Tablets are essentially the hottest gadgets you can buy at the moment. However, with the amount of choices available, making a decision is tough. And it’s made tougher by the fact that this device attempts to fit into the very small gap between the laptop and the smart phone. Should you buy one? The jury is out on whether the tablet is as useful a device as it’s made out to be. It does most of the things that you can do on a smart phone and on a laptop. The real thing to figure out –and this completely changes from person to person- is whether the tablet fits in with your lifestyle. Between the smart phone and the tablet, this is –
Multimedia Consumption
The tablets, with their 5”, 7” and 10” screens, offer a much better experience than the good old smart phone. Most can handle HD video playback, but then again, for every iPad we have an HTC Flyer that can’t.
Document viewing / editing
For document viewing, the tablet’ bigger display is a lot more convenient than the smart phone. a tablet with its touch screen, however, won’t be as comfortable as something with a physical keypad.
Web Browsing
Perfect devices for this, access mail and browse the web on the move, at home, wherever; the tablet with Wi-Fi or mobile network connectivity will make the investment all worthwhile.
Gaming
Good enough reason only if you’re buying the iPad. Most Android tablets I’ve tested till now either don’t have the grunt or prove to be let downs when it comes to high end gaming titles.
What to figure out?
Do you carry a laptop with you at most times? If yes, then all these tasks that can be done on the laptop can be done quite comfortably on a slightly bigger display. If you’re at home, again the laptop can be used for the same stuff, or you could view multimedia on TV. In this scenario, how does the tablet fit into your life? The answer will differ from individual to individual. May be you are planning on replacing the laptop with the tablet. However, do so only if you’re comfortable with typing out long emails and documents on a touch screen. For the calling bit, the smart phone is the most convenient. And then again, most tablets don’t offer that feature anyway.
In an alternate scenario, you could possibly have been doing all these tasks on a smart phone. And at home, you don’t really use the PC nor have one. In that case, the tablet could be just the device for you. Not only does the portability bit remain intact, but the bigger display and better battery life makes it the perfect roadrunner device. However, while this little bit of this and little bit of that exists; the tablet does have a lot going for it. Thanks to the superb battery life almost all tablets offer, they’re extremely good companions on the road. Also, the sheer amount of apps you can download, be it on Android or iOS will ensure you won’t get board. Thirdly, this device does have a certain amount of show off value to it! Walk into office with one tucked under your arm and be sure that a few questions will come hopping your way.
