X220T or X220 with Wacom Bamboo?

Hi there,

I'm buying a new laptop for school, and plan on using it in class to take notes. The problem is I'm an economics student, and graphs and such are common, and aren't easy to do on the fly. It is for that reason I'm considering getting a tablet to take my notes, but I'm not sure I'll be handwriting all my notes on the tablet, I was thinking more of a typing/ writing combo.

As the tablet is essentially a $300 premium, I've looked at other options, such as purchasing a wacom tablet peripheral for around $100, and using that in conjunction with the standard X220. But, I'm worried that'll just be a pain to take out and use in class.

If anyone has any experience using either the tablet pc for note taking, or a wacom tablet that'd be awesome.

I'd love to hear what everyone has to say, if you have any suggestions/ recommendations/ opinions on the matter.

edit: does anyone think dropping from an i5 to an i3 to justify an upgrade to a tablet would be a good compromise, or will I miss the power?
Thanks

 

i have used a wacom bamboo tablet to take notes in class for the past year. the classes i was in were mostly engineering/math courses, so there were a lot of equations, some graphs, and definitions.

i found that i ended up using the math equation input (of OneNote) more than anything else as it was slower to write things on the bamboo tablet and see how it was coming up on the screen. if you are concerned with speed and definitely plan on taking notes in class on your computer, i would suggest using OneNote and getting the X220T.

If your courses go slowly enough (or your professors will provide lecture slides before each class), you should be fine with the X220 and spend $50-$100 getting a tablet.

 

Note that in order to make the X220 a better "alternative" to the X220T, you need to select the 'Premium' display. This is the IPS display everyone praises for it's stellar viewing angles and color reproduction. The X220t comes with this display standard while the X220 offers it as an upgrade from the standard meh-grade TN display.

 

I actually redid the comparison, with a student discount, and when you bring the X220 (IPS,4GB, i5 2.5 GHz) specs up to the X220T, theres only a $185 gap between the two of them, not the 300ish number I cranked out earlier, so I think I've decided on the tablet, hopefully I've helped any other lost souls out there lol

 

Consider me a lost soul. I absolutely hate having to make this decision. I'm an engineering major and similarly to ktang, I am getting a tablet of some sort. The X220t would cost me $1250 overall while the X220 would end up costing me $950 (with the MEMORIALDAY coupon) when all is said and done (that includes the Wacom Bamboo for the X220 and a manual 2 GB RAM upgrade for both).

$300...I'm not sure if I can justify it ONLY to be able to write directly on the screen as opposed to off the screen.

 

I used to be a 'lost soul' like you.. Finally decided to order the X220 tablet (42962WU) from Provantage. Apart from the ability to write on the screen, I figure Android will eventually be ported. Would be nice to use it as a Windows laptop and an Android tablet! This and the fact that Windows 8 will be heavily touch-optimized made me decide a tablet would be worth the extra expense.

First Windows 8 touch video on youtube

 

in my opinion, at this point its not about money, money comes and goes, but you'll be using this laptop for a few years, and it'll be the battery life difference
between the tablet and the non tablet that will really affect you.

so essentially what I'm saying is, the cost of a tablet is not $200 but the 3 hours or so you'll give up.