Laptop or Tablet for College?

[HURRIC4NE]

College has started for me! however now i haven't yet brought the books (dang the prices!) and electronics, however i'd like to use a laptop/tablet... but i cannot decide which one? now i'm like stuck in deciding 2 from cheap, powerful, or fast

my budget is below 350. and i'd like something powerfull with portability, i wish there was a laptop mac available for cheap

 

[Lonyo]

If you want/need to do work, get a laptop.
If you just want a new toy, get a tablet.

 

[krnmastersgt]

If you want/need to do work, get a laptop.
If you just want a new toy, get a tablet.

+1 to this, getting work done with a tablet is a nightmare (unless you get a screen friendly stylus and write faster than you type ), might be more helpful for math classes though.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

at that budget is get a tablet. Probably a n7

 

[Droidisthebest]

If you want/need to do work, get a laptop.
If you just want a new toy, get a tablet.

This, so much this. Tablets are toys and should not be taken seriously for something like school. Get a netbook.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230359

This wouldn't be bad.

 

[crab0]

iPad 2 or Netbook/Pentium 14/15.6 incher are your options really. I can't recommend a 7 inch tablet for notes and all of the under $350 ~10 inch Android ones will be running slow Tegra 2/TI SoCs. I would go with a 11.6 inch AMD based netbook as the typing and office suites are much better on Windows, Atom is sloooow and a Pentium one would be thick and heavy.

 

[Fox5]

Get a notebook unless you want to live in the school computer lab to get homework done. The tablet probably won't work with weird web apps you'll have to use for class, or software.

This laptop is probably about the best you can do in your price range. It has an AMD E-450 APU (ignore the Intel HD Graphics 3000) so it should be able to do pretty much everything you want to. I'd recommend the upgrade to Windows 8 when it comes out, or putting Ubuntu on it, just because those will run better than Windows 7. (Ubuntu is pretty Mac-like at this point anyway)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246498

Also, you'll need an office suite, so download libreoffice. It's a free Microsoft Office clone.
http://www.libreoffice.org/

Edit:
I see you have a desktop that I assume you're bringing with you. Still, at some point you're going to want to do work outside your dorm, perhaps as a group project.

 

[MontyAC]

Get a laptop. Tablets are for play.

 

[Fox5]

Actually, this would be a much better laptop option:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246321

$280 after rebate, and the A6-3420M processor should be faster at cpu and graphics than the E-450.

Or you could get a netbook like this.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/hom...nt-Notebook-PC

 

[zon2020]

Laptop, without question. Tablets are ill-suited to creating documents, which you will need to do.

$350-400 15" laptops are a commodity these days. Check your Sunday newspaper flyers for ads from Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, Frys, etc. You'll often find these weekly specials are cheaper at these B&M stores than online. If you're near a Micro Center check there as well. They always have specials in your price range. Indeed they have right now a Acer Aspire for $350:

Intel Core i3-2370M Processor
4GB DDR3-1066 RAM
500GB 5,400RPM Hard Drive
15.6" HD Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit Display
8x DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
5-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
Intel HD Graphics 3000
10/100/1000 Network
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit)

A 15" laptop has a big enough screen and big enough keyboard to to work on, and today, they're not too big or heavy to carry around (yes, an Ultrabook would be even nicer, but outside your price range).

You ought to be able to find a i3 based laptop in your price range, and it will have enough real power to do whatever you need - certainly more than an E-450 would.

 

[Fox5]

OP, another option, today only.
http://www.woot.com/offers/asus-15-6-amd-dual-core-laptop#read-more

 

[piasabird]

Just be aware what a tablet can and can not do. For instance if you want to use flash, you may want to stay away from apple products. A simple thing like youtube or flash movies on Youtube may be impossible. Tablets are not that fast and forget getting a lot of storage. Have fun with that on-screen keyboard also.

 

[HURRIC4NE]

thanks a lot guys! i think i would get a laptop after all, i need the power since i'm a Computer student...

 

[88keys]

Tablets may one day replace the laptop, but I think they're a long way from replacing the laptop.

The OSes for mobile devices is far from the level of perfection that Desktop OSes have reached. Many web pages still fail to display properly, and alot of apps are still rather buggy. Tablets and Smartphones is alot like Desktop Computing was in the Windows 98 days.