I remember eagerly awaiting any news relating to the Apple iPad before they had first gone on sale, and thinking what an amazing product it seemed to be.
Like the iPod and iPhone before it, Apple really hit the nail on the head in terms of releasing a product that would appeal to the masses and shape the direction of new products to come. Skip forward around 4 years, and you will see countless varieties of tablets in stores (the majority of which are not iPads). Which begs a serious question, how on earth does one begin to choose?
How do you like to research?
Some people will scour the internet for reviews and make their decision without even entering a store, others will pick up and test each and every product. While simply choosing the most cost effective device will be the key for many consumers.
Which approach do you take? I would personally recommend taking each of the aforementioned methods into account before making a purchase.
Decide which operating system you like
If you have not already decided which Operating System (OS) to go with, whether it’s Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, or a Windows OS, your decision will be that much tougher. Most people have their own personal preferences, and many different tablets will have a lot of their own draw points.
Nothing quite beats the hands on experience, as tablets are all about being hands on. Before even turning the screen on, it would pay to see how the device looks and feels. Can you comfortably hold it in one hand? Does it feel cheap or slick? Is the screen large enough or too large?
One big selling point is how the screen looks when in use. The higher the resolution, the more vivid and clear image and text will appear. Combine this with the presentation and layout of the OS and how quick and snappy it performs, and you will hopefully have narrowed down your selection!
iOS
Many are familiar with Apple’s iOS and its app based Operating System. Its app store is the most extensive on the market. However, the OS can be a little restrictive in terms of what you can download onto it from the internet, and what you can do with those files.
Android
Android based Operating Systems are very popular on both mobile phones and tablets. Different manufactures are able to present customised versions of Android based Operating Systems for their own particular touch on how it looks, how it’s used, and how it behaves. I have personally found Android to be much less restrictive in terms of the type of apps that can be available and what can be done on it. For example, it is possible to download zipped files from the internet, unzip them, and move them around the file system as you please.
Windows
A tablet running the Windows 8.1 OS will behave just like a Windows based computer and thus will allow you to do virtually anything on it that you could do on a laptop or desktop. The issue of whether this is what people are after on a tablet is another question entirely.
Where to from here?
A brilliant aspect of tablets is that in one way or another, they can be used by people of any age or technical ability. Some may use it to control the temperature and security of their household while keeping an eye on their work, while others simply want to knock pigs off buildings by launching angry birds.
Clearly many factors will come into question when choosing which particular tablet is right for you. The internet has a wealth of information on all of the tablets that are available, and your local electronics store is a great place to familiarise yourself with the various options.
You can of course take a look at the tablets that we have available on the iiNet website.
Did you find this article useful? Do you have any additional tips to share? Let us know in the comments below.
