Is this a good time to buy my 1st Tablet PC?

[Guest]

Hi all,

I want to buy my 1st tablet pc, and was looking around at the options. My
basic requirement for a tablet are (in order of importance)

Vista Business (maybe Ultimate),
14" screen (13.3" might also be fine),
2GB RAM,
2GHz Core 2 Due,
Preferably non-integrated graphics, but that seems like a pipe dream,
Battery life,
Weight.

So, as you can see, size and weight is not so important to me, as I don't
plan on using it in a standing position much. This will be used for drawing
up new UI designs, while commuting on a train, etc. I want to spend no more
than $2500 out the door on it.

I was initially looking at the Tecra M7, until I realized that they have
been EOLed by Toshiba. My next choice is a tricked out Asus R1 (you can bump
the CPU from some places like AGear, see
http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusr1fs.html).

So, is this a good time to buy a new tablet, or is there some new models
just around the corner that will cause me to kick myself if I buy one right
now? I ask this because currently there seems to be a lull as vendors switch
over from XP to Vista, and I know Intel is coming out with new chipsets like
the GMA 965 in the near future, integrated flash memory for use with
ReadyBoost, etc etc...

BTW, a side question: Can I do an online upgrade of Vista Business to Vista
Ultimate on an OEM version of Vista?

I would really like some advice from those that have a better idea of the
current roadmap wrt to tablets in general.

BitFlipper

 

[You Know Who ~]

There are always new models coming out... if you go by that, you will never
buy anything. <g>
Asus makes the motherboard, but sources most all other components from
someone else, so I would be reluctant to go that route.