Netbook / Mini-laptop Advice

Factual Questions
1

I find myself in need of a small-ish PC-ish thing & am bewildered by the vast variety of everything on offer *except *what I think I want.

Needs:
Runs WinXP or (better) Win7 in some flavor
Runs real Office 2010
Long battery life
real keyboard, not on-screen
Screen size 10-11" . 12+ ish is too big, 7-ish is too small.
integrated wifi (of course)
integrated mobile 3g compatible with the US Sprint (CDMA) network

Wants In order of importance:
convertible tablet style
4GB RAM capable
<US$1000 and preferably <US$600
integrated 3g/4g (not necesarily Sprint-compatible but would be nice)

Uses:
Drag around while traveling by air, going through TSA, etc. (100%)
Access on-disk documentation library in PDF format. (70%)
Typical office productivity - Use Outlook, read & write Word docs (20%)
SDMB surfing (8%)
Audio / video entertainment (2%)

Tradeoffs:
I’ve played with enough of my coworkers gear to have a good feel for the size / usability tradoffs, and the 10-11-ish inch size is my sweet spot. I might go smaller, I won’t go bigger.

The PDF document use being primary is the driver for the tablet convertibility. Being able to fold the clamshell back to flat with the screen outisde is a major improvement in utility.
Results to date:
I can find $1200 convertable 12" tablets, and I can find 7" $300 netbooks. A pal has an Acer 1420p from a couple years ago which seems perfect. Right size, decent performance, etc. But I can’t find anything currently in production like that.

So far the few tech shopping sites I know don’t seem to help becasue they don’t have separate categories for tablets (no keyboard) from convertible tablets (keyboard + swiveling screen). And the convertible onse are the needles in teh haystack.

Any advice on what to buy or where to look or how to better search would be much appreciated.

Ipad is out, so don’t even bother. But if there’s some other category I’m missing, where my needs/wants have painted me into a corner, suggest away … e.g. I wonder about a slate-style tablet & a very small detachable keyboard for the keyboard intensive uses???

2

Lenovo and Dell make high-end convertible tablets, primarily for business users. They are the best combination of light weight and functionality, at the cost of, well, cost. These usually have both capacitive touch input and active pen input (Wacom), which is very nice. Not only do you get the best of both worlds (i.e. it responds to a very light touch from your finger, and the pen gives you the precision of Wacom tablets), but it also distinguishes between both inputs (i.e. pen input used for writing, touch input used for scroll).

Fujitsu and HP make mid-level tablet PCs ($1000-$2000 range). They are heavier than the high-end models, and the screens aren’t quite as good. Many of them have active pen input. I think the HP has both active and capacitive.

There’s a third category of “convertible netbooks”. This includes ASUS, Lenovo s10-3t, viliv s10, gigabyte t1000, etc. (Note that the last two links go to Dynamism which is a grey-market importer; I don’t believe these models are officially available in the US.) They have smaller screens (typically 1024x600) and run on Atom processors so they’re as slow as any netbook. I think they all use resistive touch input, which is not bad, just takes a firm press from your finger (or a stylus) to register. (Just like most car GPS units and the old Palm PDAs.)

3

I have a Sony W series netbook, and it has its ups and downs. On the bright side, it comes standard with a 1366x768 display, has great battery life, and is pretty light. On the down side, the Atom is just pokey slow no matter what. Also the standard battery is high capacity which means it sticks below the computer, adding bulk. And the keyboard is miserable sometimes, thanks to the right shift key being crammed in by the directional keys. I don’t think I’d buy a netbook again.

4

Lenovo does the Thinkpad X series, which are sub 13" laptops.

The Lenovo X201 series starts somewhere just below $1000 right now for the X201i on the Lenovo website. These are 12.1" wide screen laptops (not netbooks) that are quite well built (though I personally would spend a bit more to get the additional features). The tablet/convertable versions quite a bit more expensive than the X201i, but also come with better specs.

Lenovo also does a cheaper Thinkpad X laptop as the X100e, at about $430. That one appears to be slightly bigger. Never used it though, so I can’t comment on it.

5

The OP asked about convertible tablet PCs. The standard ThinkPad X201 is not a tablet; only the X201t which starts out at $1700 right now. (Which is a good deal, but above the price range specified by the OP.)

The HP TouchSmart TM2 may be the best choice for the OP. It’s a bit heavier than the ThinkPad X201t and the screen’s view angle isn’t quite as good, but at half the price of the X201t it’s a pretty good deal.

6

I’m in the market for a touch screen tablet notebook and the one that seems most compelling is the HP TouchSmart tm2-2050us. I think it has a Wacom licensed touchscreen technology, and has been praised for it’s drawing capability. It’s priced below $900.

Mind you, I’ve always hated HP computers, but I think I will make an exception for this particular computer. They have consistently had the lowest price for touchscreen notebooks.

I’m tempted by the ASUS Eee PC T101MT but right away the stupid fucking shrunken right shift key automatically eliminates this. Christ, didn’t they do any ergonomic testing at all? It’s only around $450.

7

I’m really surprised that anyone would want a iPad. But it’s obvious that I am wrong.

For myself, I prefer a ‘real’ keyboard and the ability to tilt the screen, kick back and use it. As I am now.

Acer NetBook for my Wife and I. It travels very, very well. Battery power is limited though. For us, that is not an issue. Just take along the recharge plug. Or another battery that is a simple plug in.

3 USB ports make it very user friendly. Plug in a thumb drive if you want. Or a wireless mouse. Bingo. Stick it on a wired network? No prob. It comes with wifi, So pretty much where ever you go, you got it. About $300 for a real computer that can travel with you.