Tablet PC

What is a tablet PC?

A tablet PC is a cross between a notebook PC, and a handheld computer. It is a flat-panel portable PC in the form of s slate. You can enter information by tapping the screen with a stylus, or electronic pen. You can use the pen directly on the screen just as you would a mouse to do things like select, drag, and open files. You can also use it in place of a keyboard to handwrite notes and communication. Unlike a touch screen, the tablet PC screen only receives information from this special pen.

A tablet is a wireless, portable personal computer with a touchscreen interface. The tablet form factor is typically smaller than a notebook computer, but larger than a Smartphone.

The idea of tablet computing is generally credited to Alan Kay of Xerox, who sketched out the idea in 1971. The first widely sold tablet computer was Apple Computer's Newton, which was not a commercial success. Technological advances in battery life, display resolution, handwriting recognition software, memory and wireless internet access have since made tablets a viable computing option.

Today, the most common type of tablet is the slate style, like Apple's iPad, Microsoft's Surface or Amazon's Kindle Fire. External keyboards are available for most slate-style tablets, and some keyboards also function as docking stations for the devices.

Other styles of tablets include:     

Convertible tablets. These typically have a display that rotates 180 degrees and can be folded to close, screen up, over an integrated hardware keyboard. Convertible models may allow user input through a variety of methods in addition to the hardware keyboard, including natural handwriting with a stylus or digital pen and typing through a screen-based software keyboard.

 Hybrid tablets. Sometimes referred to as convertible or hybrid notebooks, a hybrid is like a regular notebook, but has a removable display that functions independently as a slate.

Rugged tablets. A slate-like model that is designed to withstand rough handling and extreme conditions. Rugged tablets are usually encased in a thick protective shell and have shock-protected hard drives.