Tablet or PC?

Are you wondering what the fuss is about? Confused on what to do? To buy one or not to?
Well, unless you are a millionaire, you should be concerned. All this publicity and adverts hitting us everywhere we turn – is there really something to it?

I am talking about the new computers that look like overblown touchscreen smartphones. I’m not going to analyse the content or how they operate but simply to clear some air about how to proceed with these things.

When it comes to gadgets, the average gadget freak wants to lay his hand on everything that is released into the market. First it was Apple who have made tons and tons and tons and tons of money from their new flagship product, the iPad. Some say they ave sold over 7 million units of the must-have toy.

This has prompted a response from competitors the world over. From China to Korea to Japan and who knows where else. Now everyone wants to make a tablet. Toshiba, Acer, RIM, Microsoft, Samsung etc. Many are already in the market as in the case of Samsung who have just released the Galaxy Tab (it has already sold 700,000 units according to some records). RIM, makers of Blackberry are already building a followership who are earnestly waiting for the Blackberry Playbook (wonder what inspired the name?). Other less fortunate ones are waiting for 2011 to get into the market to start milking this newly available market.

It’s gonna get worse.

So now is the time to decide whether it is for you or not. If you are like me, you should probably are waiting for the price to come to a reasonable level before you can put your dollar or Naira in it. This is a wise approach, according to my frugal adviser (lol!). But on a serious not, the price will definitely come down. Apple currently sell the iPad for about $499 in the US depending on the memory size you are buying (16GB, 32GB or 64GB). The Samsung Tab is selling in Nigeria for about 125,000 naira (that’s about 800 USD!) from Etisalat carrier.

That price is pretty outrageous by all standards. The trick is to decide what you want these machines to do for you. The tablet cannot replace the good ol’ PC workhorse. Most tablets come with 1GB RAM, 16GB hard disk space and 1GHz processor. The iPad only just added multitasking feature.

Considering the foregoing you would agree that the tablet is only a toned down computer or a beefed up smartphone.So again, unless you are a millionaire, consider wisely what you do with your money.