A tablet PC?

Cheezy

My sister is looking to purchase a tablet PC and doesn't know anything about them and unfortunately, neither do I. She contacted our local computer venue and he is saying that the cheapest she'll be able to find is a refurbished tablet for $850 which they'll order for her. Is this the best option? Will she get it cheaper if she goes over the computer store and order it directly from the actual vendor? If the refurbished unit isn't a good option, can someone recommend a tablet which has a decent ratio of price versus functionality?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheezy

Anyone?

embrik

Tablets are typically more expensive than laptops due to space limitations, and the cost of the display. The best brand that I've dealt with is Motion Computing. $850 is a good price for a tablet, but what kind of warranty do you get? An accidental damage plan is ideal for these, as they can be very expensive to repair.

EclecticGroove

It's kind of hard ot sayw hat's the best value without knowing what she needs it for.

Is she just getting one because she thinks it's cool?
Does she plan to use it to take notes with?
Is she going to use it for photoshop or similar drawing related items?
Is she going to be doing 3d modeling or some such on it?


There's a pretty wide range of uses for them and from top to bottom in that list increases the amount of "machine" you will need to make it functional.

The refurbished model may well suit her just fine depending on exactly what the specs are and what she wants. But if it's not whats he needs it'll wind up being a very poor match.

imbalanced

I have a Fujitsu Lifebook tablet and it's great. Just surf around Newegg, it's normally one of the highest ranked tablets on there. I got mine for around $1600, which isn't bad considering I paid $2K for a shitty ass Alienware before that, and it died within a year. This Fujitsu has been alive and kicking for a year and a half solid.

Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834110262

Cheezy

The main reason she wants to get one is to draw with, so I'm guessing photoshop capability will probably be needed. Would it be possible for her to just buy a laptop and a wacom tablet to draw on, or is there some drawback to doing this?

panksea06

Cheezy wrote: »

The main reason she wants to get one is to draw with, so I'm guessing photoshop capability will probably be needed. Would it be possible for her to just buy a laptop and a wacom tablet to draw on, or is there some drawback to doing this?

That would be entirely possible, but from what I gather most people don't find that as easy to do since you cant see the image on the surface you are working with.

I mostly wanted to chime in however to say that in my experience floor models of tablets on display are super hard to find, and was curious if anyone knows any stores that carry them generally (I currently work at a store and have gotten this question several times and neither Frys nor Best Buy nor Circuit City typically carry them, so I feel like an ass when I cant help).

Kerbob97

Avoid gateway like the plague!!! The dirty rotten nasty necrotic black plague!

There tablets are horrible. I went through 3 and finally gave up on the tablet application and just used it like a regular laptop.

Motion does make a good slate with an add on keyboard, and I remember seeing a blurb that Dell is supposed to be coming out with a tablet convertible as well.