{"id":1883,"date":"2011-10-22T21:47:14","date_gmt":"2011-10-22T14:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/?p=1883"},"modified":"2011-10-23T20:06:28","modified_gmt":"2011-10-23T13:06:28","slug":"when-using-a-tablet-is-better-over-a-smartphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/when-using-a-tablet-is-better-over-a-smartphone\/","title":{"rendered":"When Using a Tablet is Better Over a Smartphone"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lori Cunningham<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>VS<\/span>.\"\"<\/span>In previous articles, I reviewed the\u00a0 Samsung Galaxy Tab 7″<\/a> and 10.1<\/a>“. \u00a0I have thoroughly enjoyed the Tab and highly recommend one. \u00a0I have been asked many times, is a tablet worth investing in if you have s smartphone. \u00a0I have been using tablets for nearly a year now and this article points out the benefits of using a tablet over a smartphone. \u00a0However, let me make it clear that I do not believe a tablet can be used in place of a smartphone. \u00a0You still need both.<\/p>\n

I have found that I use the tablet for most things except when 1.) I needed to call someone (most tablets don’t have phone service) and 2.) I wanted to be\u00a0more discreet when checking e-mail.\u00a0 Basically, it boils down to this.\u00a0 Use a Tablet when you want the convenience of\u00a0a lightweight computer (much lighter\u00a0than laptops\/netbooks) yet desire\u00a0a larger screen.\u00a0\u00a0The larger screen display is why you’ll favor a tablet over a smartphone. \u00a0 Here are ways in which having a larger screen is preferrable:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Watching Videos<\/strong> – the 7″ or 10″ screen is a welcome change from the 3.2″ or smaller screen on smartphone.\u00a0 The videos are much more engaging and the lighting seems to be\u00a0better.\u00a0 Watching on a tablet makes movies more sociable\u00a0since more than one person can watch the movie.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Reviewing and Making Appointments on Your Calendar<\/strong> – tablets are extremely helpful with appointment management.\u00a0 During CES I had over 80 appointments to keep track of during the week.\u00a0 The weekly view helped me to easily identify\u00a0my upcoming appointments and possible openings for new appointments.\u00a0 My tablet performed way better than my smartphone in this area.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Responding to Texts\/e-mail’s<\/strong> –\u00a0 The SWYPE keyboard is much larger and I had a lot less texting\/e-mail typing mistakes as a result.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Reading Books on Kindle<\/strong> – hello?\u00a0 Have you ever tried to read a book on your smartphone?\u00a0 Using a tablet to read books allows for larger fonts and more words to be read on a page.\u00a0 A tablet\u00a0creates a more natural look-and-feel due to it’s closer size to a book.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Playing Angry Birds…and Other Games<\/strong> – now two players can watch and play more easily when playing\u00a0 \"\"games.\u00a0 More people are involved and the game becomes more fun.\u00a0 With a larger screen, you really get a sense at how angry those birds really are!\u00a0 Angry Birds<\/a> is a fun free app in the Android Market (free) and iTunes Store (free-$.99) that is a fun addictive game that has gained widespread popularity.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Price Comparison Shopping<\/strong> – boy I wish I had a tablet when my husband and I were shopping for a new BBQ.\u00a0 First of all, you can search online for the brand and features of the product you’re looking at in the store.\u00a0 Secondly, you can use a price comparison service like PriceGrabber.com<\/a>, Shopzilla.com<\/a>, etc. to easily identify\u00a0whether the price of the product in the store is a decent price compared to online prices.\u00a0 Having a big\u00a0touchscreen with the ability to easily magnify products features and pictures make it easier to compare products.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 Viewing and Reading Websites<\/strong> – this just makes sense…whenever you have a larger surface to read from, it’s easier to read and you’re more likely to read for longer.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 Viewing Pictures<\/strong> – who doesn’t like to see pictures of their baby on a bigger screen to bring out the baby’s personality?\u00a0 With a larger viewing screen sharing your pictures is sociable and fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"9.\u00a0 Using GPS<\/strong> – you can read the screen easier and\u00a0touch the buttons\u00a0you mean to touch more precisely to get the information you want to see.\u00a0 More people in the car can see the map which helps answer the question, “are we there yet?”<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 Controlling Your\u00a0 TV<\/strong> – as I mentioned in The Top 6 Product Trends of CES 2011<\/a>, one of the major tech\u00a0trends is that the smartphone\u00a0is in control.\u00a0 While this is still true due to the larger number of people who have a smartphone\u00a0over a tablet, a tablet makes this control much more convenient.\u00a0 A larger screen is easier for family members to type in shows, channels, or movies they are interested\u00a0in.\u00a0 With the right software, you can see all or most of your connected devices on one screen.\u00a0 You can control more features of a TV, receiver, or\u00a0information from your computer more easily on one to a few screens on the tablet\u00a0versus 5+ screens on\u00a0a smaller smartphone screen.<\/p>\n

A Mom’s Perspective<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Do I think tablets are worth the money?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Do I think they will be used\u00a0as extensively as your smartphone?\u00a0 Well, no, not right away.\u00a0 I love the sociability and connectiveness\u00a0tablets bring to a household.\u00a0 Playing games on a tablet \u00a0are more sociable.\u00a0 Pictures can be\u00a0shared very easily or the tablet can be docked and used as picture frame.<\/p>\n

You can now download apps to help you control your TV, receiver, cable DVR recordings, pool settings, music around the house, content from your computer, lock your doors, change your thermostat, see when your kids get home via your connected cameras, etc.\u00a0 There are so many exciting things becoming available through the use of our smartphones, PC’s, and tablets.<\/p>\n

With over 80 tablets introduced this year and more in the pipeline, the iPad is no longer the only contender.\u00a0 With over 300,000 apps available in the iTunes store and 100,000 apps in the Android Market, there are plenty of resources to to take advantage of with your tablet.<\/p>\n

I thoroughly enjoyed using a tablet and I am sold\u00a0on the benefits of using a tablet…inside my home and outside of it.\u00a0 I only wish the tablet would be phone capable so I wouldn’t have to carry both my phone and tablet on short out-of-the-home stints. .<\/p>\n

For those of you with a tablet, please leave us a comment telling us why you love your tablet!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debating whether it is worth it to buy a tablet PC? You already have smartphone, do you really need a tablet too? Learn when tablets are more productive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,8,9,12,13,14,16,17,498,20],"tags":[25,500,504,327,136,178,243,494],"class_list":["post-1883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-dads","category-gadgets","category-home-technology","category-iphone","category-kids","category-moms","category-phones","category-photos","category-tablets","category-technology","tag-android","tag-angry-birds","tag-control-your-tv","tag-galaxy-tab","tag-ipad","tag-mom-tech","tag-smartphone","tag-tab","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}