Help with finding a tablet PC on a budget that will run Windows 7.

[jkendric]

Hi there,
I found this forum recently after searching for some information and it seems like a pretty friendly place so I thought I would ask your help. I am trying to find a tablet PC to experiment with some electronic medical records development. Unfortunately, I am a poor student at this point and have a very restrictive budget. I don't need top of the line obviously, and am fine with used hardware. I have been searching Ebay, but am a little overwhelmed at the number of options, and could use some direction as to the best bang for the buck. Here are the needs:

Needs:
1. Price: ~ $300 budget
2. Win 7 compatibility (I need the best possible handwriting rec., and would love to be able to run Win 7 - I know this is not completely known yet for older tablets, but an active community around a tablet looking into 'hacking' the systems to run win 7 would be helpful)
3. Best performance for price ratio.

Intended Use:
I will be using this in a doctor's office to take historical information and filling forms- Clicking boxes, drop downs, and some text boxes (handwriting recognition). I would also like to be able to type on the device if needed. Slate is OK if external keybaord option available (USB, etc...). Doesn't necessarily need to be 'rugged' as I will be the only one using it and will be gentle...

I am expecting ebay to be my marketplace, but other suggestions are welcome. I have looked at some HP tablets, namely the TC1100, TC4200, TC4400. There seems to be a very active community around the TC1100, but seems like I might be able to get slightly better specs for the $$$. I am open to any other brand/model as well. Thank you for any suggestions as I am a newbie to this area!

JK

[phillips82]

I purchased a M1400 Motion and installed the Windows 7 Beta on it and it runs great, even with a single core 1.1 GHZ and 1GB RAM. Gets up to 4 hours battery life and All for $260 off ebay. It also came with a battery charger and spare batery and bump case. I am looking to upgrade to a newer tablet now, But much much more money.

[Steve S]

j: Another option might be the HP TC1100. Several of us are already running Win7 on the TC1100 with good results (but no AERO). There's even a very nice wiki article on how to do it. Used TC1100's are inexpensive and the removable keyboard is well-designed...

[warlock110]

#1 rule, get a dual core one. I ran window 7 on a 2ghz Pentium M and it was a little slow for me (not too slow, but enough to tick me off, and it doesn't take much to tick me off). I would suggest a fast HDD and a dual core. Possibly the TC4400 for around 300 or the M400 for around 250.

[pmatulew]

No bias, but I have 3 Toshiba M200's. One at work and two at home.

I recently rolled my work machine up to Win7 and it works just fine once you pick a video driver that fits your workflow. Would recommend maxing out the RAM.

Handwriting recognition with Win7 is excellent.

Personal opinion: Ergonomcs is everything. Be prepared to move on if the hardware you choose doesn't suit you. I was offered a Dell XT2 and turned it down due to ergonomcs that just didn't feel right.

[tpope]

I can second the Motion Computing M1400. I've had a hand-me-down running Windows 7 since the beta in February and it's worked like a champ.