When the first iPad came out I wondered wtf was the point of a tablet, and I’m still wondering
As a current university student, I see a lot of iPads and Surface tablets in my classes. They have essentially replaced traditional laptops in any specialties that isn’t computer science adjacent.
You can handwrite notes straight your textbooks/slides or type with an external keyboard without having to carry around a textbook+notebook+laptop. It’s very convenient.
The only 2 reason I can think of is price and size. Even if someone needs to draw something that can’t be easily done with kbm, there are touchscreen laptops that can take care of that. But those do cost more than a cheap tablet and if you don’t need any other features that needs more power then tablet would be a cheaper alternative. I don’t get your second point of carrying textbook, notebook and a laptop tho, a laptop can already do all of that just like a tablet or even better. The only time someone asked me for tablet recommendations was when they needed something small to read on bed.
A touchscreen laptop is no where near the fidelity you get with the Apple pencil or a Samsung s-pen.
Lenovo has a stylus that’s about as good as those, plus Samsung sells laptops that work with the s-pen and there’s the Surface Laptop as well.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 convertible because it can do the laptop stuff and the tablet stuff. With the Windows Subsystem for Android I even have that covered. Works pretty neat.
You just answered your own question about the notebook and textbook when you said someone wanted their tablet for an ereader. Tablets are easier to read on than a laptop, and you are able to scrawl in the margins. And in school we have it beaten into our heads that you learn better from writing things down than typing, so a lot of students have shifted to digital handwritten note taking.
I don’t think you have used a tablet for a while if you think they’re not as powerful as laptops nowadays. I specifically mentioned the Surface and iPads because the Surface pro is marketed by Microsoft as a equivalent to a laptop (and mine runs Linux really well). The iPad Pros run on the same M1/M2 chips as their Macbooks do, and honestly nothing comes closest to the pen and paper equivalent than the iPad+pencil (not even my Surface). I don’t see any other brands or Android tablets around, except for one guy in my human anatomy class that has a modded Nexus 7 and that thing is sick.
A lot of people don’t need more power than that in university or their work.
That was my first point mate, size. I don’t see the feature wise difference but I only tried the iPad pencil for a little bit and didn’t like it that much but could see people liking it.
Oop, when you said “size” I wasn’t sure if you meant screen size or the dimensions of the actual device, my b.
I actually talked to a few of my classmates since our conversation here made me curious. Many of them actually DO own laptops, but as their home PC setup, with dual monitors and external keyboards for gaming and as media centres. So it seems like laptops are the desktop replacements here, and tablets are the laptop replacement.
Again this is for a specific university demographic that primarily live in student apartment.
i bought a lenovo flex5 the one that you can 360 the keyboard and it becomes a tablet. the pen works pretty good in linux
Heh, reminds me of this ancient meme from when the iPad first came out
Tablets are very good for things that you wouldn’t wanna do on your phone because of its small screen.
Like looking up to the monitor where I’d actually be doing the task instead?
Reading comics.
Yup. Everything else is just bonus
If you’re a digital artist or someone looking to get into digital art, an IPad Air with an Apple Pencil is the cheapest entry-point that doesn’t require a computer and doesn’t absolutely suck.
My kid has a Galaxy Tab FE with the stylus and does amazing stuff in Krita on it, and that was pretty cheap.
Tablets are good for “consumption” vs laptops/desktops that are better for “creation/production”.
If all you want to do is browse the web, social media, watch videos, etc then tablets are a simpler interface for doing that, compared to dealing with all the extra things involved in a desktop OS.
For creation/production, aka “real work”, laptop/desktop is obviously much more efficient and powerful for that.
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I used to think the same.
Turns out they are a good alternative to laptops.
If you don’t need powerful hardware, then tablets allow to save space in the backpack, are way lighter and always have a touch screen, which in connection with a stylus is big deal for taking notes. Laptops with a touch screen, in comparison, cost way more (at least where I live they do).
Personally, I use it for studying and media consumption. It replaced almost all of my paper. You can also sign documents using those (depends on laws in your country). Inserting photos into documents is one thing you can’t do as easily with laptops as well.
And when I do need access to better hardware, I just remote to my PC at home.
You can sign documents with the click of a mouse on a desktop. The validity of a digital signature comes from an authenticated account, time stamps, and an encrypted key; not your finger tracing on a touchscreen.
Not every digital signature is legally binding, I’m afraid.
In my country, there are 3 types of it. A simple one (login/password), unqualified (encrypted series of numbers), and qualified (same as unqualified, but encrypted using certified means by government). The last two are stored on a physical drive.
The higher the grade, the more legal power the signature holds.
When signing it by hand from a tablet it’s the same as signing it personally where I live. Which, unlike qualified digital signature, can be used for any document.
That’s actually something we need to get handled as a society. Unfortunately the justice system still runs on fax machines so we’re basically not viable as a species.
On the government timescale, these devices blinked into existence 10 minutes ago. I’m just glad I can digitally submit my taxes
I don’t need that powerful hardware… it’s the software side that’s mostly lacking for me (as a software developer :)
Even though I have relatively decent phone which can display 1080p videos no problem, I still prefer watching videos on my crappier tablet scaled down to 720p because it’s still better to watch worse quality video on bigger screen than better quality video on smaller.
True, although I just watch them on an actual screen then. The situations where I need a portable - but not really all that portable - device to watch a video on that requires a large - but not really all that large - screen are so utterly rare. They happen, sure, but I might as well watch on a Steam Deck then or something, something that has another intrinsic “main” value.
Comic book and sheet music reader for me.
Replacing paper for handwriting.
That’s literally my only use for my iPad. Which is sort of sad, since it’s a very capable device, just hamstrung by Apple’s shitty software.
then get a remarkable or a supernote. both are vastly superior for handwriting notes on.
Yeah, I use a boox but have the same take away. Any eink tablet is going to be 10x better than an iPad for notes.
What makes them better?
Feel is a big part of it. Eink devices don’t tend to have glossy screens so there’s texture when writing on them. Further, due to the why eink works what gets written looks very much like writing on paper, no matter the lighting.
Digital cook books (either in PDF or on Kindle) are amazing on a tablet.
Also, any other kind of PDF. Way better for D&D rulebooks (or other rpg games).
Also comics, video, youtube, etc.
A lot of digital artists use the iPad because of Procreate. It’s a nice alternative to having to use a separate laptop + pen display.
For many people, a tablet is a decent alternative to a laptop. Not everyone needs the capabilities of a laptop.
Having a lightweight computer that you can in your hand with a large enough screen. Typing this reply to you on my Galaxy Tab S6 Lite now; nicer to use than my phone.
Reading on the train
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With a 6,6" phone I don’t need a tablet for everyday carry because the screen is just big enough. Back in the day of 5" screens I always had a need for a tablet. Nevertheless, tablets are great for certain professional tasks.
Like taking inventories, putting together orders and other warehouse tasks where I need to work with spreadsheets on the go but a laptop is just too unwieldy.
Tablets are also absolutely great for live mixing with digital boards—you can walk around in the audience and adjust the sound on the spot. Same for adjusting the system settings while doing installations. And for small gigs, the mixing board can be tucked away in a stage corner and not clutter the floor.
Pilots use tablets as digital kneeboards for checklists and other necessities.
Tablets also make great POS devices and there are many specialised models for just that task.
Tablets are simply fantastic for wallmounted or desktop control panels for smarthomes. You can even use the front camera for motion detection so the screen comes automagically on when you approach it. I use WallPanel, but Fully Kiosk Browser is also very popular.
A 6.6" 20:9 screen isnt’t that big. You’re just getting the top and bottom bezels of the older 5.5" 16:9 phone basically. So a tablet will still have a bigger screen.
Agree with your other points about use cases for tablets. They’re pretty versatile, I don’t know why this community likes to poo-poo them.
I agree, a 6,6" screen isn’t that big, but it sure is and feels bigger than the 5" screen of my old phone. As I said, just big enough to not feel like trying to use apps through a keyhole.
I was going to say the exact same thing.
Old 5” screens are roughly equivalent to current 6” screens, and 5.5” equal to around 6.7”
I don’t really see the use at home either, but for notetaking at school it is an absolute godsent. No more forgetting stuff at home or carrying around a heavy folder
Handwriting but digital. I used to use a 2in1 laptop (Fujitsu T935, the weird mechanism is a great conversation starter) for that before I eventually stopped handwriting altogether, but I can see how a tablet is more convenient because you don’t have to deal with windows BS or make linux work well with a touchscreen. An ARM SoC also helps a lot with weight and battery life at the cost of not having a full computer.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. Mostly use it to take handwritten notes and read books/papers.
In the case of the iPad, cash for apple. Otherwise, a very bad hybrid between portability and workflow. And I mean that on iBads too. The workflow on those is much worse than on Android, especially if files or multiple apps are involved. You know what else has the size of a tablet, built in keyboard, does not need an external monitor to produce a Desktop (in Androids case) and costs 1.3k and not 3k? A Laptop! Case closed. Bonus points with Waydroid if you need your apps that hard.
Who the fuck would pay 3.000€ for an iPad? I had to buy one because Apple somehow managed to get an exclusivity contract with the schools of my city but that ‘only’ costed 400€ with the additional option to get financial support if your family can’t pay this much money. If possible I would have used a laptop or at least something other than an iPad but now I have to use it and hate it with my entire being although their glorified Bluetooth was quite nice before they gimped it.
If Google can’t be bothered to create decent tablet apps for their own apps, why are any other devs going to do it?
clearly you’ve never met a non-programmer with an app idea. so many random people have billion dollar ideas they’re willing to give you for free, and how dare you shrug that idea off as not worth your time, they’re giving you a lottery ticket they can’t turn in because they don’t “get” computers, but you do, so with just your skills and effort, and their genius idea you never could have thought of because you’re not an “idea person”, YOU could be a billionaire.
Yes, I’ve had one or two sales pitches in my time after admitting to being a software developer.
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I may be conflating foldables with tablets which might not be fair. Most of my experience was that of poorly scaled first party apps and tons of wasted space. Looks like they fixed chrome though. Still, reading articles from late 2022 about Google finally getting their act together is saying a lot for a ten year old product.
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How about the pricing? Last I checked an equivalently priced Samsung tablet was pretty poor compared to the entry iPad. Apple may be subsidizing it with their pro models though.
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Not sure what it typically goes for but from Samsung directly it’s $429 compared to the cheapest iPad which is $329. I’m not sure they are in a comparable class.
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capitalism
Given their market share it’s not that. They have no problem selling phones, but maybe they lucked into that more than anything.
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Give it a year or two and it’ll be $130-200. I love buying older pixels later in their lifetime because the devices are still pretty good but they’re discounted 60%+ off. Plus you can always root them easily for extra longevity.
I got a Lenovo, no complaints
How do you use Dex?
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Wow. What a ringing endorsement. 😬
I tried for months to use my tab S8+ as a laptop replacement. Ultimately sold it to get a Windows laptop. So much is possible with stupid hoops to jump through.
I have an older Samsung Tab 6 and I love it. The stylus is wonderful for drawing and painting, the screen and speakers make it great for watching movies on vacation, and the battery lasts all day.
You can install a real desktop style browser and terminal. That makes it easy to get real work done.
My experience has been so good that’ll probably upgrade this at the end of the year. I still have my laptop, and that’s my main go to device for getting things done but the tablet is just effortless.
I actually got one of these second hand for a holiday to replace an ancient tablet that had a battery life measured in minutes.
It’s really good for the money I think.
Because the S7+ is superior to the iPad in every way
The hardware is good, the software sucks. It’s not even Samsung’s fault but unless you only use a few selected apps, tablet support is usually pretty bad.
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This take is far better than ur one on nuclear
I have the OnePlus Pad and it’s the closest thing to an iPad with its amazing display ratio (7:5) and magnetic keyboards/stylo accessories
I’ve used a Nexus 7 mini-tablet for ten years. It runs on Android 6.0 and has been able to do everything I need from a tablet. It only started to slow down drastically this summer, I guess I’ll have to flash LineageOS to give it a few more years of life.
I have a Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and I like it. Its not perfect, but it does what I need it to pretty well.
Same. Mine is the original S6 Lite, and my issue with it is the slow Exynos 9611 SoC. Wish it had something better like one of its Snapdragon contemporaries.
If my iPad Pro was taken away from me tomorrow, and I needed to choose a non-iPad replacement, I’d pick the Amazon Fire Max 11 over the Pixel Tablet. It managed to change my opinion about Android tablets a little more than the Pixel Tablet, which despite it being much better than I thought it would be when used every day, is still flawed. The Amazon tablet isn’t perfect either, but it is a lot cheaper, and that makes its problems far easier to forgive.
Where do I go from here? I like the Pixel Tablet, and it seems some Android tablets are better than I remember, but this is hardly a ringing endorsement. That’s why I’m returning to my iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard. I like the Fire Max 11, and I have a better understanding of the Pixel Tablet’s strengths after more time with it, but the fact is my three-year-old iPad still does everything better than the pair of them.
The thing is (and I say this as someone who LOVES my iPad mini), the only people who will notice the deficiencies will be people who have used an iPad long enough to notice what’s missing. It’s the same way that I couldn’t understand how people didn’t rebel against the crappy text on Windows circa 2004. The Mac was so clearly better at rendering text, but nobody who didn’t own a Mac thought there was anything wrong.
Windows eventually caught up on that, but the point is that you notice what is taken away more than you notice what is added. And if you have no basis for comparison, you have no idea what you’re missing. People will accept what is “good enough.”
