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For the longest time I thought tablets were useless and could never justify spending money on one. Then, I took the plunge and bought an iPad Air and I use the heck out of this thing every day. I think it is one of those devices that most people don't need but it most definitely will get used a lot.

I think its use as a productivity tool is low, but it is a great internet/entertainment consumption device.
 
I don't think tablets are useless. I love to use my iPad for magazines/books, watching Netflix/DirecTV while propped up next to my PC etc.

If you think it's useless it's probably because YOU don't have a need for it, but for a lot of people they provide a lot of use.
 
My tablet is hardly useless. In fact, it is my most used device and replaced my laptop years ago.
 
7 inch tablets are horrid. WAY too small to do much of anything well, especially for people with vision issues.
opinions differe.
I use my ipad mini for almost everything.
I couldnt go back to a large ipad and phones are way too small.
 
On issue with a bigger iPhone only for me is battery life. I could use my phone for games, TV, etc. but I'll run out of battery life way too often.
 
I have had both the iPad Air (currently typing this on it) and the Mini Retina, which I tried first because I liked the size in-store. After using it for about a week though, I found it too small to comfortably read websites and text-filled adventure games. It was fine for books but that was about it. My vision isn't the greatest, even with glasses, that I should have known to go with the Air from the get-go. Glad Apple has their 14-day return/exchange policy.
 
I 100% disagree with you OP that tablets are useless, i think tablets are great!

I have 2 tablets a very powerful 11.6 inch Windows 8 tablet Acer Iconia W700(I5 Core) and a high end Android tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4

Each has it uses, I only use my Acer Iconia W700 just to:

Edit my Youtube videos and upload to Youtube
Downloading videos
Surfing the web
Watching videos
Reading the news

On my Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 i do:

Light Gaming(Angry Birds, Labyrinth, Racing, Soccer Rally, more)
Surfing the web
Watching videos
Read the news
Checking emails
Checking the weather
Write scripts for my Youtube videos

Before i had my tablets i have used my laptop for everything for media consumption(Web, Facebook, Watching videos, checking emails) and content creation tasks(Building websites, Making my Youtube videos) and i use to use my IPOD touch to do some web browsing, gaming on my bed and when i'm out and about but due to a very small sceen it was a pain because i have to keep zooming into websites but since i got my tablets they have replaced my IPOD touch for web browsing, watching videos and gaming on my bed and when i'm out and about and more as it is way better to have a bigger sceen to view content like browsing the web, watching videos, gaming and much more and it is a great and better experience on tablet than on smartphone and on a laptop.

I would go mad, it be a pain to work on editing a video or on a large spreadsheet on a 4/5/6 inch smartphone/phablet it is way better to do them tasks on a 8 to 11 inch tablet to do content creation tasks.

Anx I have completely replaced my laptop with tablets with my very powerful 11.6 inch Windows 8 tablet Acer Iconia W700(I5 Core) and my High end Android tablet(Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4) and i only use tablets as only my computer which it is great and brilliant. :) :) :)

One BIG advantage that tablets have over laptops is:

Someone said this in another forum.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/comp...t-appeal-tablet-pcs-when-4.html#ixzz38m108UpX

All (or nearly all) the other posters mention PORTABILITY and some mentioned FORM FACTOR as a main factor(s) in desiring tablets but no one touched on precisely what it is that makes it so portable and what is so enticing about its form factor (other than mentioning it being lightweight and no moving parts) . . . compared to laptops. It is that the laptop form factor is a clamshell design, whereby you have to open it up into two halves attached together by a hinge: the screen half and then the keyboard half. Yet a tablet is ONE SINGLE PIECE (to which, if desired you can use it with a wireless add-on keyboard but you don't have to, for a virtual keyboard is inherent in the screen), so you can use a tablet immediately no matter where you are. That is, you can pull out a tablet just like if it were a book or a notepad and just start using it "on-the-fly" (whether sitting on a bus or standing in the street or looking out over a valley high up on a mountain or sitting on the toilet or anyplace else). Whereas with a laptop, you can't just hold it in your single hand like a tablet or a book. For instance, if sitting or standing on a crowded or packed bus or subway train, it is cumbersome (if not nearly impossible) to open up a laptop with its clamshell design (for you MUST open its keyboard half, apart from its screen half, to be able to use the laptop AT ALL) . . . whereas with a tablet, a virtual keyboard can be brought up right on the screen itself (and, if desired, you can always use it, as well, with a wireless add-on keyboard but most people seem to suffice with a virtual keyboard being brought up on the screen itself).

I just love it when i could just use my tablet just everywhere like on a toilet or in a very crowded bus/air plane or while standing/walking on a street because of its form factor and the PORTABILTY unlike laptop you have 2 bits the sceen and other bit has a keyboard/CPU/BATTERY you just can't use any laptop on a toilet(near impossible) it will be very cumbersome to use on a crowded bus/plane or in a shopping centre or while you are standing/walking on the street.

Especially when you want to show photos to your family downstairs or watch videos with friends on a table at a party or showing a presentation to your coworker i bet you would PREFER to take your tablet instead of a laptop and a smartphone to do those sort of things.

I use to bring my laptop in a laptop bag on holidays but i don't anymore i bring my 11.6 inch Windows 8 tablet Acer Iconia W700(still fits in my bag, don't need a laptop bag) and my Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 with me on short/long car trips and holidays and leave my laptop at home now.

And in general i think tablets are like mini portable laptops regardless whether it is is a Android/IPad or Windows 8 tablet because they have the functional of a laptop and the portability of a smartphone so they are in between the 2.

Most people have replaced there laptop/desktops with tablets for work/college(productive) or just for media consumption or both, everything a laptop can do a tablet can do.

To be honest i don't think i will ever buy a laptop again unless it is for hardcore gaming like FIFA because i can buy a tablet(especially Windows 8 tablets) or a hybrid that is very portable and as powerful as a laptop.

I think tablets are the future of computing and definitely has it place and tablets definitely has it uses and tablets will only get more powerful and they definitely 100% are NOT useless!

The things(above) i talked about tablets that is why tablets killed very underpowered netbooks.

Anyways i think phablets are useless because you will look ridiculously stupid when you making a call with a 6/7inch phablet by your ear, i would NEVER buy a phablet.

I really HOPE 8 inch tablets won't get eaten up by 8 inch phablets because it is just going ridiculously too far for making a device that big to make phone calls.

Smarts phones and phablets should be around from 4 to 6 inches.
Tablets should be around from 7 to 11 inches.

If i was forced to ditch my tablets and only stay with a laptop and use my IPOD Touch on my bed and when i'm out and about i think i am going likely definitely miss my tablets very badly.

I can't 't imagine life without using my tablets, tablet have made my life so much easier


OP You think tablets are useless for you than it doesn't mean that tablets are useless for everyone.

And it is like saying bikes/bicycles are useless because the motorbike has a engine and that you don't have to use the pedals to start the motorbike to get going.

I say this thread is useless!
 
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I think tablets are the future of computing and definitely has it place and tablets definitely has it uses and tablets will only get more powerful...

I wonder if tablets will "only get more powerful". I guess from a gaming point of view they might--but a powerful pc in tablet form is limited by its small display and lack of keyboard input--and a lack of powerful applications.

I think the ipad is optimized for tablet tasks--mostly as a media player--and its pretty good at that and can be for the forseeable future with its current internals.
 
I think the ipad is optimized for tablet tasks--mostly as a media player--and its pretty good at that and can be for the forseeable future with its current internals.
you just dont know how to use the touch keyboard.
Ive written post-grade university papers soley on an ipad.
90% of my posts here are written from my mini.
 
I wonder if tablets will "only get more powerful". I guess from a gaming point of view they might


I kind of agree the only Windows 8 gaming tablet out there is the Razer Edge Pro i think.

I just hope we are going to get more gaming Windows 8 tablets with real gaming Graphic cards(Nvidia) instead of Intel Graphic HD 4000 to do some hardcore gaming in the future!

That would be great! :)
 
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I wonder if tablets will "only get more powerful". I guess from a gaming point of view they might--but a powerful pc in tablet form is limited by its small display and lack of keyboard input--and a lack of powerful applications.

I think the ipad is optimized for tablet tasks--mostly as a media player--and its pretty good at that and can be for the forseeable future with its current internals.

The display isn't THAT small. OS X can be configured to run at the exact dimensions of the non-retina iPad Mini, and it looks perfectly fine within a VNC. I have a keyboard case, and I have a jailbreak tweak that lets me use my wireless Mighty Mouse (which I don't use with that, but I use it with other things). If I were to use a Magic Trackpad, it wouldn't really be any different than using fullscreen OS X apps besides the fact that some look totally different in their iOS form.

Apps will definitely get better. It's still always going to be touch optimized though. Of course there will be things you never will have on iOS, but still, don't doubt that things aren't possible.
 
I love my kindle fire hd and 7 inches is the sweet spot for a tablet. Small enough to fit in my pockets and very portable and light. For reading its a great choice

I think 8.4 inch tablets are the perfect sweet spot because it is small and portable enough to take everywhere and has just big enough sceen to view content to watch video and surf the web.

I think 7 inch tablets are just too small for me.
 
I don't understand why manufacturers don't make laptops with wireless. They do it for tablets. I think more people, like Macbook Air owners, would much rather use their Air over an iPad. The Air gives you many more options. :)
Maybe Apple doesn't but there are business class laptops from Dell, HP and Lenovo that have built in cellular radio. Just add your own SIM card. The market for such laptops is fairly small so manufacturers tended to just offer it as an option for build to order machines. There are also USB and PCI Express 3G/LTE adapters.
 
Saying an ipad is just a bigger iphone is like saying a 50 inch tv is just a bigger portable tv.. Yea they are similar but its a much better experience. I have an ipad 4 and my wife has a macbook air. I find it easier to use the ipad when web surfing.

Now if i need to do work i have a win 7 laptop sitting there. Work and ipad dont go together.
 
One thing about tablets I don't think gets enough run is the fact that they are a perfect travel companion. On a plane, I loathe having to sit next to someone that pulls out even a 13" laptop because they type type type away on the thing and this typically means they dig their elbows in and bump me often.

With tablets, they are a perfect fit for a plane because unless you are playing motion controlled games, you can pretty much keep the experience to yourself without disturbing others (unless you're watching TV shows/movies with occasional nudity which can be inappropriate in a social setting!).

Also, when on business trips, another thing I pretty much loathe is sitting on a laptop in a hotel room. I like to relax and a tablet is much easier to use when lounging around on the couch, chair or even bed!
 
Interesting op-ed yesterday on Ars Technica regarding this subject:

Op-Ed: Tablets really are the new PCs; nobody needs to buy them any more

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...csbecause-theres-no-point-in-buying-new-ones/

Good read. The end of the article sums up my thoughts exactly:

A large screen smartphone can do all the things a smartphone does (including important things like fit in your pocket and make phone calls) and it can do all the things a tablet can do... just with a slightly smaller screen. And among large screen devices, the laptop always has the edge as the richer, more capable device.

Who needs tablets?

Apple doesn't have my mobile business, and probably never will.
 
My Note 10.1 has replaced my laptop quite well... Why? Because I can do a real multitasking and use windows side by side - and it is easy to use BT keyboard and mouse if im going to write long text/writing code/editing html etc. Still it cannot replace a laptop totally, because I use some specific apps by a laptop that doesnt exist for tablets. Also when writing an article or powerpoint presentation by my Note I still have to edit them in a computer to get the final version... But that can change.

Im really waiting to see Surface Pro 3 IRL because it is a full operating system, but I want to know how well it runs some specific programs. My Note offers me something that my laptop cannot offer - i can easily do sketches and add them to presentations etc. I rarely use papers at work, I use my Note for everything. What comes to iPad, it was more for fun. I didnt feel that it was a productive tool, it was more for leisure use. I sold it because iPad Air had some serious bugs and didnt want to wait and see if they are fixed with iOS8 or not. I probably get the second generation Air when it comes, but for now im more interested in SP3 (i7/8gb/256gb/pen).
 
Good read. The end of the article sums up my thoughts exactly:

Who needs tablets?

I do. I tried the iPad mini, and I found that size too small to be truly comfortable. The larger smartphones are even smaller than the mini. So they are too small for me to be a tablet replacement. I'd always need a tablet that is about 9-10 inches.
 
i was going to stay with my iphone 5 for 3-4 years and get an ipad every year or two since i don't use the iphone that much

Phablets are useless.

Why, just because you don't want one? I want one, like yesterday, you can give your opinion, but you cannot speak for everyone, oh, and when they come out, watch how many useless "Phablets" they sell!
If you have APPL stock, as I do, you'll laugh all the way-to the Bank
Useless indeed! NOT!
 
Why, just because you don't want one? I want one, like yesterday, you can give your opinion, but you cannot speak for everyone, oh, and when they come out, watch how many useless "Phablets" they sell!
If you have APPL stock, as I do, you'll laugh all the way-to the Bank
Useless indeed! NOT!

The way people throw around the fact they have Apple stock, like it validates their argument more than anyone else's, makes me laugh.

Who cares?
 
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