What's the best tablet for college I can get for $300-$350?

[RYANNOSAURAS]

I've started building a new rig and was planning to buy an i7 with this paycheck, but my parents and relatives are pressuring me to by a tablet/laptop for college (which I understand). What's the best one I can get for that price range? Keep in mind this is 90% for education purposes, 10% YouTube videos. 

[dalekphalm]

I've started building a new rig and was planning to buy an i7 with this paycheck, but my parents and relatives are pressuring me to by a tablet/laptop for college (which I understand). What's the best one I can get for that price range? Keep in mind this is 90% for education purposes, 10% YouTube videos. 

When you say "educational purposes" what exactly do you mean? Are you expecting to take serious notes on the tablet? Will you be required to be running any specific software? Microsoft Office? Basic Note taking? Any industry specific software?

 

I don't think a tablet is a serious device for College. I personally think you need a proper laptop - $300-$350 will either get you a decent media consumption tablet (decent, but low end), or a really shitty laptop.

 

Either way, I don't think your budget is realistic.

You could look at something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131760&cm_re=samsung_tablet-_-34-131-760-_-Product

 

But again, I don't think that device will be enough - even with a bluetooth keyboard. I know that a full laptop was damn well critical for me in College.

[Hecknologist]

I used my shield tablet for university before getting a laptop. The screen size and fluidity of typing were far better on a laptop compared to a tablet and would definitely recommend going that way.

[Lethal Seraph]

For that price I'd go for a reliable laptop. More so if you intend to use it for intense workload projects.

[RYANNOSAURAS]

When you say "educational purposes" what exactly do you mean? Are you expecting to take serious notes on the tablet? Will you be required to be running any specific software? Microsoft Office? Basic Note taking? Any industry specific software?

 

I don't think a tablet is a serious device for College. I personally think you need a proper laptop - $300-$350 will either get you a decent media consumption tablet (decent, but low end), or a really shitty laptop.

 

Either way, I don't think your budget is realistic.

You could look at something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131760&cm_re=samsung_tablet-_-34-131-760-_-Product

 

But again, I don't think that device will be enough - even with a bluetooth keyboard. I know that a full laptop was damn well critical for me in College.

I own a gaming desktop already, but a tablet would be more for the mobility than anything (or at least that's what my parents have brainwashed me into believing). I personally would rather work on my desktop, but they brought up situations such as "what if your classmates/friends want to meet somewhere to study together". The reason the budget was so low is because the i7 is all I need to finish another gaming build and because I didn't plan on doing anything too serious on it. As long as I could use office on it, I can't see the difference between owning a tablet compared to a laptop 

[dalekphalm]

I own a gaming desktop already, but a tablet would be more for the mobility than anything (or at least that's what my parents have brainwashed me into believing). I personally would rather work on my desktop, but they brought up situations such as "what if your classmates/friends want to meet somewhere to study together". The reason the budget was so low is because the i7 is all I need to finish another gaming build and because I didn't plan on doing anything too serious on it. As long as I could use office on it, I can't see the difference between owning a tablet compared to a laptop 

If all you're gonna do is use Office (and/or YT, web browsing, etc), then I'd recommend a ~$400-ish laptop instead. It'll still be kinda shitty, but you can usually find some sweet deals in mid-august with all the "Back to school" sales. Or wait until Black Friday if you can, and see what deals can be found there.

 

Ideally, I'd recommend a $750-$800 entry level ultrabook. Something thin, light, with excellent battery life, that will have at least decent build quality.

[legopc]

What about a second hand Lenovo ThinkPad x210t/x220t?

[dalekphalm]

What about a second hand Lenovo ThinkPad x210t/x220t?

If he could actually get one, possibly. But unless you can provide a link or suggestion for where he might buy one?

[legopc]

If he could actually get one, possibly. But unless you can provide a link or suggestion for where he might buy one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-5-Lenovo-Thinkpad-X220-Core-I5-2-50-GHz-4GB-RAM-320GB-HD-Tablet-/181810518048?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a54c05820

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ThinkPad-X220-Tablet-i7-2-7GHz-4GB-320HDD-sleeve-perfect-for-photographers-/301675489205?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item463d42a7b5

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Windows-7-Tablet-320GB-Core-i5-2-50GHz-4GB-Touch-webcam-IPS-/252011704063?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aad116eff

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Windows-7-Tablet-320GB-Core-i5-2-50GHz-4GB-Touch-webcam-IPS-/271910818155?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4f25d16b - I got my t430 from that seller, good seller.

[dalekphalm]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-5-Lenovo-Thinkpad-X220-Core-I5-2-50-GHz-4GB-RAM-320GB-HD-Tablet-/181810518048?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a54c05820

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ThinkPad-X220-Tablet-i7-2-7GHz-4GB-320HDD-sleeve-perfect-for-photographers-/301675489205?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item463d42a7b5

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Windows-7-Tablet-320GB-Core-i5-2-50GHz-4GB-Touch-webcam-IPS-/252011704063?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aad116eff

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Windows-7-Tablet-320GB-Core-i5-2-50GHz-4GB-Touch-webcam-IPS-/271910818155?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4f25d16b - I got my t430 from that seller, good seller.

And what kind of warranty do they offer?

 

I would straight up not consider a refurbished laptop that doesn't come with at least a 1 year warranty.

 

Most things on eBay only get 30 days of warranty.

[legopc]

And what kind of warranty do they offer?

 

I would straight up not consider a refurbished laptop that doesn't come with at least a 1 year warranty.

 

Most things on eBay only get 30 days of warranty.

Most of them offer 30 day DOA warranty but not much more. I have purchased my t430 from the company in the last link and im sure you will get decent service if something is broken. And if there actually is something wrong you can always call lenovo and ask them to fix it.

[Thermite]

I've started building a new rig and was planning to buy an i7 with this paycheck, but my parents and relatives are pressuring me to by a tablet/laptop for college (which I understand). What's the best one I can get for that price range? Keep in mind this is 90% for education purposes, 10% YouTube videos. 

I think a tablet can be used, but printing papers and other things is going to be harder. Also not being able to use a flash drive without it being specifically made for android tablets would be hard. But if you still want a suggestion i'd say the Nvidia shield or maybe a nexus tablet. You can get keyboards for them and it works pretty well. Plus with the Nvidia one you can play some games in your free time.

 

EDIT: Also since the Nvida one has a micro hdmi port you could theoretically do a presentation off of one. Though that would be kinda weird.

[dalekphalm]

Most of them offer 30 day DOA warranty but not much more. I have purchased my t430 from the company in the last link and im sure you will get decent service if something is broken. And if there actually is something wrong you can always call lenovo and ask them to fix it.

Lenovo would 100% charge you for service, so that's pretty much a non-starter. Any service fees would likely approach or even exceed the price he'd pay for a refurbished laptop.

 

I mean, it's entirely up to the OP to decide his risk factor that he's comfortable with, but personally, I wouldn't bother with Refurbished if it only had a 30 day warranty.

 

I did buy a refurbished Mouse from NCIX, but I got a 3-year extended warranty on it from them for like $9 - totally worth it in that case.

[Ryou-kun]

What about a Chromebook?

It should work in your favor for education purpose.

[dalekphalm]

What about a Chromebook?

It should work in your favor for education purpose.

It would certainly make basic note-taking a lot easier - but would be severely limited by the apps available. Limited to Google Docs and no access to the full MS Office Suite (Which is objectively superior - whether you need the superior abilities is a different question).

 

You can use MS Office Online for free though with a Microsoft account, in those cases where you need perfect doc and docx compatibility.

[Ryou-kun]

It would certainly make basic note-taking a lot easier - but would be severely limited by the apps available. Limited to Google Docs and no access to the full MS Office Suite (Which is objectively superior - whether you need the superior abilities is a different question).

 

You can use MS Office Online for free though with a Microsoft account, in those cases where you need perfect doc and docx compatibility.

 

You can still access to Microsoft Office, but it will be in Browser base and probably laggy I guess and it still work.

[dalekphalm]

You can still access to Microsoft Office, but it will be in Browser base and probably laggy I guess and it still work.

Yes, I know. It's actually clearly stated right in my post that you quoted:

 

 

You can use MS Office Online for free though with a Microsoft account, in those cases where you need perfect doc and docx compatibility.

 

Did you read that part of my post?

 

It might be a bit slow, since Chromebooks are pretty low end. But it won't be much slower than Google Docs.

[Ryou-kun]

Yes, I know. It's actually clearly stated right in my post that you quoted:

 

 

Did you read that part of my post?

 

It might be a bit slow, since Chromebooks are pretty low end. But it won't be much slower than Google Docs.

 

Nope. I was on my phone, and I had to skip some of it to quickly reply.

Anyway, OP could try mobile Office on a tablet, but I doubt the OP will agree to it.