Tablets

What exactly is the point of getting a tablet other than using it as a status symbol? They seem impractical and costly to me, seeing as they are the retarded cousin of a proper computer and a smartphone

-Most tablets run on Android, which means they do the same thing and are limited in the same ways as your smartphone.
-They are not as portable. Cell phones are designed to be carried with you in your pocket/purse etc, a tablet won't fit there.
-They don't possess the key features that make computers better/easier to use (keyboard, mouse, shitloads of programs)
-They are more expensive than a smartphone

 

Yea I see no use for them. They might be good for taking notes if you still want to write but other than that I'd rather a laptop or my desktop. Far more productive and useful.

 

1. Tablets have bigger screens than phones meaning you get more on the screen.
2. 7 inch tablets will fit in your pocket.
3. They are plenty of tablets which come with keyboards and even tablets that run full Windows
4. They are actually cheaper.

 

From personal experience -
iPads far out-compete tablets, in near everything. PM if you want a funny personal story on the matter, actually.

 

...You can't be serious. Out of all the tablets, iPads have to be the worst choice. If you were buying a tablet, at least you could justify it by getting an Android or Windows.

 

I use my iPad mini for studying. You can find most textbooks online so I prefer lying down studying off of my iPad over lying down with a textbook. I also have a lot of school slides to study which I can also put on my iPad. iBooks is a great app. If I didn't buy an iPad I probably would have spent upwards of a thousand on textbooks, so I came out ahead.

 

I've never personally found a use for them, but I often see people using them on trains/planes etc. due their small compact size over a laptop but larger screen size/more memory (not always) for movies/TV shows.

I personally don't find browsing or typing easier on them, would rather buy a small netbook/notebook for not much more money.

 

To each his own.

 

100% agreed.for basic usage, iPads work well. Your average person will find them great, and with the largest app database...theyre the obv choice for kids. But for power users, iOS simply can't even begin to compete with android and windows tablets. And, inb4thenoobscomescreamingaboutspecs, by power user i don't mean the hardware power.

I find tablets to be very useful, I travel a lot. When I'm on the go, its much more convenient to take out my tablet than my laptop for basic usage. Same goes for when I'm lounging around at home...its easier in most cases.

 

I have both a desktop and a smartphone.

I keep a tablet downstairs on the table, or pick it up and bring it into bed with me. I use it to watch netflix or amazon prime, or read books in bed. I'll sit it on my desk to draw on the work out math problems, etc. I'll also use it to look up something while I'm downstairs and my phone is charging upstairs or something. I'll bring it on airplanes instead of my 17" laptop which has a low battery life to read and watch movies. I've definitely gotten $300 of use out of it.

Addressing your statements though:
-It doesn't run on stock android, so it isn't really a clone of my phone
-Its portable enough, it has a hard case so I can throw it in my car or leave it on the table. If I'm going to be waiting for a doctors appointment or something I can carry it in look a book.
-Bad argument, neither does a phone. It wasn't intended to have those things/it isn't supposed to be a desktop replacement.
-My phone was $500 and my tablet was like $300ish, so not necessarily.

For anyone wondering I'm using the kindle fire hdx right now, I was thinking about getting a nexus 7 but it'd pretty much be a bigger version of my phone so I decided against it. Its good for getting access to media content quickly which is what I use my tablet for almost exclusively.

 

I suppose I just don't see the purpose in taking the same product and doubling the screen size. I've never had issues reading or watching netflix on my phone.

 

So you don't mind using a 13 inch monitor on your desktop compared to a 27 inch monitor?

Going by your statement above getting an android tablet will actually be the worst choice since most apps for android tablets are just blown up phone apps. All iPad apps are optimized for bigger screens.

 

I'd rather not watch netflix on my phone... But then again I'd just watch it on my desktop if I wanted to.

 

I just don't understand the concept of people buying a product that carries the drawbacks of it's parent technologies with only offering a larger screen in return.

 

Well you can do a lot more with a larger screen. Writing notes with a stylus is an example I see at school a lot.

 

Using a stylus to write notes on a tablet seems less efficient than both typing or using pen&paper. Once again, just my opinions here, but I still don't see much use for tablets other than as a status symbol.

 

I've got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and I use it almost exclusively on trips and when I'm in bed. I watch netflix ONLY on the tablet, and have a shitload of movies on it that I watch either in bed or in the car or some shit on a trip. I've also brought it to school as a quick calculus tool. A bunch of friends and I would find empty classes and do calculus on the boards, having a tablet was great and easy to move around for using wolfram.

Although I could live without it, it has definitely made my life easier.

 

I just know at least a few people in my classes like doing it that way. Must not like typing but want to have the shit that writing on the tablet offers. I don't know. I don't even bother taking notes.

 

Tablets are nice for the young or the impaired, but really there's no point in using them in practical situations. I think the most acceptable place for something like tablets are school settings. They can actually be pretty powerful learning tools for children, especially with the giant collaborative project called "Aristotle" that education reformists are working on. It's a personal learning app to facilitate a few new American curricula they're trying to develop. They're portable in the sense that they can be toted easily between school classrooms, handed out and stored away easily, and the touch technology is easier for children to understand; it's more intuitive.

But for recreational or communicative purposes? They're ridiculous and cumbersome.

 

Yea. They most certainly have great uses but they are not for everything and should not be used for everything. People will figure out what works and what doesn't eventually.