Nine things that make a great tablet computer
Posted on 26. Dec, 2011 by Albert Madison in Tablets
This year the flood gates were really opened up for the tablet market, there are literally hundreds of tablet computers available in the market place at a variety of price points. There are so many different tablets available that it’s very easy for a shopper to get very confused fast.
However unbenounced to most tablet shoppers there is a very easy check list of things to look for in a tablet if you want the best experience possible. Now the checklist will be give and take, because there hasn’t been a tablet launched that features everything that’s included on the list.
Now without further a due I’ll get to my list which I’ll call The Perfect Tablet Check List, there are nine points to consider and I’ll be explaining why each is important.
1.) Powerful hardware - The internal hardware that powers the tablet must be good or at least well optimized for the operating system or you’ll experience slow performance which is very irritating. Right now most companies are moving towards dual-core and quad-core processing chips for their tablets, this is all good and well but only a few are taking the time out to optimize the hardware for the software, so a good experience isn’t always guaranteed on each tablet just because it has a dual-core or quad-core processing chip.
2.) Good battery life - Picking a tablet that has good battery life for real life use is difficult but luckily most tablets have reviews available online that talk about real life battery life. Keep in mind that just like the laptop industry tablet makers tend to post battery life estimates that are unattainable under regular usage. In case you’re wondering Apple’s iPad can reach 10 hours of battery life and it can even go beyond that as some have shown.
3.) Good amount of connectivity (ports) – When you get a tablet you’ll really like using it as a standalone device but sooner or later you’ll want to add external things like HDMI cables for outputting stuff to a bigger screen. Most tablets come with ways of connecting most of the major things such as HDMI, USB and SD cards to the tablet, but not all tablets have each of those ports.
Most famously the Apple iPad has no real ports at all except a 30-pin dock connector that you must use with adaptors which can add both HDMI, USB and SD card support to the tablet (at extra cost).
4.) Lots of fast storage - Most tablets come with either 8GB, 16GB, 32GB or even sometimes 64GB of built-in storage. At this time those capacities manufacturers are capable of getting into tablets without drastically upping the cost of their unique models. Some makers, Archos in particular, do offer tablets with 160GB or 250GB HDD (hard disk drives) and those models offer lots of storage but the storage isn’t as fast as the flash storage all other tablets come with.
Flash storage is pretty much the same technology you find in SSD’s today, they’re fast but due to manufacturing costs the prices per 1GB are far higher than that of a standard HDD.
5.) Easy to learn and understand operating system - At this time Android and Apple’s IOS are the main operating systems that ship in most tablets. Both Android and iOS have their strong points and each are quite easy to learn and understand over time. Now going into the future other operating systems can be launched that are more complex than Android or iOS, just go into a store and try out or watch an online video tutorial for the new operating systems to see if you like it.
6.) Optimized applications - Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are the main operating systems for tablets, but right now Apple’s iOS has the larger amount of optimized applications for their tablets (iPads). Apple’s iOS has a wide range of games, utility applications, books, and magazines that are designed for the iPad tablet. Android is much more limited in the assortment of tablet optimized applications, and things aren’t like to get better soon. With Android there are so many different tablets available developers have a hard time making good tablet applications that work well on every tablet.
7.) Access to good digital libraries for applications and other content - Application stores and other content stores are something you’ll need to learn to live with if you purchase most tablets. For the Android side there is the Android Market, there you can download applications and games for your tablet or download content stores like Amazon or Netflix for other content like eBooks or Movies/TV shows. For Apple’s iOS there is the App Store and inside it you can do pretty much the same things you can in the Android Market.
There are some free things inside of both Android and iOS stores but there are also a lot of things that cost you money, when you first use any store you’ll need to setup a payment account that will be charged for all your purchases –you can’t download paid applications without setting up a payment account.
8.) Fast, reliable networking capabilities built-in - Most tablets sold simply come with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networking built-in, but some are available now with mobile broadband 3G or 4G radios built-in that work on cell networks for data or voice (in rare cases). The most important thing to do before purchasing a tablet is to check out reviews and see if the Wi-Fi is good or if it drops connections a lot. When you have a tablet most of the things you’ll want to do will require an Internet connection, so it’s good to know your tablet can at least provide you with solid Wi-Fi performance.
9.) Fair price - You should know what you’re comfortable spending on a tablet before you even start your search, but once you have a figure in your head you will need to look online and off-line for the best price on the tablet you want. Often times you can use coupons or find limited time sales on good tablets at retailers online and sometimes off-line as well. There is no definite amount I can say for you to spend, just spend what you can afford to spend and make sure to shop around before purchasing.
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