Within the last year Tablet sales have gone up 300% and tablet after tablet have, literally, been exploding into a market that alot of people didn't realise existed until Apple's release of the iPad. One of the problems that face anyone looking to get their hands on a piece of the Tablet market boils down to whether or not buying any kind of Tablet PC will provide them with any real application once they've gotten bored of Angry Birds.
Tablet Wars
Once you decide a Tablet PC is your best bet the question still remains: iPad? Android? Or the less likely Windows 7 Tablet?
Here's a quick look at the 3 main contenders in the Tablet market.
The iPad
Okay, so you've had a look at videos and rave reviews and decided Hey, this thing isn't half bad! The iPad is a very nice piece of technology and, once again, Apple didn't disappoint with build quality and, given 10 hours of battery life, it out lasts the best of Netbook batteries as well.
Let's take a closer look
Pros
- 10 Hours Battery Life
- Great as an eReader
- Very good build quality inc. scratch resistent screen (although, not smudge resistant)
- MultiTouch Compaitble (Not overly impressive nowadays but still a definite plus)
- Light-Weight (Weighs only 1.5 pounds)
- HTML5 Ready
- Third-Party App development possible (a definite necessity with the increasing popularity of Android)
- No Flash Support (Major Issue here in my opinion)
- Unremoveable back panel - The internal workings of the iPad appear to have been intended never to be seen by human eyes
- No USB Support at all (so much for portable media!)
- No simple drag and drop file management
- The MS Office replacement Apps leave alot to be desired
The second contenders in the Tablet race are the come-in-all-shapes-and-sizes Android Tablets. These abundant critters have prices ranging from as little as £60 all the way up to £800. On further inspection, however, is it really worth going for the cheap option? Do you get what you pay for?
Pros
- Android as an OS is capable on running on a number of low-end devices without too many problems
- Great as an eReader
- The user-friendlly Notification Bar means that things like switching on the Wi-Fi can be done from anywhere, even within other Apps
- because the Android platform is Open Source this means that developers can program apps for free! This really opens up the platform for all kinds of developers
- Honeycomb 3.0 boasts good battery life and Tablet friendly extras
- Higher end Android Tablets have comparable battery life to the iPad
- From 7 inch screens to 12 inch 1 Android Tablet out there somewhere will no doubt suite your size needs
- Hardware Fragmentation - Because of Android's Multi Platform deployability this means that compatiblility issues can occur causing problems with Apps or even overall stability
- Going for the cheaper Android tablet means you will suffer problems with low battery life and speed issues
- The number of Android Tablet specific games is still quite minimal
- Alot of the current generation of Android tablets are still running Android 2.2 or lower which is, essentially, a phone OS
- Similarly to the iPad if you wanted to use your Tablet for work the MS Office replacement Apps are limited and feel clunky
Now, there is alot of negativity towards the Windows 7 Tablet in reviews stating that Windows 7 isn't a Tablet OS. Although this is a well known fact the fact remains that there are some (if not alot) of touch friendly features. In addition, you can still use all of your MS Office based tools and other Windows programs. But is the marriage of Tablet and Home PC worth it?
Pros
- As above, Windows means you can do everything you can on your Home PC
- Spec - Because Windows 7 requires faster hardware to run the spec of Windows tablets is usually higher
- Windows 7 Tablets are great for media sharing and storing (most come with bigger HDDs than other Tablets)
- Multi Tasking is made alot easier with Windows and with better hardware this is smooth
- Best Of Both Worlds? - Thanks to the Android x86 Project it is possible to Dual Boot Android on any Windows 7 tablet (provided it's compatible) bringing Android and Windows together
- Battery Life - Unfortunately beefier hardware means less battery life (6 hrs+ is generally good going)
- Intel Atom/ AMD Fusion processors mean that these Tablets will only ever match up to the speeds of a standard Netbook
- Touch was still an after thought for Windows 7 and, therefore, it just isn't as responsive or user friendly as Android or iOS
Bottom Line
In the end the main reason anybody buys a Tablet PC at the moment is for that gadgety goodness and portability. If all you need it for is Bubble Shooter, to listen to some music or peruse the internet then it may be an idea to look into getting a cheaper-than-iPad Android Tablet PC. Although, you get what you pay for here so be wary.
If you can't live without Apple's quality control and customer after care then definitely look at the iPad or iPad 2. Again, this is a very stable and nice piece of kit that has a decent battery life and also has some Office or Business applications.
If you are, however, desperate to use your Windows programs on the go then don't shun the Windows 7 Tablets from the outset, take a good look, some of them are definitely worth that.
The final decision comes down to personal preference and, for me, which tablet looks the nicest in my price range. Happy hunting.
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