<p>Hello everyone! I'll be attending college in September and I was hoping to get some advice regarding what kind of computer I should buy. I'm commuting to college and I have a very good desktop at home, but I would like to have something to use at school for notes, typing papers, or doing research in between classes. Maybe even to play a game during any breaks, but nothing too intensive. Right now my budget is $600 but I could probably ask my parents to chip in or else save up and get it at a later date.</p>
<p>Alternatively, does anyone think that a tablet would work better for me instead since I'm commuting and already have a good computer to use at home? I've been looking at the iPad or the Nexus 7 but I'm really open to any tablet or laptop suggestion.</p>
<p>A real laptop will be much more efficient than a tablet for composing anything. The iPad is super for browsing and light email, but frustrating for serious work.</p>
<p>For basic tasks that you’ve described (excluding games), you can probably pick up any entry level laptop that goes on sale at a major retailer near you. I got by on a $200 HP that went on sale on Black Friday, and though it’s dying, it’s survived 3 years of college work.</p>
<p>A tablet is not a good idea for doing academic work. It’s good for what vonlost said, and I’ll throw in that it’s good for checking PDFs and reading stuff in general (I have a company issued one for doing just that) but as far as serious academic composition goes, it’s not the best tool to use.</p>
<p>If, however, you’re fine with using school computers for composition and just using your tablet to read notes that friends/professors give you, then a tablet can last you a while, surprisingly enough, unless you have to have the latest and greatest.</p>
<p>that acer should be good for you. unless you just want more power, then i direct you to [Gaming</a> Laptops - XOTIC PC - Gaming Notebooks - Custom Laptops - Custom Notebooks](<a href=“http://www.xoticpc.com%5DGaming”>http://www.xoticpc.com) .</p>
<p>Save up and pick up a Thinkpad X230t. It’s a tablet and laptop in one, so you have a real keyboard for working and games and a touchscreen for drawing and taking notes. The Thinkpad name is synonymous with quality and durability; there’s a reason they’re what they use on the International Space Station.</p>
<p>There’s significant student discount available and perennial sales. You could also consider last year’s model, the X220t for cheaper too.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your advice. I’ll definitely be looking into the Lenovo ThinkPad X230t. That seems like a good deal with all of the discounts.</p>
<p>you should also think about getting an ultrabook. basically a lightweight laptop but still powerful enough. the first generation ones ran intel sandy bridge cpus. newer ones run the ivy bridge.</p>
<p>microsoft store has a couple of ultrabooks on sale right now (just expand the filter and choose ultraportable as a filter option under weight):</p>
<p>the newer 2nd generation ones are probably at $1000, but the 1st generation ones are about $600-700. some of them come with a free xbox360 as a promo</p>
<p>the asus transformer TF700 is actually pretty damn good. a tablet with a clip on keyboard which looks like a laptop and runs on android. my friend got it on black friday (eventhough i didnt think it was even on sale) i was skeptical at first because im a pretty die-hard apple fan. turns out the asus is working quite well. she can take notes in class, skype with ppl and play games when shes bored. the keyboard provides like 10+hr of battery towards the tablet so the tablet’s battery is always full. i might even get one myself when i go into college considering ipad is showing no improvements expect pieces here and there</p>
<p>I recently asked my daughter if very many students are her college use iPads or tablets. She said very few. Most have laptops. Those who have iPads also have a laptop.</p>
<p>The Thinkpad suggested above is a good option but it doesnot have dedicated GPU, so if youre not into gaming,you’re good. But you should also checkout other ultrabooks in this budget and See if they offer better specs for your money</p>
<p>And regarding Tablets, You can go for an iPad or a Nexus, attach a snap-on keyboard and you have your mini-laptop ready. But this option is good,only if youre gonna use it for taking notes,light browsing and entertainment; assuming that you still have a full fledged PC with you</p>
<p>If you already have a desktop at home, I think you could make it work with a tablet. I have an iPad and I use it for notetaking; there are several good note-taking apps, and there are several inexpensive Bluetooth keyboards on the market right now. I bought one from Amazon for $30 that I really love (more than the expensive Apple keyboard, which retails for $70). You could even get a Bluetooth mouse for the iPad or another tablet, although I think it would be more of a nuisance than anything else. You could use Evernote and sync your notes to your desktop via the cloud - so by the time you got home to your desktop, your notes would be there. I was typing part of a paper on my iPad the other day. I also love that my iPad is lightweight and very portable; if I want to I can type a paper or take notes, but I can also easily read a book, newspaper or magazine on it book-style. It’s a more enjoyable experience than on my computer. And there are plenty of games for tablets.</p>
<p>However, if you plan on doing a lot of work on your notebook - I mean killing more than 2ish hours between classes or staying on campus and working on papers or projects - then I might spring for an inexpensive laptop. Typing on an iPad can get annoying after a while, and it’s so much faster to type on a laptop. Taking notes can also be more efficient on a laptop. Also if you’re doing heavy editing of a paper you may want a full word processor; Pages is available for the iPad, but despite claims of interchangeability I think it would be frustrating to go between Pages and Word. Also, at this point for the price of an iPad you can get a decent laptop that will last through light use.</p>
<p>Though some reviews are a mixed bag, I think it’s worth mentioning the MS Surface Pro tablet here since it was released just last week - ultrabook powered-like tablet with 10 points of touch and it comes with an included stylus/digitizer pen. It does cost a comparable price with ultrabooks however, and not with tablets (not to be confused with the more tablet-like MS Surface RT that costs $500). Once you get a keyboard and MS Office (unless you make do with open source office software), then it starts to run up around the $1,200 mark, which isn’t the cheapest, but also not the most expensive, tablet/laptop hybrid out there.</p>
<p>I’ve never used one outside of the MS store myself, so I’d be curious to hear if anyone else has found it the perfect medium for taking notes in class (via OneNote or whatever) and doing all your other tasks.</p>