Netbook vs Tablet – How to choose the best solution

We’ve seen the tablet market heat up to amazing levels here in mid 2011. Most of the major manufacturers have released an Android tablet and there are plenty more coming as the rush to Holiday 2011 shopping season gets closer.

We also appreciate the fact that you may not have come to a conclusion about buying a tablet and whether a netbook is something you are comparing a tablet to. It makes sense, both tablets and netbooks are in the same genre which is a secondary and portable computer. So when it comes to netbook vs tablet, what is the best choice?

The fact is, with the Asus Transformer tablet and the very popular keyboard dock, you can see where buying certain tablets allows you have have a netbook experience. We certainly think that this is the trend. The netbook vs tablet debate is becoming less of a debate because tablets are starting to have keyboard dock accessories. So you can pretty much get the netbook world even though you bought a tablet.

The one main different right now between netbook vs tablet is with the operating system. Netbooks ship with the Windows 7 operating system. If you want a tablet that also runs Windows 7, your options are a lot more limited. There are 2 real top tablet picks for Windows 7 tablets and those are the Asus EP121 12.1-inch tablet and the new Gigabyte 10.1-inch Windows 7 tablet. Aside from that there aren’t many. So if you’re adamant about having Windows 7 on a tablet, we’re not sure you will be satisfied with your options.

Windows 7 is not a tablet optimized operating system but the 12.1-inch Asus EP121 does seem to be big enough to overcome the Windows 7 tablet shortcomings.

So ultimately in 2011 and beyond, the netbook vs tablet debate will simmer and possibly go away. We see most manufacturers stealing the Asus docking concept and actually having a full fledged keyboard dock that includes a battery just like Asus. It certainly seems like the future. For those Windows operating system fans, the debate for now is a bit more valid. You will see Windows 8 likely early in 2011 and at that point, expect the options to expand significantly.