Do I want a tablet or a convertible?

T

Troll_sl

shitlord
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So I'm going back to school. I'm looking for a portable that'll allow me to both take written notes AND type (either with an integrated or periph keyboard).

I'm not going to be using it for gaming. I may, if it feels right, use it for writing and comic book storyboarding, though.

So... am I looking for a tablet or a convertible?
 
C

Cor_sl

shitlord
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If you're going to be typing a lot, I'd buy a convertible, personally. Maybe something like the Sony Vaio Duo 13?http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/04/s...duo-13-review/

Edit - Actually, no, I changed my mind. If you're just typing simple notes and stuff, a stylus equipped tablet with a bluetooth keyboard should be fine. Samsung has its Galaxy Note tablet range, and there's a ton of Atom equipped Windows 8 tablets with stylus support. Either would work.
 
BrutulTM

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Typing on tablets sucks. I would never make that my primary device, they are just way too limited. Trying to use handwritten notes from your tablet is likely to be a frustrating experience as well. My sister in law tried to use an iPad for college even though I told her it was a bad idea. A few months later she called me shopping for laptops.
 
T

Tenks

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I bring my tablet to meetings and work and I dread whenever I have to type something
 
A

Araex_sl

shitlord
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I've been usingthis stylusfor taking notes in meetings, it has completely replaced my notebooks. I highly recommend that stylus if you plan on taking notes on a tablet.

I'm using that in combination ofthis keyboard cover, which is used for chatting and the occasional coding on the road.
 
Ichu

Ichu

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How the netbook market failed I have no idea. I am going to be sad as shit when mine dies, they are perfect for school. There is no better feeling than sitting through 8 hours of class without having to fight for a plug in.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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Hopefully the new Intel Haswell chips really do deliver on their claim of "50% better battery life in laptops", and normal, budget-oriented laptops can creep up into the range 6-8 hours of usage on a single charge(most now are like 3-5). Once we get over to SSDs becoming more common, that should also help battery life tremendously. The less physical moving parts, the better.
 
Srathor

Srathor

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Look into the asus transformer series. Their note program is pretty damn good on them and the keyboard + extra battery is nice.
 
Zodiac

Zodiac

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if you do your notes in outline form keyboard is the only way to go. That said, I used a convertible for notes at school in the days before even the ipad was out. I loved it.

Convertible + OneNote is prolly the best college device ever.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

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That new Macbook Air supposedly has some impressive battery life and is super light. Can you afford it though is the problem.
 
Pharazon

Pharazon

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a_skeleton_03_sl said:
That new Macbook Air supposedly has some impressive battery life and is super light. Can you afford it though is the problem.
Click to expand...
It has better battery life though because of Haswell. I'd just wait (which is exactly what I'm doing) for a good ultrabook / hybrid with one of the lower TDP Haswells in it. No need to shell out Apple premiums to get that battery performance / lightness.
 
T

Troll_sl

shitlord
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Yeah. For the most part I avoid Apple. I like to be able to customize my shit, without jumping through their hoops.
 
T

Troll_sl

shitlord
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So I'm thinking an ASUS Transformer TX300 is the way I'm going to go. Probably wait til they get the Haswell upgrade.

Though I saw the Book Trio revealed at Computex... damn, that looks kinda nice. Will probably be super-expensive, though.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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Copy/Paste from my own post in the "Shit I just bought" review thread. This might be an option for you

I've had this for a few days now:
35147489-10_610x435.jpg


Samsung Galaxy Note Tablet 10.1

I'm loving it, I don't know that I can go back to a tablet without a stylus now. Basically, you can choose to hand-write with the stylus in ANY application where the touchscreen keyboard would normally be active and converts it to type. I find that I can get emails and posts to websites hashed out a LOT faster printing with a stylus(and it still has word prediction/correction just like typing) than I can using a touchscreen keyboard. The handwriting recognition is really amazing on this thing, I bet it gets probably 95% of the words I write correct on the first try, and I have pretty shitty handwriting(it reads both print and cursive)

Previously on my Nexus 7, I'd never even think about trying write out anything more than a single sentence or so, I'd just hop on my desktop PC to send a lengthy email, but now with the Galaxy Note it's damn near as easy as having a real keyboard. I wouldn't want to write a book on it or anything, since I'm finding out that since I rarely hand-write anything anymore(haven't been in school for over a decade) my handwriting stamina is pretty much crap, but it's great for hashing out a quick paragraph.

Grabbed a refurb off of Woot last week for $250. Well worth it, that's only $50 more than I paid for my Nexus 7 last year when they first came out, and it's a massive upgrade.
 
Pharazon

Pharazon

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This thing looks pretty nice. 3200x1800 corei5 Haswell Win8-Android dual OS. That said, I don't think I'd want to shell out the cash for one (price unannounced). The screen is undoubtedly going to make the price over 1k and if I'm gonna pay that much I'd want to opt for something more towards an ultrabook. From the video is looks like it has no USB port, big minus for me even though it undoubtedly allows it to be a little thinner.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/20/s...ndroid-slider/
 
Srathor

Srathor

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The transformer is pretty damn great as a multi use tool. The keyboard giving extra battery life and usb slots is fantastic and you can just use the tablet part for light use / mostly reading. Again I highly recommend it.
 
Voyce

Voyce

Shit Lord Supreme
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joeboo_sl said:
Copy/Paste from my own post in the "Shit I just bought" review thread. This might be an option for you

I've had this for a few days now:
35147489-10_610x435.jpg


Samsung Galaxy Note Tablet 10.1

I'm loving it, I don't know that I can go back to a tablet without a stylus now. Basically, you can choose to hand-write with the stylus in ANY application where the touchscreen keyboard would normally be active and converts it to type. I find that I can get emails and posts to websites hashed out a LOT faster printing with a stylus(and it still has word prediction/correction just like typing) than I can using a touchscreen keyboard. The handwriting recognition is really amazing on this thing, I bet it gets probably 95% of the words I write correct on the first try, and I have pretty shitty handwriting(it reads both print and cursive)

Previously on my Nexus 7, I'd never even think about trying write out anything more than a single sentence or so, I'd just hop on my desktop PC to send a lengthy email, but now with the Galaxy Note it's damn near as easy as having a real keyboard. I wouldn't want to write a book on it or anything, since I'm finding out that since I rarely hand-write anything anymore(haven't been in school for over a decade) my handwriting stamina is pretty much crap, but it's great for hashing out a quick paragraph.

Grabbed a refurb off of Woot last week for $250. Well worth it, that's only $50 more than I paid for my Nexus 7 last year when they first came out, and it's a massive upgrade.
Click to expand...
So you'd say that the Stylus isn't gimmicky at all? Interesting - I was going to wait around for the newest Nexus 7 but now I dunno...
 
Lenas

Lenas

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I just got a samsung windows tablet with a stylus and I wouldn't say it's gimmicky at all. Sometimes it's nice to handwrite notes.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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The Samsung stylus on their newer tablets is shockingly good. I fully expected to try it out once and never touch it again, but it's so damn good I'm using it all the time. I was completely surprised.
 
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