We’ve resigned ourselves to the expense - If I get out of them for under 4K, I’ll consider myself lucky
We looked at getting the add-on tablets, where you have an input screen, and can watch what you are doing on the PC screen. The downside is you have to carry this extra part, the upside is it’s cheaper if you break it.
btw, ours came with vista and I didn’t bother going back to XP. I’m not particularly thrilled with Vista, but it hasn’t caused too much trouble once I figured out how to get it to play with my network.
I am a developer and have the d901c which is the fastest laptop on the market today. You don’t get dell level support, but here is another very nice tablet with a great config for college (Extra battery for a lot better run time and fast cpu, etc)
EUROCOM TN120R Convertible-X $2,675 USD
Summary
Base
System and Display EUROCOM TN120R Convertible-X; 12.1-inch Widescreen; WXGA 1024-by-768 pixels; with Touch Sensor Screen $1,363
Built-in WebCam for Video Conferencing, Skype Ready 1.3 Megapixels; WebCam; internal USB interface
Biometric Security Device - Log on to your PC or Web sites with the touch of your finger Integrated Fingerprint Reader for Secure Data Access and Easy Management of Passwords
Optical Drive - to Backup large capacity HDDs and to Store data-rich digital content 8x Multi DVD +-RW/-RAM Burner; Dual-Layer; Tray-based; w/ Software
Upgradeable Processor Intel Core 2 Duo® T9300: 2.50GHz; FSB800; 6MB L2; 35W; PENRYN 45nm; Micro-FCPGA $300
VGA Technology Intel® GM965 Express Chipset with integrated 3D Graphics Media Accelerator X3100; up to 256MB of Dynamic Video Memory
Memory Configuration 2GB; 1x 2GB; DDR2-667; 200pin; PC2-5300 - 1 SODIMM $132
Turbo Memory - Breakaway performance meets energy conservation None; Choose from the options below
Hard Drive 200GB; SATA-150; 7,200rpm; 1.5Gb/s; 16MB cache; 2.5-inch; Hitachi 7K200 $64
External Hard Drive for Data Backup None - Choose from the options below
Operating System(s) English; Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2B; OEM Edition $173
Choose Your Keyboard (Language) English; US & Canada
Wireless LAN 802.11n; up to 300Mbps; Intel® Wireless WiFi 4965AGN; Mini PCIe; 2.4 and 5GHz $105
Bluetooth for Wireless Devices Internal Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR module $72
Office and Business Productivity Software None - Choose from the options below
AntiVirus, Security and Utilities Software None - Choose from the options below
Internal Card Reader 7-in-1 Card Reader; MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini-SD/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo
Standard Battery (internal) 8-cells Smart Li-lon Battery $36
Standard AC Adapter 65W AC Adapter; 100-250V Auto-Switching
Standard Power Cord - included US / Canada Power Cord
Carrying Case TARGUS 15.4-inch Lappac 5 Deluxe Case; Ballastic Nylon; Black; CL-55 $63
Choose Your Warranty Plan 3 Years Return to Factory Depot with 3 Years of Tech Support $223
Options
Choose Extra Battery 8-cells Smart Li-Ion battery