure, so something that could withstand that would be really important to me.

Component Specifics

1. What size Hard Drive and Memory do you require?

I have a 500 gb hard drive which I never got around to swapping into my old computer sitting around. So, something around that size, or which would be compatible to swapping out with the one I own, would be ideal.

2. Do you require an Optical (CD/DVD) Drive to be built in?

This is highly desirable. I could live without it, but I really would prefer not to have to.

3. Do you require ability to add a second Battery or Hard Drive (Modular Bay technology)?

No


1. Other non specific items ~ please add other items you require not covered above?

Something that I can change out parts on somewhat easily would be nice. I did a fair amount of component swapping with my old mac, and there were like 40 screws I had to take out each time. Not as fun.

2. Additional requests ~ anything other you wish to take into consideration?

I have a bad tendency to accidentally drop things either on it or drop my laptop. I guess you would call me somewhat accident prone. So, something durable would be nice.


Thank you for the help / recommendations everyone!

[NamelessPlayer]

I think the Fujitsu T5010/T900/T901 line would satisfy you most, for a few reasons.

-13.3" guaranteed AFFS+ LCD. Just about everything else is 12", which you'd have an even more difficult time adjusting to.
-Modular bay. This can house either an optical drive or a secondary battery for extended runtime. They may also offer hard drive accessories for the bay (so you can set up an SSD for the OS and the HDD in the bay for mass storage), but I'm not as certain on that.
-If you're willing to save up US$2,000+ for a Tablet PC that has even the slightest chance of handling 3D games at an acceptable framerate and don't want to put up with external ExpressCard GPU kludgery, the T901 has a dedicated NVIDIA GPU option. The problem is, with all else being at entry-level configuration, it costs $2,020, and you'll probably want to upgrade some of the other stuff too. Also, the older T900 and T5010 never had the option, being stuck with Intel GMA graphics only, on which you'd have to stick to CS 1.6 unless you like choppiness and generally slideshow-level framerates at 640x480, low details.