Although tablets are not laptops, they are still very useful devices for students to have. The typical tablet is capable of storing large amounts of data and has several educational applications available that are beneficial to students, such as apps designed to display text books. Tablets are also very lightweight, and extremely portable, an added boon to students who usually have to walk around campus with heavily laden bags. Additionally, tablets also allow students to consume entertainment and social media in their downtime from one device. There are many tablets on the market today by several manufacturers with different price points. However, only some tablets will qualify as an acceptable option for most students.
Apple iPad
Since its introduction in April of 2010, the iPad has been the most popular tablet on the market to date. The new iPad has an A5X dual-core chip with quad-core graphics, which makes the iPad exceptionally fast and responsive. It has a large 9.7-inch display, a front and back camera and a 10 hour battery in addition to standard tablet features, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The iPad runs on Apple's iOS operating system which was designed to be extremely user friendly. The device is ideal for students beacuse of its speed and the thousands of available applications.
BlackBerry PlayBook
Normally, when you think of the BlackBerry brand, images of smart phones, business suits and email comes to mind. However, BlackBerry has created the PlayBook, which is a tablet featuring the BlackBerry Tablet operating system that has features students can take advantage of. The PlayBook has a 7-inch screen, unlike other tablets with similar specs. The device has the Documents To Go application built-in, so students can easily create and edit Microsoft documents right out of the box. Standard features, such as Wi-Fi and multitasking are available, as well as the ability to connect and sync a BlackBerry phone with the PlayBook. Although you don't need a BlackBerry phone to use a PlayBook, if you already have one, it will work seamlessly with the tablet.
Article comments
1 - Artales
Give Archos tablets a look.
2 - Dr. Joseph S. Maresca
These look like good tools for students. First, check with the college or university IT department to resolve compatibility issues with the instructional software.