Every time a major holiday comes up I hear a lot of questions about how to choose tablets for gifts. What is worth the money, what will perform the best, etc.

I am going to start off by saying what I tell every person that asks me my opinion, only you can make the choice! Tablets are fun and great. They all have up sides and down sides.

First analyze everything that it would be used for:

Email
Books
Games
Browsing
Working
Social Media

Then look at the different types of tablets and what each one is known for:

IPad is known for being a high end tablet with good resolution and camera. It has full integration with iPhones and Macs. I find them hard to get a lot of work done without an additional keyboard but they easily purchased. You can surf the web and watch movies. The iPad is also a pretty good e-reader but there is a glare on the screen so it is a little like reading of a computer that you can hold. But the iPad comes with a very large price tag and its accessories can be pretty pricey too.

10 inch Android is on par with an iPad except the price has a larger range. You can get the very expensive to the inexpensive. The quality and resolution can also vary. You can have all the same functionality as the iPad. The Android environment has a more open development field where apps don’t have to be approved by Apple. And if you like to tinker you can change operating systems on Android tablets.

7 inch Android tablets are extremely portable. They are good for social media and email. They are decent e-reader with the same issues as the iPad. Web surfing and movie viewing are a bit more cumbersome due to the smaller size.

Kindle Fire/Nook Tablets are very similar. While they carry the Kindle/Nook names, the are not dedicated e-readers. These are similar to the 7 inch Android tablets. Except they are built on an older stylized Android operating system. They are a very popular tablet but it isn’t as powerful as some the other tablets.

Readers (like the Kindle and Nook) are e-readers. That is what they do and that is pretty much it. My favorite is the Kindle. It is small and light. The magic though is e-ink. They don’t have a shiny screen and so the words show up like paper. You won’t get the same eye strain as reading off of a shiny tablet. And they are a lot cheaper than a traditional tablet. If the only reason you want a tablet is to read this is your best choice.

So there are a few things to look at. Tablets are fun just do a little thinking ahead so that you only spend as much as needed to get exactly what you want!