Heading to class, two things that many students don’t leave without are their “smart” phone/ “smart” music
player, and their laptop. Now, tablets are becoming an “in” thing, but with internet connectivity and Facebook updates available literally everywhere you go, is a tablet a must-have, or just another
piece of technology to increase our independence on electrical outlets and
broadband connections?
As the owner of a laptop and a smart-phone (that has 4G connectivity), I – as a student – asked myself the same question recently, and took advantage of our library’s iPad rental service tofind the answer. Going into it, I madethe decision to use the tablet at every possible moment in order to observe its
full abilities, in an attempt to justify purchasing such a device. My conclusion: a tablet is an excellent supplement to the phone/ computer combination.
Here are my 3 reasons to purchase a tablet in addition to the other devices:
1) Battery Life – The battery life of a tabletallows you greater distance from an electrical outlet than the other two devices, making it a great complement. While I played with an iPad, most other tablets out there boast battery longevity with lifetimes near 10 hours. The reason for this is simple. Cell phones are always connected to the mobile network, which in itself drains the battery, especially when texting and making phone calls. With laptops, the software and the higher power operating system. In the run-around life of a student, freedom from the power chord is a necessity. Just be sure to close applications you aren’t using.
2) Response Time – Just as important as battery life is a fast response time. Tablets, have impressive turn-on speeds and response times for the same reasons that they hold longer battery charges – simpler operating systems, less software, and the fact that they aren’t on for communication constantly. When you turn on a tablet, you are up and running in nearly 30 seconds, as compared to a minute or two for a cell phone
or laptop. The best way to keep a tablet fast is to keep your apps at reasonable amount, determined by the amount of memory your device has.
3) Comfort – Possibly the most important feature of the tablet from a consumer standpoint is the comfort afforded by them. They are light and fit in the hand like a book, and have a larger screen than a cell phone, yet the compactness lacked by laptops. To describe the tablet in one word – natural.
Even if you have your personal biases toward (or against) particular companies, the rest of the technology
industry is now catching up with Apple. Google, Samsung, and later this month Microsoft all have tablet
computers out there to claim their share of the tablet market along with Amazon. Just remember, a tablet is to
supplement your computer and cell phone, not replace either or both. In my experience with the tablet, I greatly
enjoyed using it to read school documents, surf the web, and keep up with my friends on Twitter on a nine inch screen that fits in my hand. The tablet may just become your new favorite toy.
I’ve been torn on whether or not to purchase a tablet for a while now. Response time was one of the primary reasons. There are a lot of situations I find myself in where using my even fairly compact laptop is still just too cumbersome, where as a reasonably sized tablet would probably be fine.
My own compromise was instead just upgrading my smartphone. The upgrade was a big jump, but the limited size of a phone can still be frustrating at times. The tablet really seems like that perfect device between phone and laptop.
I plan on waiting until Black Friday deals before making another big purchase though.
The expert’s create a tablet with a keyboard. What would you use? A laptop or the latest tablet?