Anyone feel like tablets are overrated?

[Naer]

Would rather have a nice 5inch screen any day of the week, but that's just me?

Seems like with smaller screens you tend to be more focused. With tablets there's just too much room for your eyes to wander. Can't explain it. Maybe I just like the simplified view of smaller mobile screens

 

[Morbus]

I love my Nexus 7 because it helps me read e-books very easily and browse the web and listen to some tunes with easy, from bed, much more than my Moto G can.

I can't find much other use for it though.

 

[Fardringle]

A 5 inch screen is just too small for anything that I want to do with a mobile device, including (but not limited to) reading books, playing games, and watching movies. Sure, it's possible to do that on a smaller device, but it is not a pleasant experience.[

 

[Graze]

I cant read for extended periods of time on anything smaller than a 7 inch screen.
Sometime tells me your arent doing the same on a 5 inch screen either.

 

[Eug]

I don't like 5" screens. Too big for a phone IMO and way, way, way too small for extended use like how I use a tablet. The perfect combo for me is a 4.x" phone and a 10" tablet.

 

[lxskllr]

I have little use for a tablet after getting a phone, and no use for an expensive tablet ever. I also like the ~5" size, but that's due to portability. For a tablet, I wouldn't consider anything over 7".

 

[lopri]

That is why I've got this "tablet." Might as well go BIG. (or small depending on what you think it is :biggrin: )

 

[soulcougher73]

I think 8" Is the perfect size tablet myself. And I find 5"+ phones to be too big.

 

[jacktesterson]

I use my Tablets way more than my Notebook.

 

[lopri]

The original Moto X is the best (largest) size if I were to use a phone strictly one-handed. But then I have to pull the phone closer to my face and I do not like that. I like to have some distance, i.e. almost fully-stretched arm's length, between my eyes and the phone.

Fortunately we have lots of choices these days.

 

[Berliner]

Yes they are overrated. And overused.

But so are "smart" phones.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Disagree. I find that they have a good purpose. I've been doing quite a few cross country flights. They're mildly useful, but on my last 14 hour flight to Asia? You bet.

The Nexus 10 is a bit heavy but the iPad Air 2/Nexus 9 should be perfect. I used to have a Nexus 7 too which I gave to my gf but its too small for video watching. It might be OK if that's all you have but when I was able to switch between the 7 and the 10, it was clear which one was more suitable. The 7 you have to really get close to immerse yourself.

 

[sweenish]

You must hate televisions and movie theaters and laptops and etc.

But screw 5 inches. Android Wear is where it's at!

 

[Zodiark1593]

I've got the smartphone, and laptop (equipped with an SSD). A tablet is unnecessary in my arsenal.

 

[Humpy]

I am still quite happy with the original N7 that replaced a laptop for travel. I couldn't imagine popping open a laptop to kill some time on a crowded flight. I like small phones for daily use so a tablet makes a lot of sense for me.

 

[KeithP]

For me to consider something "overrated" a relatively small group of people need to be making a really big deal over something that most people are ignoring. For instance, U2.

So, no, I don't think tablets are overrated.

-KeithP

 

[Bateluer]

I'd say 10in tablets are unnecessary and 7in tablets are overrated, with ~8in being the ideal size. Since a good phone is 5in, with phablet devices being a little bigger, there's little point in a 7in tablet. Everything that 7in tablet can do, you can do just as easily on the 5in phone. No need to have two devices. For 10in tablets, everything that you'd want to do with it would be better done with a real laptop, so why buy the expensive 10in tablet thats too heavy for 1 handed use, too slow for anything more than the minimal productivity, and nearly as expensive as a real laptop?

 

[Eug]

^^^ The iPad Air 2 is quite light and I don't use it for much productivity. I use it for internet and multimedia consumption. And I do a lot more of that consumption than productivity on my mobile devices. My main productivity is on desktops.

I have a 4" phone, 7" tablet, 10" tablet, 11.6" laptop, 13.3" laptop.

If I had to get rid of two of the above, it'd be the 7" tablet and 11.6" laptop.

 

[Naer]

^^^ The iPad Air 2 is quite light and I don't use it for much productivity. I use it for internet and multimedia consumption. And I do a lot more of that consumption than productivity on my mobile devices. My main productivity is on desktops.

I have a 4" phone, 7" tablet, 10" tablet, 11.6" laptop, 13.3" laptop.

If I had to get rid of two of the above, it'd be the 7" tablet and 11.6" laptop.

Thinking about going with a hp stream 11. Why do you not like the 11.6 laptop?

 

[Dulanic]

I love my nexus 7. I didn't used to use it much, but lately I use it all the time.

 

[zerocool84]

Would rather have a nice 5inch screen any day of the week, but that's just me?

Seems like with smaller screens you tend to be more focused. With tablets there's just too much room for your eyes to wander. Can't explain it. Maybe I just like the simplified view of smaller mobile screens

So you'd rather look at smaller pictures, look at smaller letters than bigger ones?

 

[mikeymikec]

consumption

I think this is the key word when analysing the usefulness of a tablet. I think the common stereotype response about how amazing tablets are usually is in the context of consuming media and very light/casual productivity. A lot of peoples' use of computing devices fits into those categories, hence their perception of "tablets are amazing".

I also think other people hear "tablets are amazing" and they assume "tablets would be amazing for me", without knowing why the first person thinks tablets are amazing and what they use them for.

 

[Eug]

Thinking about going with a hp stream 11. Why do you not like the 11.6 laptop?

My main productivity is on desktops, but my mobile productivity is done on laptops. My 13.3" is 16:10 1280x800. My 11.6" is 16:9 1366x768. I don't like 16:9 laptops. Not good for productivity, or even just surfing. Also, the higher resolution on a smaller screen makes for poorer ergonomics because the screen elements are too small.

That said, I'm waiting for a 12.x" Retina MacBook. Maybe that will improve the state of smaller laptops, while maintaining portability. I'd love to see it 16:10 or even 3:2.

As for 10" tablets, they are used differently and held closer generally, and the OSes are designed for these form factors, so the ergonomics works.

 

[Commodus]

I'm starting to think that the "tablets will replace most PCs" predictions were optimistic... though not totally off the mark. It's more that large smartphones are taking the place of tablets for some people, and tablets aren't quite the revolution you'd think.

And don't knock the value of 10-inch and larger tablets, even if they don't necessarily take over. They're easier on the eyes, especially when you're reading magazines and web news. That and I think we're starting to see creativity become more important... heck, this year we got "serious" apps like Office for iPad/Android (even before a touch-native Windows version) and Pixelmator. It's harder to use those apps on smaller tablets.

 

[smitbret]

I'm starting to think that the "tablets will replace most PCs" predictions were optimistic... though not totally off the mark. It's more that large smartphones are taking the place of tablets for some people, and tablets aren't quite the revolution you'd think.

And don't knock the value of 10-inch and larger tablets, even if they don't necessarily take over. They're easier on the eyes, especially when you're reading magazines and web news. That and I think we're starting to see creativity become more important... heck, this year we got "serious" apps like Office for iPad/Android (even before a touch-native Windows version) and Pixelmator. It's harder to use those apps on smaller tablets.

^^^

Yep, for casual gaming and LIGHT browsing, tablets are nice and convenient. To actually DO anything more than pass the time you will need a Laptop or Desktop.