If you ask 10 different people what a Tablet PC is you’ll get ten different answers, albeit not all very different from the truth. Why is that, because tablet PCs were not exactly defined in the dictionary of tech terms, but it’s pretty obvious is a niche gadget derived from laptops.

    Now let’s see why I called touch tablets a niche gadget: first sales number don’t lie, it sells less, a lot less, than laptops so it’s clearly for a certain niche, people who really need what touch tablets have to offer and use those features wisely. Why else would you pay more for a gadget that it’s almost identical to a laptop plus a few changes that I’m gonna detail below, just like comparing two similar products from the same manufacturer, one a laptop, the other a touch tablet PC.

    What makes a Tablet PC different from a laptop:

    • Screen thickness: as a touchscreen display adds additional layers it’s thicker than a normal screen. It also draws more power and makes the screen less enjoyable to see as it degrades picture quality (not by much tough). Because of the touchscren also general weight of a touch tablet si bigger than a laptop’s one
    • Stylus: even if it seems that a big 10-12 inch display would be enough to allow for comfortable finger interaction think of the small buttons any OS has and you’ll understand why manufacturers decided to include a stylus with any Touch Tablet PC around. It’s there for ‘just in case’ situations and precision work (CAD,Photoshop etc)
    • Battery life: a touch screen display needs more power to detect user input, that’s a fact, but you shouldn’t expect big differences between a non touch laptop. It’s measurable, but not so much annoying
    • Software: I’ve always said it, software it the part that sets apart a laptop form a touch tablet and a good tablet from a bad one. Without proper rewritten software that can take advantage of the new input method everything else is in vain. Take the example of Windows Mobile, that is awful when it comes to user touch interaction and needs a stylus for the most basic tasks.
    • Price: that’s one big difference and comes from the inclusion of the touch sensitive layers and from the hinge mechanism of the screen which now has to support a 180 degrees rotation and only one contact point, versus the two contact points in a regular laptop.
    That's a nice tablet PC

    That's a nice tablet PC

    Those are the main differences between a laptop and a touch tablet PC. The name is not always the same, but it talks about the same thing so you shouldn’t be too confused. If you have any other differences to add feel free to leave a comment below.