How To Find The Best Affordable Tablet For College
Tablets have become so technologically advanced that some of them can do anything that a laptop can do. Given the fact that having a laptop has become essential for college, tablets can be fun, cheaper alternatives. Whether you’ll use it for entertainment, work or academics, here are a few good purchase options.
Price – Anything under $300 is a good deal for a recent tablet. At less than half the price of most laptops, the Yoga is a great substitute for someone who would buy an entry-level computer.
Kickstand – This tablet’s built-in kickstand is stylish and saves you the trouble and extra cash to buy a case with a kickstand.
Large screen – For a tablet, a 10 inch screen is more than what you usually find and makes the Yoga perfect for entertainment.
Cons:
Basic – As mentioned above, this is an entry-level product, which makes sense given the price. If you’re in need of advanced software, you’ll need something with more power.
Storage – The Yoga only has 10 gigabytes of “real” storage space.
Hybrid design – The Surface 3 looks stylish and different than other tablets which feels great in a market where products tend to look more similar every year.
Screen size – With a screen bigger than other tablets’, the Surface 3 is perfect for entertainment purposes and seems like a better option for a work device.
Pen mode – The Surface Pen is a fun and old-school accessory that expands the tablet’s capacities even more.
Cons:
Not great on lap – Because it was not built as a traditional laptop, there has been some complaints that the Surface 3 does not hold as comfortably on the user’s lap as other products out there.
Laptop price – The other issue related to the hybrid nature of the Surface 3 is its price. While it make sense that a tablet who also serves as a laptop is more expensive, it does hurt it in the tablet-specific market.
Apple – If you’re using other Apple products like an iPhone, Apple TV or a MacBook, having an iPad as your tablet will make your life easier in terms of synchronizing data between your devices.
Design – The iPad has that slick design that most Apple products have, it’s thin and easy to carry around.
Screen – With the Retina display, the iPad has an amazing screen quality.
Cons:
Price – All of these superior Apple-made features are reflected in the price. The iPad is a high-price to high-quality option.
Storage – Same issue as the Lenovo Yoga, the iPad has low storage space unless you buy the non-basic option which becomes much more expensive very quickly.
User-friendly – Amazon’s success was built on bringing products to people in a quick and easy way. This applies to the companies’ electronic devices too. The Fire HDX is simple to navigate and the Help services is very reactive.
Amazon Prime – Get access to thousands of movies, TV shows and music through Amazon Prime (which you can get for cheaper through their student discount program).
Cons:
Same design as previous models – Not a major issue, but it is somewhat unsettling that this tablet looks almost exactly the same as the previous models which makes it feel and look like it has not been much improved technologically.
Lack of app choices– With no access to the Apple AppStore or the Google Play Store, you’ll miss out on thousands of apps that almost every other tablet would give you access to.
MicroSD slot – This feature might not seem like much, but storage is essential nowadays with the increase of media entertainment options.
Pricing – For an advanced product, this price is more than fair. Samsung technology is valuable and usually much more expensive in terms of phones, televisions or appliances.
Perfect if Android user – If your smartphone is Android product, this tablet will allow you to share and synchronize your devices in a much simpler way.
Cons:
Speakers – Some tablets can be used as an alternative to portable speakers. This product’s speakers seem a little sub-par compared to the rest of the technology.
Screen quality – Same issue as above, although there is nothing wrong with the screen, it just feels like it should have a higher resolution and more advanced given Samsung’s high quality standard.
If you’re also in looking to buy a computer, go and check out SRTrends’ guide to getting the right laptop. Regardless of which direction you choose to go, make sure to browse for student discounts as all of these brands offers special deals for college students.
David is a senior studying Political Science and American Studies at Brandeis University. On campus, he's involved in Greek Life and works as a movie translator. During his free time, he enjoys playing basketball or catching up on his favorite TV shows.
