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Are Tablets Replacing Notebook Computers? (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the computers-get-better-faster-and-cheaper-every-year dept.

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the application and the user. We're seeing tablets advertised like crazy these days, and a trip to any busy coffee shop with free wi-fi will make it obvious that while there may not be as many tablets in use as notebooks, you see a lot more of them than you did five years ago, when it seemed like Bill Gates was the only person who had one, which he tried to show off as often as he could. In 2010, Apple debuted the iPad, and before long tablets were all over the place. So, on behalf of people we know -- and there are more than a few -- who either sneer at tablet computers or aren't sure they need one, we turned to David Needle, editor of TabTimes.com, for advice on what kind of tablet to buy -- assuming we need to buy one at all.

3 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. No. by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 4, Informative

    No.

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    Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
  2. Re:Maybe not replaced, but ruined the market by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Informative

    Indeed. I'm a big netbook fan, and good netbooks have all but disappeared. I dread the day my 2 current netbooks die because I fear I'll have nothing to replace them with.

    The arrival of tablets and their touchscreen UI also have another nasty side effect: it's completely impossible to find a laptop with a matte (frosted, non-touchscreen) screen. All the screens out there are shiny and extremely nasty to do actual work with, because of reflections.

    All this would be good and well if tablets could replace laptops (as in: buy a tablet, a keyboard and a mouse, and you have a laptop). Trouble is, you can't: their very touch event-driven UI makes using a mouse with them completely stupid - try hovering over something with a bluetooth mouse connected to a tablet: nothing happens. Keyboard locales too are handled catastrophically, since most of the work is done on on-screen soft keyboards.

    So, tablets are great if used strictly as tablet. Trouble is, tablets aren't any good to do actual work, save for very specialized applications. And the tools to do real work have been killed by tablets.

    That sucks...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  3. Re:Maybe not replaced, but ruined the market by samwichse · · Score: 3, Informative

    Netbooks haven't disappeared, they were just renamed Chromebooks. Pick up an Acer C720, you won't regret it.

    Sam