[theonefrombrum]

These days, computers, laptops and phones are seen to be becoming ever increasingly redundant as devices used to access the internet, thanks to the explosion in tablet sales. iPads, Playbooks, Android ones... there's quite a few on the market at the moment and it's a market that suddenly just popped out of nowhere and then became a hundreds of millions of pounds one, if not more. I'm just wondering, what is it about tablets that you find appealing? Is it the increased portability that they offer? Is it the selection of apps and the aspect of the touch screen which is what drove you or what will drive you to the purchase? Is it the sleek design of the iPad and the simply cool feature that is being able to zoom in with your finger etc?

I'm interested to know. Personally, i would love an iPad because i've played it quite a bit in the Apple store and HMV and i just love how it feels, the way that it looks and some of the games are just incredibly fun, such as fruit ninja and temple run. I know that you can get those games on the iPhone but for me and i'm assuming most people it's much better on the bigger screen of the iPad.

So yeah let me know what you think about tablets and also, if you want say whether you think that eventually tablets will render obsolete computers and laptops.

[Repressor]

I own an old-style X200 Tablet from Lenovo. I bought it because it's quite useful for doing hand-written calculations on "paper", but it's also alot easier and neater to erase stuff and start again.

It runs windows 7 professional atm. Having it compatible with all x86 software is a nice feature. I don't think I could cope with one of these newer tablets - they're limited and yet still quite expensive. They're still quite small too, none of them are even the size of A4 yet....which is what I would expect...

[Lil08]

As a university student, the new ipad by apple is invaluable to my student needs. I have tones of books and lecture notes downloaded, allowing me to use them whenever, whether in the university or on the bus. It's also very light weight and slick.

I could not imagine a life without it.

On the downside however, I do have to use a standard computer to type up my reports or print anything out.

[theonefrombrum]

(Original post by Lil08)
As a university student, the new ipad by apple is invaluable to my student needs. I have tones of books and lecture notes downloaded, allowing me to use them whenever, whether in the university or on the bus. It's also very light weight and slick.

I could not imagine a life without it.

On the downside however, I do have to use a standard computer to type up my reports or print anything out.

Thanks for the reply, a good a reason as any to get one. I'm curious though, why can't you type up your reports on the iPad and print? I'm sure i read that there's apps and something called airprint which allow you to print off documents and i just don't know why you can't type up your reports, i would have thought that there was a plethora of apps to help you do this.

[Lil08]

(Original post by theonefrombrum)
Thanks for the reply, a good a reason as any to get one. I'm curious though, why can't you type up your reports on the iPad and print? I'm sure i read that there's apps and something called airprint which allow you to print off documents and i just don't know why you can't type up your reports, i would have thought that there was a plethora of apps to help you do this.

Although i have a mini keyboard and the ipage app, i can't get the same presentation as i would with Microsoft word. I've always been used to word ever since i was in secondary school, adding text or picture is so much faster and easier, almost second nature.

Plus, the keyboard is pretty small for my fingers.

[CB91]

I'm not going to. They're **** and a laptop will always be better.

[Chris..]

when i'm in bed i'd rather read an ebook on my 7 inch galaxy tab as opposed to my huge laptop and it fits in my pocket so on the way to school i can easily read revision notes on it/read a book/ just play games. it also has flash so i can watch movies in bed or whilst commuting-it's just so convenient. i've had it since august and haven't gone more than a a few days without using it...a bit weird using it for phone calls though

[tif49]

Read PDF's. Browse the web. Thin and portable. Fun, portable and can hold all your music, videos, books plus loads more.

Can surf the web, touchscreen is so much more enjoyable to use. Can connect to TV via HDMI and watch movies and surf the web and enjoy games and pictures on the big screen.

So many apps. It has so many uses. You can carry it around everywhere. Use it for work, business, education, cooking, or just general use. Can be used by the entire family.

Check your emails and read news. Even watch live news. Show pictures to people. Use it as a cookbook. Use it to carry around and read your entire library.

So many uses...

[tif49]

Oh and if you have the Asus transformer then it can turn into a laptop basically and you can use quickoffice. So cool.

[python05]

(Original post by tif49)
Oh and if you have the Asus transformer then it can turn into a laptop basically and you can use quickoffice. So cool.

Haha, QuickOffice! That's funny; I tried opening my uni project write up in it... The highlight was the tables that got replaced by a single random Chinese character.

Alas, I use my iPad a lot for uni just not typing stuff up.... All my lecture notes and stored in Evernote, I use the Kindle app loads, I have several textbooks loaded up (much better for my back), I sometimes record my podcast using it. Quite a lot really, and that's not even mentioning all the games.

Wouldn't be without it.

[lukas1051]

They're so quick to use. If I want to check Facebook on my laptop I have to find it, take it out of it's bag, plug it in, open it, wait for windows to load, type in my password, wait for it to load again, wait for Firefox to load, then wait for the website to load. With a tablet I just pick it up, tap the icon and I'm on. To he honest I can do the same with my phone, but it doesn't offer the same web browsing experience. They're really nice to read the news on too, almost as if they were designed specifically for that purpose.

[. . .]

(Original post by Chris..)
when i'm in bed i'd rather read an ebook on my 7 inch galaxy tab as opposed to my huge laptop and it fits in my pocket so on the way to school i can easily read revision notes on it/read a book/ just play games. it also has flash so i can watch movies in bed or whilst commuting-it's just so convenient. i've had it since august and haven't gone more than a a few days without using it...a bit weird using it for phone calls though

You must have a very big pocket

[gemnomnom]

(Original post by tif49)
So many apps. It has so many uses. You can carry it around everywhere. Use it for work, business, education, cooking, or just general use. Can be used by the entire family.

Please don't cook your tablet

[tif49]

(Original post by gemnomnom)
Please don't cook your tablet

Lol.

[silent ninja]

Well I find tablets pretty useless. I use mine as no more than a glorified television in my room. As a student, I don't see any value in it. No gadget beats pen and paper and physical copies of both notes and books.

The main tablet killer imo is the smartphone. A good sized high-end smartphone is faster than a tablet and more convenient. I always reach for my smartphone (Galaxy S2) which offers a ridiculously good browsing experience (even handles Flash without a glitch). If I want to do anything more intensive then the laptop does that. Large screen smartphones are infinitely more useful and I just don't see the point in having both. Tablets are pretty rubbish for productivity. Well I won't talk about video editting, but even basic typing of an essay is difficult on a tablet-- add a bluetooth keyboard and stand, and hey presto what do you have? A thing trying to mimmick a laptop with a fraction of the power and capability!! (but costing the equivalent). Tablets just feel too fiddly.

That's just my opinion. I own a HP tablet (with ICS) and also had an iPad 2 in my house.

In summary: laptop + large screen smartphone is the ultimate combination.

[Paradoxical]

I wanted something to browse the internet in bed, and watch movies on. I went for the Motorola Xoom in December, just after Christmas.

Totally regret buying it, I thought it would be used more, watching films is a hassle. I'd have much rather of bought a phone.

[BLineDisaster]

Just lurking in here and noticed a few people wanting office on iPad.

There's a free app called "CloudOn" which has full versions of MS word, excel and PowerPoint. All you need is a free Dropbox account. Check it out!

I also love the goodnotes lite app, allows annotation of web pages, PDFs, PowerPoint slides. You can even create sheet music with it!


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Aphotic Cosmos]

I have a 17.3" Samsung laptop and a Sony Tablet S at 9.4". Guess which is more convenient for reading and browsing in bed? It doesn't run hot at all, is very lightweight and has an excellent battery life.

My next tablet will be an iPad, though. Android just isn't a very good tablet platform at the moment, and most (apart from the Sony S, Transformer Prime/TF300, and Acer Aspire Iconia) look like blatant ripoffs of iPads but have fewer apps, especially apps optimised for tablet screens.

Tablets won't, IMO, conceivably replace laptops and desktops now or ever, they are designed as ancillary computers, not primary ones. They will become important companions to computers, and so they should, but they will never truly replace them because a larger screen is required for many things, and for many users (the elderly, for example).

[estel]

(Original post by CB91)
I'm not going to. They're **** and a laptop will always be better.

Tablets aren't supposed to replace laptops.

[Sgt.Incontro]

(Original post by Aphotic Cosmos)
I have a 17.3" Samsung laptop and a Sony Tablet S at 9.4". Guess which is more convenient for reading and browsing in bed? It doesn't run hot at all, is very lightweight and has an excellent battery life.

My next tablet will be an iPad, though. Android just isn't a very good tablet platform at the moment, and most (apart from the Sony S, Transformer Prime/TF300, and Acer Aspire Iconia) look like blatant ripoffs of iPads but have fewer apps, especially apps optimised for tablet screens.

Tablets won't, IMO, conceivably replace laptops and desktops now or ever, they are designed as ancillary computers, not primary ones. They will become important companions to computers, and so they should, but they will never truly replace them because a larger screen is required for many things, and for many users (the elderly, for example).

What?

How is the Transformer Prime an iPad rip-off? It is anything but an iPad!

The TFP is a quad core tablet running Android with an awesome dock feature. None of these things apply to the iPad.

Even an apple fan boy in my class bought the Transformer Prime, rather than an iPad. Even that says something.