Are you one of those who are wondering if tablets with keyboard can replace laptops?
The answer is yes if you value portability and flexibility and there are not many computation-intensive tasks in your day-to-day work.
The answer was not as certain five years ago. Traditionally, laptops had a number of advantages over tablets.
To start with, all laptops come with a physical keyboard, which is essential for students, office staff to complete their homework, projects and office work.
They are designed to handle both light and intensive processing, meaning you can complete a simple Excel operation and edit graphics or videos on the same machine.
Besides, they usually come with a bigger screen, larger storage capacity and have more connectivity interfaces such as ports for external monitor, USB etc.
However, as technology continued to evolve, tablets with keyboard are slowly taking over laptops, just like how laptops replaced desktops eventually.
Many of the favorable aspects of laptops have become insignificant to modern users. Let’s look into each of them one by one here.
Operating system (OS)
Most tablets run on Android or iOS and the best part is that many applications are available for free on Google Play Store or Apple Store.
Even if the apps are priced, they are often offered at a fraction of what software for laptops would cost you.
In case you cannot live without Windows, the good news is that there are more manufacturers producing Windows tablet nowadays. Although Microsoft Store does not offer as many free applications but it should still allow you to lower your software cost.
Physical keyboard
Virtual or on-screen keyboard does not always offer the best typing experience and bringing a separate wired or Bluetooth keyboard could be clumsy.
Seeing the demand in the market, manufactures like Microsoft and Simbans began to optimize the design of tablet-keyboard connection.
Consumers can now enjoy the flexibility of having a fully functional keyboard attached to a tablet as and when needed and carrying a standalone tablet for entertainment or presentation.
Check out the Best 7 Tablets with Keyboard in 2021.
Screen size and portability
There is no doubt that wider screens on a laptop makes the reading journey more comfortable. However, it comes at a price – laptops are much heavier than tablets, even when they are attached to a keyboard.
As more and more applications and websites are adopting responsive designs, content display is often optimized for readers nowadays. You will notice minimal difference when reading from a tablet than reading from a laptop (someone people may just prefer reading on a tablet).
What’s more, tablets with larger screens are available in the market. Take a look at the 11.6-inch TangoTab XL which was just released in Q3 2021.
Storage capacity
With cloud services becoming more popular, less people are concerned about how much storage is available on a physical device.
Everything can be saved safely on the cloud and they can be retrieved any time. No more worries about losing all your files after spilling coffee over your laptop!
Connectivity
To maintain the light weight of a tablet, ports components are removed but it does not mean you cannot connect the tablet to multiple devices.
Thanks to technology advancements, you can now cast a screen to a monitor or TV, connect to a mouse or printer without any wire.
Besides, some tablets give you the option of using cellular service so you can still access the Internet even when you are not connected to Wi-Fi connection.
Battery life
One major competitive advantage of tablet is that its battery life usually far exceeds that of a laptop, allowing you to work or relax even without access to a power outlet.
