<p>Also, who are the professors that teach the engineering classes? I would like to email them and ask them their opinion of the tablet PC and see if i get an honest answer.</p>
<p>The engineering courses that you’re required to take for your first year depend on what you’re planning to major in, but in general, look in the timetable of classes for EngE in the 1000-level for names of professors. In case you don’t already know, you can access the timetable from Hokie Spa.</p>
<p>thanks. I’ve emailed a couple professors asking their opinion and I will relay the information I get back here.</p>
<p>dfmlege,
As a parent that will be the one that gets called when something breaks, I’d much rather have a solid plan in place. So that is, to me, a highly desirable benefit. I’ve looked at the specifications, and I’ve checked the prices. I work with computers all day long, I’m a programmer…so this is not something I am new to. The HP that we are looking at, is a solid machine, and it gets excellent reviews from the engineering crowd. And I actually have not been able to beat the price. Could I find a machine that meets those specs, for less? Well sure. But with Tech FIVE hours away from me, reliablity is a BIG plus, and HP is a solid choice, in my opinion.</p>
<p>HappieHokie, I would SO appreciate if you would post back whatever information you get. That would be an enormous help. While I like the idea of no repair worries, if we really have the option to disregard the requirements, that would change my plans.</p>
<p>@HappyHokie - please do let us know :). I’m trying to decide between the HP EliteBook #2 or another laptop and an external tablet.</p>
<p>Any response from the proffessor?</p>
<p>Haven’t heard anything yet 
I emailed 3 professors including ones teaching during the summer. Would have thought they would get back by now.</p>
<p>I mentioned in a past thread that I had spoken with a Computer Science professor a few weeks back about the tablet policy. He said he preferred that students get a normal laptop and an external USB tablet. He said that after your first year you barely, if ever, use the tablet function of your computer leaving you with a computer that is heavy, has a mediocre battery life (at best), and can get extremely hot. He also said that you should think about the possibility that you may not like the school of engineering and want to change majors.</p>
<p>bdjohn: thanks for the informaryion, as a future computer science major, this is awesome since I bought a HP dv6tqe and a bamboo USB tablet :)</p>
<p>primeboss, thats exactly the computer I’m planning on getting!</p>
<p>Just heard back from one of the professors. He said that the reason for Tablet PCs requirment is intended to
" 1) ensure that the computer you purchase will be adequate for 4 years of undergraduate engineering education and 2) normalize to a minor extent the range of types of computers within the class of first-year students to ease the administrative burden of troubleshooting and maintaining these machines"
He also said that the faculty has the authority to drop students from their class if they do not have the proper computer but he has never heard of that happening. He said that he has had students with PCs and Macs using external tablets and he does not punish them.
Hearing that from a professor makes me all the more confident in not getting a Tablet PC.</p>
<p>HappyHokie: I just got the same response from my academic Adviser.</p>
<p>IMO, don’t bother with the tablet. I completed my freshman year without a tablet. The year went by without any issues at all. I started off with a Sony Vaio Z and a USB tablet. I only used the USB tablet for DyKnow for ENGE 1104. All I needed the tablet for was to circle answer choices and give feedback in DyKnow. What a waste it would have been to actually purchase a tablet PC. I did not need the USB tablet at all during the spring semester. Then again I only had to take one intro to engineering class freshman year since I had credit for 1024. Also, I switched laptops during the second semester. I came in with a MacBook Pro. I dualbooted it Windows 7 but did not need to use it at all. If it helps, I am a computer science major.</p>
<p>good info and got a quick question.</p>
<p>S is incoming soph transfer to engineering. he didn’t get credit for intro engineering course from former 4yr school and taking enge 1024 this summer at nvcc to catch up on reqs. he’ll need to take enge 1104 and other soph engineering courses since he’s hoping to major in civil engineering.</p>
<p>he has a mac pro and can dual boot to windows 7, if needed. does he need to buy a tablet computer at this point? or is USB tablet ok? or will flashing up the apple logo cause him to be shunned?</p>
<p>actually, i like the lenovo x220t and good price for what you get. think tablet notebooks have a new lease on life with the popularity of ipad/android tablets and slim down of tablet laptops. a year ago, i would have thought they were goner’s/expensive dinosaurs. now, think they could have practical use in field operations, etc when needing to write and compute.</p>
<p>it’s hard to beat good laptops w usb tablet at cheap prices, (<$600 laptop + <$100 USB tablet). but x220t’s price @ approx. $1400 from vt bookstore is pretty good compared to the $2K+ that students paid in years past. and that price includes 3-4 year on-campus service and warranty!</p>
<p>In general, tablet PCs are pretty lousy. The touchscreen is cool, but middling specs and a higher price tag, as well as the horror stories students have had with malfunctioning tablet PCs, ultimately show that the tablet PC is a rip-off. As long as you and your son understand the risks of purchasing a tablet PC, then go ahead, but as the actual tablet functions are hardly used outside a few times in engineering classes, it makes more sense to buy a standard laptop with the USB tablet instead. The VT bookstore will still offer you hardware warranty.</p>
<p>thanks, dflege for your insights…sounds like the tablet is in for repair more than in the the road.</p>
<p>so, do you think adding usb/bamboo tablet to existing laptop (mac pro) would do the job? it sure would save us the extra expense and he really likes his mac pro. i’m just afraid that those strict profs/ta’s in fresh/soph engineering classes will toss him out when they see that apple logo shining in the classroom/lecture hall.</p>
<p>or maybe he needs to really buy a pc laptop?</p>
<p>appreciated…</p>
<p>If he has Windows installed on the Mac there is absolutely no reason for them to throw him out of a class. Virginia Tech only requires that you have Windows, they don’t require that you buy from specific manufacturers. If his Macbook Pro meets all of the hardware requirements, excluding the tablet function, he should be just fine.</p>
<p>The operating system needs to be Windows 7 to run the tablet software, but VT offers it as part of the (required) university undergraduate bundle, and all Macs nowadays have the capability to dual boot Windows with Boot Camp. The USB tablet is all your son needs to complete his assignments, which is what the TAs care about; they will not check specifications, thought strict TAs might give a cursory glance at your equipment, which shouldn’t matter anyway.</p>
<p>Just a disclaimer: I’m not a student at VT, but a rising freshman. Most of what I say is based on experiences from upperclassmen I know as well as common sense, but I find that people on this forum agree that a USB tablet is the best option.</p>
<p>Very helpful and much thanks!</p>
<p>the thought of having to buy another laptop was a little annoying besides costly. I’ll ask him to check hardware specs on Mac to be sure they match minimum reqs. </p>
<p>If things check out and dual boot works, USB bamboo tablet is the ticket. Think I saw it on sale at amazon recently. </p>
<p>Appreciate great info!</p>
<p>I guess I feel that the warranty issue is important enought to get the tablet/pc there. I don’t want to have to send it off, it something happens. I’ll have to check the prices on the laptops there. My son has a laptop that’s about 1.5 years old, but I don’t think it’s going to meet the technical spec requirements that the Engineering School has mandated.</p>