An Introduction to Laptop Tablets

Convertible laptop tablets, or hybrid tablets as they’re also popularly known, are tablets/laptops that can shift from one function to the other. In other words, they can be both a tablet and a laptop at different times.

The way in which this is achieved differs from product to product. At the moment each company has their own unique technology that allows the device to be used as either a tablet or laptop. These technologies include a screen that folds a full 360 degrees so that it faces up on the back of the keyboard, a screen that twists on the vertical access from the connection with the keyboard base and can then lie face up over the keyboard, a screen that slides over the keyboard into an upright position and a screen that can be completely removed from the keyboard base.

Each of these options has its merits, although the one that offers the best solution to tablet portability and laptop functionality is probably the one with the completely detachable screen. This screen then becomes only the size, thickness and weight of a standard tablet when removed from the keyboard base, making it vastly more portable than the alternatives.

The other remarkable kind of hybrid laptop/tablet is that which has a keyboard built into the tablet cover. Windows Surface RT provides the best example of this right now, and is truly a marvel. Although the cover looks almost no different to one used for an iPad from the outside, open it up and you find a full keyboard on the inside. This incredibly thin keyboard adds next to nothing to the size or weight of the tablet but provides the additional productive capabilities that a keyboard brings.

Convertible or hybrid tablets generally boil down to a trade-off. This trade-off is between functionality and portability. Tablets generally have longer battery lives and are lighter weight and smaller than hybrids. Hybrids, on the other hand, are more powerful and are better suited to productivity tasks. That makes them better as devices for work as well as leisure.

If you’re not sure which option to go for, then read through our handy guide that introduces you to the basic essentials of tablets and hybrids. The options can seem many and varied, but once you understand the core features that really determine what kind of use you’ll get from a product things get considerably easier.

When is a point and shoot camera more useful than a DSLR?

A point and shoot camera is the choice of many consumer digital camera users, and for good reason. These little electronic computers generally have their closest cousin, the DSLR, beat in these three areas:

• Size and Weight
• Price
• Ease of Use

1) Size and Weight

Most point and shoot digital camera users like the light weight and small size due to the fact that they like to carry their camera in a shirt pocket, pants pocket or in a purse or man bag. That is just not possible with a DSLR or compact digital camera as most require a dedicated camera bag or carried over the shoulder by a camera strap. But for the occasional shooter, if their camera is big and bulky, they most likely will not carry it with them and consequently miss some great shots. With a footprint of generally around 3.75” x 2.25”, less than 1” thick, and weighing in at less than 8 ounces, point and shoots can be the perfect choice when size and weight are factors.  

2) Price 

The second most popular reason is price. Many consumer digital camera users may only use their cameras occasionally while at parties, on vacation or at family functions, such as anniversaries, birthdays, baptisms, etc. Generally, they don’t want to tie up a lot of money in something they may only use once-in-awhile. Here again, the point and shoot digital camera is the clear winner. With most of these cameras costing less than $500, they are a great buy for what you get, need and most likely use.    

3) Ease of Use

Besides size/weight and price, probably the biggest reason people choose a point and shoot camera is for the simplicity and ease of use. With only occasional shooting, it is hard to remember what you have to do with a DSLR or compact digital camera to get the photos you want. But with these little gems, they do most of the work for you, but yet still have many of the requested user-adjustable features, such as:

• white balance
• aperture
• shutter speed
• ISO 
• image stabilization
• exposure compensation
• flash

For those wanting to exercise their creativity, they can, while others that are fine with the camera making their selections for them can also get great photos while set on Program, Auto or any of the other scene-specific modes, including:

• beach
• snow
• night
• fireworks
• face detection
• backlit
• and whole host of others 

While making the decision to buy a point and shoot digital camera can be easy, brand and model selection can be more difficult. However before shopping, define what you need based on the three benefits in this article. That will narrow your field down to a manageable group for the rest of the selection process.