Tablet PC Question

[hopz]

Hey guys, right now I"m using a Toshiba Portage M700 Tablet PC. I really love it for school. It's the best thing to be able to flip it and write hand notes directly onto power point slides in Onenote. It's also nice before I'm study Electrical Engineering so can program on it as well. However, it is slowly dying on me. It freezes up pretty often when there are a couple things running and the battery life now is under 2 hours is problematic for 2 - 3 hour lectures. I was thinking of buying a new tablet pc. Would you guys have any suggestions on some of the best deals for the money. Don't need anything amazing.

Thanks,
Alex

 

[WR2]

best deals for the money

A bit vague.
If you need to give more guidance:
Help us out and answer a few questions in the form shown in the sticky topic:
Laptop Buyers FAQ


HP EliteBook 2760p Tablet PC Intel $1100
Core i3 2350M 2.30GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD 7200rpm 12.1" 1280x800 Pen and Touch screen w/ Intel HD Graphics 3000


Video review: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9vtNz3BvM

 

[WR2]

A nice upgrade over the HP 2760p:

ThinkPad X220 Tablet 12.5" PC $1400
Core i5 2520M 2.50GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD 7200rpm 12.5" 1366x768 anti-glare IPS LCD w/ HD Graphics 3000


Reviews:
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVeNdSN41Tg
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220T-4298-2YG-Convertible-Notebook.60217.0.html



$1235 deal
http/www.logicbuy.com/deals/lenovo-thinkpad-x201-tablet/18971.aspx

 

[hopz]

1. What is your budget? under $1500, but hopefully won't spend that much

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 12''-13''

3. What screen resolution do you want? doesn't matter much

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? replacement laptop

5. How much battery life do you need? the longer the battery the better at least 6 hours

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? no games

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) programming/note taking

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? not much 250Gb?

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. whatever is cheapest

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? want it to last be at least 3 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? just normal CD or none at all.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. have heard Lenovo have good tablets, but not really sure

13. What country do you live in? USA

 

[hopz]

Thanks for those suggestions guys, I"ll look more into them. One of the biggest worries is the battery life, didn't see how long the lenova had.

 

[hopz]

Also, do any of them use SSD's instead of HDD? Know they are quicker, cooler, and don't have moving parts so a little more reliable.

 

[WR2]

Most have a SSD option these days. And they use a bit less power as well.

You should compare the cost of doing an SSD upgrade yourself vs using Lenovo list prices. The differences can be pretty interesting.

X220 with the middle battery option (63Whr) = tested 491 minutes in BatteryEater Reader's test (maximum battery life, all wireless off, minimum display brightness).
410 min for WLAN surfing and 342 min during DVD movie run.

 

[hopz]

Thats pretty good battery life. Do you think an SSD is worth it for a tablet?

 

[WR2]

Lenovo wants $280 for the 128GB SSD upgrade. And $360 for a 160GB model.

For $200 you can get a 240GB SSD: OCZ Agility 3
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227727

Or a 256GB Crucial M4 SSD with a transfer kit - $250.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148449

 

[hopz]

Would it be difficult to put in my own SSD? Have a decent knowledge about how to do it with a desktop. But wouldn't have any idea with a laptop or tablet.

 

[hopz]

Whats your take on buying laptop/tablets off ebay? they are a lot cheaper and slightly used.

 

[WR2]

and slightly used.

How do you know they're just 'slightly used'?

 

[WR2]

You can probably find a YouTube video showing you the SSD/HDD swap out.

 

[hopz]

Alright thanks, I'll look more into swapping out the HDD for SSD.

 

[hopz]

How do you know they're just 'slightly used'?

Some of them say 'slightly used for 4 months' or 3 months, ect. But say they are in good condition with no screen scratches. Not sure how highly advised it is to buy a used computer though.

 

[WR2]

I don't really have an opinion.
Only an observation that they can pretty much say anything they want.
'Only used by a little old lady on Sundays', etc.

 

[hopz]

Yeah thats true, I"ll probably focus more on new models instead of used then. Then also have a valid warranty too. Thanks for all the help.

 

[WR2]

You can check into what it takes to transfer a warranty from original owner to a new owner in case of a used laptop sale. Should be something on the Lenovo site about how to do that.

 

[hopz]

K cool thanks

 

[WR2]

You'll want to see all the ownership documentation, sales receipt, etc.
Getting stuck with a stolen notebook is never a fun experiance.