Tablets. You see them everywhere these days. Chances are you may have played around with one already. But then you may have asked yourself why should anyone buy this device or what is it that you can do with a tablet that you cannot with a smartphone or a laptop that you may already own. The thing is, with tablets, it has never been about what you can do with it but how you can do those things. Let's take a look at some of these things that would make your tablet purchase a more sensible one.

Web browsing

Browsing the web on a tablet is a completely different experience as compared to using a smartphone or a laptop. It is a more casual and touching the screen to scroll the page feels a lot more natural. Since the display is also bigger than a smartphone screen, you can see the entire page without having to zoom in or out. The web browsers in tablets come with support for Flash, JavaScript, CSS and upcoming ones like HTML5. This means you will see the page exactly the way you would on a laptop display, but in a more intimate setting with a control mechanism that feels a lot more natural.

Writing

The full-size keyboards on most tablets are wonderfully comfortable to type on. And the best part about these keyboards is that they are only there when you need them and gone when you don't. For someone who types a lot of mail or writes for a living, a tablet is the perfect device due to its compact dimensions, comfortable typing experience and light weight.

Apps like Pages, Simplenote and Evernote, are made specifically for writers in mind and come with support for text formatting, etc. You even get keyboard docks for tablets, such as the Logitech Tablet Keyboard, so when you are near a desk, you can plug it in and type on a more classical keyboard.

Watch movies and TV shows

Since Tablets are designed to last for up to ten hours on a single charge. You can watch two more movies or few extra episodes of your favorite TV show in that extra time over a laptop. And you surely know how important battery life is on the move when you are away from a charging point.

In-car Entertainment

Make your time in traffic more enjoyable (when you aren't driving, of course). Be it a movie that you missed out on or the latest episode of a TV series, it is a great way keeping yourself entertained while your car continues to crawl. You also get accessories such as the Snugg Car Headrest Mount Holder, which can be mounted behind the head rest of the car seat for the rear passengers to enjoy a hands-free viewing experience.

Gaming

Whether it is simple, pickup-and-play games like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope or Fruit Ninja or games with high quality 3D graphics, such as Infinity Blade, Dead Space or Real Racing 2 HD, tablets have you covered. Simply put, you'll never be bored if you have a tablet.

You even have some cool accessories for tablets, like stick-on joysticks such as the Logitech Joystick for the Apple iPad that attaches to the screen and turns your iPad into a controller with a display built-in. You can even connect it to a TV and play the game on a bigger screen.

Reading

One of the best applications for a tablet is as an eBook reader. You now have access to thousands of eBooks across different publishers and from apps such as the iBook Store, Amazon Kindle app, Barnes and Noble Bookstore app and the NOOK app. And thanks to the color display, you can have images or even videos inside your books.

You can even subscribe to news papers such as the New York Times or a magazine like TIME or Popular Mechanics through their dedicated apps. Or if you are a comic book fan, you can even download and read comics from your favorite publisher using apps for Marvel Comics or the DC Comics. All this in a device that is thin and just as light as a regular book.

Viewing photos

Vacations, birthday celebrations, kids, family functions; we all love to look at and show off pictures with friends. Tablet offers you amazing brag value with a big high resolution color screen. Some tablets also come with SD card slots or you can get an adaptor so you can instantly transfer your images from your camera's SD card to the device and enjoy them on the large high-resolution display.

You can even edit the picture on the tablet using some amazing image editing applications or instantly share it using the Facebook or Twitter app. But best of all you can simply have a slide show of your favorite images running on the screen and the device kept on a table as a digital photo frame. If you have someone over, you can just pick it up and instantly share your images with them. And flicking the images by a simple touch of a finger is a lot cooler than aiming for the 'Next Image' with a mouse pointer.

Office

If you think you need a computer to work on office documents you probably haven't seen iWork for the iPad. This suite of applications can handle all your documents, spreadsheets and presentations as well. Not only can it open them but it also has a powerful editor that makes full use of the touchscreen interface and gives you the same level of functionality that you would find in a desktop-software. Other tablets too have their own version of office applications. And if you prefer to use Google Docs instead, you can even use that on the tablet. Also, if you want to view the documents on a big screen or projector, you can even connect it directly using HDMI-out or through an adaptor.

Education

Tablets can actually help your children learn and develop. The iPad, for instance, has a lot of educational apps meant for children, such as Mathboard, Solar System and Intro to Letters that teaches them how to read and write. These apps are simple enough to be used by children. No wonder then that these days you find videos of two year-olds using an iPad. This is something you just cannot do on a desktop computer due to the complexity of the operation and a smartphone is just too small for such purposes.

And the educational advantages aren't limited to small children. If you go to a school or college where you can take laptop, it will be a lot easier to take a tablet with you, especially if all you have to do is take down notes on it. Thanks to the touchscreen, you can even quickly draw something on it, or take a picture with the camera, or simply record the lecture. If you're an adult, you may want to learn a new language or find out what some of the great minds have to say through the TED app.

Navigation

People use their smartphones these days all the time for navigation in their cars. But would you rather read the map on a 4-inch display situated three feet away from your face while driving instead of, say, a 10-inch one? Most tablets have GPS and 3G connectivity and excellent navigation applications, which makes them a boon to have if you use in-car navigation a lot. As a bonus, it can also act as entertainment devices for your other passengers when you don't need it for navigation.

Now, if you're wondering which tablet to choose, here's our little guide that will help you choose the one that suits your needs the best. Go through the list below and see which description fits you best.

Now, if you're wondering which tablet to choose, here's our little guide that will help you choose the one that suits your needs the best. Go through the list below and see which description fits you best.

No holds barred

Are you the kind of person who wants the best of everything and are willing to pay for it? Then the Apple iPad 2 is for you, specifically the 64GB 3G model. The iPad currently has one of the most powerful hardware in the tablet space, an operating system that has been designed ground up for it and rich collection of apps and games that is the best in the business. It also has the widest range of accessories available for it. If money is no object and you want the best of everything, this is the one to get.

Business user

If you are a business user who swears by his BlackBerry, then you should consider the PlayBook. Made by the same company that manufactures BlackBerry phones, the PlayBook syncs with your phone and automatically gets all your push mails and calendar entries without the need of any complicated configurations. For those deeply engrossed in the BlackBerry ecosystem, the PlayBook is the perfect device to have.

Android fan

If you are an Android fan, or someone who uses Google's services such as Gmail, Google Calendar, gTalk, Google Docs, etc. a lot, or simply someone who likes to tinker with the software, mod it, and install a custom ROM on it, then an Android tablet such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 is your best bet. Thanks to the open source Android OS, you can customize your device without any restrictions and perhaps take it beyond what the device was originally capable of. The Galaxy Tab 750 is currently one the best Android tablets on the market, thanks to a superb 10.1-inch wide-screen HD display, super slim 8.6mm body and dual cameras with 1080p video recording. Another great option would be the Motorola Xoom and although it is not as slim as the Galaxy Tab 750 it is a bit cheaper and also has expandable storage space.

Compact tablets

Not everyone wants a full sized tablet. If you are someone who wants something more pocketable then consider a 7-inch tablet. They offer all the functions of a bigger 10-inch tablet but in a form-factor that can be fit in a coat pocket. You also have plenty of options to choose from in this category. For example there is the HTC Flyer, which is the absolute best right now if you are looking for a compact tablet. It's loaded with features but the highlight is the capacitive stylus that lets you scribble on the display like a notepad.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is another good option. It loses out to Flyer in terms of features and performance but is quite a bit cheaper as well. And if you want something even cheaper, then there is the Viewsonic ViewPad 7, which despite the modest price offers a lot for the money.

On a shoestring budget

Not everyone has upwards of 30k to spend on a tablet. But if you are on a tighter budget and still want to buy a tablet, fear not, because there are plenty of options available for you now. The one that currently stands out is the new Viewsonic ViewPad 7. It is an Android tablet that manages to pack quite a punch.

For around Rs. 15,000 you get a 7-inch touchscreen display, 3 megapixel camera on the back, VGA camera on the front, stereo speakers, 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and expandable memory. It even looks and feels like a premium tablet with a solid build quality to match.

The ViewPad 7 can also work as a mobile phone, if you wish to use it as one. There is no earpiece on it so one would need to use headphones along with the built-in microphone or pair it with a Bluetooth headset to make calls. The battery of the ViewPad 7 gives you 4-6 hours of heavy usage and about 5 hours while playing videos continuously with headphones on and at moderate volume. That's as good as watching two full movies.

To sum it up the Viewsonice ViewPad 7 comes with good looks, premium build quality, Android platform, a mobile phone with 3G and enough juice to watch two full movies on a single charge. What more could one want?

As you can see, tablets aren't as frivolous as most people believe them to be. They can add actual value to your life and although they are far from replacing your computer at this point they can very well fill that gap between your smartphone and a computer and give you the best of both worlds.