<p>I thinking about getting a tablet PC for college and Im going in as a bio major. The main pro for the tablet is for me to take notes on it in class. Do you think that its neccessary? I’m gonna use it as my primary computer, hp sells only 12.1 inch screens. Is that too small?</p>
<p>Well, I’d be a bit concerned about power. First of all, if you’re not in the sciences, the Tablet is not going to be considerably better for notes unless you’re a horribly slow typer. Second, 12.1" is almost definitely too small for a main machine as far as I’m concerned, although just fine for a laptop. Not only is that a small screen, but that typically means a pretty cramped keyboard and I would recommend getting a separate keyboard, mouse, and monitor, all of which can be had for cheap and can be used with a 12" laptop from the comfort of your desk when necessary. Third, most of the tablets and 12.1" laptops in general are a bit underpowered, when you ask me, especially when talking about a primary machine that’s supposed to last 4 years.</p>
<p>In the end, I think you’re probably better off looking at once of the 14" or 15" laptops that are under 5.5lbs (and really under 5lbs) and no thicker than 1" or so. Those dimensions tend to be common to laptops with the ideal compromise between portability, comfort, and power.</p>
<p>My personal recommendation is the Lenovo Thinkpad T series.</p>
<p>Eh. I’m considering the HP Tablet as well (the specs are pretty comparable to other laptops in its price range: 4 gigs memory, 250 gig hard drive… but unfortunately an integrated videocard).</p>
<p>I was interested in the tablet after seeing the demonstration at ADOCH. It would be pretty cool to learn to build those programs. But for most purposes, a regular laptop should be fine. It’s just the note-taking and math/science programs Brown has that entice me.</p>
<p>Sorry, that’s no real help. Just interesting to find someone else considering that tablet.</p>
<p>If you’d like to learn to build those programs and join those groups in the CS department, you can often “sign one out” for working with and hold onto that for quite a bit to mess with.</p>
<p>I think the orgo program is pretty cool for learning, but wouldn’t be super helpful for day to day note taking.</p>
<p>Integrated Intel video is a huge, huge no-no in my opinion.</p>