PLEASE do not tell me to not purchase one, or to buy a Mac. Because my child is going to be majoring in Chem, and notebooks cannot accept Chem formulas, this is the way she wants to go. I've already warned her that tablets don't have the best reputation and be ready to keep her info backed up onto her desktop regularly.
The PC does not need to be souped up for games, video, etc. Mostly I am looking for advice on how much RAM, which OS, reliability, customer service. We have no customer loyalty to any one brand, just one that meets the requirements.
Thanks for your help
take two and call your doctor in the morning.
Dell just got into tablets. Don’t get it with Vista. Dell backs their stuff up.
Its not cheap.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=blcwxfg&s=bsd
You might want to look into electronic clipboards. They generally allow you to take notes and store them in image formats easily readable by any computer. Some also have the added feature that you can use normal paper and pen as well, so you have an electronic copy and a hardcopy of the note. Most either use an SD card (same as a digital camera) or have internal memory, and connect via USB.
Just a thought.
Oh.. don’t get vista... it stinks.
Find out what academic discounts she gets on stuff like ms office, etc.
My daughter bought an HP tablet, I just saw it on sale for I think $999 after rebates. It’s 12.1 inches, and has a decent processor, memory, and hard drive.
If you get one, I recommend getting accident protection. The replacement cost of a tablet itself is hundreds of dollars, and they tend to be glass which WILL break, and render the tablet less than useful.
I’m not recommending this one, because I don’t “recommend”, just telling you which one we ended up with. My daughter likes it.
There are of course REAL tablet PCs, that are ruggedized and made for the tablet market, but they are generally much more expensive (you get to use them in the sun though).
“Notebooks cannot accept chem formulas”?
What do you mean, “can’t accept”? Is there some sort of special software chemistry majors need to use that only runs on a tablet?
I can type a formula into Word on my desktop, my husband’s laptop, our buddy’s iPhone, and what I type displays right there. Heck, it works in Outlook also - I just tried. To do it in Excel, I need to format the cell for text, but even that works.
RAM: install as much as the machine will support up front. This is generally the best advice for any computer you buy. If you don’t need it today, you will tomorrow and in general RAM makes a big difference in how well, reliably, and smoothly hardware performs.
OS: Don’t get anything with Vista on it.
Customer Service: Dead, so don’t worry about it.
Reliability: In general, if your machine escapes the first few months of its existence without a problem it should last for years, and this applies to most electronics.
If she is going to be getting a tablet PC, then she should just get an external drive and back up onto there. There’s no reason to send her off to school with two computers. Dorm rooms aren’t known for their size.
My advice would be to get (and yes, I know you said no Macs, but there is a good reason why Apple is selling the heck out of their products) an iPad and a Macbook and send her off to school with those two items.