WILL TABLETS kill LAPTOPS?

Given that we use computers mainly for browsing the internet and light document work, stylish and more portable tablets seem more appealing thanlaptops. R Krishna weighs the pros and cons oflaptops and tablets

With the amount of attention tablets are getting these days, it isn't surprising that many of us are confused about what mobile device we should opt for. Earlier, it was a simple choice — you had a desktop PC at your home and the workplace, and a laptop if you travelled a lot. Today, laptops are preferred to desktops at home. Plus, there is a range of netbooks which are cheaper, lighter and offer a great battery life. And tablets have touch interface and cool apps.
So, when it comes to upgrading your laptop or PC at home, which device makes more sense? Do we really need the full computing power of a laptop when all we use it for is basic document editing and browsing the internet? In that sense, do the stylish and lightweight tablets offer better value for money? Let's see how the two stack up in real life scenarios.
Editing documents
There are many quality apps — like iWork for iPad or cloud-based services like Documents To Go — available for creating and editing documents on tablets. But no matter how nifty the app, typing on the scrunched keyboard on a 10-inch (or less) tablet is inconvenient. And though this is subjective, I prefer the good old mechanical keyboard to the touch keypad while working long hours on a document, presentation or spreadsheet. Of course, there are external keyboards and mouses that you can use with the tablet. But these need to bought separately and are cumbersome to carry around.
However, tablet typing won't hinder shorter correspondence, like writing emails, tweeting, or updating Facebook.
Browsing
This is where the tablets and their touch interface come into their own. Browsing on a tablet is like holding a website in your hand like a book. It gets you far more involved, especially when it comes to viewing videos. Swiping across the screen to scroll through websites and touching links instead of clicking them, makes the mouse look outdated. Moreover, companies like The New York Times and Facebook among many others have built dedicated apps for the tablets, which use touch interface to enhance the browsing experience.
Watching videos, reading books
The keyboard of a laptop is redundant when it comes to viewing videos or listening to music. Whether on the go or on the comfort of your couch, watching videos is much better on tablets — that is, if you don't have a TV around.
Tablets can also be used to shop for and read e-books. The Kindle application, for example, is available both for laptops as well as, say, the iPad. But the latter allows you to swipe the screen to turn pages — a far superior experience compared to the laptop.
Connectivity and storage
A tablet allows you to connect to WiFi and 3G networks. And there is one slot to connect to your laptop. That's it. There are no USB ports to connect your camera or printer. You cannot read DVDs or CDs. To keep the weight light and operation fast, tablets use flash drive for storing files. But the maximum storage capacity that they offer is 64GB — a minuscule amount compared to the 500GB or even more storage on laptops.
It goes without saying that tablets and laptops have their own strengths and weaknesses. But there is one important distinction between the two — tablets are ideal for consuming content while laptops are ideal for generating it.
At times, we do have to work from home. Even normal users will sometimes edit photos using higher end software like Photoshop. CDs and DVDs aren't disappearing anytime soon. And a wider range of computer peripherals like printers, scanners, etc, are compatible with laptops rather than tablets.
While hardware and software solutions exist to make tablets more complete, these are at times cumbersome to implement. So for the time being, a laptop will still serve you best as the main computing device. However, if you have a decent enough laptop or even desktop PC, a tablet will make an excellent choice as your secondary computing device.