When it comes to whether a laptop or tablet is more useful for a small business owner, at least two experts agree: the answer depends on what and where the item is used for. Laptops and tablets differ from one another in several ways, with some variations being more obvious than others. The less obvious differentiations include:
- Tablets offer fewer upgrade options than do laptops
- Laptops are manufactured to allow for add-on devices like external storage, optical drives and card readers, while tablets are not
- Laptops are better equipped for multi-tasking than are tablets
- Support options are more readily available for laptops than tablets. In other words, more people know how to fix laptops than tablets
- Laptops are more amenable to be shared among multiple users than tablets
More obvious differences between the two products include the fact that while tablets are more portable than laptops, the latter aren’t difficult to carry around, either. When a large screen is needed, a laptop monitor is easier to read than a tablet’s, which tend to be smaller.
David J. Myers, COO of SpliceNet, a Cincinnati-based entity offering managed services and cybersecurity to its clients, says another obvious variable between a laptop and tablet is that the former involves a keyboard while the latter is manipulated by touch. He also says that tablets tend to enjoy a longer battery life than do most laptops.
Tom Murzenski, a Marketing Technologist with Impel who works from a home office in Washington, New Jersey, says the larger screen on laptops makes it easier to interact with more than one application at a time. However, “a tablet’s integration with the camera and GPS can be an advantage in certain situations,” he says.
Which is better for small biz?
“Laptops are going to provide advanced performance in comparison to tablets, simply due to the fact that their larger cases can pack in more hardware,” says Murzenski.
Myers agrees that laptops, overall, are the better choice for the small business owner. Not only do laptops offer more storage than do most tablets, they are more adaptable to the varying needs of today’s business person.
“With a tablet, you get the features the manufacturer gives you and that’s it. However, on a laptop, you can almost always find software” to resolve a problem or support the various goals of the business owner, says Myers.
As for what he personally uses, Myers is a devotee of the Microsoft Surface. The device boasts features of both a tablet and laptop, a benefit Myers says he enjoys a lot. “Many tablets (like the Surface) have tablet-like characteristics,” a convenience he says is fantastic for his technological needs.
And while Murzenski is technologically savvy enough to build his own PC using various parts he ordered from the Internet, he also enjoys using the Nexus 10 tablet he has owned for several years. However, he concedes, he wouldn’t mind checking out the Microsoft Surface, which, he says, “is positioned as a laptop replacement.”
Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer who tweets as @girlwithapen.
