<p>I’m two years in with my tablet, which is the fujitsu t4010. One thing you don’t want to do is be a tightwad if you decide to get a tablet. I got a friend who got a cheap hp tablet and it is the biggest piece of junk. It always freezes and you can barely read what you write on it. If you’re going to get a tablet, my advice would be to go with the fujitsu or a toshiba. The external usb tablet is not a good idea, but it’s up to you. Having the tablet for engineering classes like statics and deforms helps you keep good notes for tests as well because of programs like dyknow. As for games, get a cheap desktop to play games on. They’re so cheap these days you can get a decent desktop for games for way less compared to a labtop.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Why isn’t it a good idea? A good laptop and an external USB tablet is about $800 or so, while a good Fujitsu is at least $1700 and up.</p>
<p>Hope someone can clarify this for me (a tech dummy parent). We’re leaving Thurs to move in Thurs/Fri and put off the laptop decision bc we don’t know what to get. She did not decide to change her app to engineering until after it was too late, and only applied university studies. She can’t get into engineering yet, and we are still not sure if we’re going to suck up the 600 it will cost us out of staters to take that little 2 credit engineering 1024 class at NRCC, or if she’ll wait and take her chances in the fall, and risk having pushed back graduation a whole year or semester.</p>
<p>So in a nutshell, technically as a US major, she doesn’t need the tablet. But we were told she’d need it when she gets into engineering. I see from this post the school permits the plug ins, so I would really like to have her go that route. But she really wants a mac. I’m really clueless about computers, and while I do understand macs are a dual boot (hopefully someone with some knowledge will help us with this), I’m wondering…do all macs have USBs to plug in the tablet? Will a tablet work in a mac? Will the engineering software work in a mac? </p>
<p>I really want to buy from the bookstore for the protection, and the store has macs from about 1300 (don’t think they include ADP tho, not sure), is there anything I need to know/look for/stay away from knowing that if she takes the 1024 equivalent at NRCC now, or at VT in the future, she will need at least the plug in? I’m trying to avoid having a computer that is going to be useless with her upcoming needs.</p>
<p>Does anyone have advice?</p>
<p>If she wants a Mac then it’ll work fine. All Mac laptops have USB ports. Relevant to you:</p>
<p>“Bamboo Pen works with your existing computer: desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. Sleek and black, it makes for a stylish addition to your workspace. Attach Bamboo Pen to a standard USB port, set it comfortably by your keyboard, and let your ideas flow.”
[Bamboo</a> Pen](<a href=“http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_pen.php]Bamboo”>http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_pen.php)</p>
<p>It’s pretty easy to dual boot Windows 7 and OSX on a Mac. You can download Windows 7 for free from the VT software website. Boot camp is the way to go: [Apple</a> - Support - Boot Camp](<a href=“http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/]Apple”>Boot Camp Assistant User Guide for Mac - Apple Support)</p>
<p>For anyone who is thinking about getting a fujitsu tablet but does not want to buy over $1500 from the school, you can look at the fujitsu t730 on newegg for $1,130: [Newegg.com</a> - Fujitsu LifeBook T730 (XBUY-T730-W7-001) NoteBook Intel Core i3 350M(2.26GHz) 12.1" Wide XGA 2GB Memory DDR3 1066 160GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel HD](<a href=“Are you a human?”>Are you a human?). It has a core i3 processor and 2 GB of ram. Someone said earlier that they won’t check your specs and these should be just fine running anything the school needs you to run.</p>
<p>I really wish I had known about the USB tablets though. I went by the College of Engineering website and bought the computer they told me to buy. I also read the penalties that come along with not having a computer that meets their specs; therefore I kinda feared getting another type of laptop. My plan for college was to get a MacBook Pro and dual boot it with Windows 7 using Boot Camp, but those “requirements” kinda screwed me out of that. Now if I only use my tablet in one class during my freshman year, I technically paid $2300 + tuition for that class and I’m stuck witha laptop that I didn’t really want for my remaining years.</p>
<p>Ok, so then if she got something like this for 1290 from the bookstore, she would be able to run all engineering applications with the addition of the usb tablet? Does it matter that it’s not an i5 or i7 processor, whatever that means? It seems that these “core duo” processors have been around for a long time, are they current technology? I thought it seemed like they were all going to the iwhatever, but maybe that’s just windows? Just want to make sure it can handle the tablet and the engineering apps so we’re not stuck buying another one when she gets into 1024.</p>
<p>Apple 13in MacBook Pro #1 <em>Rental Available</em>
Item #C1019</p>
<p>All Apple bundles include an HP All-in-One Printer Scanner Copier, 3 or 4 Year Apple Care and a 25ft Ethernet Cable. </p>
<p>Processor Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz)
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce 320M
Display 13.3" LED-backlit (1280x800)
RAM 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (2x2GB)
Hard Drive 250GB 5400rpm
Optical Drive Dual-Layer Super-Multi DVD Writer
Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n
Ethernet Gigabit
Bluetooth 2.1
Webcam Yes
Finger Print Reader No
Ports Mini Display Port, Headphone, (2) USB, FireWire 800, SD Card
Weight (Including Battery) 4.5 lbs
Dimensions (HxWxL) 0.95"x12.78"x8.94"
Standard Battery up to 10 hours
Operating System Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
Standard Warranty 3 Year Apple Care
** Rental Available </p>
<p>$745.00 - $1290.00</p>
<p>I don’t guess Apple has adopted the new MacBooks then, because if you order a MacBook/MacBook Pro from Apple then it comes with an i5 or i7 processor. I’m not sure about running the engineering apps on a Mac. I don’t see why it would be a problem if you are dual booting the Mac with Windows 7.</p>
<p>hmmm so i did a little more looking and it seems the “standard screen” size macbooks at the bookstore have the i5 and up. But they start at almost 2K. Does the i5 really make a difference? I don’t know anything about this stuff. On the other hand, there is an hp probook in the standard size for 1k, and that has the i5. But hp has a terrible track record with me. If my daughter really wants the mac, I think we’d have to shoot for the cheapest one we can find, meaning she’d have to suck it up with a 13" instead of a 15" screen. Just wondering if the processor (i5 vs core 2 duo) makes a difference for any engineering apps or use of the tablet. </p>
<p>As far as anticipating a problem with the macbook, I really have no idea. But I have been trying to follow the posts here on cc on the subject in the last few months and seem to recall a thread where one of the experienced students on here mentioned that he had never seen an engineering student with a mac, and it seemed like he thought it might be a problem. I’m not sure why or where that thread is now.</p>
<p>HP ProBook 4520s <em>Rental Available</em>
Item #C1001</p>
<p>All HP bundles include a 3 or 4 Year Manufacturer’s warranty and a 25ft Ethernet Cable.</p>
<p>Processor Intel Core i5-430M (2.26GHz, up to 2.53GHz with Turbo Boost)
Video Card Intel HD Graphics
Display 15.6" LED-backlit (1366x768)
RAM 4GB DDR3 1333MHz (2x2GB)
Hard Drive 250GB 7200rpm
Optical Drive Dual-Layer Super-Multi DVD Writer
Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n
Ethernet Gigabit
Bluetooth 2.1
Webcam 2 Megapixel
Finger Print Reader No
Ports VGA, HDMI, Microphone, Headphone, (3) USB, eSATA, Express Card, Media Reader
Weight (Including Battery) 5.27 lbs
Dimensions (HxWxL) 1.09"x14.64"x9.83"
Standard Battery 6 cell, up to 5 hours
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium
Standard Warranty 3 year ADP</p>
<p>i3 & Core2 Duo are relatively similar (it’s spotty, i3 wins in some stress tests while Core2 Duo wins in others).</p>
<p>i5 is much more superior than Core2 Duo - in stress tests. This is due to the hyper-threading capabilities of the i processors, allowing them perform much more efficiently in multitasking. That being said, I emphasized stress tests because in your daily use, you will not notice a difference - both processors will appear to have no differences. As for long term if you’re worried about that, advancement in technology has not been progressing as it did in the late 90’s/early millennium, so the Core2 Duo should still be able to handle everything you have to do perfectly fine for a while, certainly for the rest of your undergrad.</p>
<p>Be careful about the Macbook Air: you don’t have too many USB ports :-p </p>
<p>In all honesty, I think everyone should: </p>
<ol>
<li>Macbook and dual boot Windows7, USB tablet</li>
<li>Cheap-average Windows laptop, USB tablet, build a decent-nice desktop3. </li>
<li>Mid-nice laptop, USB tablet</li>
</ol>
<p>I’d go with #2 personally. You’ll be covered under the ‘tablet’ policy in all cases and with the money you save you can buy another monitor. You’re SO much more productive with two monitors and a desktop than a tiny laptop screen.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! So she should be fine with the low end macbook pro then, even for engineering I take it? I hadn’t even looked at the macbook air. I’m looking outside of the bookstore too because she raised a good point-though not ideal, if there is a problem with the laptop, she could always use the library while it’s being fixed. Not ideal, I know, but maybe worth it, because the cheapest laptop I see on the bookstore site is that hp I posted above. And if you buy at a place like staples (if there’s one in the area), they do on site repairs under the extended warranty.</p>
<p>I’m currently a Freshman engineer at Tech and I went through this EXACT scenario. I scoffed at the price of the tablets. Luckily I came here first. I was reccomended by several people, one of them being Chuy, a recently graduated engineering senior, to NOT get the tablet PC. He told me to get the bamboo USB tablet that has been mentioned. Classes have just started and dam near ALL the engineers have the fancy tablets. Even my roomate does. It concerned me for a while until a few things happened:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A sophmore engineering student across the hall said the tablets were useless. Without me even bringing it up he mentioned to get the bamboo usb tablet.</p></li>
<li><p>My chem teacher made fun of engineering kids for our “tech products” like the tablets and graphing calcs.</p></li>
<li><p>My roomate, who has a fujitsu tablet, struggled to get his screen working while trying to pinch in and out of his web broswer.</p></li>
<li><p>I heard that Tech was getting rid of the tablet policy beggining next year. I don’t know if this is true or not however. Just a very interesting nugget to chew on.</p></li>
<li><p>I remembered several respected CC posters reccomended to not buy the tablet PCs.</p></li>
<li><p>I spent FAR less on PC expenses.</p></li>
<li><p>I played with my Bamboo USB tablet/Pen. Its freaking amazing. It could do everything my roomate could do when we fiddled around with the touch software we downloaded. My only complaint is that it is kinda hard to know where exactly on the Bamboo tablet correlates with the screen. Doing precise little touch ups was kinda hard.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Tomorrow I will attend my first “intro to engr” course. I will let you know how heavily they stress the tablet PC.</p>
<p>PS- I was HIGHLY reccomended to NEVER get a MAC. Check the engineering forums for proof. I don’t know for sure from personal experience but several people have advocated that required engineering programs( MATlab, CAD for example) don’t run too well, if at all, on MACs. I have seen this statement numerous times thoughout the last year of my college process.</p>
<p>Bump for accepted ED students… if you have already started looking for a Laptop based on the engineering department requirements, you’re better off buying a USB tablet and a decent laptop than what VT recommends. Check the first page of this thread, you won’t be penalized in college for it.</p>
<p>Link for Tablet: [Wacom</a> Bamboo CTL460 Digital Pen Tablet LATEST VERSION - eBay (item 120563099182 end time Dec-24-10 11:28:03 PST)](<a href=“http://cgi.ebay.com/Wacom-Bamboo-CTL460-Digital-Pen-Tablet-LATEST-VERSION-/120563099182?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c121ee62e]Wacom”>http://cgi.ebay.com/Wacom-Bamboo-CTL460-Digital-Pen-Tablet-LATEST-VERSION-/120563099182?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c121ee62e)</p>
<p>Link for Possible Laptop that exceeds requirements (one that I may buy haha): [Acer</a> TravelMate TM8572-6779 LX.TW603.021 Notebook PC - Intel Core i7-620M 2.66GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6 Display, Windows 7 Professional 32-bit at TigerDirect.com](<a href=“TigerDirect Sunset”>TigerDirect Sunset)</p>
<p>This is what my tablet looked like partway through junior year:</p>
<p><a href=“http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs230.snc1/7726_268826650181_894125181_8990710_796659_n.jpg[/url]”>http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs230.snc1/7726_268826650181_894125181_8990710_796659_n.jpg</a></p>
![http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs230.snc1/7726_268826650181_894125181_8990710_796659_n.jpg[/url]](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs230.snc1/7726_268826650181_894125181_8990710_796659_n.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>You can guess my opinion of them.</p>
<p>^ chuy - I gotta say, that’s priceless!! 
It about covers my feelings about the tablets as well.</p>
<p>Don’t buy anything until the specs come out in May(ish)…no matter what great deal you see on sale. You can make an informed decision from there. If they finally move away from the tablet they may be offering something from the bookstore that’s better then what they’ve carried before. You just don’t know. There is value in having the service-on-site if you don’t have to completely sacrifice quality.</p>
<p>@blueiguana I agree with waiting till May to see their most updated requirements, but I doubt they’ll completely stray away from the “Tablet PC” requirement since VT has a partnership with Fujitsu till like the 2012 Academic year… We’ll see in May what happens.</p>
<p>I just bought the Wacom tablet to get a bit used to it, and even if Tech decides to change the tablet requirement I’ll still be able to use the Wacom for other stuff.</p>
<p>
Brilliant. The Wacom is really versatile, I think you’ll like it. I wish VT would get in bed with SONY, but I don’t see that happening. That’s another discussion though.</p>
<p>Hello, I am an admitted student for the College of Engineering Fall '11. </p>
<p>I had a quick question about the Tablet PC requirement. Why is it that students are required to purchase a Convertible Tablet PC? Tablet PC’s are soon to be gone from this era. The new emerging systems will be slate tablets, such as the iPad or the Asus EE, and will soon take over the tablet name. The Tablet PC’s are going to be extinct in the next 10-15 years. This, i know for a fact.</p>
<p>Also, another reason is that Tablet PC’s are pathetically incapable of handling a lot of processing power. I know Virginia Tech has a “deal” struck up with Fujitsu, and those computers are customizable up to 3.5GHz on the processor. However, as soon as this customization is done, alone, the price rises up and over $2300 dollars. Also, Tablet PC’s have, for the lack of a better word, crappy, battery life. How do you expect students to use the tablet in their four or five classes in one day, if the battery life is only about 5 hours. Do you expect the students to carry chargers with them, EVERYWHERE? </p>
<p>Also, I am not the only student expressing reprobation toward this unbelievable, moronic, and meaningless requirement. I am a senior in high school, who loves everything about VT except for the fact that we are required to have a specific laptop. College is expensive, and coming from a lower middle class, my parents cannot afford much. Not even the greatest colleges of engineering in the US has this mindless requirement. Why is that? I would love to hear an explanation for this.</p>
<p>I, along with thousands of students, are simply capable to purchasing, or using their already owned, normal laptop. This saves students and their parents, THOUSANDS of dollars. I dont know if you understand, since you are the dean of the department, and your paycheck must be decent, but for all the other parents, a thousand dollars could do so much for them. Also, why are external drawing pads looked down upon? They require minimal “cognitive skill” and considering college kids would be using this, i doubt anyone would have an issue with this. These are COLLEGE students, not elementary school students, who cant keep the colored crayon between the lines. And the USB tablet option saves even more money. </p>
<p>Sure, the external tablet isnt as versatile as the tablet pc. But a tablet pc weighs the same as a granite stone. And a far superior NORMAL laptop, and the external tablet would still weigh less than the tablet PC. A normal laptop configuired to be better than best fujitsu tablet (customized), will cost around 1200 dollars. The fujitsu on the other hand will cost more than 2400 dollars. Look at the price difference. </p>
<p>To sum this up: Why has Virginia tech switched to tablet PC’s? Not even the ivy leagues, or the top engineering schools in the nation have done so? Is the reason, that your college is getting a decent amount of money from Fujitsu for partnering up with them? If so, that was a pathetic decision.</p>
<p>Thank you for your time. I hope this has no influence on your impression of myself as a student at VT.</p>
<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I am currently an Industrial and Systems Engineering Major. Was wondering if anyone knows if I need a Tablet PC for any classes in my major after the intro enge courses. I took the intro courses at New River to avoid buying a tablet.</p>
<p>If I do need to get a tablet, can i get a plug in instead of a Tablet PC? I don’t mind having to get used to a plug in tablet as long as the software I need for the courses will run on it. Last year I spent $1,000 on a new laptop ( i was not an engineering major at the time) and I just don’t have the money for a Tablet PC ( paying for school out of my own pocket so my budget is tight).</p>