Quote:
Originally Posted by The Old Man
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I currently carry a Fujitsu Stylistic 3400 in my bag, but I need a battery life that's measured in days, not minutes. I can spend the entire class changing batteries! When the battery meter hits 20%, I have to shut down all my programs (or risk corrupted files) before I hibernate the tablet. Just shutting down Audacity can take 5 minutes to export the MP3. The stylistic will probably die half way through this. Even if I get it hibernated, then back up with a new battery, it takes 10 minutes and I loose too much of the lecture. There are external battery packs, but they increase the weight beyond reason.
Also, the Stylistic's large (10.4") screen do not fit in on my tiny desk space in class. I need something that fits between the keyboard & mouse in a lab, or that I can carry easily one-handed.
I'm watching the UMPC market - 7" screens on 2 pound tablets are looking good. I noticed there was a 9-cell (3x power) battery for the Samsung Q1 on eBay today...cool.
My ideal system would be a convertible like the Kohjinsha line, but with an e-Ink display and a TFT (convertible). Given the specs (4GB of RAM, 200GB HDD) it would work as my only computer. It'll cost around $1,500-$2,000 to get what I want right now, minus the convertible screen.
Eventually, the UMPCs and eBook readers will merge. At that point, I'm going to require the things for all incoming freshmen.
Right now, laptops are (unfortunately) desktop replacements, for the most part. Anything over 4 pounds, that has less than a 12 hour battery is useless as a portable in my life.
Andy