Tablet PC

[odel0022]

I am a junior in college with an under graduate degree for IS/IT aka Information Systems/Technology. I enjoy my field, and with the great job outlook, I knew this is what I want my career to be. With this decided, and knowing that I will spend the rest of my life working with computers, I decided to be a lil greedy and make my own computer(that i will constantly be upgrading", hook myself up with a nice LCD monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse. By next step is planning on buying a laptop that I can bring to school and just for computer mobility. I was looking around and came across the Tablet PCs. They look really sharp and I like the touch screen effect. I was looking at one by Gateway... Anyone have any opinions on them? Or maybe a recommendation for a nice laptop?

[Statica]

A tablet PC is a really nice device, especially if you need to go for portablility rather than power. There are basically 2 kinds of tablets out there: convertible tablets and slates. Slates are just what they are named for - a PC that is a slate that relies on a stylus exclusively for input on the go. Convertibles, of course, flip over to look like a regular notebook or can behave like slates and the keyboard hides away - but they are usually slightly heavier. Of course they come with the usual bells and whistles for attaching accessories like USB keyboard etc.
Personally, I prefer a tablet PC over a notebook any day. However the one thing I've noticed is that the screen resolutions aren't as great as a regular notebook.
I dont have experience with Gateway, but I love the Toshiba R15 .. the Viewsonic ones are very popular and they are much lighter as well!
XP Tablet PC edition is quite nice as well a lot of the stylus/pen features actually work!

[mairving]

This article (http://news.com.com/Convertibles+The+new+laptop+bling/2100-1044_3-5900655.html?tag=nefd.lede) might be of interest to you.

[Statica]

Nice article!
Personally I find that the convertible types are not as efficient in battery life or weight as a pure slate tablet.

Here are some further reviews of tablets: http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,4148,2379,00.asp
http://www.tabletpctalk.com/ has a lot of tablet pc talk.

[thefultonhow]

I personally like the Lenovo Thinkpad X41 Tablet. Another option if you want a small laptop but don't need the tablet functionality is to get a widescreen like the Sony Vaio T/TX series or the Dell Inspiron 700m.

[Statica]

A bit off topic, but should be interesting to get feedback .. What's the opinion on widescreens? Personally I hate laptops with widescreen; for example I have a 15" widescreen and I have yet to see a DVD movie on it, and yet for productivity its lousy; too much vertical scrolling for pretty much any content out there.

[thefultonhow]

What's the opinion on widescreens?

I love them. Especially on my laptop with its 1920x1200 widescreen -- I can have two windows open side-by-side and have enough room to work in both.

[mairving]

I think that it is just perception. They look so weird to me.