Tablet PCs and Netbooks

[ríomhaire]

So my friend got this ASUS netbook tablet thing. Here's a stock photo:


You turn the screen around and fold it down and it turns into a tablet with a touch screen (for finger and stylus). There's no disc drive but three USB ports, its claimed battery life is six hours (so its actual life is three and a half probably) and its tiny. That's a ten inch monitor there. Even the power brick is tiny.

The touch screen seems good and even detects how hard its being pressed and is much more easy to use than a drawing pad, which make one feel very disconnected and awkward. It's suprisingly decend perforance-wise (I watched him run Halo and WC3 on it pretty damn well) and according to my friend there is a second OS that boots up almost instantly (but is really only for web browsing).

Of course I can't afford a new PC of any kind right now, but I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for similar devices.

Does anyone have any stories to share about tablet PCs or netbooks? Does the screen get scratched? Are they very delicate? Do they catch fire? Are they magical machines of wonderment that make ice cream? Do you have any recommendations or manufactures to avoid like the plague?

 

[VirusType2]

Of course I can't afford a new PC of any kind right now, but I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for similar devices.

One thing about PCs is that you can buy one piece at a time, making the entry cost lower. For example, to build a computer, you'll probably never have to spend more than $100 or $150 at a time. In fact you may already have a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or even a suitable case with fans laying around the house.

Myself, I was gifted like 6 keyboards and 6 monitors at various times. Also received a free PC 2 or 3 times. Once, I bought a full PC with monitor and OS, mouse, kb, and even little shitty speakers for $200 on Black Tuesday (that's the one I was using to play HL2 when I joined here).

In fact at the local refuse dump, there's a computer recycling dumpster bin, were you could grab a case or keyboard or something - hopefully it hasn't rained since it was put there. I grabbed a keyboard once - I was looking at the cases, but didn't like any of them.


More on topic, this thing is pretty cool and all, but unless you are on the go, it's kind of silly.

 

[noQ]

Just got myself a Lenovo x60s (a 12inch notebook), yeah I know it's old, but added another gb of ram and changed the harddrive and got a 8 cell battery and now it rocks!
If you are going for a small notebook I have to reccomend IBM/Lenovo laptops because they have great warranty, super sturdy cases (spillproof keyboards, strenghtened cases, good hinges, shockproofed hdds), excellent battery life etc.
New ones are quite pricey but the older models are good enough if you don't plan to play hl2 on it.

My 3 cents.

 

[MJ12]

How does your friend like that Tablet Netbook? I've been considering investing in something similar, and I had no idea how cheap that thing was. I really want something I can take with me places and draw/paint digitally from life (for things such as buildings etc). I'd basically just use it for Photoshop, Illustrator, and the internet.
My ten inch tablet cost me 200 bucks about 3 years ago X_X I use it a lot, but it still feels like a rip-off when looking at that 400 dollar tablet netbook.

I notice the screen is 8.9 inch, thats a little small (prefer at least 10 inch) do netbooks ever come a few inches bigger or is that standard?

 

[ríomhaire]

How does your friend like that Tablet Netbook? I've been considering investing in something similar, and I had no idea how cheap that thing was. I really want something I can take with me places and draw/paint digitally from life (for things such as buildings etc). I'd basically just use it for Photoshop, Illustrator, and the internet.
My ten inch tablet cost me 200 bucks about 3 years ago X_X I use it a lot, but it still feels like a rip-off when looking at that 400 dollar tablet netbook.

I notice the screen is 8.9 inch, thats a little small (prefer at least 10 inch) do netbooks ever come a few inches bigger or is that standard?

Well I think smallness is what defines a netbook. As for my friend, he's delighted with it. He hasn't tried using photoshop with it but it works with GIMP, although he can't seem to get the pressure sensitivity to work with it, which the screen is supposed to have.

 

[MJ12]

Ah, did some research and there is a bigger version. Does it actually come with its own stylus?

And does anyone know the regular "lifespan" of a netbook? I'll be keeping my eye out for such devices online, come Black Friday.