Need help understanding a "tablet" computer

[sixdogs]

I am looking to get a tablet computer to make my time on the treadmill go faster but I know very little about tablets. As I understand it, it's just a portable computer that can only be used Wi-Fi.

That's my plan since there is free high speed Wi-Fi where I exercise. I figure to use this tablet for that purpose only and then I don't have to link it to my home computer. It would have zero personal info in there because I would never enter it because of the fear of hacking. But, I think I once read that you MUST link the tablet to you home computer. That's not what I want to do so if I must link I'm going to forget about the tablet and think of something else.

Can anyone enlighten me a little on tablets? Thanks in advance.

 

[newbury]

I am looking to get a tablet computer to make my time on the treadmill go faster but I know very little about tablets. As I understand it, it's just a portable computer that can only be used Wi-Fi.

That's my plan since there is free high speed Wi-Fi where I exercise. I figure to use this tablet for that purpose only and then I don't have to link it to my home computer. It would have zero personal info in there because I would never enter it because of the fear of hacking. But, I think I once read that you MUST link the tablet to you home computer. That's not what I want to do so if I must link I'm going to forget about the tablet and think of something else.

Can anyone enlighten me a little on tablets? Thanks in advance.

Most tablets don't require a home computer. But if you want to things like install and test apps a home wireless network would be great.

I've a Samsung Note 8.

I only "link" my laptop PC to my tablet when I want to backup the tablet or transfer a LOT of data.

If all you want it for is viewing pictures you can pick up a 7" model for less than $100. If you want a gaming one at 10" it's going to cost more.

 

[sseelhoff]

I am looking to get a tablet computer to make my time on the treadmill go faster but I know very little about tablets. As I understand it, it's just a portable computer that can only be used Wi-Fi.

That's my plan since there is free high speed Wi-Fi where I exercise. I figure to use this tablet for that purpose only and then I don't have to link it to my home computer. It would have zero personal info in there because I would never enter it because of the fear of hacking. But, I think I once read that you MUST link the tablet to you home computer. That's not what I want to do so if I must link I'm going to forget about the tablet and think of something else.

Can anyone enlighten me a little on tablets? Thanks in advance.

Tablets are great devices, but not as robust as a computer. But much better than a cell phone for surfing and other activities. To address the questions raised by your post:

1. You can get wi-fi or wi-fi and cell enabled. Wi-fi with cell works anywhere, but you have to buy a plan from a provider. Wi-Fi only works where there is an open wi-fi network available. Those are becoming prevalent everywhere.
2. You do NOT have to link the tablet to your computer. I have a tablet and it is not linked to any computer. You do have to establish an account, depending on the brand of tablet. If you are using Apple, you have to link to iTunes and create an Apple ID. Android based require a Google account. This may be what you are thinking of. The account gives you access to services and apps. It also backs up your tablet so data is saved if your tablet crashes, and has a few other benefits.
3. How are you going to be using the tablet? If it is just for reading, have you considered a Kindle? But then again, that requires an Amazon account to download books.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I have a Samsung Galaxy 8 (8" screen). This might be a liitle small for use on exercise equipment but is ideal for me while sitting in a chair.

It uses Wi Fi to connect to a local network and the Internet. I have never had to link it to my home computer or any other computer. I use it to do email and internet and am using it right now.

There are options to establish cloud based back up on the tablet as well as my home computer and I could get them to synch certain files if I wanted to but I dont want that.

I recommend you go to a place like Best Buy and see what they have to offer. Ive found the sales techs there to be quite knowledgeable and helpful.

 

[KennyG]

Like a lot of other computer related stuff, "tablets" have kind of a fuzzy definition. They may be either Android based, which is like an oversized smart phone, or Windows 8 based, which is like a touch screen computer without the keyboard. The size goes from just over phone size to small laptop sized. Either way they can run independent of computers. In general you would expect that the Android units would be cheaper and smaller than the Windows based units but they actually overlap a good bit.

 

[s219]

Lots of good choices, iPad, Android, Surface, Kindle. You can sort of narrow down to the best one for you by looking at your needs. Whatever the choice, you will need to sign up for some sort of account and app/media platform, so that may be the real choice -- pick one you will want to stick with for movies, books, apps, etc.

 

[/pine]

A touch screen interface is probably the biggest thing that separates a tablet from other computers...

 

[KTurner]

As I understand it, it's just a portable computer that can only be used Wi-Fi.

There were two different approaches to tablet computers. first, start with a laptop, make it smaller, flat (no hinge) and give it a touch screen. The second, which has really displaced the first, is to start with a smart phone, remove the phone part and make it bigger. This is mostly what you'll see now. So, if you have a smart phone, a tablet will basically be a bigger version of your smartphone with no phone capability (or bill!)

You can use a tablet without wifi, but you're limited to things which don't require internet. Do you need internet to play a game of solitaire? nope. You just need the internet connection long enough to install a solitaire app on the tablet. The way the smartphone type tablets are built, you're locking into a certain "app market" (sort of like the windows versus Mac situation on full computers). If you buy an apple tablet, you use the apple app store. Android style tablets (of which there are many different types) use the google store. There are some others, but those are the big two. I have an amazon tablet, which is really android under the covers, but is heavily customized to be a content distribution device for amazon (the previous generation was a custom device that was basically limited to reading e-books).

Keith

 

[WM75Guy]

Tablet originally meant a small thin wi-fi enabled computer with a touchscreen. They had limited computing ability due to the OS such as as Android like my Lenovo 9" tablet. They run apps rather than programs like a smartphone but have a larger screen. When comparing brands look at the app store. Android has 3 times more apps than Apple. Since many popular apps have to be bought at a price from $2-$20 each the number of free ones becomes significant. If you just want to read look at the Kindle White Paper as it works best under a variety of light situations.

The term tablet has morphed to mean any device that can be handheld with a touchscreen. My Panasonic Toughbook computer screen can swivel and lay flat and the image rotates. It is a touchscreen, comes with a stylus and a hand strap on the back so it converts into a "tablet" according to Panasonic. It is a regular laptop computer and runs Win 7 so it cannot run apps without a converter program.

 

[brewdog]

I have the IPAD mini. It works great. I picked this one because I wanted it linked to my MAC laptop.

The new android versions are awesome with far more apps available. Good luck.

 

[mark02tj]

You mention that "where I exercise" has free wifi. That implies that you go to a gym. For that purpose I would look at getting something as inexpensive as possible. An i-pad mini is going to be a tempting target while you are taking a shower, in the sauna, etc.

 

[davel8257]

I watch TED talks while riding on my excersize bike. They are fixed length talks of 18 minutes - 2 talks of hard peddling and I call it quits. Yes, there's "an app for that" .... The TED site contains 1000's of talks on a wide range of topics.

 

[dmccarty]

First and foremost, what do YOU want to DO on the tablet? You said you want to use the tablet on the treadmill, I use mine when on our Torture Cycle and I see plenty of people at the gym using tablets. Do you want to browse web pages, play games, read book or magazines?

I have a first edition Kindle Fire and for XMAS I bought the latest Kindle with the largest screen. Oh my but the difference his HUGE between the two. The newest one has a larger screen which helps when reading yet it has more memory is thinner and weighs less than the first edition. When comparing tablets I would strongly suggest looking at weight. I really does make a difference when using the tablet.

The first Kindle I bought was to get the WSJ delivered electronically no matter where I was and to save money. The electronic version of the WSJ was much cheaper than the paper version, and in one year, the difference paid for the first Kindle. Amazon has me hooked. The ability to buy a book and have it within a minute is magic. I have a house full of physical books and I resisted eBooks because I want the physical book but the ability to enlarge photos, tables, graphs in the Kindle books, along with the note taking and highlighting ability has changed my opinion so that know I prefer eBooks. Plus, I can access my books on my cell phone or from other computers. The access on the cell phone is so danged handy. This is not something I thought was use full until I needed the books away from home as a reference or to reread when I had some time.

The latest Kindle is a very good web browser. The old version was a bit slow but the new Kindle is faster and the display is much, much better. Not really sure how it could get much better but I am sure in a few years there will be a "better" display. I don't play games except solitaire and I only use a couple of applications so application choice is not important to me at all. But if you use different apps then you should check the various app stores for your needs.

I don't think there is really that much of a difference in the technology of one brand of tablet to another. One will have an edge today but the same model will be behind the curve tomorrow. I bought a Kindle because of the WSJ and we order so much from Amazon. For us, it is an advantage to use the Amazon ecosystem. Others want to be in Apples ecosystem or none at all.

Later,
Dan

 

[sixdogs]

Very good replies. Thank you all.

Here is more what I want to do. Since I already have a computer at home I don't need this to link to anything or to store any data. Never ever. There will never be any data on it or anything ever saved. All I want to do is read the news and surf. No passwords will ever be stored and I don't have a smart phone to connect anything to. No apps needed or wanted and it will never leave my sight while at this gym. I go there and come home.

I'm retired, and while I'm street smart, etc, simply choose to not want a smart phone. I spent decades in constant communication and no longer care that much. My regular phone is just fine and I do text. All I want to do is read the news while on a very fast --4.7 MPH walk and a strong grade--8.5%-- and need a hour or so to get me over the hump of boring. At that speed it needs to be big enough.

 

[ferrari99]

I have a tablet, if all you are doing is surfing the internet, reading news and the like storage space and cameras is not going to matter. Even though the gym might have high speed wifi if your tablet is not that fast the internet won't be as fast on your device.

 

[s219]

Android has 3 times more apps than Apple.

Not sure where you got that info, but for tablet-specific apps, Apple has a huge lead over Android -- Apple has over 500,000 tablet apps now, while Android is still under 50,000. I'm an app developer and pay attention to these numbers carefully. Here's an old article from August:

iOS Still Steamrolling Android in Tablet App Race | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

The iOS numbers went way up since then. Not so much for Android.

For total apps (phone+tablet), Android is at about 1.1 million. iOS at about 1.06 million. So Android has a very slight lead there.

 

[/pine]

I hate to repeat myself but..."understanding a tablet computer"...is more about learning to use a touch screen rather than using a typical mouse and keyboard...
...personally, I've had a hard time getting used to a tablet and the touch screen...they are very intuitive but there is a learning curve...I have been using touch screens (PDAs etc.) since their introduction...and I still have a little difficulty with (mostly web browsing) touch applications...

Most tablets come with "micro" ports...i.e, storage media, USB, HDMI, etc...so some adapters are required..for instance if your tablet has a standard size HDMI port it makes it that much easier to use a flat panel TV as a second monitor when browsing/shopping...or...>

>switch the tablet to camera mode and disguise on a shelf etc...(leave the TV on)...

 

[dmccarty]

I hate to repeat myself but..."understanding a tablet computer"...is more about learning to use a touch screen rather than using a typical mouse and keyboard...
...personally, I've had a hard time getting used to a tablet and the touch screen...they are very intuitive but there is a learning curve...I have been using touch screens (PDAs etc.) since their introduction...and I still have a little difficulty with (mostly web browsing) touch applications...

Very true, though the interface is pretty easy to figure out, you just poke the screen and see what happens. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I have not had much problem with a web interface other than having to expand the page to be able to click on a link buried in the text.

One reason I like the Kindle so much is because you can easily magnify a photo, table or chart. I figured this out by trial and error. But once I figured how to magnify, the Kindle has become sooooo much better than a book. I have been reading up on trawler boat designs that can take you around the world. Crazy I know but what can I say. :laughing: Many are powered by JD engines though! :thumbsup: Anywho, I have been digging into how to figure out horsepower requirements on boats for which I have found around six different formula's. A couple of these formula's require table look ups for certain values and one of the tables is in a book and is a PITA to use. Another table is on an Kindle book and you can magnify the image so that you can use the edge of the device to help look up the values you need. It is SOOOO much easier to use than a book and it does not require a magnifying class!

Later,
Dan

 

[MossRoad]

Very good replies. Thank you all.

Here is more what I want to do. Since I already have a computer at home I don't need this to link to anything or to store any data. Never ever. There will never be any data on it or anything ever saved. All I want to do is read the news and surf. No passwords will ever be stored and I don't have a smart phone to connect anything to. No apps needed or wanted and it will never leave my sight while at this gym. I go there and come home.

I'm retired, and while I'm street smart, etc, simply choose to not want a smart phone. I spent decades in constant communication and no longer care that much. My regular phone is just fine and I do text. All I want to do is read the news while on a very fast --4.7 MPH walk and a strong grade--8.5%-- and need a hour or so to get me over the hump of boring. At that speed it needs to be big enough.

Check out a Kindle Fire. My wife won one as a door prize and hasn't put it down for a year. She checks out books electronically from the library and Amazon. She keeps in touch with the kids through email and facebook. She surfs the internet. If that's all you want to do, the Kindle Fire fits the bill. :thumbsup:

 

[sixdogs]

Check out a Kindle Fire. My wife won one as a door prize and hasn't put it down for a year. She checks out books electronically from the library and Amazon. She keeps in touch with the kids through email and facebook. She surfs the internet. If that's all you want to do, the Kindle Fire fits the bill. :thumbsup:

Does she have to link this to her home computer or did she just sign up?

Is the screen big enough to read on a treadmill?