(Another) Touch vs. multi-touch question

Hello, well after a lot of reading reviews, and thinking, I think I'd really like to get a tablet. I'm not a student, or one who needs a tablet however, but I like the technology. Unfortunately the x201 tablet is out of my price range, so I'd have to consider an x200 tablet. My question is, for general use, as a first time tablet, would you recommend a standard touch screen, or multi-touch screen? The multi-touch version isn't much more expensive, but according to reviews the screen quality suffers somewhat. I think with the SL9400 I could overcome the performance issues my former U150 had, so that's no problem.
Final question is, in the configurator at Lenovo's site, there is an option for windows 7 professional 32/64, or xp tablet edition. If I select xp tablet edition, the option to recieve an xp recovery dvd disappears. Now since I could get xp with the downgrade rights, could I just select windows 7, and check the xp recovery dvd option? It lets me do it, but I'm not sure if that's qualifying or not. I hope you understand what I mean.
Thanks if you can help.

 

my advice would be to think about whether you will really use the tablet features or would be better off with a regular x200 or x201.
I haven't used a tablet before either, but as a student I'm thinking about getting one to replace actual notebooks and so I could have a digital copy of my handwritten homework. Since I already have a great t500, I'm looking into some of the keyboardless designs coming out this year.

As for OS, I believe Win7 already has tablet support, so unless you have special need for xp tablet edition you should probably chose win7. I'm not sure if the xp recovery will be normal xp or tablet edition.

 

Wow, somebody found this thread. :laugh: Thanks for the reply! I could very easily get an x201 with nice specs, and I'd love to have one. However I really like touch technology, and at some point may find a really good use for it (after the wow factor fades).
XP would be nice for some compatibility with old software that I tested on 7, and wont run.
Thanks again for the reply, you've got me thinking about it some more.

 

I seem to remember that you were disappointed by your U150's gaming performance? If so, don't expect anything better with the X200t. I believe both have the 4500MHD anyway, so graphically, they will both perform more or less the same.

As for Windows 7 + XP Recovery disks versus XP Tablet, definitely go with Windows 7. Win7 has many tablet-friendly features built in that the XP Tablet version "adds" over vanilla XP, and has many additional enhancements that make it a much better OS than XP. Running an XP virtual machine in Win7 allows you to run most XP-only software (at least it did for me), so if compatibility is less of an issue.

I would suggest that you go for the non-multitouch version, although personally that is because I hate touching screens with my fingers

 

Thanks midnight. Yes, I was very disappointed with the gaming performance of the U150, that's why I sent it back. I was reading some reviews here, for instance the x200 tablet review, and (as much as I don't believe in 3dmark ) the x200 tablet scores just above 1,000 in 3dmark06, whereas the U150 scored ~590. So nearly double the performance, and that might be enough to just make my games playable enough to be enjoyable.
About touch vs. multitouch, gah, I'm driving myself crazy trying to decide between the two. I agree with you that I wouldn't want to make my screen all yucky by touching it, I would probably opt for the pen more often than not. Still might be nice to have that functionality "just in case".
If you like midnightsun, or anybody for that matter, please visit my thread here in the What Notebook Should I Buy? forum, and give some advice. I'd appreciate it.

 

The thing is, 3dmark06 is more dependent on CPU than most games are, and because the CPU of the X200t is more powerful than that of the U150, the score is some 500 points higher. But in real gaming power, they're about the same.

Just my opinion, but it's usually a waste of money to buy technology "just in case." If I had a tablet, I would use it mainly to take notes, so I would have no use for multitouch at all. Consider your usage/needs and decide based on that. The higher cost of the multitouch screen and the impact on screen quality caused by the touch layer should also factor into your decision.

 

Well, let's break this down a little. My old 2008 macbook, with intel x3100 graphics, and core 2 duo 2.1GHz/800MHz FSB, scored about 550 in 3dmark06, yet it could play BF1942 800x600 medium settings just fine. My U150, scored about 590 in 3dmark, slower processor, faster integrated graphics (but that turned out not to be true), yet it struggled with BF1942 even at low settings!
Now, the x200 would have a 1.86GHz/1066MHz FSB core 2 duo. It was established in one of my other threads that the U150's graphics core was downclocked at 266MHz, but considering the x200 scores about 1000 in 3dmark06, I think it's safe to assume that it's got the regularly clocked graphics chip at 533MHz. The processor itself though it has a higher FSB, is not really that much faster than the U150's I would say, but that's just conjecture on my part.
So in my opinion, I think the x200 would handle my old games pretty well. Of course I wouldn't know until I really try though.
As I just told someone in PM, though I have no need for a tablet, I love the technology and at some point I may find use for it. I have carpal tunnel which is getting progressively worse, and any less time I can spend with a mouse, the better.

I don't want to deter you midnight or anyone else from posting in this thread. I for one am soooo sick of talking about the gma4500's graphics performance (because that topic was beat to death in my other thread, plus I spent days testing games on my U150 and got burned out ).

 

I do have one question though. Does anyone know if it's possible to purchase a multi-touch screen direct from Lenovo in the future if I want it? I know it would be expensive, I just want to know if it's possible.

ZaZ, would you like to comment in this thread? I always value your advice about Lenovo.