Whats better for the Classroom, Tablet or Laptop Pros and cons to help you decide what to bring to college

What's better for the Classroom, Tablet or Laptop Pros and cons to help you decide what to bring to college Photo by viagallery.com on Flickr.com Tablets computers are popular due to the fact that light, easily portable (they slip into a purse or backpack), and boast intuitive, touch-based controls. They also provide a screen that’s much easier for reading than a laptop, which is a plus for arts majors. In fact, if your coursework requires purchasing e-books for English Lit or History class, youll find that you suffer less eye strain with a tablet compared to a laptop. The only reason you would ever choose a laptop for reading over a tablet is in rare cases when you need to purchase e-textbooks via a service that’s not available for tablet users. In the end tablets feature basically the same basic, on-the-go Internet access and serve students well on campuses offering free public Wi-Fi. When it comes to roaming around campus, tablets take the cake because of: Light weight Lengthy battery life Speedy, instant power up Work-friend from just about anywhereâ€"a bench, bar stool, building steps, or lapâ€"with little or no space available Cons of tablets for college students However, if you do a lot of typing, a tablet might not be a first choice because they don’t feature a traditional keyboard to type up reports and papers like a laptop or ultrabook (such as the thinkpad x1) does. Tablets are typically cheaper than laptops and ultrabooks (or netbooks), however, that also means they are often less durable without the full capabilities of a laptopâ€"DVD/CD, imbedded camera, etc. Pros of laptops for college students Laptops are obviously the better choice for students who need to write a lot of papers. Plus, most offer CD or DVD playing capabilities for students whose coursework requires viewing a lot of videos or audio recordings. Sure, a laptop is more expensive than a tablet, but it’s also a lot more durable and provides hard, protective casing for on-the-go use of a college campus. Plus, if you’re low on battery or want a larger keyboard, a laptop can be hooked up to docking station for full-sized keyboard use and extra battery life if you’re burning at both ends to get a paper finished by morning. When it comes to viewing videos, listening to CDs, and typing capabilities, laptop make the grade because of: Storage capabilitiesâ€"photos, videos, documents Editingâ€"both Word documents, photos, or long videos They offer external or cloud-based storage that tablets don’t This is a guest post by Rebecca Keller. She is a graduate of the Arts and Technology program at the University of Texas. An admitted tech-junkie, freelance writing about Android devices for AndGeeks.com offers the perfect outlet for a tech geek like Rebecca. When shes offline, which isnt very often, Rebecca enjoys volunteering for her local animal shelter and off road mountain biking.