Tablet or Netbook ?

[terrorencee]

Hey RFDers, need your opinions on this.

I'm looking for something portable for school and some long public transit commutes. It needs to handle the basics such as: good battery life, office, videos/ video streaming, etc. Both tablets (particularly android ones) and netbooks are at a similar price point. But I heard netbooks are a dying trend and tablets are the way to go.

My eyes are fixed on either a simple Asus Eee PC: http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_28&item_id=047800

or

Maybe the new Asus Transformer Pad TF300: http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_375&item_id=048576 + the docking station (i know.. huge price gap LOL).

Any suggestions/ inputs on tablets, netbooks, etc.?

[desidealer49]

Just buy a decent cheap ASUS/Dell/Toshiba laptop ($500-700 range). I find tablets to be good just to read PDFs, browse and view videos/pictures.

If i were going for an iPad, i would rather buy a macbook air. Portable, lightweight, decent battery life, a full blown OS instead of a mobile one, ability to install windows if you are an engineering/medical student for software. The $300-400 price difference is justified IMO.

Otherwise i would just get a PC laptop from one of the vendors above. Investing in a durable and decent laptop goes a long way. My old laptop lasted a good 4 years all through school and was a much better investment than a netbook or tablet.

[divx]

tablet is better, touch screen is a-awesome

[townie22]

i have an Asus netbook and a Playbook tablet, and use the netbook MUCH more than the tablet, i consider the tablet a play toy, fun, but not essential.

[meanstreetjd]

The ASUS Eee PC 1025C-MU17-WT for $299.99 seems like a rip off for 2012, it only has 1GB ram, and only Windows 7 Starter. You will end up spending another ~$10-$20 for 2-4GB of ram. And will pay another ~$90 for a full version of Windows 7 Home Edition. There should be better deals on netbooks out there since the demand is low for them. With a couple upgrades (SSD, ram), a netbook can be a very useful device.

As for the Asus Transformer Pad TF300, it is priced reasonably compared to other tablets with what it offers. All your basic needs are taken care of, I still personally have a problem with the word processing and productivity use with Android and or iOS tablets. There is still no good substitute for using MS Office on a Android or iOS tablet unless you don't mind remote controlling or like cloud computing. I even have a Asus TF101 with docking keyboard, and tried some remote control programs. But I will admit you will enjoy using a tablet device over a netbook if you plan to use during your public transit commute because of the touch screen.

I would just buy a netbook for school and play around with your smartphone while on the bus or train.

[HandsomeRob]

Tablet + USB keyboard.

Better battery life, more functional with touchscreen included.

I despise netbooks but I wouldn't try and use a touchscreen for school purposes.

[mr_raider]

I have both, and the tablet has not yet reached the state where it can replace a real PC. Tablets are fine for email, web browsing and watching movies, but somethings are just weak on tablets:

Document creation and editing
Working on spreadsheets
Downloading torrents
Transcoding files
Rar/zip unzip/unrar files
Playing any real games (angry birds is not a real game)
Archiving, categorizing and organizing music, photo and video collections

If I had to choose only one, I would take the netbook. This may change with windows 8 based tablets when a real OS designed to be useful and not a toy comes to tablets.

[will888]

Asus is apparently coming out with a tablet that can dual boot, windows 8 and android. Wait for that solution.

[medalgo]

If you need to do anything like school work, netbook is definitely the way to go, tablets still aren't there yet to take over productivity and multi tasking, those that claim to use it for work probably only uses it for typing word documents and sends it off to a main computer in the end

Tablets are still multimedia and entertainment devices

[terrorencee]

Thanks for your inputs guys,

The tablet or netbook that is used for school is probably going to be used as a note taker so I'm transferring to my other laptop regardless (mid-range Asus). For other occasions, I would use it as entertainment for long trips and such. I'm still leaning on a tablet because all the netbooks I came across have the same or related specs and they do seem a little dated in performance for price.

Has anyone tried Polaris Office or Onlive office on their Android tablets? Any thoughts?

Oh and the Playbook is out of my list because it seems really limited in a lot of things.

[ShadowVlican]

If you need to do anything like school work, netbook is definitely the way to go, tablets still aren't there yet to take over productivity and multi tasking, those that claim to use it for work probably only uses it for typing word documents and sends it off to a main computer in the end

Tablets are still multimedia and entertainment devices
indeed... tablets are geared more towards media consumption than media creation

of course, this is slowly changing... but they can't hold a candle to netbooks/laptops in this regard

get both. :twisted:

[terrorencee]

indeed... tablets are geared more towards media consumption than media creation

of course, this is slowly changing... but they can't hold a candle to netbooks/laptops in this regard

get both. :twisted:

LOL. Well I have a laptop already then might as well get a tablet then :3

[CMvan46]

Should have mentioned the laptop at the beginning...

Go tablet with keyboard in that case although why not just take the laptop? My school had tons of outlets for charging in class or between classes if needed and for a lot of classes taking notes on a tablet or computer wasnt even an option for the type of notes we took.

Net books are fairly useless inbmy opinion so either tablet or laptop for me.

[mr_raider]

Thanks for your inputs guys,

The tablet or netbook that is used for school is probably going to be used as a note taker so I'm transferring to my other laptop regardless (mid-range Asus). For other occasions, I would use it as entertainment for long trips and such. I'm still leaning on a tablet because all the netbooks I came across have the same or related specs and they do seem a little dated in performance for price.

Has anyone tried Polaris Office or Onlive office on their Android tablets? Any thoughts?

Oh and the Playbook is out of my list because it seems really limited in a lot of things.

I have Polaris on my transformer prime. It's weak.

[jaxon]

asus tf300 + keyboard,
just got one, LOVE IT..

Later,
Jaxon..

[medalgo]

Dude if you're asking for advice the unanimous choice for productivity is a netbook but if you're still leaning towards a tablet then just get a tablet then you already made up your mind stop wasting people's time

[terrorencee]

Dude if you're asking for advice the unanimous choice for productivity is a netbook but if you're still leaning towards a tablet then just get a tablet then you already made up your mind stop wasting people's time

What's wrong with asking for a second opinion? If it's wasting your time why bother to come back and reply? :facepalm:

LOL calm the hell down.

[medalgo]

What's wrong with asking for a second opinion? If it's wasting your time why bother to come back and reply? :facepalm:

LOL calm the hell down.

We all did give a second opinion but turns out you already made up your mind way before hand and the second opinions don't matter to you, then why not just get the tablet already?

[Blockwork]

asus transformer prime
then buy the keyboard dock

now you got a tablet AND netbook... the best on the market..

[ShadowVlican]

asus transformer prime
then buy the keyboard dock

now you got a tablet AND netbook... the best on the market..
no you don't