There are many tablets available to the consumer today. It can be confusing to decide what to buy as there are so many tablet outlets on the market today. To understand the selling points, you have to decide what you want to use it for, and then find the features you want.
The first consideration is the style of the tablet. The whiteboard is a basic touch screen, with no keyboard. There are convertible tablet PCs; a whiteboard with a keyboard attached. The whiteboard can rotate independently of the keyboard. There are hybrids, with a detachable keyboard and booklets, or two tablets that can be folded like a book. Finally, there are the rugged tablets, made for harsh conditions and highly portable. One of the basic features of any tablet is the operating system (OS). These include Android, Android 2.2, Android 2.3, Android 3.0, Android 3.1, Android 3.2, HP webOS, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Pro, Blackberry OS, iOS 4. The operating system will determine which apps are available on each tablet.
Another basic feature is the screen size. Screen size affects the ease with which you can perform some tasks. If you want to read, you may need a different size screen than if you want to work on databases or word processing. Screen sizes range from 7″ to 12″, measured diagonally. Along with the size of the screen, the resolution also varies, from 800 x 480 to 1024 x 600. This measures how many pixels fill the screen. The higher the number, the finer the image.
Another consideration when choosing a tablet is hard drive capacity. This determines how much information can be stored on the tablet. These range from 4 GB to 64 GB. Plenty of storage means you can carry more music, photos, videos, books and apps on your tablet. Four gigabytes is enough for text, books, and spreadsheets. If you plan to store video, audio, or other large files, choose more storage capacity. Many tablets have a memory card slot, which increases storage to 32 GB.
CPU speed determines how fast your tablet boots up, processes information, and switches between apps. These range from 533 MHz to 1.88 GHz. The slower speeds are sufficient for reading and web browsing. If you want to play games, look for higher CPU speeds. Battery life and weight are the last two considerations. Since they are portable devices, a reasonable amount of usage time would be expected before the battery would need to be recharged. Again, battery life ranges from five to ten hours. Weight is an important consideration, although they are all lighter than a laptop and therefore more portable. Weights range from just under a pound to two and a half pounds.
All tablets are Wi-Fi enabled, which means you can access the Internet, download books, search the web, send and receive email. Many are equipped with cameras, some with front and rear cameras, and many can record video. Some tablets can also access 3G or 4G cellular networks. This means that, just like a cell phone, you can access the web from anywhere you have cell coverage; Almost anywhere. Those with 3G or 4G capability often include GPS in the package, making these tablets true travel companions.