Yet another pointless tablet. Does anyone actually use these things? Why not just use a laptop? I own two tablets and don't use them at all. They don't seem to do anything that I can't do with either my iPod Touch or Laptop.
Gonna parrot Kafke's question: Can anyone here give me a legitimate reason to get an iPad? Or are they really just the luxury item? Because right now I'm not inclined to even think about getting one. But if there is a legitimate use for them out there, it'd be nice to hear it.
For me, besides content consuming, there's another great advantage of a tablet that I like: it's flexiblility. When I'm in the living room and want to know something, watch some video or check a website, tablets are the way to go. Compared to a 13" laptop which constrains you to an upright position, the tablet can be used from every direction and it doesn't matter if I sit weird or lie down on the couch. I can use it to quickly search anything and then hand it over to someone else like it's a newspaper. The tablet adapts to common household situation far better than a laptop will do. Mobile phones are great in that aspect as well, but the screen is quite small if you want to share what you found. A tablet is the computer that's there when you need it, usually on the table somewhere. They don't do anything different, but they are different and that's what makes it good. The flexibility and lightness of a phone with a screen of a small laptop.
If you exclusively consume media and write emails, then tablets are quite suitable. They take up little to no space and are easy to carry around (one could argue laptops are portable as well, but compared to tablets, I find the difference to be quite big and I use a Lenovo X1). I was looking at getting a surface pro as it met the amount of computing power I needed on a daily basis. And the fact that it has full desktop functionality is very attractive if I needed to use office applications.
I can only really see two legitimate reasons to use a tablet: 1. e-book reading. Tablets are amazing for that. And 2. Some work specific applications where you have to walk around and compute at the same time. A laptop would work in both of these cases, but a tablet would be the best choice.
True on both points. But I already have a Nook, you know? And that has the whole e-ink going on, which I like more when it comes to long amounts of reading. I do see it as a content consumer, though. Why buy a laptop for your 14 year old daughter when all she'll be using it for is Facebook, Youtube, Netflix, etc. etc...so surface level stuff. An iPad might work well in that instance. But even then, there are low-end laptops that fulfill those needs, plus more, at the same price as an iPad...so I just don't know, haha.
I have a nook and a kindle fire, both rooted. They technically count as tablets as well. Still can't really find a use for them. My younger siblings have iPads (their school gives each student one). They seem to use them a lot for netflix and various mobile games. But I see them more on their computers more often (desktops, not laptops). I'm baffled.
