Advantages and Disadvantages of Tablet

There are chances that you must have heard of the term ‘Tablet’ and it had nothing to do with all the multi vitamin tablets your doctor might have prescribed!. As we entered 2010, it was thought that Netbooks are the rulers of the market, but with the advent of “Tablets” the battle appears to be lost already. After the launch of Apple iPad in April 2010, the market has been flooded with similar devices and their growth and demand has been virtually unrestrained. With ‘Tablets’ becoming the talk of the town, we try and get our basics right about it.

What it is?

It is a device which in size is larger than a mobile or a personal digital assistant and is smaller than an actual laptop or desktop. This reduction in size is achieved by the merging of the screen and the keyboard of a traditional laptop or desktop with of help of a flat touch screen, operated by touching the screen. The input device used can also be in the form a digital pen. The term ‘tablet’ can also be applied to a notebook computer which has both, a virtual and a physical keyboard.

Advantages

• It has a more natural user interface than the traditional mouse driven interface.
• Can be used in environments where using a keyboard is not feasible, example being able to use ‘tablets’ with single hand.
• Light weight makes it portable and user friendly. It is most convenient for someone who does not have to do any computationally intensive work on his computer.
• User experiences suggest that many users are more satisfied and comfortable with a digital pen interface than a mouse and keyboard interface.
• This gives you a better experience when you are dealing with drawings and mathematical notations.
• Being more natural, you can work more intuitively when picture editing or painting.

Disadvantages

• The ‘tablet’ pc’s are highly priced as compared to traditional computers, but prices are on the fall.
• The screen runs a higher risk of screen damage from misuse and impacts.
• The input speed is not the same as in computers with physical keyboards, as typing speed is considerably more than the handwriting speed or typing on a virtual keyboard.
• Not suited for computation intensive operations.
• Lacks enhanced video capabilities.
• Users have been used to physical keyboard for quite some time, they might not find it comfortable unless they become used to it.

As mentioned above, the various advantages and disadvantages can be subjective to the extent that a feature appealing to a user might turn off another user. As of now tablets have become the coolest things to have but only time will tell whether this cool remains hot in times to come.