Hi, This fall I will be heading off to colleg

[the Jones]

Hi,

This fall I will be heading off to college. I plan to major in either Computer Engineering or Computer Science. I have looked at both laptops and tablets and I am caught up in the tablet vs laptop debate. The laptop I am looing at, an IBM t43p, has a 2.1 ghz Pentium M, 1gb ram, 5lbs, 5hrs batt life, and an ATI firegl v3200 graphics chip. I am curious wether or not a Tablet is worth it for Math and Pogramming classes, which will be a large portion of my major. Also, my tablet or notebook needs to be able to handle cad and some light gaming. Currently I am leaning towards the t43p because it has the capability to be a "do everything" machine.

So in essence, does a tablet PC provide enough payoffs in productivity (esp. in Math and programming) to make it worth the performance loss I would have to put up with.

[KenMagel]

Probably not in programming where the pen does not work as well as the keyboard, but for Math it can be a help, especially with the right software.

[gnosis]

The cad you do in school is nothing compared to what is done in the work environment, a tablet should handle it well. The big plus for the tablet is note taking, that alone justifies the expenditure. As far as a do everything machine, you will find that it does nothing well. Programming should not be a problem on a tablet unless you are doing going to be doing heavy fractal math for four years. For most software development the tablet works fine (I took elementry software design and algorithms this year, the tablet was cranking out python and java as well as the xwindows stations). No tablet is going to be a hotrod though so you are going to have to accept trade offs. But only a tablet offers you access to any assignment that you are working on whenever you want it. If you are trying to compare a tablet to a laptop you really don't grasp what a tablet has to offer. Tablets are really the ultimate school education machine. That is really the one environment in which they really shine.

[pkhuong]

If you're going to be doing really intensive stuff later on, you'll probably have a shell on a much more powerful machine. I'd consider the Toshiba M200 too if I were you.

[kilar]

For engineering, computer science, or physics, I always recommend a Toshiba (M200 or R15) or an Acer (C303). Both are aimed at being desktop replacements, in terms of tablet PCs. Other tablets seem to fall behind when it comes to MathCAD, MATLab, PSPICE, LabView, or other fancy, CPU/RAM-intensive applications.

Some may disagree, but the typical tablet is not the best platform for gaming. Sure, you CAN play games on them, but tablets tend to lag behind comparable laptops in this arena. Keep in mind that if you get a tablet for $2000, you can get a much faster gaming laptop for that same prices--you sacrifice CPU speed and video card capability for the tablet features. (Besides, if you are spending your time playing games or responding to posts on tabetpcbuzz.com, then you are not studying very hard).

For my needs, the tablet is worth the sacrifice in performance and features. Your mileage may vary.

[BigSax]

For those math classes you definetly will want the tablet, I wish I had known these things existed when I started college in 02. But I had it during my Linear Algebra and Intermediate Eng Analysis classes this past fall (the last 2 math classes I ever have to take WOOOHOOO!!) and honestly don't know how I made it through Calc 1-3 and Diff eq. without it. Note taking is also a breeze and much more organized for those of us that invariably end up loosing pieces of paper to keep track of all of our stuff. It's great actually knowing where your notes on Eigen vectors are at when it comes time for the test. I would suggest one of the more powerful machines like Kilar mentioned. You will definetly want a convertible. The performance loss you speak of is negligible in everything I have used my tablet for. My 1.6 ghz M200 runs mathcad, matlab, spice, etc better than my 2.26 ghz P4 desktop machine. For programing...well I hate programming so the only things I have ever done are one C++ class and some dinky stuff on my calculator, but I think any tablet on the market has plenty of power to quickly compile anything you would be required to code. It will be a few years before you are writing programs consisting of more than 300 lines of code. Whatever you get load it up with RAM and it should be @ least 2-3 years before you feel it is becoming sluggish.

[kilar]

Big Sax: It's easy to find your lost Eigen vectors--they always leave behind a residual.

[pba]

I am a CS student and I find my Tablet to be very useful. I would not recommend a pure slate since handwritting recognition does not handle code (non-english words) well at all. The pen functionality, however, is a must! You will find many many times when you need to draw a diagram or some kind of graphic when taking notes in class. I have tried taking notes on a regular laptop and just gave up and went to paper because so much of your content is not text.

I use a TC1000 mostly because you can pick one up really cheap and also because I love the ability to have in pure slate mode and small form factor when I want to be portable, but I can attach the keyboard for full laptop-style use. Most CS-types will be frustated by its slow processor, however. For me, the tablet is a super-PDA and note-taker. Serious work (and play) is done on my desktop at home.

[gnosis]

quote:Originally posted by pba

I am a CS student and I find my Tablet to be very useful. I would not recommend a pure slate since handwritting recognition does not handle code (non-english words) well at all. The pen functionality, however, is a must! You will find many many times when you need to draw a diagram or some kind of graphic when taking notes in class. I have tried taking notes on a regular laptop and just gave up and went to paper because so much of your content is not text.

I use a TC1000 mostly because you can pick one up really cheap and also because I love the ability to have in pure slate mode and small form factor when I want to be portable, but I can attach the keyboard for full laptop-style use. Most CS-types will be frustated by its slow processor, however. For me, the tablet is a super-PDA and note-taker. Serious work (and play) is done on my desktop at home.


Exactly! Hand writing recognition still sucks and the slowest tablet is still good for note taking. Buying the fastest machine you can afford merely eases the agony of knowing how bad the lag is compared to your real work machine. Pure slates are ok if you carry around a flex-keyboard rolled-up in a plastic jar as I do.

[loky]

I'm a 2nd year Software Engineering student. I have an Acer C300, and when I bought it one of the major deciding factors was battery life. You will most likely NEVER write code using handwriting, but I have annotated code in lecture slides with ink comments. Although I am only in my 2nd year I have had assignments with 1000+ lines of code. Inking is very useful in maths subjects, as writing in a formula with a pen is much easier than using something like Equation Editor.

As I have to write code for both Windows and Unix, I am glad I have enough processor power to comfortably run a virtual PC. I have 512Mb of RAM, but you wouldn't want to go lower than that.

[Dennis Rice]

I don't know how I ever survived without my tablet for notetaking. My son is a junior at UGA, and has used a tablet since the beginning. He still has all his notes from the day he started college on his tablet. I agree on the slate vs. convertible though, if he had ti to do over, he would have gotten a convertible, college just requires too much typing to not have that with you at all times.

Gaming? Speaking as a father, you shouldn't be playing games, you have too much work to do! :-)

Get a tablet, you will not regret it. Good luck on your choice.