60 | BUY ER’S GUIDE TO: TABLET COMPUTERS | EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
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having a tablet instead of a TV, especially with services like Netflix and catch-up. E: When I first came to uni I brought my own TV for my room in halls of residence but all I really used it for was watching DVDs. If I’d had a tablet I definitely wouldn’t have bothered bringing a TV with me. H: The best thing about having a tablet is that it’s not a fixed screen so you can carry on watching things when you want like on a bus or in the kitchen while you’re cooking.
✥ Do you think these tablets would offer you real value as a student?
H: You can get Wi-Fi in most places, I wouldn’t pay extra for a 3G tablet, I’d rather spend the extra on a beter resolution screen. A: I’d use a tablet wherever I had Wi-Fi. My halls of residence didn’t have Wi-Fi, only a cable Ethernet connection, so a tablet would have been no use to me in halls.
✥ What did you think of the app store on each device and the variety of apps on offer?
H: The iPad’s app store was really easy to use. You could just type in what you wanted and it was really quick to tell you what was available and if you had to pay for it or if it was free you wouldn’t get caught out. E: The advertising was really heavy on the Nexus although a lot of what is advertised is ‘recommended for you’, which could be quite cool if you wanted to find suggestions for things you wouldn’t normally look for. A: The Surface was the most difficult to get apps for because its more of a tablet/laptop hybrid. I think it works really well as a transitional device if that’s what someone’s looking for. The number of apps in the app store seemed really small.
✥ How did each tablet perform with e-books?
A: The Nexus was my favourite for reading on. The size meant it was comfortable to hold and the controls allowed you to zoom in and out.
H: With some textbooks you buy now you get access to an online version included, access to that via a tablet would be really useful. A: If I could get all my textbooks as e-books I could see a time where I would only use a tablet and not buy printed books. My walk from where I live to uni is around 40 minutes so no one wants to carry around a big book.
✥ How did you find note taking using these tablets?
A: Note taking on the Surface was much easier because of the keyboard and it has Microsoft Office installed. I could also do split screen so I wasn’t flicking between apps. E: On the iPad and Nexus you need to download apps to do note taking that are beter than the basic built-in apps. H: I would struggle to use the built in apps for my studies because they don’t offer any of the scientific symbols I use. I wouldn’t even consider atempting to create an entire essay using a tablet.
✥ What was it like watching videos?
H: They all performed prety well, I didn’t notice much difference between them. E: The sound on the iPad was noticeably beter than on the other two. A: The iPad was beter when it comes to sound but the Nexus performed well considering its size. H: I would definitely consider
H: Because I already have an iPhone and a Mac everything syncs up via iCloud. Even if the Nexus or Surface was beter, I’d still choose an iPad because of the other devices I have. E: I have an Android phone and a Windows laptop. It wouldn’t bother me that they don’t all work together. I’d just choose the best tool for the job. A: I like the Surface but it’s too similar to my laptop so there’s no point to me buying it. I think you can tell that the Nexus is the cheapest unit out of the three.
If a new student was going to uni next year, which tablet would you recommend to them?
A: The Surface has got a USB slot so you could plug in a mouse or your uni work on a hard drive or memory stick, which the others don’t offer. It’s like a mini computer. There wouldn’t be much point in having both a Windows laptop and the Surface tablet; this one was the only tablet that was actually good for uni work and not just playing around and social networking. H: The iPad is definitely the best one, but I don’t think these tablets offer a lot more than my smartphone. The only reason I would buy a tablet would be for watching films. E: I wouldn’t buy the Nexus, it’s just a bigger version of my phone except I can’t make calls on it. Because of its ease of use and the variety of apps in the App Store, I’ve fallen in love with the iPad. UB
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