<p>Been doing some research and it sounds like this tablet/laptop (Fujitsu T900) is not worth its price in any way. Why is it required when much more powerful computers are much cheaper? Also is it really required?</p>
<p>I doubt they are doing away with this requirement for the e’shcool next year. I hope I’m wrong. I believe the requirements are announced in May (?). This bugs the crud out of me (the need for a tablet).</p>
<p>I’m hoping any e’school students (chuy are you out there?!?) can shed some light on what problems may be by using another university purchased computer (4yr coverage for repair/loaner). I’ve heard urban myths about profs lowering grades, etc if you choose to use another setup (ie best processor, ram, graphics, etc). We have no intention of going bargain basement. We’d just rather get a solid laptop with a USB tablet attachment for the few classes that require a tablet feature. </p>
<p>I know this has been discussed before, but really…does it cause a problem with profs or diminish the quality of work?</p>
<p>Many thanks!!</p>
<p>
It’s likely that your EngE professor will have absolutely no idea what sort of computer you’ve bought.</p>
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Yes.</p>
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No.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard of profs lowering grades or students getting in trouble in class, no. However, as of the middle of last semester, SWAT has been forbidden from working on non-tablets and may not give out loaner computers to students if their alternative setup has given up the ghost. I think those policies have always been on the books, they’re just enforcing them now - and students can still go to the Bookstore for service on whatever computer they buy there. </p>
<p>There are risks to going the non-tablet route but a growing number of students are doing so, which is probably what caused the SWAT changes. It all comes down to whether you want to pay a hefty premium for SWAT service and loaner availability when your tablet doesn’t work, or save money on a better computer that’s less likely to break in the first place.</p>
<p>The only time I ever had to use the tablet was in freshman engineering classes, where they shoehorned it in to justify making us buy them. After that I shot the thing with a shotgun and got a netbook for a tenth of the price.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m a freshman engineering student.
I asked this exact same question when I got in. With the help of chuy and several others I decided to NOT buy a tablet. As I look back on my first semester and what I’m doing now in the second… It was the RIGHT decision. </p>
<p>Let me start off my saying what they use tablets for. In your intro engineering during the first semester you “should” use it to handwrite work/equations, flowcharts, and for drawing designs. So, now the question is do you REALLY need a tablet for these actions? Do you need a pen to write down equations and show your work? Nope, not at all, your keyboard is there for a reason. Do you need a pen to draw flowcharts? Nope. Word has a specific insert section for flowcharting. And your work will look a LOT neater and concise if you use word for flowcharting and equation work. I had friends who used their tablets for this stuff and their submissions were really messy. I know we’re in college and all but it didn’t look professional at all. Now do you need a pen for drawing designs? Yes. So in the end you truly only need a pen for 1 thing… which you will only spend 5 weeks on.</p>
<p>In my second semester engineering class they want hand drawn flowcharts and we still use drawings. So the pen is needed a bit more.</p>
<p>In the end, yes you will need a pen. But only barely when compared to the rest of the work you will do on your laptop with LABView, Matlab, Inventor, etc…</p>
<p>Which brings us to the final conclusion, the tablet/pen thing is NOT worth the $2000 or whatever it costs for those fujitsu tablets. Especially when there are usb tablets available. So your lookin at $100 tablet/pen + $800 normal laptop (or however much you decide spending) vs $2000 fujitsu tablet. When I look around the lectures and see a sea of fujitsu’s I just laugh to myself all the way to the bank. Easy choice. Get a usb tablet. </p>
<p>I was advised to buy the Bamboo tablet/pen. They were right. The thing is pretty nice and I reccomend it too. I will be perfectly honest though, it’s not perfect. A person who is using the fujitsu can make sharper/crisper/straighter lines than one using the Bamboo tablet. But in the grand scheme of things, once your adjusted to the Bamboo you can hold your own against 80% of the class. Which is absolutely sufficient considering you only spent $100.</p>
<p>-I’ve NEVER been asked about or rebuked for having a normal laptop by the professors. As long as you get your work done they don’t care. And the Bamboo tablet allows that. Most of the time they can’t even tell. I’ve had other student’s ask about it but once I show them the Bamboo tablet they always go “dam that was smart”.
-I’ve had many friends with problems using the fujitsu’s. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that if you buy one you will have to see SWAT once a year, MINIMUM.
-This is purely rumor, but supposedly they are trying to phase out the tablets. I’ve heard as early as next year. Purely Rumor.
-It’s easy to see that they try and bend the curriculum around using a tablet. It seems forced upon us, both the students and the instructors, and makes class real awkward sometimes. I mean when the teacher is struggling with the tablet then you know its a bad idea.</p>
<p>DO NOT GET A TABLET LAPTOP. Save the money and hastle by getting a usb plug in tablet/pen. You may feel like the odd man out initially but once you settle in you’ll realize this is one of those instances where following the crowd is stupid.</p>
<p>My class was the first that required the tablet. The rumor that they’re phasing it out next year has been around that long. I’m happy to hear that nobody is giving anyone any grief over having one, though.</p>
<p>Don’t buy a tablet! I thought long and hard about it before entering Tech Fall '10. I chose not to buy it and am glad I made that choice. I bought a USB tablet and that sufficed. I started out with ENGE 1104 and only used the USB tablet for DyKnow. All I needed to do was circle answer choices or maybe write simple things on a slide. After that I haven’t used the tablet since. I’m a CS major now though. I know other engineers that didn’t buy tablets either and they are fine. Some even bought Macs and dual booted them and used USB tablets. Everything turned out to be fine for them also.</p>