TabletPCs over Laptops?

[DougFrippon]

So I'm going back to school next season, and I have to get rid of something I hate a lot: "Writing with a pen", I hate writing so bad, I definitly need a keyboard.

My best bet would be to have a laptop so here I am, totally new to the "laptop" world and I need one .

I saw a bit what TabletPCs looked like and I tought that could be perfect for school. But anyway...
I might be taking a DVD drive too when I'm bored sometimes.. maybe. So I'm not too sure how much I want to spend on this, maybe somewhere around 2000-2500$ (CDN), and I ain't sure of where to look at, with brand and all.

I've been building PCs for a long time by now and giving support to a lot of people on PCs, but I've never touched any Laptops.

So should I buy a laptop? a tablet PC?, should I buy used or new? what brand?
Talking of Tablet PCs, what's the advantage of it over a laptop, exept the fact that you can use a Pen on the screen?

Thanks for any help you could give me

 

[jamesey]

go laptop. nobody brings their comp to class

 

[jkresh]

if you want a tablet get a combination/crossover ie a notebook with a touchscreen where the screen can fold over the keyboard to make a tablet, dont get a full tablet, as you may want easy acess to a keyboard and an optical drive.

 

[kuljc]

plenty of people in my school carry their laptops to class... I for one did and will do it again once I buy a new one... the tablet seems really handy.. I knew a couple of people who did that.


advantages of a tablet = you can write on the screen, BUT if you write neat enough it can be converted into a text file. Also from the ones I've seen they're more portable...

although these might be towards the 2500 CDN side....

I know toshiba makes good tablets also.



laptops = cheaper )


also if you're looking for a desktop replacement.. The tablets won't be strong enough usually...


lastly I agree with what jamesey said... definatly.


P.S. tell us more on what you want to do on the computer.. i.e. games? programming? CAD?