Are tablets good for taking notes?

[dmo]

Hey,

I am going to be purchasing a new laptop in about 2 - 3 months, and I have been going back and forth regarding whether to buy a tablet. I would love to have something to replace paper as my means of handwritten note-taking (I am a full-time student), but I dont want to over estimate the performance of the tablet.

Is it feasible for a tablet to be used to take notes in class? That meanse daily, hours at a time, use of the tablet for writing. Are there programs out there that work with that specifically? Or am I wrong? Should I just focus on getting a good functional laptop, sans tablet?

I am willing to spend up to 1500 - 1600, particularly if it is going to replace paper.

I would really appreciate any help with this, thank you.

 

[Tedster]

I really don't recommend tablets for students. Students will need capabilities to write papers, send emails etc... while tablets CAN do these things, it is very cumbersome without a traditional keyboard, mouse and printer. Most current generation tablets cannot hook up peripherals. Second generation pads like the ipad 2 (coming out around April 2011) supposedly will have USB ports. Any low end laptop can serve you well as a student. I am in grad school myself, but I work full time. I have two desktops at home and an ancient laptop that still runs fine (original battery too!) The laptop has been to combat twice in Iraq and survived both times! It chugs along slowly but can still surf the net and send emails and play facebook games just fine when I am traveling.

 

[dmo]

I was thinking of the hp touchsmart laptops, which have full keyboards and touchscreen technnology. It looks like you can take notes on it, but I don't want to make that investment and then find out that it can't hold up for my full courseload.