<p>I have to recommend the netbook over the tablet PC, which is fast becoming a dead format that never really took off.</p>
<p>Netbooks are going to be much lighter, thinner and have significantly better battery life, which are the only things that really matter as far as portability goes, right? They are definitely not designed for really intense stuff like gaming and watching HD media, but that’s probably not a concern for you. You’ll be happier with a netbook, I think, given what I assume your needs are. Not as powerful as most laptops, for sure, but PLENTY powerful for word processing, web browsing, and 95% of what most students do.</p>