Let’s talk about the mistakes people make when buying a tablet. Oh, I know what you’re thinking. Christmas is over and you already bought a tablet! If that’s the case, then this post will be like closing the barn doors after the horses have escaped! Still, if you haven’t bought a new tablet yet, this is a good time to talk about what you should look for.

Types of Tablets

Before we discuss the mistakes people make when buying a tablet, we need to talk about the different types of tablets. Basically, there are four:

Now that we’ve looked at the four basic OS systems for tablets, let’s look at the mistakes people make when buying a tablet.

The Mistakes People Make When Buying A Tablet – #1 Top Mistake

At the top of the Mistake List is “buying based on price.” Wow. This is really an error throughout the computing world, not just when it comes to tablets. You should never, ever buy just because of the price. Instead, you should always look at the cost. What is price vs. cost? Top salesman and motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, phrased it this way: “Price is what you initially pay for something and cost is the long-term investment into that item.” Let’s continue looking at the tablet-buying mistakes people make and maybe you’ll understand better the idea of price vs. cost.

Mistake #2 – Screen Size

The second mistake is not thinking about the screen size. (This is also a mistake people make when purchasing a laptop computer, an all-in-one computer, and a monitor.) There’s nothing more disheartening than buying a tablet with a screen that is too small. If you want to be able to use a tablet, you have to feel comfortable reading what’s on the screen. When the screen is too small, frustration levels rise. I have actually had customers who just totally abandoned a new tablet because the screen size wasn’t right for them. If you’re going to buy a tablet, visit a store where you can see the different screen sizes or take a closer look at the tablet your friend or relative uses.

Hard Drive Size – Mistake #3

One day, I was delivering a new computer I had sold to a customer. While setting it up for the husband, his wife asked me to look at her tablet. She explained that she had recently purchased it and had installed five games. However, when she went to install a sixth game, she received a message that there wasn’t enough space on the tablet to install it. I looked at the amount of storage available and there was NO space left on the hard drive. Then, I looked at the size of the tablet’s hard drive. It was a 16GB SSD (Solid State Drive). That’s about the smallest size drive you can get in a tablet. Of that space, the OS uses a portion of the drive and you can’t use that for anything else. This makes the available space even smaller.

I explained to my customer what the situation was and she asked if I could change the hard drive for something larger. When I explained that you can’t do that in the tablet she purchased she responded in disgust: “No wonder this *%#$#* thing was so cheap.” Needless to say, she had made mistake #1.

Mistake #4 of The Mistakes People Make When Buying A Tablet

Another error when purchasing a tablet is not paying attention to the amount of memory, also called RAM, that comes with the device. The truth is, you can never have enough memory. The computer that I’m using to write this post has 128GB of RAM and I still occasionally get the message that I’m out of memory. (Read how I got it back HERE.) You won’t find any tablets with that much RAM but you will see 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and higher. What amount of RAM should you purchase? My response to that question is: “Buy the tablet with the most RAM you can afford assuming you haven’t made any of the other mistakes listed here in this post.”

The Last Of The Mistakes – #5

The last item on this list is not thinking about how you want to use your new tablet. For instance, if you’re going to take your tablet to places that don’t normally have Wi-Fi, you would need a tablet with a cellular connection. These tablets are more expensive to purchase plus you need a plan to use them when off of Wi-Fi. However, those costs are worth it if you really need the ability to use the tablet when not near any Wi-Fi source. On the other hand, if you’re only using the tablet at home, there’s no reason to pay extra for the cellular option.

Besides that consideration, do you want to be able to draw or write on the tablet? If that’s the case, then you need to make sure you purchase a tablet with a pen or at least with the option to add a pen.

Another thing to think about is battery life. Will you routinely be using the tablet for long periods of time without the ability to recharge it? If so, you need to look for long battery life. If not, you can skip even thinking about this specification.

Finally, while all tablets are pretty lightweight, you should consider the weight of the tablet if you’re going to travel with it. What’s the lightest tablet you can purchase that fits your needs?

Avoid These Errors

From making the mistake of purchasing a tablet based on price to not thinking about how you’re going to use it, these are all errors that can cause you frustration and money! Consider this post before you buy!