There are many tablets available to the consumer today. It can be confusing deciding what to buy as there are many selling points of tablets on the market today. To understand the selling points, you should decide what you want to use it for, and then look for the features you want.
The first consideration is the style of tablet. The slate is a basic touchscreen, without a keyboard. There are convertible tablet PC's; a slate with an attached keyboard. The slate can swivel independent of the keyboard. There are hybrids, with a detachable keyboard, and booklets, or two tablets which can be folded together like a book. Finally there are rugged tablets, made for tough conditions and very 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 applications are available on each tablet.
Another basic feature is screen size. Screen size affects how easily some tasks can be accomplished. If you want to read, you may require a different size screen than if you want to work on databases or word processing. The screen sizes vary from 7" to 12", measure diagonally. Along with screen size, 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 the capacity of the hard drive. This determines how much information can be stored on the tablet. These range from 4 GB to 64 GB. Large storage means you can carry more music, photos, videos, books and applications in the tablet. Four gigabytes is plenty for text, books, and spreadsheets. If you plan on storing video, audio, or other large files, choose more storage capacity. Many tablets have a slot for memory cards, increasing the storage to 32 GB.
CPU speed determines how fast the tablet starts up, processes information, and switches from one application to another. These range from 533 MHz to 1.88 GHz. The slower speeds are sufficient for reading and surfing the net. If you want to play games, go for higher CPU speeds. Battery life and weight are the last two considerations. Since they are portable devices, one would expect a reasonable time of use before the battery must be recharged. Again, they vary in battery life from five to ten hours. Weight is an important consideration, although they are all lighter than a laptop, and therefore more portable. The weights range from just under a pound to two-and-a-half pounds.
All tablets are Wi-Fi enabled, meaning that you can access the Internet, download books, search the Web, send and receive emails. Many are equipped with cameras, some with both front and rear facing cameras, and many are able to record video. Some tablets are also able to access 3G or 4G cell networks. This means that, like a cell phone, you can access the web from anywhere that has cell coverage; almost everywhere. Those with 3G or 4G capability often include GPS in the package, making these tablets true traveling companions.
