After much thinking (considering the cost) and awaiting an appropriate occasions (my birthday and the festival season), bought a tablet (Samsung galaxy tab 10.1). With being under its hood for over 20 days, I thought it was fair to share my views.
Many questions arose in the decision process, some answered, some remain. The first of course being, 'do I need one?', stemming from 'what will it replace between my phone (iphone) and laptop?'. Considering my netbook purchase that I made a year and a half ago and kept it for less than 8months, this was a key question.
20 days down the line, this is now clearer and more justifiable.
A tablet fits the usage style much better than a netbook. It clearly differentiates itself from both (phone and laptop). It does things better than both other at the same time does not replace what they can do. A tablet being more handy blends into your life better, in the way you use it. It is easy to use sitting on the sofa, blending into your hands like a magazine. Given its large screen (over a phone) and its ultra portability (over the laptop), it is most convenient to read, answer emails, look up Facebook and so on. I found it most useful when I travelled with it to Mumbai recently and was able to work well with it (not having to find time to boot my laptop, connect to a usb dongle etc was a huge plus). I could do some of it on my phone, but reviewing a 32 slide ppt for a colleague and giving my comments, suggestions on the phone would have been tough. A clear winner there.
The second question was its usability with what I need to do most. Be able to open attachments. While I struggled for the first few days, I have now managed 85% opening. My first struggle was zip files, then pdf and so on. The good thing is the solutions are all there, but you need to find them (mostly through apps). Having got this done I am sorted. The other issue is to find the way it uses the file structure. Where does your attachment go on opening, how to navigate to it etc.. Though not the most intuitive, I got there.
Third question was, can I live without the home laptop (for personal Use)? The answer is 'mostly'. My dependence has come down hugely. The fact that I am blogging this from my tablet is testimony to it.
With this, I think the top level questions have been answered and I think this does suit a need state. Is it worth the cash splurge? ...That is another question.
Many questions arose in the decision process, some answered, some remain. The first of course being, 'do I need one?', stemming from 'what will it replace between my phone (iphone) and laptop?'. Considering my netbook purchase that I made a year and a half ago and kept it for less than 8months, this was a key question.
20 days down the line, this is now clearer and more justifiable.
A tablet fits the usage style much better than a netbook. It clearly differentiates itself from both (phone and laptop). It does things better than both other at the same time does not replace what they can do. A tablet being more handy blends into your life better, in the way you use it. It is easy to use sitting on the sofa, blending into your hands like a magazine. Given its large screen (over a phone) and its ultra portability (over the laptop), it is most convenient to read, answer emails, look up Facebook and so on. I found it most useful when I travelled with it to Mumbai recently and was able to work well with it (not having to find time to boot my laptop, connect to a usb dongle etc was a huge plus). I could do some of it on my phone, but reviewing a 32 slide ppt for a colleague and giving my comments, suggestions on the phone would have been tough. A clear winner there.
The second question was its usability with what I need to do most. Be able to open attachments. While I struggled for the first few days, I have now managed 85% opening. My first struggle was zip files, then pdf and so on. The good thing is the solutions are all there, but you need to find them (mostly through apps). Having got this done I am sorted. The other issue is to find the way it uses the file structure. Where does your attachment go on opening, how to navigate to it etc.. Though not the most intuitive, I got there.
Third question was, can I live without the home laptop (for personal Use)? The answer is 'mostly'. My dependence has come down hugely. The fact that I am blogging this from my tablet is testimony to it.
With this, I think the top level questions have been answered and I think this does suit a need state. Is it worth the cash splurge? ...That is another question.
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