Thoughts about replacing my current laptop

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Uncle Humjaba

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 6, 2006
Messages
437
Hey all

I have a Gateway C142-XL tablet laptop. As I've never seen anyone else with one of these, I'll explain. It's a 14" (wacom) convertible laptop/tablet with a 2.4ghz core 2 duo, 250gb hard drive, 3gb ram and an ati hd2300 graphics card and 4-hour battery life. I bought it over summer 2008 before I went to college for $1100.

At the time I got a 3 year accidental damage warranty from Square Trade, and I'm looking at options for replacement should something happen to my laptop.. SquareTrade typically sends a check instead of repairing the product, which is fine, except for the fact that there's nothing comparable available anymore.

What I want is a full-featured laptop that happens to be a tablet. Is there anything out there available? I'd prefer the ability to game a bit (Source engine games, Sim City, Civ5, nothing fancy) and I really like the 14" screen size. Weight isn't a huge issue - my current laptop is a good 6lbs and hasn't been a problem. Also, a tablet is a must - I've taken notes for every class over the last 2 years on this thing and I love it.

EDIT: The HP slate in addition to a regular laptop would be pretty nice, but I dont see that coming in anywhere near $1100

Thanks in advance!
 
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I'm sure heatlesssun or w/e his name is will come in a plug the TM2T out the wazzoo. But it is a great tablet. I don't think it's 14" (I believe it's 12"). The specs for it are quite nice, with an HD 5450, it should be more than capable of playing the games you've listed.

I'd check it out on HP's website, they're about at your price range as well.

Edit: Just did a quick run through HP's configure tool thing, and an i3 system with 4gb's of ram, a 500gb HD and two batteries (each lasting up to 6 hours) is just over $1k.
 
I've done some pretty process-intensive things on this laptop... SolidWorks, MatLab simulations, etc... How does a 1.3ghz i3 compare to 2.4ghz c2d (t8300)? I have a desktop for that kind of stuff most of the time, but if I'm in a lab or something on campus I'd rather not be sitting around thumb-twiddling while my laptop thinks.
Edit: I just looked around and according to the synthetic benchmarks the i3 is quite a bit slower than my c2d... :(
 
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Yea, the 12" form factor limits it to an ultraportable processor. I really don't pay attention to anything much larger than 13", so I don't know of any current tablets that pack the better procs. Not saying they don't exist, just saying I don't know them.

I couldn't find any benches on the i5 470UM (didn't really look though, I'm off to bed). I guess someone else may have a better idea of how it performs.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help :(
 
The X201 has the IGP so expect even a mediocre discrete to whip it's ass.

That said, it's exactly what I needed. However wouldn't have minded it being considerably lighter though, at 4.3lbs with the 9-cell.

I was also very amused at how a rep sold me the Ultrabase: "It's like a portable dock."

Yeah...
portabledock.jpg
 
Uncle Humjaba said:
I don't really understand how the market for what I want can be so small.. Everyone I'm in class with thinks my set up is awesome (tablet + onenote)...

This is what I have. I want the same thing with new hardware and better build quality (the screen hinge is starting to get floppy)
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/gateway-c-142xl.aspx#axzz14vZFAb6u
Click to expand...

Honestly I think it's the cost - to have a tablet you need a decently portable notebook before you start sticking tablet hinges/innards and an all-aspect display in there. So only businesses buy them. The HP seems like your only choice if you want a discrete.
 
If you want/need discrete graphics the TM2 is your only option.....no matter which tablet you go with it will be a 12" screen.

I have the 2740p from HP, have the i7 620m in it, no discrete, but I only do Company of Heros.......The IGP in it is good enough to do hardware acceleration with AutoCAD, havent had to try MatLab(not that far in the year)....
 
W.Feather said:
If you want/need discrete graphics the TM2 is your only option.....no matter which tablet you go with it will be a 12" screen.

I have the 2740p from HP, have the i7 620m in it, no discrete, but I only do Company of Heros.......The IGP in it is good enough to do hardware acceleration with AutoCAD, havent had to try MatLab(not that far in the year)....
Click to expand...

I went from a Gateway CX210X (older, but identical in design and size to OP's tablet) to a TM2 and I couldn't be happier with it, especially with it's excellent multi-touch digitizer. There was a noticeable drop in performance going from a C2D 2GHz to the C2D ULV 1.6GHz, though not enough to really phase me. The newer ones come with i3 and i5 ULV processors so I'd imagine they would be a bit faster.

EDIT: I'm currently taking a digital systems class and regularly compile block diagrams and some VHDL in Quartus II within an XP VM (don't ask, I'm OCD when it comes to installing evaluation software on a new system) on my TM2. It doesn't break a sweat.
 
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