Tablet vs. Netbook

[metalloid]

Hi, I am an undergrad in NYC, and I was faced with a dilemma as to
which one I should get: a netbook or a tablet. I just thought it would make
my time spent on the train and the school useful if I buy or rent all my textbooks
online and store them in the mobile computer. That way, I would be able to study
on the train and be able carry all my school stuff, textbook, and gym gears at the
same time. Also, it would definitely help wherever I am going to study, from house
to parent's place to school to gym.

I just would like to get opinion on which I should get. My budget is pretty low, and
I would like to spend no more than approximately $500. I thought tablet would be
better since wi-fi zones are almost anywhere and you don't wanna deal with whole
weight and volume of keyboard on the train where you might end up standing up.
However, I never used both devices, so I would like to get prospectives from experts
or users of these devices. Any ideas would be helpful. Thank you!

P.S. can you specify what kind of tablet or netbook I should get for those purposes?
Also, tasblet wise, I don't know if I should wait or just go ahead buy one now with
all the talks about Windows 8 and Trinity and such.

 

[hang-the-9]

I got a Nook Tablet for my wife, it's been in use 20 hours a day since I bought it a month ago. Reading, watching movies, games, etc... $200 or less and will do everything you want it to do. Great size also, big enough so don't need to hold it 6" from your face to read anything, small enough to stick in any backpack or carry.

As long as you don't need to do any heavy typing on it, will work great.

Only thing is that there is no mobile broadband like 3G/4G on it so you can't just connect to the internet from anywhere.

 

[teh_chem]

I think if you're going to be doing anything involving writing office documents or working on school tasks, you're 100% better off with a standard computer that's able to run the standard programs.

I have a Transformer with the keyboard dock, and even with a "real" office program like Polaris Office, I can't even begin to count how many times it's crashed while working on something, and the document is not-recoverable.

Tablets are great media-consumption devices. They're okay mobile email devices. They're very poor productivity devices.

At least if MS Word crashes, it's designed to auto-save and auto-recover. With tablets, you're kinda SOL.

Plus even with stock ROMs, they can be buggy as hell.

I'm not a huge fan of netbooks, but between a netbook and a tablet for school, it's netbook all the way.

 

[metalloid]

so for general textbook viewing in PDF format, using internet at the same time, and all the Office programs, it would be best to get a netbook?

If so, any recommendations on models?

if it's a netbook i was thinking of something around less than 300 for video viewing as well, cuz subway ride in nyc is so long and it's driving me nuts not to be able to do anything while on it.

 

[metalloid]

For a nook tablet, would it be able to handle PDF files well?

I was looking into free textbooks online, and most f them tend to be in PDF form, but somewhere I heard
that Nook Tablet and Kindles are not compatible with PDF. Is that true??

 

[teh_chem]

Yeah, I think if you're going to be doing any real "work" on the device, you're 100% better off with a netbook than a tablet (for the reasons I mentioned above). This one is a decent choice for the $300 price point: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230361 I've heard decent things about the newer dual core + hyperthreading Intel Atom CPUs (2 core, 4 thread).

Regarding pdf support on the kindle, both the kindle fire and the kindle touch will support pdf's. I don't know about protected pdf's, but I can say from personal use that the kindle fire does just fine with normal pdf's. I don't know about the nook tablet as I haven't used it. But I can say for certain, doing anything else with the kindle fire (other than reading, playing some games, and watching some videos) is annoying--i.e., I would not want to type on it for any extended period of time.

 

[metalloid]

Best answer selected by metalloid.

 

[hang-the-9]

For a nook tablet, would it be able to handle PDF files well?

I was looking into free textbooks online, and most f them tend to be in PDF form, but somewhere I heard
that Nook Tablet and Kindles are not compatible with PDF. Is that true??

A Nook or a Kindle can read PDF files, read their specs from the makers. But it looks like you are looking for something to type on as well, creating documents. That the cheaper tablets are not too good for. If just for reading/viewing, they are great though. Cheap, nice screen, long battery life.