Tablet Pros & Cons
Led by Apple's iPad 2, tablets are ideal for consuming content. They're great tools for surfing the web, checking e-mail and Facebook, playing games, reading digital magazines and books, and enjoying movies and music. But that's not all slates have going for them.
These devices turn on instantly and tend to last longer on a charge than your typical notebook. The best models offer 8 or more hours of unplugged use. That battery life advantage also extends to standby time. With tablets' phone-like operating systems, you can set them aside for days and they will likely still have plenty of juice left.
The most popular tablet size is 9 to 10 inches, which is similar in dimensions to a magazine, but you'll also find plenty of devices with 7- or 8-inch screens. These models are more portable, and can more easily fit inside a purse or jacket pocket. The iPad and similarly sized competitors tend to weigh 1.6 pounds or less, while 7- to 8-inch models weigh about a pound or less. Regardless of the size, tablets are lighter and easier to carry than laptops.
Tablets are particularly attractive as gifts because they're more affordable than most laptops. The iPad 2 starts at $499, and there are several slates that start as low as $199. We haven't seen many quality devices at that lower price, but it looks like the $199 Amazon Kindle Fire changes that with a great screen, a turbo-charged browser, and easy access to Amazon content. A good notebook costs $200 to $300 more.
As far as productivity goes, tablets are becoming increasingly versatile as more business-friendly apps proliferate. There's the versatile iWork suite for the iPad, as well as robust third-party options such as Documents to Go and Quickoffice. Similar options are available for Android-based slates. Thanks to such cloud-based services as Dropbox and iCloud, the limited storage capacity of tablets is less of an issue than you might think, though tablets are not very useful without Internet connectivity.
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