What are the advantages of a tablet over a Netbook?

Tablets are basically netbooks in many ways. Netbooks gained tremendous adoption last year due to their small size, portablity, and inexpensive cost. Isn't it interesting that a smaller laptop would be desirable. Now adoption expectations have been exceeded by the iPad Tablet a more expensive computer contained within a screen. But what are the advantages or disadvantages when practically and comparatively analyzing the two.

Lighter weight, more portable

The first big standout advantage of a table is its smaller size and more portable nature than even a netbook. Even the iPad is only a pound and a half and wafer thin. While the Nook Color and Samsung Galaxy Tab have a 7" screen size and weigh a pound. Put the iPad in a bag and you probably will not even feel the weight, even with a light case on it. People everywhere in the current environment seem attracted to products that are sleeker and lighter. One of the highest and best advantages of Netbooks was their size and portability. Now that advantage is trumped by Tablets.

Appearance/ Screen Features and Function

The LCD touch screen in the iPad is just beautiful. Colors are vibrant and viewing angles are much better than laptops or netbooks. The touch screen is really the secret ingredient selling point of the iPad and Tablets of the future. It's the special weapon. People look in amazement at the pictures flowing across the screen with a swipe of a finger. Which brings us to the next advantage.

Touchscreen scrolling

Touchscreen scrolling on the iPad, Nook Color and Galaxy Tab is extremely fast. This is one area where the Tablet is just faster than using a netbook – especially with the iPad which is lightning and with exceptional retained picture resolution.

Screen rotation

The ultra-cool screen rotation feature allowing portrait of landscape view of the displayed content is, well just a neat feature that allows some extra flexibility. The screen flexibility will be a major feature of Tablets to come (as in Honeycomb project) for instance allowing fast movement and viewing of Google maps at various angles and with pinch and expand functionality.

Speed

As mentioned, the operating system speed of the iPad is blazing fast with its 1 GHz processor and the HP Slate is even faster with a 1.86 GHz processor and a whopping 2GB of RAM. Of course, laptops can easily rival the processing speed – but not with touch screen functionality. That's where the speed really impresses the onlooker. As fast as your finger can swipe, the Tablet can display. There is variation here between Tablets, but I would put the iPad processing as faster than my HP Netbook. It seems to react quicker. I put the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Netbook at about a tie.

Gaming and Apps via Touch Screen

There are some fun gaming that can be played by touch screen (thinking touch screen air hockey here). If the touch screen is fast and finger sensitive enough, then this is a fun feature. I would say the iPad is definitely a good screen for this, but the Galaxy Tab by Samsung is not.

Fingerprints

The iPad and other Tablets have a special screen coating that is supposed to reduce fingerprints and it actually seems to work a little better than my iPhone screen. However, generally this will annoy some people – especially at angles when the fingerprints are most visible. Users will likely want to carry a soft cloth for frequent wipe downs. Dont get lotion or shea butter on your screen. It's very difficult to remove.

Keyboard size/Typing Speed

In portrait mode on the 9.7" diagonal iPad screen the keyboard is a one or two finger proposition. In landscape mode the size is much better but I type about half of my normal speed on a full size keyboard. I never look at the keyboard preferring instead to use the raised tabs on the F and J keys as guides. Obviously this is not possible on a Tablet touch screen keyboard interface. The 7" Tablets will of course be even slower and more speed limited even though the internal processors will have no problem keeping up with your speed. The iPad and Galaxy Tab do give you a nice click sound for feedback recognition. Also worth mentioning here is that you cant rest your fingers on the touch screen keyboard. It may seem trivial but as I'm typing this article, my fingers rest on the keyboard in between thoughts. The iPad has an optional ($69) keyboard.

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