Children tablets

The quality of children’s tablets varies enormously, though, so it pays to know what to look for. Although specifications play a part. it’s important to get a device that can withstand rough handling: kids and fragile technology don’t mix well.

Hardware
One disadvantage of most children’s tablets is that they have screens with poor viewing angles, unlike an iPad or ocher tablet with an IPS screen. Some are better than others, though. Again, check reviews before you buy. Also look for a tablet chat comes with a rubber bumper, as it’s bound to be dropped on a regular basis. The nabi 2 and Kuno 7 include these in the box.

Battery life is important. since you don’t want to end up with a tablet that lasts only a couple of hours before needing to be connected to the mains or a new set of batteries. In the latter case, rechargeable batteries are advisable. Cameras are included on most tablets but not all. If you want a tablet to double as a digital camera and camcorder, look for one with a rear-facing camera. Front-facing cameras are good only for self-portraits and video chat.

Finally, check the ports and controls. Tablets that lack hardware volume buttons are frustrating, and look for an HDMI output it you want to be able to hook the device up to a big-screen TV.

Software 

Most children’s tablets are based on Android, but don’t provide access to Google’s Play store Typically. you’ll be restricted to the manufacturer’s own store. which may have a limited selection of apps and games, and they’re usually more expensive than similar apps in Googles store. 

The software that comes preloaded is also important. since it determines how much play time your child will get from the tablet before you have to start spending more money to keep them entertained. Another thing to look for is a web browser that restricts which sites they can visit and includes other parental controls for limiting their usage.

Parental controls
If you opt for a standard tablet for your child, you should be aware that your kids will be able to access pretty much all the content you might have blocked on a desktop PC or laptopAn easy way to restrict internet access and any other communication is to enable flight mode before you give the device to your child. Savvy kids will easily work out how to disable this, however.

iOS tablets
Apple has added to iOS some parental controls, but they will apply to anyone who uses the iPad. To set up an iPad for your kids to use, tap Settings, General, Restrictions. You’ll have to enter a PIN to enable restrictions.

You can disable certain built-In apps such as Safari, but you can restrict other apps only by their age rating (or disallow access entirely). Similarly, you can restrict films by age.TV shows by those rated Caution and music or podcasts with explicit content. You will also probably want to disable location services for social-networking apps. There are lots of other privacy settings that prevent apps from accessing your data, and you can disable multiplayer games and the adding of
new friends in Game Center. It’s sensible to disable in-app purchases, as well as the ability to install apps.

Android tablets
Google’s Android OS doesn’t have much in the way of parental controls, although its Google Play app store does offer content filtering. Launch Google Play, then press the Menu button and choose Settings. Content filtering. You can allow apps rated for low, medium or high maturity.

Consider the free Kid Mode app. This lets kids play their favourite Android games, read stories and paint pictures, but there’s no way to accidentally buy anything. delete your emails or access another app. We also recommend the parental-control apps from Kaspersky, Norton and the popular Funamo. 

LeapPad2 Explorer™

Price: $99.99     Website: http://www.leapfrog.com     

LeapPad2 Explorer™ Learning Tablet

SPECIFICATIONS
Suitable for 3-9 years; 500MHz IF 2000 processor; 4GB storage; 5in (480x272) touchscreen; stylus; 2Mp front- and rear4acing cameras; 4x AA batteries required; up to nine hours claimed battery life; 267x64x292mm;950g

PROS: Educational benefits; relatively stylish, tough design; 300-plus games and apps; front- and rear-facing cameras CONS: Requires four A batteries; expensive games and apps VERDICT: A proper little tablet with apps and games that can capture a child’s imagination

Nabi 2

Price: $199.99     Website: http://www.nabitablet.com/specs/nabi2

Fuhu Nabi 2

SPECIFICATIONS
7in (1024x768, 169ppi) capacitive multitouch screen; Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich; 1.3GHz nVidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor;1GB RAM, 8GB storage; 802.1 lbFg/n; Bluetooth 3.0; GPS; 2Mp, 720p front camera; 2x stereo speakers; 3.5mm headphone jack; microUSB 2.0; microSD (SDHC compatible); mini-HDMI; non-removable battery; 221x154x29mm; 610g
PROS: Very good web browsing and general performance; safe to leave with children unsupervised; tough, non-toxic build  CONS: U S-centric software; poor viewing angles; no access to Google Play  VERDICT: Easily the best kids’ tablet we’ve seen, but it needs Anglicising

InnoTab 2

Price: $69.99     Website: http://www.vtechkids.com

Vtech InnoTab 2

SPECIFICATIONS
51n screen; 2GB storage; 1.3Mp rotating camera; SD slot; 4x AA batteries; 30x60x280mm; 720g 

PROS: Rotating camera; microphone; pull-out stand; great range of software available; expandable storage; educational  CONS: Not as stylish as Leap Pad; toy-like  VERDICT: Destined to be a hit with all kidsunder the age of eight1 and a true rival to the LeapFrog Leap Pad

Kurio 7

Price: $198.94     Website: http://www.kurioworld.com/

Kurio 7

SPECIFICATIONS
7in (800x480) capacitive multitouch screen; Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich; 1.2GHz Allwinner AlO
single-core processor; Mali 400 graphIcs; 1GB RAM; 4GB storage; microSD; 802.11b/!n; 0.3Mp, 2Mp cameras, 720p video; Mini-USB; Mini HDMI; 3.5mm headphone jack; 195x122x11mm; 352g

PROS: Decent parental controls; one of the better tablets to leave unsupervised with a child; tough design; user profiles  CONS: Slow processor; poor battery life  VERDICT: Only the hardware holds back what would otherwise have been a great tablet for all the family

Arnova ChildPad

Price: $169.95     Website: http://www.kurioworld.com/

Arnova ChildPad

SPECIFICATIONS
7in (800x480) capacitive touchscreen; AndroId 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich; 16Hz ARM Cortex AS processor; 4GB storage; microSDHC; 223x142x12.2mm; 380g

PROS: Parental controls; full Android interface; cheap; capacitive screen  CONS: Poor camera and sound quality; naff apps; interface not very child-friendly  VERDICT: It looks the part, but a fiddly interface and substandard games means we can’t recommend the Arnova Child Pad

iPad Mini vs Google Nexus 7

Google’s taken a hit on the pricing of its Nexus 7, hoping to encourage rake-up of the Android platform and content sales. We never expected Apple to match that price with its iPad mini, which costs £110 more than the Nexus 7 at the same 16GB capacity.

The Nexus 7 is the smaller tablet at 120x 199mm versus 135x200mm, but the mini is both thinner and lighter: the Nexus 7 is 10.5mm and 340g: the iPad mini measures 7.2mm and weighs in at 308g.

Given this slightly larger chassis, it’s no surprise to find a larger 7.9in screen on the mini. Its I 024x768 resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio matches that of the iPad 2. whereas the 7in Google panel offers a higher resolution of 1280x800 pixels. This results in a 216ppi pixel pitch for Google’s tablet; 163 ppi for the mini.

 

iPad Mini vs Google Nexus 7

In our testing the Nexus 7 was also the faster of the two tablets, with its quad-core nVidiaTegra 3 chip able to offer more oomph than the iPad minis 1GHz Apple AS dual-core processor.

Neither tablet accepts removable memory cards to boost the internal storage capacity, although the iPad mini offers a 64GB option where the Nexus 7 maxes out at 32GB.

Google’s Nexus 7 has a front-facing 1,2 Mp camera; the iPad mini matches this and gets one up with a 5 Mp rear-facing iSight camera.

The iPad mini is charged through Apple’s new Lightning connector, introduced with the Phone 5, while the Nexus 7 takes universal Micro USB. Both have Wi-Fl and Bluetooth connectivity on board, although Apple’s tablet is dual-band and the firm is touting faster speeds via channel bonding. The Nexus 7, meanwhile, adds NFC to the spec sheet. Mobile 3G connectivity is an option for both tablets, and the mini also supports 4G LTE in the UK.

The major difference between these two tablets is the software they run — that’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for the Nexus 7, and iOS 6.0 for the mini. You can read our reviews of each on pages 10 and 12 respectively.

With similar battery packs inside, expect both tablets to last around 10 hours when surfing the web.

iPad mini vs iPad 4

For a long time Apple refrained from creating a small-screen tablet, but it’s no longer content with dominating only the large-screen tablet market: it wants the lot. But has it compromised on quality to create the mini, or is it possible that great things really do come in small packages?

Apple has stuck to its usual pricing structure for its fourth-generation iPad, which starts at £399 and goes up to £659. Meanwhile, the iPad mini starts at a more affordable £269 for the most basic model, which extends to £529.

There are no prizes for guessing that the iPad mini is smaller and lighter than the iPad. The former measures I 35x200mm, and the latter 186x241 mm. The mini is also thinner and lighter, at 7.2mm and 308g versus 9.4mm and 652g.

The full-size Pad takes Apple’s tried-and-tested 9.7in IPS panel. Swap around the numbers and you get the mini’s screen size: 7.9in. Both sport a 4:3 aspect ratio, but differ in their resolution. Whereas the big iPad has a Retina-quality 2048x 1536 screen, the mini matches chat of the iPad 2 with 1024x768 pixels. The full-size iPads 264ppi pixel density is more impressive than the mini’s I 63ppi.

iPad 4 and iPad Mini

Apple tends to share very little information on its processors, but the Pad takes its latest 1.39GHz A6X dual-core chip with quad-core graphics, and the mini runs the iPad 2’s 1GHz A5.

As is always the case with iPads, both are available with l6-,32- or 64GB of storage, and neither has an expansion slot.

The cameras in use by the iPad and iPad mini are identical. You get a l.2Mp front-facing FaceTime HD (720p) camera, and a 5Mp rear-facing iSight snapper chat can also capture full-HD (I080p) video.

Connectivity specifications are like for like between these Pads. Both use Apple’s new Lightning connector, and both support dual-band 802. I I a/ b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. The Pad and iPad mini also offer the same support for 3G or 46 LTE connectivity in the UK. although its offered via a Micro-SIM in the fourth- generation iPad and a Nano-SIM in the mini.

The similarities continue with the battery life.Apple claims a 10-hour battery life for each of its iPads when surfing the web over Wi-Fi.

Sony Vaio Duo 11 Review

WINDOWS 8 Is actually designed to work equally well in tablets as in notebook or desktop Pcs, so it’s perfect for Sony’s new Vaio Duo 11 ultra- portable tablet hybrid. In its closed form, the Duo is just a 21mm-thick tablet. Its sensitive, glossy 11in IPS touchscreen picks fingerprints a little too easily, but it's color reproduction is brilliant and the 1920x1,080 display can easily play video in glorious HD. Move a tab on one side of the tablet and the screen hinges open on a plastic support to reveal a narrow keyboard with small widely spaced keys.

Either it’s in tablet or laptop configuration, the display rotates its details freely, using a combination of accelerometer and gyro sensors to work out the correct orientation for that screen at any point. This sometimes meant the screen switched to portrait mode when we were using it with the keyboard open. Fortunately, Sony has anticipated the problem and includes a small button on the back of the Duo that enables and disables autorotation. You can also turn off rotation manually in the Screen Resolution configurations.

There’s no track pad, however , you can get other options for controlling your pointer. The capacitive touchscreen responds readily to multitouch gestures using your fingers, but Sony has provided a double ended conductive stylus that included buttons. It's better for good control for the small, high-resolution display, making it simpler to complete delicate tasks like selecting and dragging folders within a directory tree.

If you’re not comfortable using touch controls or you’d rather not lift your hands {from the|of your} keyboard while typing, feel free to use the touchstick controller, that's nestled amid the B, G and H keys, along with three rudimentary mouse buttons beneath the space bar. Feel free to use those to right-, left- and middle-click just like you would with a more common input device. On the back of the Duo, behind the keyboard, is a pair of volume control buttons, that rest close to one of the integrated stereo speakers. These sound far richer than you’d have any right to expect off their size, however they’re still a little tinny.

If you need extra through your audio than such speakers can offer, feel free to use a stereo line output to connect earphones or a set of speakers. The Duo isn’t exactly overburdened with ports, but those it has are useful. There’s a memory card slot capable to handle high-capacity SDXC and Memory Stick HG Duo cards, and also a Gigabit Ethernet port. HDMI and VGA video outputs enable it to be simple to connect a projector, Television or a 2nd screen, and there are 2 USB3 ports for high-speed external storage devices.

The rest of the specification will be pretty impressive, as you’d expect at this price. The processor is a dual-core mobile Core i7-3517U that runs at 1.9GHz. It has integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics processing capabilities, this means it can perform most 3D games if you reduce the level of quality settings enough. It handled around 3ofps in Dirt 3 at 720p and High Quality with anti-aliasing disabled, but we could only squeeze 2ofps out of Crysis 2 at high quality.

For a tablet, the Duo isn’t as light, stylish or comfortable to hold as Apple’s iPad, as an example, but it’s much more powerful, features a larger screen and works a good desktop operating system. It’s still reasonably comfortable to hold while you read the paper, watch a movie or pass it around in a meeting, however its tablet features feel secondary to its functions like a notebook. Transforming it from tablet to notebook is awkward and the stand that hinges out to support the screen in its upright position feels a little fragile. The Duo advantages of the new touchscreen applications and features in Windows 8, making it feel far less awkward than previous Windows tablets.Dual-band Wi-fl, a built-in GPS receiver and Bluetooth support complete the portable-friendly side of the specification.

Taken purely on its merits for a powerful ultra-portable laptop, the Vaio Duo 11 matches Asus’s award-winning 131n ZenBook Prime UX31A. However, its ilin screen, awkward unfolding mechanism and slightly bulky feel in tablet mode mean that) although it’s a great piece of equipment for power users on the move) it’s not quite advanced enough to win an award.

Top Tablets - July

Apple iPad 3rd Gen

Stunning, higher-def-than-hi-def screen. The best app and AV stores. Superb interface. Impressive graphical chops.

The best tablet, now a little bit better - make sure you get enough storage for all that Retina-ready gear ...
Screen apart, no huge leap on from the iPad 2 (below) (-)

Motorola Xoom review

The original Motorola Xoom was the first of the Android tablets, and had to bear the huge expectations of a fledgling industry. Alas, when it finally arrived, it just couldn’t live up to the hype. If anything, the rush to be first was its undoing, as several more-polished Android tablets bettered it only weeks later. So Motorola has taken its time to follow up the Xoom with a thinner, lighter sequel, and that patience looks to have paid dividends.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

Research in Motion (RIM) has launched the much awaited and anticipated PlayBook
2.0, its next generation operating system (OS) for its PlayBook tablet. We’re fairly impressed but the update is far too late and somewhat uninspiring.

The Messages app is by tar the best of the three additions and includes email and integration with social

Lenovo ThinkPad X

Lenovo's ThinkPad X is a convertible tablet PC in an ultraportable format, offering professional users a system that can capture pen input or be used just like a standard laptop as necessary. The X is slightly larger. mainly to accommodate the swivelling hinge that allows the screen to twist 180 degrees and fold back over the keyboard. enabling the system to operate as a slate-mode device.

Toshiba AT200

Toshiba’s third tablet is billed as the thinnest 10in slate in the world - and at just 7.7mm deep it makes the new iPad look porky. But there’s more to Stuffs tablet tests than whipping out the calipers. Here’s the real skinny on the dual-core Android Honeycomb- running AT 200.

The AT200 may be 1.7mm thinner than the Pad, but it’s also cut like a block rather than tapering at the edges, which actually makes it feel larger than many rivals. That said, unlike the Pad and Samsung Galaxy Tab

Top Tablet - April

Apple iPad 3
With its Retina Display, 1080p video and quad-core graphics, the new iPad – or iPad 3, whatever you want to call it – is without a doubt the best tablet you can buy. Apple's new iPad is set to take your tablet experience to a whole new level. Coupled with a 5MP camera, 1080p video and 4G connectivity, but with the very same price as the iPad 2, is the so-called Retina Display enough to keep Apple ahead of the baying Android pack?

Asus Padfone

With the Padfone you get a powerful smartphone which slots into a 10.1in, 1280x800-screened tablet, which itself hooks up to a keyboard dock to create a netbook. All three devices use the phone’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich brain and the OS manages the different components. changing battery drain and tinkering with layout depending on how you’re using it.

Sony Tablet P Review

BUILT
A clamshell design complemented by smooth curves in metallic finish at the top while maintaining a flat bottom. Both the top and bottom flaps are removable for accessing the SIM card slot and battery. Side panels in black plastic gels with the design by offering space for control such as power key, charging port and volume controls. Unlike most tablets, the Tablet P has a - It took rough seven hours to charge and lasted 8

Top Tablets

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime

Thinner and more powerful than the iPad 2, you might expect to see the quad-core, keyboard - toting. And if this were an Android- only list, it would be. But with fewer must have apps than iOS, this 10- incher fals Just short of Apple's best