Some Tips On Choosing A Tablet

The modern market of mobile gadget can boast of great variety of devices presented: mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, hybrid gadgets, etc. And one of the most spoken about gadget today is a tablet. As Wikipedia defines,

“A tablet computer, or a tablet, is a mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen rather than using a physical keyboard”.

The stats agencies reports about the growing sales of these devices. And almost every hardware manufacturer has already released its own version of a tablet. However, there are still lots of people who are confused by these innovations and can be easily got lost in the mass of tablet available at the market.

So, if you are a person who wants to go with the times and to buy a new gadget but doesn’t know what to start with, these pieces of advice on how to choose a tablet will be very helpful for you.

• What to start with?

Well, the very first question you need to ask yourself is if you need a tablet at all. Or it is just a I-want-to-be-like-everyone-else desire.

Then you need to define what you will use the tablet for. Will it be work? Or it will be used only just for some fun? Think over the functions that will be needed, make a list of them. The list may include such points as watching a video, Internet browsing, making notes, business calculations, data processing, etc., depending on your demands. Later, when you choose the particular model of a tablet you will compare the list of requirements and the list of specs to find the best matchings.

• Mobile operating system choice

Tablet market is dominated by 2 main mobile Oss – iOS and Android. However, there are also tablets that run Blackberry, Windows 8 and some variations of Android OS.

Blackberry OS will be a good option for those who own a Blackberry smartphone, mainly because there is a possibility of a total data synchronization of the devices. But it also should be noted that RIM is going through hard times, even though it has very big expectations about its Blackberry 6 OS that is to come soon.

Windows 8 is a new mobile OS developed by Microsoft that is supposed to be installed both on tablets and pcs. However, there are no tablets available with this OS, but they will be released in a month’s time.  So, nothing can be said for sure about this OS.

Android is said to be the best sold mobile operating system in the world. The number of gadgets that use this OS counts millions. This system is developed by Google but it is open source software that can be used by any hardware maker. The approximate number of apps developed for Android gadgets is more than 500,000. Besides, the Android owners have an opportunity to use preinstalled apps of all possible Google’s services like Gmail, Google Maps, Google+, Google Calendar, YouTube, Chrome Browser, and Google Talk, and Google Wallet. You may also find lots of different reviews about Android OS in the net and compare it with others.

iOS is developed by Apple and is used only on iPads. Apple has just released its new iOS 6 the reviews about which you may also find in the Net.  The AppStore is full of applications for all possible needs. iPad is supposed to be a leader among tablets, but it is still a disputable question why: due to its well-made marketing or because of its advanced gadgets.

• Specs comparison

Well, now you have already limited your choice to the tablets that have some particular OS. But that’s only half of the way. Now you need to study the hardware specs of the gadgets and to compare them with your requirements (do you remember the list you made before?).

So, what should you pay attention to? Let’s make a short summary of hardware specs.

Processor, including number of cores:  The more cores the tablet has, the faster it works. But the other side of the coin is the price and the time of work.

Screen resolution: It will depend on you needs. If there is a video watching and photo editing in your list, pay special attention to this point.

Camera. It will matter for those you want to make video call and to shoot videos with the tablet.

Ports, video outputs, connectors:  It is not a very important point, especially if it is your first tablet. Just make sure that you will be able to connect the gadget to your pc.

Wireless connectivity: It is the spec to study for those you are into Internet surfing and file sharing and loading.

Stylus support. Do you need to type a lot? Think about stylus. It will be faster and easier to make notes.

Internal and expandable storage:  If you have to operate the great amount of data, think about this point carefully. The more, the better, but the more pricy as well.

So, that’s it. And don’t listen to the ads that say that this or that tablet is ideal. Each of them has some pros and cons. And there is an ideal tablet for you. You just need to find it yourself.

Image source: yourdigitalspace

 What do you think of a tablet? Do share your opinion in the comment section, we’ll be glad to hear from you.

This is a guest post by Kate Merzlova, a tech writer from Intellectsoft.