Should_I_Buy_A_Tablet_Or_Laptop

Should I Buy A Tablet or Laptop?

I get this question all the time since I’m in the computer repair business. And I always answer it depends on what you want to do with your new toy. Basically it breaks down into two different categories. Tablets are designed around entertainment and casual use (like reading emails, surfing, playing music (if you have speakers besides the ones on the tablet), shopping online, and portability. Laptops are designed to provide more of a text based experience for work related tasks and more intense applications like CAD, Photo editing, spreadsheet stuff, and long writing situations.

Now you can interchange many of these activities on a laptop or tablet but one or the other is usually far better. And there are hybrids out there now that try to be both but they have a tendency to be very pricey and fail to be exceptional on specifics as well as the individual devices.

The best example I can give is comparing cars. If you want high miles per gallon you need to go with a model that is designed specifically for that purpose to get the max. Same with fast cars, sports cars, or luxury cars. You can find a good in-between model that can be comfortable and still get good mileage but it won’t be great mileage. Same scenario goes for tablets and laptops.

I have a couple of tablets and laptops due to the fact that even within the different designs, each has a specific purpose.

I have a Netbook for travel (much lighter and smaller), and a full size laptop for at home (much more powerful than Netbook). I have an iPad for specific software it has available, and I have an Android since it has a few features that the iPad doesn’t. The iPad has a hard time with flash websites, there are work arounds but they don’t always work. The Android has a much better browser, does flash fine, and is faster than my iPad. One problem I have on all tablets (10 inch versions) is holding them for long periods of time. That may not bother some but it is definitely a problem for me. Yes, you can put a kick stand on them, add a keyboard and mouse, but then I might as well use my laptop since it has a much larger screen and processing power. I keep one of my tablets on my living room table and it’s great for fast lookups, checking email, or even short browsing sessions (the Android version). I use the iPad for several of the Apple software programs I use for special purposes but usually on a table so I have both hands free and it’s easier for long periods since I’m not holding it up in the air as I use it.

I never use any of my devices on cell connection since I’m always around Wifi but that is a good thing to have if you are more mobile. But it does drive both the purchase and use price up considerably. I think I paid under $450 for each of my tablets. But you can get a fairly decent laptop for that amount so the tablets really don’t have much of a price break unless you drop down to the 7 inch models.

So I would base my decision more on how I’m going to use the device rather than price. In fact, the 7 inch models really are a better bang for the buck since they are easier to hold and offer high resolution too. The new iPad Mini and the Galaxy Nexus or Tablet Tab 2 are all under $300 and you can’t touch a good laptop for that amount. Because I rarely, if ever, watch movies on my tablets that’s probably what I will go to on the next one I buy. I would never pay over $500 for even a full size tablet or iPad, just too hard to justify. But it really depends on your budget and that’s why they sell so many.

If you just want to know about Hard Drives and why they are important to any computer or tablet, go take a look here: What is a hard drive for a computer? You can also find out many ways to do hard drive repair or get the best bang for your buck when purchasing a replacement hard drive on our website.

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