Tablet computer buying guide- how to select tablet computers


This article is all about introducing the tablet and its technology along with the history of tablet computers. The article tries to define a gap between the fully equipped personal computer and a tablet with some specific requirements with similar specifications and configurations like a personal computer. Tablet technology tries to fill the gap between technology and cost.

Introduction to Tablet computer


A Tablet, a mobile computing device which works similar to a computer and which is larger than smartphones but smaller than a computer or laptop. It works on similar principles as computer or laptop does. Some manufacturers produce mixed technology devices in the mobile computing field i.e. half tablet and half laptop to fill and satisfy the need of the common man who cannot afford the huge price of laptop or computer.



Tablets may come in similar and variety of shapes, size, configurations, features and characteristics. All Tablet computer normally have a touch screen interface to operate, an operating system like Android, Windows, Apple iOS and QNX. There are similar configurations as a computer are having like processor, touch screen, multi-media features, phoning facility and network facilities.

History of Tablet devices


The idea of tablet devices is not modern or new but was conceptualized way back in 1968, by Alan Kay, a computer scientist proposed the new technology in computing world with flat panel display, miniaturization, friendly user interfaces and WiFi technology. He also visualized that the device with all these facilities would be helpful to students in schools and colleges. Alan Kay published a paper related to this would be a tablet device and he called it 'Dynabook'. This future device's sketch is almost similar to present tablets but having some exceptions related to technology. Dynabook was proposed with both the screen and keyboard on the same panel side. He also predicted touch screen technology even on those days. In 1989, the founder of Palm, Jeff Hawkins presented GriDPad, the first physical tablet which was having a capacitive touch screen and wired stylus for interfacing. It was having around 5 pounds as weight. Thus GRiDPad was heavy, bulky and having short battery life and capacity.

But without the great vision of Steve Jobs, iPad would have not been possible and it would have not created such a long desire of tablets in the market. Today many companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, Sony etc are trying to fill the expectations of the customer in tablet technology. Learn more about Samsung Tablets like Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 (Verizon) features/specifications and review and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) features/specifications and review.
All about Tablet computer and its selection for buying

Which tablet computer to buy?- Tablet buying guide


A customer is always thinking about when to do the new purchase and how to select the right item. How to select right kind of tablet computer for his/her use? One can choose to buy the right tablet if he/she knows what actually his/her requirement is in terms of various specifications. Nowadays, dozens of companies are giving tablets in the market with more than sufficient models with high configurations but the customer always finds it difficult to select the right tablet.

Many people want to use a tablet for browsing the web, playing games online, checking emails, watching the movies and other multimedia activities. Today these tablets try to overcome the high cost of a computer and provide similar mobile computing experience as computer gives. There are many things to look for when you are going to buy a tablet. One can look at the Upcoming tablets in market this year 2012.

You need to first decide your scope of use, the characteristics, functions and configurations you want. Then comes manufacturing company, operating system, type of touch screen technology, size of tablet, network facility and other multimedia features. For operating system one has the choice of Android OS by Samsung, HTC, Motorola etc., iOS by Apple and QNX by Blackberry Playbook. Most of the tablets in the tablet market are equipped with Android operating system. Touch screen technology gives two options, one is capacitive touch screens and other is resistive touch screens. Resistive technology requires stylus or any other type of pressure to operate the device while capacitive touch screen works with hand touch only.

There are chances of physical damage in resistive screen types but a capacitive screen has a better touch. But in gaming, resistive screens are better than capacitive because resistive screens can operate with stylus while playing the games. Tablet has main component called Microprocessoror CPU which decides the speed of the device. One can choose to buy tablet with higher processor speed to have nice working experience with tablet. Nowadays processors come with 1GHz and more speed with 1 GB RAM. Memory storage is also one of the critical factors to consider while selecting the tablet. Tablets usually come with 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB etc storage capacity as internal memory but the user can extend the size of memory with the help of microSD memory cards. Choose the network technology that gives better connectivity with WiFi and with both 3G, 4G support.

In addition to all these one need to consider the screen size and resolution in mind when selecting the tablet. Nowadays, tablets are coming in small to large sizes with 7 inches to 10 inches in size. One needs to look for better screen resolution while selecting the tablet. Other features like a camera which can be the front-facing or rear camera for both video chat or calling and for photography respectively. External USB interface, SIM Support, speaker power, multimedia supports should also consider while selecting the right tablet.



So, One can choose to buy the tablet as per his/her requirements and not by just imitating others.


Article by Paresh Gujarati
The author is a mechanical engineer with the Ph.D. degree and has the passion for writing the technical article including mechanical and information technology.

Follow Paresh Gujarati or read 43 articles authored by Paresh Gujarati

Comments

Guest Author: Chris04 Jul 2012

Very informative, this guideline helped me a lot to buy Tablet PCs. Yes, tablet PCs are like half mobile and half computer.



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