Your next computer could well be a tablet

[cjdahl60]

Does the iPad require a monthly data plan?

[tcassidy]

I am surprised that a lead in article for a Windows newsletter neglects to mention Windows 'tablets'. I had always wanted a computer in that format, even before the latest craze. I had tried various other formats and just couldn't live with the small screens and limited aspect ratios. Now that I no longer need one, I purchased a Fujitsu q550. I tried the ASUS EP121 and while it is a beatiful device, I found it a little large, wanted a removable battery, and hated the reflective screen.

Why don't you look into devices that run the o/s being discussed.

[Deadeye81]

Does the iPad require a monthly data plan?

If you have WiFi on your iPad, there is no data plan. (Of course, if your ISP has a monthly cap on the volume of data you can transfer to or from the Internet, you will be subject to your ISP's policies and/or fees for overages).

If you have a 3G or 4G capable iPad, then you would have to subscribe to a service to be able to utilize your 3G capability. I have no experience with 3G or 4G to know if any of the companies offering these subscriptions have any limitations on the volume of data transactions in their subscription fees.

Apple provides iPad owners with 5GB of free iCloud storage for your data .

[snafubar]

I am curious to know why there is no mention of the Samsung Series 7 Tablet or the one I am currently using to write this my Gigabyte S1080, it runs all the windows apps I have loaded on it with no problems. I have full versions of Adobe, Office 2007, Vipre and many others and the best of all it has a RJ-45 port, USB3 and will read SDXC cards it has a 320 GB HD and the touch screen works great.

The only thing I have found I like about thee iPad is it is with out a doubt the best I have found for reading books and magazines but not much else and yes I have tried a nook and kindle but do not like the small sizes.

[slpctec]

I have a question.I am a computer repair technician and i work with pc's primarily.Now if sales of pc's are down what does that mean for someone like me? should i learn how to repair tablets?

[Eric_from_Holland]

The pads are more suitable for consuming, PC are for the creation of content.
As soon as the works gets more complicated, documents become longer, precision mouse manupulations are necessary, or correct colors: forget the tablet!

[HmS-PA]

I would also liked to have seen comments on the Motorola XOOM. It has upgraded itself to "Ice Cream" and really is a well running tablet. Got it for small group presentations (standing and walking) so the size is really handy. Runs all MS Office files. Apps available to edit also, but then I come back to the PC and the ease of working with PDF, XL and other files. THEN sending to the XOOM. Mine is wi-fi only due to the expected use.

[etjny]

I am an IT admin with 16 years under my belt, and have experience supporting Windows, Macs, Android, and Blackberrys. I own equipment from all those worlds. I currently use a Toshiba Thrive, running Android Honeycomb 3.2. I chose that specifically because of the limitations of the Ipad. No Flash. No widgets. No expansion slot. No USB. Overpriced IMO. Everything you list the Ipad can do, my tablet does, and more, for a much cheaper price. I am no cheerleader. I choose things based on what I think is right for the job. I just think many people buy without doing the research.

[bloodysillyname]

My Win 7 installation takes up 30 Gb of disk. It's a clunker. Takes 2 minutes to start up to a useable screen. My new Win 7 PC is too big to lug around. My older one, Win XP, is separate bits, a box, a screen, a mouse, keyboard. Both use Intel hardware: heavy, noisy, energy draining. My Android/ARM phone does everything, almost, that they do.

The advantage of the Wintel PC is screen size (for spreadsheets and such). It's upgradeable, yes, but how upgradeable is a Wintel laptop and try getting one fixed when the graphics chip overheats! I have one under the desk in a bag.

Will Win8 be any less demanding of disk space and hardware? Quien sabe? Will Intel ever bring out an ARM style chip?

I'll buy a tablet, probably an Asus prime and I'll keep my Wintel PC for basic office tasks, scanning, faxing. But the day Dell or somebody brings out an ARM/Android desktop with a 23" screen, they'll get my money and Microsoft and Intel will be history.

But the day Dell or somebody brings out an ARM/Android desktop with a big screen they get my money.

[Hilde17]

The tablet opens up a whole new range of applications that could not be met satisfactorily with a smart phone, laptop or desk top.

For example, we are a group of musicians who meet weekly and have found that a tablet is the perfect device to mount on a music stand. Further, we use a Drop Box "share" folder to disseminate songs to the group real time so that we are all looking at the same page. This has many obvious advantages over the old method of making and passing out hard copies.

(Of course, we only use public domain music).

[43-40North]

Good article but should have mentoned th BB Playbook. Different operating system. Once it gets the updated will b decent tablet.

[Gomek]

I like the article, but for what it's worth, I thought like many article of this nature it was one sided to a certain extent. I know you can't please everyone, and I'm not going to bash Apple, etc. But I felt he threw himself at the feet of Apple and when it came time to discuss the other contenders there was the little eye rollings, well I suppose we should cover these other model, cough. It's not about Apple vs. whomever, it's about using what you like and not worrying about what someone has to say about it. If everyone bought an Ipad tomorrow I wouldn't care, my A500 still does what I need. 

[partner]

Interesting article, but it failed to see how the tablet will or should evolve.

I was putting off getting a tablet to see where things would go and it didn’t happen fast enough for me. I bought an Acer 10" screen with Windows7. I choose that one because I have 2 programs that I run all the time that are not made for IOS or Android but do run on Windows (I also have 2 Internet sites open and active along with other Internet access and email, and a non-MS firewall and anti-virus, etc.). And I wanted to find out how a tablet would work for me. I was amazed how well it worked with what I do. The only difference between the Acer and my Dell laptop with a 17" screen was the screen size and speed.

Makers of tablets apparently did not believe how much ram Windows7 needs or how fast the processor needed to be to run to days programs. The Acer has a 1GHz processor and only 1GB of memory, but it does have a physical keyboard that attaches and makes a nice stand, which unfortunately falls off each time you pick their tablet up!

The advantage to Windows is that instead of buying apps, you just download what you need from the Internet.

With Windows, the tablet IS a replacement for a laptop or desktop and I believe that was the original intent for tablets. But before I get another tablet, there will have to be a tablet with 4 USB's, Windows and 4GB memory if it’s 32bit (and that’s maximum memory on 32bit), or at least 6GB memory if it’s 64bit. And the processor has to be at least 1.7GHz. And 240GB HDD would not take any more room than the current 32GB or 64GB HDD. From what little I’ve seen and heard about Windows8, it would have a hard time being an acceptable replacement for even a Windows 95. Many users are very tired of MS’s "new" OS that is just Windows98 with menus switched around, some bugs fixed, and other cosmetic changes. And of course a few new bugs.

We also have a Dell Mini 9" which is really too small a screen. The 10" tablet which is larger than the iPad, was a great improvement and there are 12" tablets available which is what I would like to have. It is important for the tablets to weigh about one pound. The Acer tablet at about 2 pounds with it’s physical keyboard is a little bit of a problem because of weight.

I suspect that the other tablet’s are in need of a lot more memory and better processor speed since they are doing the same things that Windows does. Tablets running other OS’s tend to be about half the price of tablets running Windows. That’s an indication that Windows must be doing something right even though you have to buy a "new" Windows every few years. Other OS’s know what to do with a .JPG file or a .HTML file and process all sorts of file types the same way as MS. Why can’t they also process a .EXE file?

Maybe someone needs to think about a screen that folds in half??? Then we could have an 8.5 x 11"!!

[pohsibkcir]

All these portable devices have a niche, but that's just it ... They are niche products, mostly doing one thing, or extending the capabilities of something more permanent. Tablets have the best opportunity for making an inroads into the PC market, to which Microsoft, Apple, Linux have a stake ... Microsoft isn't the only 'personal computer' on the playground. When an iPad comes equipped with Apple's OS X Panther or newer, I will consider it viable as a PC replacement ... And the truth of the matter is that by the end of the decade, or certainly within the next 20 years, there will be a new technology breakthrough that will make all the technologies I have mentioned, obsolete and most likely, usesless as well.

Personal readers like nook and kindle should have been in the classroom for at least a decade now. Textbooks should already be downloadable to reader devices and/or computers, instead of costing $140 at your local college bookstore. How many millions of trees could have been saved in the last ten years?

There will always be a need for a Desktop PC, or an incarnate that is similar. Something that is separate from household technologies, that can communicate with the multitude of devices that take care of the 'niche' things we use to better our lives. Now, it may be something hidden in a closet and wirelessly connected to everything. Yet, like people, there will always be a home PC and it will evolve and become the homeplace's Master Computer.

If Apple doesn't give the iPad a meaningful operating system, it will remain a niche product, an extension of larger server. Which kind of brings us full circle, where there is one super or big computer connected to a lot of satellite devices.

[partner]

YUP! But there will be PC's around for at least as long as you or I are still alive!