We look at how to choose the right portable computing solution for your needs.
Although tablets and laptops are very different classes of devices, they also have a huge amount in common. They’re both fairly casual devices compared to a full-size desktop system, so you don't have to spend a lot of time maintaining them. They're both quite cheap, so you don't have to spend a lot of money on them. And they're portable, so you can take them anywhere you like whether that's on holiday or simply into the next room.
But that's where the similarities end. Although they're often mentioned in the same breath, there are as many differences as similarities. At some point, you have to decide whether you actually want a tablet or a laptop. To try to help you do that, we've taken a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of each class of device so you can decide which makes sense for you.
Why Get A Laptop?
In many ways, buying a laptop should be the default choice for computer buyers. They're good all-rounders, they're not too expensive, and they retain value incredibly well - and yet laptops have fallen slightly out of favour in recent years. Not so much at the premium end of the market, where a MacBook Air or Ultrabook remains an important status symbol, but for home users. Either through over-familiarity or disinterest, they're not quite the desirable purchase they once were.
Part of that is because the laptop market has become increasingly fragmented over the last couple of years as manufacturers attempt to revitalise sales by squeezing devices into whatever tiny market gap they can find. From Chromebooks to standard notebooks to Ultrabooks, you no longer have to choose a laptop; you have to choose the right kind of laptop.
It could be argued that this has the effect of making laptops seem less versatile and more specialised, when the opposite is really true. While certain types of laptop are specialised, that's only at the extreme ends of the price spectrum. If anything, those in the middle are getting better at doing more things.
It's easy to see how laptops are good all-rounders. Unlike desktop systems, they're space-efficient, easily portable and simple to set up. They’re more powerful than tablets, run on familiar software and incorporate a hardware keyboard. They genuinely combine the best qualities of desktops and tablets.
However, one of the unavoidable problems with laptops is that they struggle to compete with tablets when it comes to offering value for money. They provide more power, certainly, but power isn’t everything to the casual user. If you can check your email and watch iPlayer on a tablet, do you really need a laptop at all? This is the question that often swings buyers in favour of a laptop. If a tablet meets your needs, why spend more money for abilities you won't use?
Luckily for laptop manufacturers, there's one saving grace: it takes an expensive tablet to act as a productivity device. If you’re the sort of person who creates anything on their PC, whether that be writing with it, editing photos and multimedia or even just making presentations for work, there's no doubt that you'll benefit from using a laptop to do it. While it's not impossible to work on tablets, but it's very difficult to do so exclusively because of the simplified file systems and touch-based interfaces.
That's the best reason to get a laptop rather than a tablet. Some people will just need a device that lets them poke around Facebook and Twitter in idle moments, and that's fine. But if you're the sort of person who actually uses applications on your PC other than the web browser, it's a solid bet that you’ll benefit from a new laptop over a new tablet.
Why Get A Tablet?
Tablets have quickly become a must-have accessory for people in all walks of life, so when the time comes to replace your laptop, it's fair to wonder whether you might be better off with one instead of another laptop. And while tablets aren't quite the magic all-in-one device they're sometimes treated as, you can at least argue a case for them being a good alternative to large, cumbersome laptops. After all, tablets are cheap, wireless and versatile, and the software they run is inexpensive and easy to get hold of. You can even play games on them, which is hard to do on low-end laptops!
The problem is that there are a lot of tablets on the market right now, and deciding which tablet is right for you is a choice that takes in multiple factors. How good is the tablet's support? What is its lifespan like? How well does it perform? Do you get the same operating system as you have on your phone or do you take the plunge on an unfamiliar one?
Like anything, the practical limitations all eventually boil down to one question: how much are you willing to pay? Although some tablets can seem quite expensive for what they are, that doesn't change the fact that they're still quite cheap compared to buying an actual computer system. Admittedly, you're getting a lot less for your money, but in absolute terms there's a solid argument to be made that a Nexus 7 or Galaxy Note offers considerably better value than any laptop, especially when you factor in the cost of software. A game for Android or iOS might cost a few pounds; for Windows, it'd cost at least ten times that. Certainly, in that respect, tablets are the thrifty buyer's choice.
Something that might encourage you to buy a tablet is their various extra abilities. Some laptops incorporate webcams, but tablets have video conferencing, can be used as a camera and are small enough to use as an audio recorder. Laptops might have better connectivity to USB devices, but tablets are ready to go whenever you need them, with battery lives that can span weeks of use. Unless you want to watch a DVD, there's almost nothing your laptop can do that the tablet doesn't also do wirelessly.
Obviously, as a traditional computing magazine we still see the potential of laptops when compared to tablets, but even we can't deny the popularity explosion tablets have undergone. The deciding factor should really be how much use you actually get out of your laptop currently. If, more often than not, you only ever open your web browser and mail client when you switch your laptop on, a tablet might be the right way to go. If you run anything else, stick with a laptop.
And hey, look at it this way: there's no rule that says you can't have both. Some overlap doesn't mean they're identical, and the low pricing means you might as well enjoy the full range of computing while you can!
Buy A Tablet If:
• You only want something to watch videos and read ebooks on.
• You find laptops too complicated.
• You only check email, browse the web and social networks.
• You want a cheap, versatile device.
Buy A Laptop If:
• You prefer speed and power over price.
• You want a large screen at a reasonable price.
• You need a system that you can work on.
• You want to run Windows software.