Tablets

A Tablet PC is a lightweight, handheld Computer with a touchscreen designed to be highly portable. The touchscreen interface replicates the typing of a keyboard and the point and click functionality of a mouse, although many models support the use of a separate Keyboard as well. Many Tablets also include front and rear facing cameras like you would find in a Mobile Phone.

Although they are referred to as Tablet PCs, most Tablets are much more like large smartphones than like small, touchscreen PCs. Tablets have a very similar design to smart phones, albeit with a larger form factor, and will run off similar operating systems with access to many of the same apps, such as Samsung's Tablets. Tablets often have access to apps designed specifically for the features and larger screens of a Tablet.

Most Tablets run on Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android or Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Each OS will have access to different content marketplaces for apps, music, e-books, video etc.

In terms of design and portability, Tablets and eReaders often look quite similar. Although they are of a similar handheld size and have some overlapping functions, there are significant differences between a Tablet and an e-Reader.

In general, Tablets are full colour touchscreen devices that can run a wide variety of apps, games and more. E-readers are more specialised devices designed to access to a digital library of books, magazines and other written works traditionally printed on paper, using eInk screens in black and white that are much more comfortable for extended viewing than a typical Tablet. A Tablet can also do this plus a whole lot more, at a generally higher price point than an e-Reader.

A significant difference between the two devices is the battery life. Because of their higher technical specifications and wider range of features, Tablets have a much shorter battery life than e-Readers. A Tablet might last a day or so off a single charge, whereas an e-Reader can last for multiple weeks. This will help you avoid having to recharge in the middle of a long reading session.

The iPad is a name given to Apple’s line of Tablet computers, with a range of different models available. All Tablets, including iPads are handheld computers with a touchscreen interface that can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi and mobile data networks.

Apple have complete control over the design of the iPad hardware as well as its operating system. Apple’s iOS operating system is the most popularly used operating system and will mean that your iPad will be familiar if you own other Apple products, offering quick and easy cross-platform features with other devices in the Apple ecosystem.

Although Tablets and iPads can both use apps and a variety of other digital content, these are accessed through different online marketplaces that are curated differently and are tied to different operating systems.

Tablets are more customisable than iPads and come in a wider variety of models at a range of price points.

The first thing that’s worth thinking about is which operating system you want your Tablet to have. Different operating systems have access to different content ecosystems, so if you’re not sure which you prefer it is worth thinking about which apps you want to use and find out which platforms it will be available on. All iPad’s use Apple’s iOS, which has more than a million approved apps and will work well with other Apple devices. Android Tablets are available from a variety of different brands and manufacturers like Microsoft, Lenovo and Samsung so you get a wide selection of hardware as well as software. Microsoft uses Windows on their Tablets and Laptops.

The storage capacity of a Tablet can vary from 16GB up to 1TB. If you want to use your Tablet for general internet browsing and video streaming, then any storage size will work just fine. If you want to download a lot of music, videos, games and apps to carry around with you, you may want a higher level of storage.