Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Tablet or Macbook

G

Goldcard

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 10, 2006
141
0
St. Paul, MN
I am attending law school this fall and have posted a few other threads regarding advice for a new laptop. I am required to have windows vista for a set of software needed for test-taking.

I have been checking out the HP tx2000z series tablets to use for taking notes and it has vista already on it.

However, I am a long time mac-fanboy and want to stick to my roots. I'm just struggling to justify a new macbook purchase if i also need to buy vista as well.

Anyone have any background with tablets or advice for me? Thanks!
 
I searched for prices on the HP tx2000z, and it's very comparable cost wise to a Macbook. But when you factor in an educational discount on the Macbook, perhaps a MB + Vista is similarly priced (not knowing if HP offers educational discounts).

Another consideration is purchasing an OEM version of Vista.

32 bit at Amazon

64 bit at Amazon

Side note: Some dude on Youtube got an HP tx2000z to run Leopard. Heh. :)
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
For law school a tablet could be very useful. I had one for about a year and a half, and it was very useful for note taking in my classes. Even though you like Apple products, maybe you should get the HP. Perhaps you could get an iMac down the line.
 
For taking notes, typing is faster and more readable than writing.

How often are tests? You can just bootcamp or VMware into windows for that.
 
Tablets have come a long way, but I still think a notebook/laptop is a better choice. Tablets are expensive, and very prone to breaks...
 
Consultant said:
For taking notes, typing is faster and more readable than writing.

How often are tests? You can just bootcamp or VMware into windows for that.
Click to expand...

Tests are only about twice a semester. Mid-terms and Finals. The majority of its use will be in class for note taking and out of class for jotting notes while briefing cases and typing up papers. I have looked into VMware a little bit and that would defiinitely be what I get if I do stick with the MacBook route. Anyone know how the Air holds up with Vista on VMware?

Thanks for all your help.
 
Air is not meant for VMWare, especially not for running the slow inefficient Vista.

If you are in the budget for the Air, you should definitely get a MacBook Pro, either new or refurb (store.apple.com and look for refurbs under "special deals")
 
didn't they release (or going to release) a mac tablet laptop? i could have sworn i saw an ad for it in a mac-based magazine in best buy.

best of both worlds :D hehe
 
Consultant said:
For taking notes, typing is faster and more readable than writing.

How often are tests? You can just bootcamp or VMware into windows for that.
Click to expand...

Only if you are a really good typist. One would hope you could read your own writing just fine, so that's not really accurate.
 
If you're a descent typer, I'd suggest the macbook. I have a toshiba tablet and while being able to write on it is useful at times, I would not use it exclusively for writing as it is still faster to type. I would think writing notes on a tablet would be a novelty that you would soon grow tired of.
 
I work in the legal department of a large corporation, after having worked for ten years in large litigation firms. Tablets are the best computers I have ever used, for litigation. As much as I love my Macs, Tablets are the only Windows PCs that I would ever own.

I use a HP 2710p at work. I looked at the TX2000 series you are thinking about, and it's a good machine. The only downside might be battery life.

You won't regret a tablet for law school and beyond. The benefits of a tablet in a law practice are enough to overcome the hassles that come with a PC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back