Ask HN: Are tablets worth owning?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8209060

by eglover • 12 years ago

2 16 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

This is quite a specific question and I'm basically looking to solve one issue, but if you love your tablet for whatever reason and you think they're worth having, I'm happy to hear why. (This will make sense in a second.)

I'm currently studying CS in school which of course means doing a lot of math. (I'm also a huge fan of Khan Academy.) In an effort to not waste paper I have a small whiteboard that I picked up at Wal-Mart. I love the thing but dealing with all the ink on my hands (I'm left handed), having to clean the thing, and having to buy markers all the time, I'd love to have a virtual option.

If there exists such a device that is built to be an electronic whiteboard (and is therefore fairly cheap) I'd love to know. The best I could find is called a "Boogie Board" http://goo.gl/RGOp7R but from the reviews I don't think this is what I'm looking for. I want something I can scribble on and erase with ease.

I thought about buying a tablet http://goo.gl/5GSOsv but I don't want to put down the money for one purpose. I've got a few android games that I play, but I don't see any purpose for having one when I already have a smart phone and laptop.

So, suggestions? Ideas? Thanks in advance!

beamatronic• 12 years ago

Having a tablet was useful in that I learned that what I really needed was a Chromebook

eglover5• 12 years ago

I'm not a fan of Chromebooks. I owned one, let it collect dust, and gave it away, didn't even sell it.

tjr2• 12 years ago

I've had an iPad for about three years. It appeared to be the magical way forward for technology. As a musician, I regularly use it to display scores, and really like it for this.

Otherwise, I hardly use it at all. I don't like reading on it. I don't like browsing the web on it. I don't like playing games on it. I don't like typing on it. For almost everything I've tried to do with it, either a regular desktop/laptop computer or a phone seems more pleasant for me.

But I do see plenty of other people using them constantly for things which I do not; your experience may vary.

eglover5• 12 years ago

This is what I'm afraid of. I don't see any use that I don't already get out of other devices. =/

tjr2• 12 years ago

You might try to identify a few specific applications that might serve your purpose, and see if you can try them out on someone else's tablet. Even if you (like me) don't like a tablet for most things, if it works well for a specific purpose or two, it may still be worth having.

pgrimes• 12 years ago

I love my iPad. I use just for reading kindle iBooks and iTunes U. I actually had to wait until the retina screen.

I had a surface RT and the kindle app on there sucked plus there was no comparable iBooks and iTunes U app so I sold it.

I have never used an android tablet for personal use.

eglover5• 12 years ago

I've been using Kindle Paperwhite almost since they came out. They're wonderful, backlit screens tend to be terrible for reading.

Although, I love read.amazon.com, the online reader. The font a spacing works out perfectly.

PaulHoule• 12 years ago

I love tablets.

On the other hand, I hate smartphones. I can afford to buy a tablet and a Playstation Vita, eat out once in a while and even save for retirement because I don't owe a car payment to Verizon.

sandrae• 12 years ago

We own two tablets for businesss use - an iPad and a Google Nexus 7.

The iPad 4 is quite heavy, so I mostly use the Nexus 7 for private stuff.

- Quickly checking information on the web if all computers are turned off. - Adding listings to our local Craigslist equivalent. This is so much faster if you don't need to transfer pictures from the camera to the computer and then upload the stuff. - Playing games that are made for tablets. - Reading websites for fun while lying in bed. - Showing pictures and funny videos to friends.

I prefer the tablet over the smartphone for this because of the screen size.

b0o• 12 years ago

I bought my Nexus 7 first gen the week it came out and I don't regret it. There are so many apps that smartphones can use but it's just so much better to use on a tablet.

I mainly use it as something that I can just leave it on the car because its cheap, Nexus 7s are less than $200 right now, and it's ultra portable, I just throw it in my backpack and forget about it until I need it, next to my portable battery charger in case I ever do need it.

The two main differences between a smartphone and a tablet are Battery life and screen size. Some of the functions that are both battery intensive and need a bigger screen are using it as a gps, reading, and browsing. When I'm traveling and I constantly need to know where I am and where I need to go. When I'm on a 14 hr flight, I like to read my books or catch up on HN It's also just an ultra portable, longer lasting laptop. And I also play minecraft on it, and they're working on servers that I can connect to when I'm on my tablet or my computer.

As for a virtual whiteboard, I use evernote, as it has that function, but I haven't really found an app that I really like as a whiteboard.

WriteYourRep• 12 years ago

Love my iPad. I use it at home exclusively. But I've found that my tablet is limited to only consumption. I can't stand coding or writing on it and really only use it for internet browsing and book reading.

Jipha• 12 years ago

I'd get a tablet with a pen like the Galaxy Note 8 or 10. It's MUCH easier to write things down, especially with all the math you'll be doing. And it just allows you to be more precise in general (plus you won't be getting the ink all over your hands).

I read ebooks and I can accurately highlight what I want the first time instead of messing up with my finger.

eglover5• 12 years ago

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look.

eglover5• 12 years ago

Just bought a Note Pro, thanks for the idea again, it should work out perfectly.

jpetersonmn• 12 years ago

I've got an ipad, nexus7, asus 10" win8 tablet/laptop thing. I only ever use the ipad, but use it quite a bit. It mainly sits on my coffee table. I use it as the tv guide, hulu/Netflix/youtube remote with chromcast, rdp sessions to various computers around the house if I'm waiting for a torrent to finish or something I can check the status, etc...

I guess I'm kind of a gadget junky. I always buy these things thinking I'm going to use them a lot and then they mostly collect dust.

Zigurd• 12 years ago

I have an LG G-pad Google Play Edition. I would like a larger tablet but I dislike Samsung's bloatware enough that I'm avoiding their otherwise very desirable Galaxy Tab S. So I carry a thin paper notebook in my back pocket for times when I can't keep up with note-taking using a Bluetooth keyboard with my tablet. Together with the very thin keyboard, it's lighter than any laptop and the battery life means no undignified crawling under clients' conference tables to plug in a power supply.

Samsung makes a 12" tablet with a pen. It's not what I'd want but maybe you should give it a try if written note-taking, equations, and drawing on a tablet is what you want.

Ask HN: Are tablets worth owning?

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