I am entered in a contest to win a Galaxy Tab 3. I wondered if the Galaxy Tab 3 is just as good as a laptop or desk top computer? I've seen the commercial for Galaxy Tab and the picture taking and voice recording seems great.
I do not know anything specific about the Galaxy tablets; but I can tell you that once I got the ipad, I stopped using the computer, and I like it much better than any computer or laptop. My eyesight is not as good as what it used to be , and with the touchscreen tablets, you can "stretch" the page and make the writing or pictures the size you need to see them. With the computer, I had to have my nose on the monitor, and the laptop was even smaller writing and screen; so even harder for me to read. Also, if I was using the computer much, then it would wear me out sitting in the computer chair at the desk. With the tablet, it is small, lightweight, and I can relax in my comfortable recliner and use it. I bought a little lapdesk to rest it on, and it is so much nicer than working from a desk somewhere. Some of the tablets have an external keyboard (mine does), and then it is basically just like using a laptop, except that it has all of the above advantages. I can do everything with the tablet that I did with the computer, and most things are much easier to do with the tablet. If you make a lot of complicated things with the computer, then it might not meet all of your needs; but for most of the everyday procedures, it is perfect. Plus, it is easy and lightweight to carry around. If you go somewhere that has open wifi, then you have everything you need right there along with you.
I use my Desktop a lot, but when and if it goes I might replace it with a laptop. For travel and parlor surfing I like my Tablet which has a 10" screen..Granted I use my desktop for more things but I also like the Tablet. I just recently replaced my older tablet with a new one for under $100!! Even if it lasts me only a year I will be satisfied..
I work with all three a tablet a laptop and a desktop, I agree that a tablet can do most things and is so good for relaxing in a chair or in bed. I do miss a mouse though as it enables me to work faster and I do most of my posting on here with the laptop because of the editing of photos and so on. I also do video editing and conversion of movies to various formats at times, which is only possible on a desktop really. So I guess Krissttina it depends what you want to use it for, as Yvonne said an iPad does everything she requires and the Galaxy tab is similar to an iPad so it may well be the way to go. You can add a keyboard if you don't like touchscreen typing. If I had to settle for one I would choose the netbook (a small 11" screen laptop) which does everything and I can use it in bed or anywhere with its built in keyboard and a wireless mouse.
I am with the IT department so maybe I know something about this thread. The laptop is a clone of the desktop except that it is portable unlike the desktop which is designed to be stationary. The tablet is the big sister of the smart phone. So that means only apps can run on the tablet unlike the laptop which can run software. The laptop has a different and more complex operating system like Windows or Mac (for the Apple computers) while the tablet runs on iOs for the iPhone and Android for the other smart phones. To make it simpler, the tablet is not really similar to the laptop. To my needs, the tablet is relatively inferior because aside from the software that it cannot run, there's also the problem of the filing system.
To reiterate what a couple of people have written @Krissttina Isobe, it totally depends on what you want to use it for. My understanding is that you have to go to the library in order to get online so "bingo" it's a home run for the Samsung Galaxy. (Note: I own an Ipad and think it's the best thing since the invention of sliced bread) First, understand this. The desk top, lap top, and tablets are ALL computers and all of them use a mixture of software, applications, programs and gadgets which so far as terminology goes are interchangable for the average person. Do NOT worry about the terminology. If we wanted to get deep we could talk about things like external and internal hard drives, the cloud and solid state memory, RAM, gigs, megs, and all sorts of garbage. In essense, to you, it shouldn't mean a thing and doesn't have to. (until you absolutely want to know after you win the Galaxy and are bored to death.) The galaxy is a small computer. It has a virtual keyboard (touch screen) but can adopt a blue tooth keyboard with a cost of no more than about 25 beans. Note 1: Blue tooth, which I highly recommend, Is NOT a keyboard with blue teeth. Blue tooth is just a term (for your purposes) that simply means a wireless piece of hardware that is coupled with the main device. or in this case, your Galaxy. It has every function a regular keyboard has plus with software downloads it can include multi-language keying, mathematical terminology and symbols, emoticons, fonts and the list goes on. Now here is where you might find the greatest benefit. If your house isn't outfitted for Wi-fi (wireless reception / transmission to make it simple) then you can just toddle down to your local beanery or hamburger joint who advertises Wi-fi and sit with your coffee and type away. Note 2: Watch your toddling. Your crosswalk incident cost you the price of an older model Ipad, Surface, or Galaxy, ergo......no more jaywalking sis! Another benefit to the Galaxy versus say, an Apple, is that it, like the Microsoft Surface, has a USB port for plugging in extra junk like an exterior hard drive or thumb drive, some cameras (even though the Galaxy has a great built in camera which works on both sides) a mouse or whatever. The biggest down side to me is the small screen compared to a desk top or lap top. But, even that can be overcome by simply touching the screen so the picture or words appear larger. I do hope you win that thing Krissttina!! I'll say a couple of prayers for you. Uh, you can even download the entire Bible with multiple versions, references and yes......pictures. And they all said.............AMEN!
I have an iMac (desktop), a MacBook (laptop), and a Kindle Fire, which is a sort of tablet. Each have their own purposes for which I use them but if I were forced to choose just one, I would choose the MacBook, although I'd buy a newer one. A laptop will do everything that a desktop will do, and if you want a large screen and a bigger keyboard, you can plug them in. I use my iMac because I am usually at home when I am online. When I am traveling or if I feel like working from a restaurant or somewhere, I'll take my MacBook because it's a lot easier to carry. I use my Kindle Fire mostly as a book reader, although I'll get online, or even access the forum from the Kindle sometimes after I go to bed, but before I go to sleep, or while my wife is driving, since I can use my phone for a hotspot. Other than that, I think I'd lose interest in going online if I had to use the Kindle every time. Certainly, I couldn't earn a living online using the Kindle.
I guess this is as good of a place to discuss this as any other. I know we've discussed the pros and cons of using a real computer, and I'll even be so generous as to include a Windows machine as a real computer, versus using a tablet. As an adult, I prefer to use either my iMac or my MacBook Pro, but I know that some of you are using tablets exclusively now. My wife - @Michelle Anderson - has recently bought an iPad. She also has a Mac Mini, which is simply a type of Mac computer, and she wants to be able to share text files between her Mac and her iPad, and is having trouble doing that. She can create text file on her iPad, and she can bring up a text file from her Mac to her iPad, but she can't edit the file on her iPad. We've figured out that it has something to do with a Mac tool called Handoff, and that it requires that the file be shared in iCloud, or something of that nature, and she is trying to figure that out right now. Are any of you using both a Mac computer and an iPad, and sharing files between the two?
I do not use a Mac but my understanding is that "Evernote" can be shared between the two with all of the edit capabilities. I DO know that Windows to Ipad works well even though Evernote is an Apple app.
I don't know if this will help or not; but maybe she is not syncing the two of them with iTunes ? I try to remember to do this each month, although sometimes I forget; but this links up my ipad, iphone, and even the Dell computer with all of the same information. Syncing is easy, and is under general settings as "iTunes wi-if sync". Go to iTunes on the Mac, and then plug in the ipad using the charging cord, and then tell the ipad to sync. This will transfer everything between the two computers. Usually, things like pictures should be transferred without needing to sync, and I would think that files would do the same. I regularly take pictures with the phone, and then edit them with the ipad. Everything just comes right through with no effort normally.
@Ken Anderson I stopped using Mac's when I discovered Linux. I object to the built-in obsolescence which both Windows and the Macintosh platform promoted not long before Steve Jobs returned to the fold. Before the introduction of the iMac/eMac I never had problems with any Mac computer.they were built to last .Today , both their longevity and functionality are questionable. I still have an eMac which I keep in my studio for some basic image-processing, but I wouldn't use it for anything else, and I only transfer files via USB. Other types of files text files, for example , do not transfer intact, no matter what I do. So, I use my Linux Computer for everything else. My views on Tablets? I agree with Corie Henson. They are entertainment tools, and I can do everything they can do, and much more with my laptop and a lot quicker.I don't even use a smartphone for the same reason. A phone is for talking to people. Also, many apps for tablets are cut-down versions of the original software with limited functionalities while others are simply unavailable.This also includes text apps.Designing desktop software for laptops is not much of a stretch but Tablet's are a whole new ball - game.Often, the Techies consider it a waste of time. Tablets are not a replacement for Laptops and Desktops and that will not change till everyone is reading from the same page. So why linux? well, for one thing, no file transfer problems audio-visual, text or otherwise, and Evernote works fine and no Evernote problems either. Evernote and other windows software can work fine with Linux via W.I.N.E. which is a Windows emulator, though having said that, many Windows programs are also available for Linux, such as Scrivener, for example.
Sorry, @Billie Lane - I missed this post somehow, and didn't mean to ignore you. At my age, I am not in the mood to learn another computer system. I tried to install Ubuntu on a Gateway computer a few years back and it crashed. That computer is still sitting around here somewhere, still on a failed Ubuntu install. At this point, I am not in the mood to learn another computer system anyhow, so I'll stick with Mac. Other than a nine year-old MacBook that wouldn't take the latest update, I haven't had any trouble with them, and I ended up selling that computer for a pretty decent price, and bought a new MacBook Pro, so I'm okay with that. I get online with my iPhone every once in a while to check the forum or Facebook, and I get online fairly often on my Kindle after going to bed, or while my wife is driving, but I don't see a tablet replacing a computer for me. My wife has an iPad that she uses quite a lot but she can't do a lot of work with it because there's just too much that it doesn't do, or doesn't do as well as her Mac.
I agree @Ken Anderson a tablet is too slow at some tasks compared with my laptop and mouse. I have managed with Windows and find 7 and 10 easy to operate, and the hardware much cheaper than Apple products of course. I have never tried Linux being too lazy to try I guess.
Okay, I have moved the Linux discussion to a thread of its own, leaving a few posts in both threads since they discussed both the OP of this thread and the topic of Linux. Here's the Linux thread.
Added one of these to my tablet for my wireless keyboard. Sure makes it more friendly to use a full keyboard. While I was at it, got a Bluetooth usb dongle 4.0 so I could transmit music from my old PC to my Bluetooth headphones and speakers. Ain't Tech Fun...