tx2500 questions from a potential buyer

Hello,

So basically, my laptop died, I need a new one before school starts again in September, etc. Portability is a major concern for me, as is price since you know, college student.

I was all set to get an EEE 1000h, but then my father kinda suggested he might be willing to give me the money to get a higher priced notebook since he's skeptical of me using a netbook as my only computer for the foreseeable future. He kinda suggested I get it from Costco since they extend warranties to two years which is....good to have, with my computer luck.

So of the notebooks there near my maximum budget (~1000 USD) I narrowed it down to the tx2500. Its small enough to be portable, the graphics card means i might get away with some gaming which would be cool and above my expectations that I'd settled on with the eee, and having the dvd drive option is also convenient. plus, tablet thing. I don't really need a tablet for anything, but I do mess around on photoshop and could use it for some notes here and there, so...yeah.

But I do have some major concerns that give me pause. One is build quality. After my current disaster which partially/probably my fault in some ways but nonetheless, I don't want to get something that might die on me again and well, reviews have been less then enthusiastic about things like the lid, keyboard, etc. Second is battery life, which while not terrible by general laptop standards...isn't the 5-6 realistically possible with the eee 1000h. And apparently screen graininess? I'm not sure what that means irl. I wish I could check these both out in person but...

Any owners out there? How have you fared with yours? How is the build quality really? Up to par for a student who wants to take this thing around with her often? Light enough to do so? Is battery annoyingly short? Anyone (and I doubt I should be so lucky) got a chance to see the eee too and compare? Anyone know how the build qualities of the two might compare? Thank you for any and all advice in any case :]

 

I'm not a tx2500z user, but I think you should go to YouTube and watch five review videos of the notebook made by raiden72. I think those review videos are pretty useful.

Also, I think there are not many tx2500z users here. Visit Tablet PC Reviews ( http://www.tabletpcreview.com/)

 

I have dial up right now so youtube isnt really an option for me...too much frustration :/ But I will go post in tablet site also, thank you. Boo to having to making a new account though (I'm incredibly lazy, ha). Thanks for the link.

 

I looked at the tx2500z at Costco today, it was pretty nice, the tablet function works pretty nice, the keyboard is awesome, the screen looks kinda fuzzy and/or grainy, the touchpad is good, it's pretty durable, so basically its a pretty awesome and lightweight entertainment notebook/tablet PC. But when I got home I tried finding the laptop on costco.com already preconfigured and they didn't have it up on their website yet. So instead of getting it their you can just get it from CircutCity at this link:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-P...14774/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

 

Oh.. that sounds bad. You can't watch YouTube...

Why don't you go to Best Buy or Costco and see how a tx2500z actually looks? Check how heavy or warm it is or anything you want to know.

 

I actually have the tx2500z and it's a great tablet pc. The love the active digitalizer pen and is very responsive to handwriting strokes. My son will be using this one for college and with OneNote it's a match made in heaven. I will be using his tx1000z instead. The slight fuzzy screen is due to the touch screen interface but improves in dimmer lights. Battery life is not the greatest.. 2-3hours. I was also thinking of the ASUS Eee 1000h but decided not to because it didn't have a DVD player/burner and the price difference of only $200 didn't make sense to get the ASUS. I read there's going to be a ultramobilel tablet sans DVD in the next month or two. I've read the battery life for the Eee is around 5 hours. The 2500z built quality is nice, no squeeks and is solid. If you don't want a fuzzy screen, get the one without the touch screen option but then again what's the use of a tablet pc without it!

 

You should've checked in few weeks earlier. They had $500 discount coupons for tx2500z. You could've possibly gotten pretty good configuration for $1000. If you aren't in rush, you should try wait a week or two for possible coupon.