Yup, I always set my screensize at 1600x1200, have an
old Latitude C810 which has been pretty much perfect for
dev work for just over a year. I've seen some decent
Laptop / Tablet hybrids (on the MSDN show on tablets a
few months ago for one) - but I haven't seen one which
is as powerful or has as good a screen as I need - yet
Well, I'd buy the most powerful notebook I could, with
the biggest, brightest screen that I could by. My gut
reaction would be to go with a classic notebook.
Dell's typically have the best screens. Mine does a
lovely job at running at 1600x1200.
Matt
TPC.. TPC.. I had a Motion Computing M1300 with 512mb
for a project last summer. Great stuff. Make sure you
get lots of RAM (>512mb), it makes a lot of
difference.
Hm, mixed emotions here. I also, like Matt, love the
power, the large things, the big iron (Matt knows I am
huge ;-)). I have a DELL INSPIRON 8200, 2 GhZ, 1 GB RAM
and a new fast HD - OK, this rocks.
But ... recently I purchased my new Acer TPC. It is the
C302 XMi (maybe this exact model number is only
available in Europe or Germany, but you get the idea).
And it is great! It is a full blown laptop, as a
convertible it is also a TPC with a 14"
display. Cool. The only downside currently is that the
screen resolution is limited to 1024 ... hm, not too
good. But I use it excluslively for presentation sop it
does not matter for me.
Ah, and its has a DVD burner (for '-' and '+') inside
... and of course it is a Centrino. So that means it has
integrated WiFi. Additionally Bluetooth.
My 2 cents.
Take a look at the Toshiba Protege M200. Best compromise
between the two world. It will be my next laptop
purchase. The best thing is it's not limited to
1024x768. It has an SXGA (1400x1050) screen.
Tablet tablet tablet.
As Jay said, get the Toshiba. It packs quite a punch and
is fairly compact. Obviously get a convertible and not a
slate model if you want to develop.
When you'll come to Israel and visit the office I'll
show you a powerfull TPC you will want for yourself.....
YOsi: Just give me the name of it, why don't you?
If you get a tablet (I would), you should wait until the
next version of the OS is released. March, I think? Like
many (most?) MS products, the version 1.0 of the Tablet
OS is more like v0.9 and the first update will be the
real v1.0
Whether you get a tablet or laptop, I would HIGHLY
recommend you get a docking station with a keyboard,
monitor, and mouse. That way, when you're at your desk,
you're using a "real" computer.
Shannon: Well, can't I just buy a tablet and update the
OS as the new OS arrived on MSDN?
I am sure you could upgrade but I think waiting would be
a better option because either the newer versions of the
tablets will have better hardware that is better
integrated with the new OS or you can buy last year's
model cheap because the price will drop when this year's
model comes out.
Either way, you win.
I am not yet in a position to buy a tablet but I've been
drooling over them for a while now so I read all the
info on them that I find. You might hear differently
from people who know better than I do, but from what
I've read, those who are "in the know"
say to wait.
If I ever get rich and famous, one of the L laptops is
definitely on my wish list. :-)