Tablet for School

Synsane · 09-03-2011, 02:59 AM

I'm taking Business Studies Finance in College right now... and we are adviced to have a laptop for this year..

But I'm noticing Tablets are getting very popular. Since I don't want to bring this laptop I'm using right now to school... I was thinking about whether there are any good E-Readers or Tablets with a good Office program.
I will take a few notes, but viewing Powerpoints, and opening Word files will be of more importance to me.

SmokeAndMirrors · 09-03-2011, 03:16 AM

To be completely honest, I really recommend you go with a proper laptop for school.

Tablets really aren't ready for that sort of use, from what I can tell - I've toyed around with iPads and Androids that my friends/family have (I have an Android smartphone as well). They're just not ready.

I know everyone says the netbook is dead, but far from it - you can get a netbook now that hardly weighs more than a tablet, has some pretty awesome specs, and everything it does it will do better than a tablet can. Not only that, but it will also cost you probably 100 bucks less than a tablet.

That's the thing about tablets. They do everything, but they do very little of it well. There's stuff out there that does it better. As a student myself, I can tell you I'd never trade in my netbook for a tablet for school. Just the simple frustration of how slow and inaccurate it is to type alone is reason enough to me. I can type at talking speed on a keyboard, which means I can take *all* of my notes on my computer. I don't know anyone who can go over 40wpm on a tablet - and even then, it's pretty typo-ridden.

And as far as office programs? Well, they exist, but I don't know of any *good* ones. And again, the typing issue would drive me absolutely mental. They're just not built for that.

And if they're telling you to get a laptop, chances are they have their own ideas about what they want you to run. There's a pretty good chance that whatever it is, you will struggle to get it to work properly on a tablet. Or at the very least, you will be more limited in interacting with it. Tablets are still consumption devices - not output devices.

A laptop is still a better multi-purpose tool for students, in my opinion.

.02.

polly · 09-03-2011, 09:39 AM

I think the answer depends on what programs you need to run and how much you want to spend. I agree that for really fast typing, you need a keyboard versus an onscreen touch board. I've used my tablet at conferences, but I wasn't trying to keep up with a professor.

I bought the Asus Transformer specifically because it's a tablet, but when attached to its keyboard, it's a netbook. For me, that's the best of both worlds; the tablet is great for long plane rides and, with the keyboard, it's also useful as a laptop replacement. It weighs four pounds less than my laptop and will fit in a much smaller space in my bag. My laptop USB mouse is compatible with the keyboard. Mine came with Polaris Office, which will let me open, create, and edit Office 2010 PowerPoint, Excel, and Word documents. It is not a full featured Office replacement, but is fine for adding notes to a PowerPoint slide. Also a plus for it is that the tablet gets 8 hours of battery life and the keyboard adds another 8, so running out of battery in the middle of the day or bringing a charging cable with me is a non-issue.

On the negative side is that it runs the Android OS. If you have school specific software you need to run, like ProCite or MiniTab, they won't run on this. I can't access my office email from this device because of that. I'm not familiar with a Windows emulator for Android. It runs off of Linux, and Linux has WINE as an emulator, so maybe it's coming, but I haven't found it yet. Also, the screen is only 10.1", so if you need to review big complex spreadsheets, you may decide that the tablet screen is to small for you. On the other hand, my tablet has an HDMI port, so it's possible to attach it to a monitor with HDMI and use a USB keyboard to remove that limitation at home. The other negative is the cost. I managed to land a refurbished keyboard, but at full retail price, the tablet is $399 and the keyboard is another $149. I wouldn't recommend it as the only computer you have, but combined with one at home, it's viable for taking to class.

Andrew H. · 09-03-2011, 09:30 PM

Tablets are better than laptops for a lot of students (especially if you use a BT keyboard). But they are probably *not* better for a finance class, where you may need to run specialized software...or at least run Excel.

09-03-2011, 02:59 AM	#1
Synsane Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 15582 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Nook Classic Wifi	Tablet for School I'm taking Business Studies Finance in College right now... and we are adviced to have a laptop for this year.. But I'm noticing Tablets are getting very popular. Since I don't want to bring this laptop I'm using right now to school... I was thinking about whether there are any good E-Readers or Tablets with a good Office program. I will take a few notes, but viewing Powerpoints, and opening Word files will be of more importance to me.

09-03-2011, 03:16 AM	#2
SmokeAndMirrors Addict Posts: 280 Karma: 2064388 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: MN, US Device: Kobo Touch, Asus Eee Pad Slider	To be completely honest, I really recommend you go with a proper laptop for school. Tablets really aren't ready for that sort of use, from what I can tell - I've toyed around with iPads and Androids that my friends/family have (I have an Android smartphone as well). They're just not ready. I know everyone says the netbook is dead, but far from it - you can get a netbook now that hardly weighs more than a tablet, has some pretty awesome specs, and everything it does it will do better than a tablet can. Not only that, but it will also cost you probably 100 bucks less than a tablet. That's the thing about tablets. They do everything, but they do very little of it well. There's stuff out there that does it better. As a student myself, I can tell you I'd never trade in my netbook for a tablet for school. Just the simple frustration of how slow and inaccurate it is to type alone is reason enough to me. I can type at talking speed on a keyboard, which means I can take all of my notes on my computer. I don't know anyone who can go over 40wpm on a tablet - and even then, it's pretty typo-ridden. And as far as office programs? Well, they exist, but I don't know of any good ones. And again, the typing issue would drive me absolutely mental. They're just not built for that. And if they're telling you to get a laptop, chances are they have their own ideas about what they want you to run. There's a pretty good chance that whatever it is, you will struggle to get it to work properly on a tablet. Or at the very least, you will be more limited in interacting with it. Tablets are still consumption devices - not output devices. A laptop is still a better multi-purpose tool for students, in my opinion. .02. Last edited by SmokeAndMirrors; 09-03-2011 at 03:33 AM.

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09-03-2011, 09:39 AM	#3
polly Evangelist Posts: 454 Karma: 270240 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS 650, PocketBook 360, Astak PocketPro (RIP), Tungsten T3	I think the answer depends on what programs you need to run and how much you want to spend. I agree that for really fast typing, you need a keyboard versus an onscreen touch board. I've used my tablet at conferences, but I wasn't trying to keep up with a professor. I bought the Asus Transformer specifically because it's a tablet, but when attached to its keyboard, it's a netbook. For me, that's the best of both worlds; the tablet is great for long plane rides and, with the keyboard, it's also useful as a laptop replacement. It weighs four pounds less than my laptop and will fit in a much smaller space in my bag. My laptop USB mouse is compatible with the keyboard. Mine came with Polaris Office, which will let me open, create, and edit Office 2010 PowerPoint, Excel, and Word documents. It is not a full featured Office replacement, but is fine for adding notes to a PowerPoint slide. Also a plus for it is that the tablet gets 8 hours of battery life and the keyboard adds another 8, so running out of battery in the middle of the day or bringing a charging cable with me is a non-issue. On the negative side is that it runs the Android OS. If you have school specific software you need to run, like ProCite or MiniTab, they won't run on this. I can't access my office email from this device because of that. I'm not familiar with a Windows emulator for Android. It runs off of Linux, and Linux has WINE as an emulator, so maybe it's coming, but I haven't found it yet. Also, the screen is only 10.1", so if you need to review big complex spreadsheets, you may decide that the tablet screen is to small for you. On the other hand, my tablet has an HDMI port, so it's possible to attach it to a monitor with HDMI and use a USB keyboard to remove that limitation at home. The other negative is the cost. I managed to land a refurbished keyboard, but at full retail price, the tablet is $399 and the keyboard is another $149. I wouldn't recommend it as the only computer you have, but combined with one at home, it's viable for taking to class.

09-03-2011, 09:30 PM	#4
Andrew H. Grand Master of Flowers Posts: 2,201 Karma: 8389072 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Naptown Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)	Tablets are better than laptops for a lot of students (especially if you use a BT keyboard). But they are probably not better for a finance class, where you may need to run specialized software...or at least run Excel.

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