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Laptop update

I know, you can't sleep because you're wondering what laptop I've decided on. Join the club. At this point it's down to three very different models:

  • Fujitstu P5020D ultraportable. Tiny, powerful, and at a very reasonable price, the Fujitsu is my #1 non-tablet choice. LaptopsInc has generously offered to let me try one out and return it in two weeks for any reason - I greatly respect their confidence in the products they sell. I hope I love it.
  • HP TC1100 convertible tablet pc. This is among the smallest and lightest of the convertible tablets, the more so because the keyboard can come completely off. Everyone agrees this is the way to go for quality, but the 10.4" XGA screen might be a little small. I'll have a chance to play with a friend's TC1000 (older model, same size screen) this week, it should be illuminating.
  • Toshiba M200 convertible tablet pc. Faster and has a bigger, higher-resolution screen than the HP. But there are a number of downsides - it's thicker (imagine drawing on a very, very thick pad) and heavier, and the screen cover is polymer rather than the HP's glass. And Toshiba's previous table had some nasty quality ratings. I may get an M200 from Toshiba to review for Slate.

The fine folks on the forums at TabletPCBuzz and LeoG.Net have been invaluable in refining this decision-making process. It should all come to a head in the next two weeks. I've enjoyed the shopping process, but I can't imagine going through this knowing less than I do about computers. I'm strongly considering writing some sort of web application that helps people decide what form-factor they want in a laptop.

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