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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.

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.