Although iPad is the tablet of choice for the majority of tablet owners, the market will always demand alternatives, and in that spirit, here are five iPad tablet alternatives for you to consider if you want to look past a brand name and compare tablets so you can find one that works for your professional and personal needs as well as your lifestyle.
Kindle Fire
The Kindle Fire was just released in November of 2011 and is considered more minimal than the iPad. The Kindle Fire has a 7-inch LCD screen with a rubberized black casing. Features include a dual-core processor, color touchscreen, and an extra-wide viewing angle similar to the iPad. Amazon’s Kindle Fire runs for about $200 and has Wi-Fi capability.
Nook
The Nook Color by Barnes and Noble is a Wi-Fi capable tablet that costs $199. This tablet was created to show bright colors and reduce screen glare. Nook Color lets you customize your tablet to fit your lifestyle and your interests, including homepage customization with your photos and you can create a personal bookshelf of your favorite reads. One of the great things about choosing the Nook is that you get free support with no limits.
Asus Eee
While the Asus Eee is an easy-to-use touchscreen, it also has an attachable keyboard to turn it from a tablet to akin to a laptop. Asus Eee uses Google’s Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system and it is usually priced between $350 and $400. The Asus is a great crossover for people who want a tablet but are still stuck on the laptop concept – it’s a good bridge product.
HP Slate
Costing around $650 to $800 (depending on where you buy it), the HP Slate is geared toward the working professional who isn’t sitting at a desk for eight hours a day. It’s for the professional who regularly attends meetings or walks around the office, perhaps. The HP Slate allows you to check email, read and edit important professional or personal documents and spreadsheets, and you can even write emails or notes by hand with a digital pen.
Freedom 10
The lesser known Freedom 10 is a tablet with “the most advanced Android-based functions at a very affordable price.” With the Freedom 10, you can browse the internet, watch movies or TV shows, play games, and video chat with your loved ones. While many of Freedom 10’s features are close to those of the iPad, there are a few features, according to Freedom 10, that the iPad doesn’t have, including 32GB of storage, mini HDMI 1080p port, and Flash 10.1. And that’s not even including the affordable price of $249.99.
Finding the right tablet for your needs shouldn’t hinge on hype or by who made it, your decision should be based on how it fits into your life, the tablet’s features, and how you can effectively use those features to increase productivity or simplify your life. The iPad isn’t the only game in town, and the five alternatives above prove that.
