Tablet for College Student

[Boots]

General Questions.

1. What is your budget?
No more than $2000, but preferably WAY under that. A more realistic budget would be $1000.

2. Would you consider purchasing used/refurbished?
I'd rather not, but I definitely would if it was a good enough deal.

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

4. What size Tablet PC would you prefer?
•Small and light ~ 5" to 8.9"
•Compact ~ 10"
•Mainstream ~ 12.1"
•Large ~ 13.3"
Mainstream or large. No smaller than 12.1".

5. Which country do you intent to purchase from?
United States of America.

6. Do you have any preferences to brand loyalty or dislikes?
Not really. We have mainly HP products at home and have had Dell before. Fujitsu is nice but pricey.

7. How many hours battery life do you require?
At least 3 hours for class, but 4 or more would be nice.

8. What will be the primary usage scenario of this tablet? (Email/Web Surfing/Drawing/Word Processing/Entertainment/Notetaking etc)
All of the above? Mainly for school notes, so a good pen is a must since that's what I want it for. I will draw on it because I can but I likely won't get Photoshop or anything more taxing than Gimp... I might put a game or two on it if it allows it (Age of Mythology-ish games in terms of size), but I won't be upset if I can't.

9. Do you have an OS preference?
Windows, but I know how to use Macs, so that's fine too.

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, Gimp (free photo editing software), an internet browser, Windows Media Player or something similar to play a DVD on and lots of music, I might put a video editor on it if space allows (Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus).

10. Do you intend on playing Games? If so please list.
It's not a priority, but if I did they would be Age of Mythology, Spore, American McGee's Alice



Screen Specifics

1. What resolution do you prefer?
•XGA - 1024x768 ~ large and easy to read text and graphic icons but you fit less on the screen.
•SXGA - 1400x1050 ~ Small text and graphic icons which require good vision but the gain is a much larger screen. (no longer available new, must look for used or refurbished machines)
•WXGA - 1280x768 ~ has a wider usable area than XGA, ideal for viewing Spreadsheets and other programs that require desktop space. The mainly used resolution for new tablet PCs since 2008.
I'm not sure what the differences on these are, so I'm just going to say that I'd like a larger screen. WXGA sounds the best from these descriptions.

2. Do you require the screen to be readable in sunlight?
See the above linked FAQ for guidance
No.

3. Do you prefer your display to be glossy or matte?
No preference.

4. Do you require Touch? (without pressure sensitivity) (Which one: resistive or capacitive)
See the above linked FAQ for guidance
I'd actually prefer it not to have touch. I want to get a screen protector and from what I've seen they don't work if you've got a touch screen.

5. Do you require a Pen? (with pressure sensitivity) (Which one: Wacom or N-Trig)
See the above linked FAQ for guidance
Yes, it definitely needs to have a pen. I don't really have much of a preference on with brand, I don't think. Whichever works better? Smoother, more pressure sensitive?


Component Specifics

1. What size Hard Drive and Memory do you require?
As much as I can afford I suppose. You can probably tell by now that I'm not too savvy with computers, so I'm just going to say as much as I would need to run the programs I listed above (but the games aren't neccessary).

2. Do you require an Optical (CD/DVD) Drive to be built in?
Yes. (I'd consider one without, but prefer it if it had it built in, or at least a cheap dock.)

3. Do you require ability to add a second Battery or Hard Drive (Modular Bay technology)?
No.

Misc
1. Other non specific items ~ please add other items you require not covered above?
Screen protector. Unless it's just a truly spectacularly well made screen that will never ever scratch, I want to get a screen protector for it.
Webcam. Doesn't need to be fancy, I just want to be able to talk to family.

2. Additional requests ~ anything other you wish to take into consideration?
I've had my heart dead-set on a Fujitsu T901, but I'm about to leave for college and the money I have available will depend on how much financial aid I get, plus I'll need money to live on, etc. So my budget may need to be rethought. I've seen their refurbished Ebay account, and I'm keeping that in mind, but I wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions that wouldn't have to be used.

Thanks!

[Boots]

Also, someone brought the HP 2730p to my attention because it goes for around $300. Would that fit what I need? I'm looking in to how expensive the newer editions are now.

Edit: How does the HP Elitebook 2760p compare to the Fujitsu T901? It's about half the price new, which is nice. An external optical drive would be worth that. MAYBE worth it having touch, though I don't like it.

[Agent 9]

How important is the cost of the thing, and is that cost including or excluding some user upgrades -important and easy upgrades are a SSD [64GB ~ $100; 120 ~ $200; 160GB ~ $240; only bother with looking at Intel, Crucial or Samsung drives]; ram upgrades [8GB DDR2 ~ $160; 8GB DDR3 ~ $40]; a different more ergonomic pen [the Motion Computing pen is $35 and IMO is a lot better than the Axiotron Studio pen that is $30]; and extra/ extended batteries or secondary chargers so you can have one in your room and one in your bag at all times, and a decent laptop sleeve [$30-40]... those are some things I think should be factored into cost anyways.

For used I say your best bets are the HP 2730p and the Lenovo X200t (be sure to search "X200t" and "X200 tablet" as the way people list things on ebay is odd); they have the same Wacom digitizer equipped 16:10 12.1" screens (X200t had optional single point and some multi-touch options available in addition to the pen, 2730p is pen only) Also the 2730p has things like a keyboard light, slice battery but it uses DDR2 ram and a harder to buy 1.8" SATA drive (X200t uses DDR3, and a standard 2.5" SATA drive); there are also some other things like the 2730p using chemically hardened glass fronts versus the hard plastic on the X200t, and the Hydis screens being common on the 2730p's but only mediocre samsung screens common on the X200t [the x200t did have the Super Bright Outdoor screen upgrade as an option and its one of the very best displays on any Tablet PC]

There is certainly more about those models (like being able to overclock the 2730p easily with the modded BIOS and Throttlestop); and there are plenty of other devices to choose from; but because of the current prices, quality, usability, and design of these two IMO they are the two best options -ebay should have either model for $300-450+ for a good condition unit.

[Boots]

Thanks for the reply! I should know soon how important the cost really is. If I get super lucky I might be able to get the T901 after all, but probably not. No, I had not factored in any of the additional things you mentioned. I'm a novice when it comes to actual computer hardware, so I tend to not think about things like extra memory (I know I should though, I just don't know what to look for in the first place).

I'm looking into both right now, but while I'm asking, out of the HP and Lenovo, which is more powerful? If I got the Lenovo I would get the outdoor screen; I like that it has no touch and is brighter. (Do you know offhand if a screen protector would hinder the pen on either computer?)

[Boots]

...Anyone?

Or maybe some links to people with similar questions, since maybe that's why just one person answered?

[Agent 9]

They should perform about exactly equally (assuming you would have a somewhat similar HDD/ SSD in both, similar amount of ram in each, and that you don't overclock the 2730p's processor with the modded BIOS and throttle stop)

The X200 tablet will be very hard to find with the Super Bright Outdoor screen, and it will likely cost you $500-700 for the computer itself. The

Screen protectors will NOT effect pen at all because the pen works wirelessly by RF waves and only metallic objects (and other objects that block wireless waves) can slow down or block them. I would highly recommend the Photodon screen protectors (good quality, decent pricing, and for $5 you can get the sample pack that has all four of them in one pack so you can decide which works the best for you)

[Boots]

Okay cool, thanks for all your help!