Tablet vs Chromebook for school

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samr4560

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Jun 24, 2015
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Hi all,
I am currently exploring the option of buying some form of tablet or chromebook for use at university. I'm ok with reading on a screen, and don't like the idea of printing off dozens and dozens of pages of readings when I could just download them. (There are some textbooks available in ebook form as well for much cheaper than the hard copies.) Now, I have never owned or used a tablet or chromebook, and so was hoping you could give me some advice. If possible I would like to spend about $200 CAD (can't afford to go much higher atm.)

I only plan to use it for reading documents and browsing the internet, but since writing is one of my hobbies having a keyboard is a plus. Easy to transport and long battery life is important! (Otherwise it won't be much of an upgrade from my current Dell XPS 15, which although I love it is about 4 years old and quite large compared to the smaller computers most students are using.)

Thanks very much!
Sam.
 
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If you're going to be writing essays on it, get a Chromebook/Laptop with a sturdy keyboard. You won't want to type on a touchscreen for too long, and even an accessory keyboard isn't that great when there's limited space in the lecture theatre.

A small 7, 8, or even 10" tablet is likely too small when you're working for prolonged periods of time. Not to mention that multi-windows for internet/research tabs, lecture notes, music/video, and some space for your actual essay document is really important. Tablet's simply don't work so well for multi-tasking, and don't have enough screen space.

As far as internet connections go, you can probably tether your existing smartphone to any laptop via USB or a WiFi hotspot network. Although you...
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yimmi

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Aug 4, 2011
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for me tablet with a keyboard because with chromebook ok you can have google docs instead of an office suite etc but i think that chromebooks tend to be more expensive and you wont have your work done because of the os,if your budget is around 200$ go for a tablet and set as a first choice a windows one(well that is your choice) or android and just use an external keyboard.Just keep in mind of the keyboard you ll buy so it will be compatible with your device.
 
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jaguarskx

jaguarskx

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Apr 19, 2006
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How about a used inexpensive Windows 8.1 11.6" laptop using Intel's Bay Trail Atom CPUs?

Acer Aspire Laptop E11 ES1-111M-C7DE; ~ $207 CAD + free shipping

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Acer-Aspire-Laptop-E11-ES1-111M-C7DE-11-6-2GB-250-GB-Diamond-Black-EUC-/301742736865?hash=item464144c5e1


Here's a review of a similar model. The basic difference is the one I linked has a 250GB hard drive while the one in the review only has 32GB of eMMC storage (basically like a slow SSD and likely no faster than a hard drive).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6NK-C7yhF8



OpenOffice is a good and free office suite that you can install if you need a word processor.

http://www.openoffice.org/download/
 
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Owen_5

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Oct 27, 2015
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If you're going to be writing essays on it, get a Chromebook/Laptop with a sturdy keyboard. You won't want to type on a touchscreen for too long, and even an accessory keyboard isn't that great when there's limited space in the lecture theatre.

A small 7, 8, or even 10" tablet is likely too small when you're working for prolonged periods of time. Not to mention that multi-windows for internet/research tabs, lecture notes, music/video, and some space for your actual essay document is really important. Tablet's simply don't work so well for multi-tasking, and don't have enough screen space.

As far as internet connections go, you can probably tether your existing smartphone to any laptop via USB or a WiFi hotspot network. Although you should check to see whether your carrier allows tethering before deciding.

My advice: go with the Chromebook, or a cheap Lenovo laptop. :)
+ check out useful tips and trick for chromebook for school:
https://www.rollapp.com/apps/education
https://insights.samsung.com/2015/09/28/chromebook-tips-and-tricks-for-the-classroom/
 
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