Ask the internet: Tablet PC edition

[zandperl]

Dear Internet,

In October I am going to be applying for an equipment grant to buy a tablet PC for classroom use. Said tablet must run on Windows (XP Pro preferred), and required software is listed below (that is, those softwares that will require purchase).

• MS Office 2007 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
• MS Outlook
• MS Frontpage (yeah, I know, take it up

Comments

[zandperl]

Camtasia is a screencasting program. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's like a video screen capture, that records everything on the screen plus audio input. It's very RAM intensive. The purpose is so that I can record my PowerPoint presentations in real time and let students watch them again later.

[sirroxton]

Any Core2 Duo laptop with 2GB of RAM will meet your performance spec. I'm hesitant to give more detailed recommendations because it's not a topic I've researched much. I will say that if you can get enough grant money, the Latitude XT is one of the nicest tablets on the market. It's about $600 more than other offerings, but it's got a very well-engineered interface and it has a capacitive screen like the iPhone (as opposed to resistive screens), which means you get a clearer screen, better accuracy, and you won't have to push down.

I've read that you should get XP, because the slick Vista interface with its smaller buttons isn't very tablet-friendly. I think that's the reason Dell downgrades your configuration to XP by default.

I've heard good things about the Lenovo Thinkpad X300 too.

[marquiswildbill]

My rheumy uses HP tablets, which he says are great except for his incompetence with them (mainly stylus issues). I advised him to go out and buy a good stylus and then configure it with that, and he seems much happier. I could ask for specific model info if you want. He owes me a favor after I grabbed a few articles for him.
Does it have to be Camtasia? I think their are alternatives. Maybe even less RAM intensive ones out there.