What Size Tablet?

Tablets come in various flavors from iPads to Android tablets, and Windows too. Computer tablets may seem recent but they have been around for decades.

One of the earliest touchscreen tablets was the GRiDPad in 1989 using a DOS based system. The primary developer of this tablet would go on the develop the Palm Pilot handheld which was the springboard not only for pen computing as a vertical market but for handheld computing on a commercial level since.

My earliest tablet computer was a Toshiba model from 1993 running Windows 3.1. It and my later Fujitsu Stylistic 1000, Windows 95, used an active stylus corded to the computer. My favorite though was a Fujitsu Point 510 (pictured), also Windows 95, which used a resistive touchscreen that only required pressure to activate, so you could use any stylus, your finger or even a stick with it.

A later model pseudo-tablet was the Sharp Intermec. It was basically a smaller Windows CE laptop with a touchscreen you could fold completely to the back side and use it purely as a tablet. The 7 inch screen on it was the forerunner of what has become the standard 7 inch tablet screen and is exactly the same screen, minus the touch layer, they used in 7 inch China netbooks, as they're called.

Among the most popular sizes for Android tablets are 7 and 10+/- inch screens. I have tablets with 7, 8 and 9.7 inch screens. The 9.7 inch is a great tablet for reading books and pdf files. The 8 inch tablet has the same resolution as the 9.7 inch model, but it is more responsive and it has a simple camera icon on the taskbar I can click on the take a screenshot; as opposed to the usual method of simultaneously holding down on the power button and volume down button.

Features and looks are great, but when I nearly lost the proprietary AC adapter for my 8 inch tablet, it reminded me of the big advantage 7 inch tablets have over any other size in being able to be charged through the usb port with a cable and adapter you can buy anywhere and probably have extra lying around from other stuff you have, maybe like your phone.

This is not saying what you should buy as a tablet. Certainly a larger screen size has its luxuries, but it also has its inconveniences, such as being uncomfortable to hold for long. However, the next tablet I have my eyes on is a size I can actually hold in one hand, with a 7 inch screen and it charges through the usb port. Handy size aside, check before you buy as to what type of charger the tablet you're considering takes. It's handy as anything to be able to use the same charger you do for your phone or be able to buy one at a local store or even at a stop and go for a few bucks.