Shopping For Tablet Notebooks

The tablet notebooks are a fairly new entrant on the popular marketplace, yet make a very powerful and exciting platform. If you're interested in making good choices, here are some things to consider before making that final decision to purchase.

What Kind?

In making your decision a good place to begin is to determine the type of computer you want to pack around. Is the computer going to spend most of its time sitting on your desk, or will you take it everywhere you go. Determining how, where and when you plan to use the tablet notebook is an important preliminary step in figuring out which models to think about for buying. Once you have come up with an answer to those questions, you will be ready to select between the three main types: ultra portables, thin and lights and desktop replacements.

What Features?

The elements which will be needed in the tablet notebook you select will depend on the use you make of the computer. Before you go shopping, take the time to make a list of the features which you'll be looking for and a little bit about each. That way, you won't stall out when looking at a dozen different tablet notebooks, all with different capabilities. For example, do you need DVD burning, CD burning and DVD playback only? You should look for a minimum of 512 MB of RAM, but if you will be doing video editing, CAD, or using Photoshop filters, you will need more RAM. The hard drive should be no less that 4200 RPM and 5400RPM is even better. Again, the size of the hard drive will vary depending upon the use you make of it. You'll certainly want to have a hard drive large enough to store all the programs, files and music which you plan to store.

Today, a hard drive of 60 GB is common and you may need to go as large as 80GB is you have large files or work with video. You will want to determine whether or not you want to add a keyboard as you will find in the convertible tablet PC style. If you will be doing lots of typing, you'll want to make sure that you have a keyboard large enough to be comfortable when typing long papers. You should check to see if the tablet notebook has Wi-Fi built in. Will you need Bluetooth in order to hook up to a mobile phone or to a BT modem? How about the expansion and ports? Can you install your wireless LAN card? You'll want to ensure that you have enough USB ports to meet your needs.

Pricing

Even though you probably have a pretty fair idea by this time how much the tablet notebook will cost, you should make sure to figure in any and all software that you'll have to buy. After all, it's pointless to have a brand new tablet notebook and no way to run it. If you are a student, or have access to other discounts, you should take advantage of those to save money on your software.