<p>TroyS, the tabletpc is hardly becoming a dead format. If you’ve been paying attention to Microsoft, you’d already know that. The important thing is to get the best solution for school. If you’re right about the format going away in the future (you’re wrong though), why would anyone care if it happens to be the perfect solution right now?</p>
<p>As far as size and battery life, some of the new netbooks on the market have little advantage over a tabletpc. Those things are already pushing 10". The HP tablet gets around 5 hours of battery life. How much more does a 10" netbook get? Sure, there are smaller netbooks, but then they become that much harder to type on, which makes them a poor choice for typing anything, especially at the hectic pace of some lectures. You can also get bigger extended batteries, but then that sacrifices the size and weight advantage it may have had.</p>
<p>Still though, tabletpc’s are not for everyone. Some users to take advantage of their benefits, which just makes them laptops that cost a couple hundred more than regular laptops…although since the 2710 is only $500, have fun trying to find a laptop or a decent netbook that’s a couple hundred less.</p>