Product Recommendation - [Air Cooler]

In this post, we are providing at glance the products we consider to be some of the best offerings in the market in their respective categories. The products mentioned below have been put to rigorous tests, compared against the competing products from multiple brands, and have been analysed on various aspects pertaining to their intended use. For a comprehensive post on Air Coolers, you may read our detailed guide - https://shoppinaire.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-complete-guide-to-buying-air-cooler.html

Personal Air Coolers
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11, Best Choice 12, Best Choice 13 and Best Choice 14

Desert/Window Air Coolers
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11, Best Choice 12, Best Choice 13, Best Choice 14, Best Choice 15 and Best Choice 16

Tower Air Coolers
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11 and Best Choice 12

Note: In our constant endeavour to assist you in making an informed buying decision, we test the new launches of the products on multiple parameters, and if they stand tall in our analysis we periodically add them to the below mentioned list of our recommended products. So, if you plan to make the purchase at a later time, you may visit the links once again at the very time of buying to ensure that the purchase turns out to be a very fruitful one.

Recapitulating on the most crucial aspects of buying a air cooler -

FORM FACTOR

• Personal Air Coolers

As the name suggests, personal air coolers are mobile air cooling appliances that can effectively cool areas up to 200 square feet and can be moved to any location within one’s house as per requirement. Due to the relatively smaller area personal air coolers can cater to, they are best suited for bedrooms and/or medium sized living rooms. Castor wheels are attached to the bottom of the frame of the air cooler which help to increase the maneuverability quotient of personal air coolers and thus make them very versatile devices ready for being put to use right out of the box. Due to their compact form factor, personal air coolers are offered in water tank capacities up to 40 litres which can easily provide moisture to the cooling pads for about 8–9 hours.

• Desert/Window Air Coolers

This category of air coolers is very popular among buyers for the fact that its cooling prowess is not limited to just one bedroom or a small living room, but to areas in excess of 550 square feet. Therefore, just one desert air cooler is sufficient enough to adequately cool a major section of one’s home. Their massive storage tank, capable of holding up to 100 litres of water can provide efficient cooling for the entire day. Desert air coolers are also known by the name ‘Window air coolers’ for their place of installation being a window, just like that of window air conditioners. Unlike personal air coolers, desert air coolers need to be installed by a skilled technician filling the gaps and crevices by a suitable material created as a result of removal of glass pane from the window and installation of the air cooler in its place.

• Tower Air Coolers

Tower air coolers are by and large quite similar to personal air coolers both in terms of maneuverability as well as the effective area they can efficiently cool, but with the added benefit of an even smaller and a more aesthetically pleasing form factor as compared to personal air coolers. Since tower air coolers are more tall than wide, they take even lesser space on ground than personal air coolers making them an ideal choice for homes where space is a little constrained. 

 

IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER

• Power rating. For most homes, an air cooler with power rating between 130 - 230 W would make for an ideal choice. Power rating lesser than 130 W would result in relatively less cooling, and greater than 230 W would ensure excellent cooling, but would entail higher energy consumption which would result in higher than expected electricity bills. Therefore, power rating between the mentioned range would ensure a perfect balance between effective cooling and energy efficiency.

• Types of cooling pads. Primarily, cooling pads of air coolers can be made from two materials - Cellulose or Wood shavings/synthetic fibre. 

• Cellulose cooling pads - The cooling pads that make use of cellulose have an appearance as that of honeycomb and are appropriately named so. Such cooling pads are quite effective in providing the necessary chillness in the room, and also rank quite high in terms of durability, requiring replacement only once in two seasons. A great benefit of honeycomb cooling pads arises from the fact that apart from providing potent cooling, they also tend to dampen vibrations arising out of the air cooler when it is in use, thereby reducing noise. On the flip side, these tend to be slightly pricey and typically cost thrice as the ones made out of wood wool. However, these are costly in nature, typically thrice as costly as the second type of cooling pads called ‘aspen/wood wool cooling pads’.

• Wood wool - Cooling pads made out of wood wool have an appearance as that of dried grass and have a texture as that of wood shavings. These cooling pads are relatively less efficient and durable than the honeycomb ones and generally require replacement every season, but carry a huge plus point of being quite economical. As a result, air coolers that make use of wood wool cooling pads are relatively less pricey as well.

COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

• Low-grade overheating electric motor. The electric motor rotates at high RPMs to power the blower/fan that throws cool moistened air into the surroundings. This makes the electric motor one of the most crucial components of the air cooler and therefore accounts to almost 30 per cent of the entire cost of the product. Hence, it is one of the favourite areas of some manufacturers to cut costs and increase their profit margins. Some manufacturers resort to using a below-par electric motor that is not powerful enough to keep the fan rotating at high speeds for long periods of time. After only a few minutes of use, these electric motors tend to get extremely hot. As you might be aware that metals expand on heating, which causes the copper windings in the motor to initially distort and then finally melt, thereby leaving the air cooler unit out of operation. Cost of repairing the motor might range from a few hundred bucks to more than a thousand bucks and this process is recurring.

• Inefficient cooling pads. Cooling performance of an air cooler is a result of the material used in manufacturing the cooling pads as well as their thickness. As a rule of thumb, cooling pads having thickness greater than 85 mm are most effective in sufficiently cooling the space. Thicker cooling pads also last longer than their thinner counterparts and require less frequent replacement. However, thicker cooling pads are a little costly, so in order to cut production costs and to reduce the overall cost of the product so as to lure innocent customers, some manufacturers resort to using thinner, poorly fabricated cooling pads, the cooling prowess of which is inadequate, which often results in leaving the users feeling uncomfortable and uneasy despite the air cooler being in operation for a long time.

For an extensive buying guide on Air Coolers, head over to our detailed post - https://shoppinaire.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-complete-guide-to-buying-air-cooler.html

The complete guide to buying an Air Cooler

As the chillness of the winter months withers down to give way to a balmy and colourful spring, one often tends to idealize the climate of one’s place. However, this relief is often short lived as the hot and humid summer that follows already has something else in store for us. As summer begins to roar and temperatures start to soar, moving out in the sun seems to be a daunting task. But, there is not much respite in staying inside either. The discomfort and uneasiness caused by the heat often leaves one completely drenched in sweat and averse to summer even when one is within the confines of the four walls. In such scenarios, an external cooling source is required to ward off the high temperatures and to facilitate an environment conducive to proper functioning of the human body.

This is when an air cooler comes to the rescue…

An air cooler serves the sweet spot between the comfort provided by a regular ceiling fan and a heavy duty air conditioner, both in terms of initial cost as well as recurring expenditure in the name of electricity bills. Hence, it is one of the most sought after home appliances.

Now, if you are a frequent visitor to the posts on this blog, you might be probably aware that we take each topic from the grass root level and we will do the same with this post as well. We will begin with the basics first, understand how an air cooler works. Then, we will discuss the different types of air coolers available in the market along with the advantages and disadvantages of each. Following which, we would analyse some important aspects of air coolers that one should keep in mind before buying one. Next, we will proceed onto discussing how some brands try to cut manufacturing costs and manufacture below par products that have a very short shelf life and require frequent service. After which, we will move onto deciding which are some of the best air coolers available in the market that are not only efficient in adequately cooling the space but are also made of high-quality and durable components, thereby offering the most value for one’s money.

You might be glad to know that my father works at a company that manufactures home and kitchen appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, air coolers, vacuum cleaners, etc. So, at home, we frequently have a conversation about these appliances, what goes into making them, how some brands try to cut manufacturing costs to increase their profit margin etc.
Today, I will try my best to pass on the knowledge that I have acquired from my father over the years, to you so as to help you make a good buying decision.

So without further a do, let’s begin…

THE BASICS
An air cooler is an appliance that works on the principle of imparting chill to the air by evaporation of water. Due to this fact, air coolers are also known by the name 'evaporative coolers' in some places. Evaporative cooling is based on the fact that water absorbs a large amount of heat in order to evaporate. The temperature of air drops significantly when phase transition of water from liquid to vapour state takes place.

This method of cooling the air takes much less energy than the principle of refrigeration used in air conditioners. Lesser energy consumption translates into lesser electricity bills, thus higher savings. In dry climates, evaporative cooling also provides an additional advantage of enhancing the moisture content of air, thereby providing added benefits to the consumers.

Hot air from the surroundings is pulled inside the air cooler where it passes through moistened pads. A water tank situated at the bottom of the air cooler provides continuous supply of water to the pads. An electric pump fitted inside the air cooler is responsible for taking streams of water from the water tank up towards the cooling pads and moistening them. The moist pads absorb heat from the air which results in evaporation of moisture from the cooling pads, thereby cooling the air by as much as 8 - 12 degree celcius and enhancing its moisture content. The cool and moistened air is then recirculated by the means of a fan driven by an electric motor into the environment which lowers down the surrounding temperatures and provides comfort to those nearby.

(Image of working of an Air Cooler)

Air coolers are primarily manufactured in three configurations:-

• Personal Air Coolers
• Desert/Window Air Coolers
• Tower Air Coolers

Personal Air Coolers
As the name suggests, personal air coolers are mobile air cooling appliances that can effectively cool areas up to 200 square feet and can be moved to any location within one’s house as per requirement. Due to the relatively smaller area personal air coolers can cater to, they are best suited for bedrooms and/or medium sized living rooms. Castor wheels are attached to the bottom of the frame of the air cooler which help to increase the maneuverability quotient of personal air coolers and thus make them very versatile devices ready for being put to use right out of the box. Due to their compact form factor, personal air coolers are offered in water tank capacities up to 40 litres which can easily provide moisture to the cooling pads for about 8–9 hours.

Desert/Window Air Coolers
This category of air coolers is very popular among buyers for the fact that its cooling prowess is not limited to just one bedroom or a small living room, but to areas in excess of 550 square feet. Therefore, just one desert air cooler is sufficient enough to adequately cool a major section of one’s home. Their massive storage tank, capable of holding up to 100 litres of water can provide efficient cooling for the entire day. Desert air coolers are also known by the name ‘Window air coolers’ for their place of installation being a window, just like that of window air conditioners. Unlike personal air coolers, desert air coolers need to be installed by a skilled technician filling the gaps and crevices by a suitable material created as a result of removal of glass pane from the window and installation of the air cooler in its place. 

(Image of a desert air cooler being used outdoors)

Tower Air Coolers
Tower air coolers are by and large quite similar to personal air coolers both in terms of maneuverability as well as the effective area they can efficiently cool, but with the added benefit of an even smaller and a more aesthetically pleasing form factor as compared to personal air coolers. Since tower air coolers are more tall than wide, they take even lesser space on ground than personal air coolers making them an ideal choice for homes where space is a little constrained.

Now, having learnt about the three types of air coolers along with the effective area each of them can efficiently cool, let us proceed to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of air coolers.

PROS:-

• Low energy consumption. A typical 1.5 ton window air conditioner with 5 star energy rating consumes approximately 1.4 - 1.8 units of electricity per hour. Whereas, a desert cooler consumes a measly 0.2 - 0.5 units of electricity per hour. Assuming both the appliances run for 8 hours a day, one would be able to reduce the energy consumption by about 40 per cent, which would result in significantly lesser electricity bills.

• Little to no maintenance. Apart from annual replacement of cooling pads, which again are relatively inexpensive, air coolers do not require any other kind of maintenance. Hence, unlike air conditioners which require to be thoroughly cleaned each season before they can be brought into operation, air coolers can be brought into use as per one’s wish by only having installed a fresh set of cooling pads.

• Dual purpose. Since air coolers work on the principle of evaporative cooling, the phenomenon entails that apart from cooling the area, moisture and humidity levels of the surrounding air are also enhanced. The results are somewhat comparable to the cool-moisture rich breeze one would feel standing beside a waterfall. Therefore, regions that are predominantly dry, where the surrounding air has little moisture content would benefit significantly from the dual characteristics of air coolers. Even in coastal and other relatively humid regions, air coolers make for a great proposition in the months preceding rainfall.

• No use of refrigerants. Unlike air conditioners that rely on refrigerants like Hydro-Chloro-Fluoro-Carbon (HCFC) or Hydro-Fluoro-Carbon (HFC) to provide necessary cooling, with air coolers it’s just air and water. Those sophisticated odourless refrigerants that find their application in air conditioners, upon accidental leak might prove to be harmful to humans if inhaled. Additionally, refrigerant leaks are a major cause of ozone layer depletion, and global warming in general.

CONS:-

• A little noisy. Since air coolers make use of a fan/blower to throw a cool breeze of air into the room, the functioning of a moving fan is often not pleasing to the ears. Additionally, other components of the air cooler such as the electric motor and the electric pump also contribute their bit to the already noisy environment, however with time, one gets used to the sounds but those who prefer to have an utmost peaceful home environment might not find air coolers to their liking. In such case, air conditioners make for a better alternative since they offer a quieter and often noiseless operation.

• Not very effective in humid conditions. As stated before, air coolers work best when surrounding air is dry. Typically, the humidity level up to which air coolers are most effective is below 65 per cent. If humidity level is higher, the additional moisture created in the home by the air cooler would only add to the uneasiness and overall discomfort in breathing. In such a scenario, using an air conditioner may prove to be the only source of respite.

• Continual monitoring of water level. As the entire operation of air coolers relies on availability of water in the storage tank, one has to periodically replenish the water in the tank. Furthermore, loading water in the tank is itself a chore as one has to unload several buckets of water depending upon the water tank capacity or connect a hose pipe to the inlet port of the water tank, then keep a watch on the water level and disconnect the hose pipe before the tank overflows. In view of the same, if one is more inclined towards a hassle free appliance that does not require recurring monitoring again, an air conditioner makes for a wiser choice.

So, having analysed the Pros and Cons of owning an air cooler, let us proceed to examine some of the important aspects of air coolers that one should keep in consideration before buying one:-

IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER

• Power rating. For most homes, an air cooler with power rating between 130 - 230 W would make for an ideal choice. Power rating lesser than 130 W would result in relatively less cooling, and greater than 230 W would ensure excellent cooling, but would entail higher energy consumption which would result in higher than expected electricity bills. Therefore, power rating between the mentioned range would ensure a perfect balance between effective cooling and energy efficiency.

• Types of cooling pads. Primarily, cooling pads of air coolers can be made from two materials - Cellulose or Wood shavings/synthetic fibre. 

• Cellulose cooling pads - The cooling pads that make use of cellulose have an appearance as that of honeycomb and are appropriately named so. Such cooling pads are quite effective in providing the necessary chillness in the room, and also rank quite high in terms of durability, requiring replacement only once in two seasons. A great benefit of honeycomb cooling pads arises from the fact that apart from providing potent cooling, they also tend to dampen vibrations arising out of the air cooler when it is in use, thereby reducing noise. On the flip side, these tend to be slightly pricey and typically cost thrice as the ones made out of wood wool. However, these are costly in nature, typically thrice as costly as the second type of cooling pads called ‘aspen/wood wool cooling pads’.

• Wood wool - Cooling pads made out of wood wool have an appearance as that of dried grass and have a texture as that of wood shavings. These cooling pads are relatively less efficient and durable than the honeycomb ones and generally require replacement every season, but carry a huge plus point of being quite economical. As a result, air coolers that make use of wood wool cooling pads are relatively less pricey as well.

(Image of honeycomb cooling pad)

Now, having examined what one should keep into perspective before buying an air cooler for one’s use, let us proceed to understanding the ways in which some manufacturers (names not taken) try to cut manufacturing costs in order to maximize their own profits and in turn deliver a sub-standard product to the customers, the components of which have a very short shelf life and may require frequent repairs/replacements.

COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

• Low-grade overheating electric motor. The electric motor rotates at high RPMs to power the blower/fan that throws cool moistened air into the surroundings. This makes the electric motor one of the most crucial components of the air cooler and therefore accounts to almost 30 per cent of the entire cost of the product. Hence, it is one of the favourite areas of some manufacturers to cut costs and increase their profit margins. Some manufacturers resort to using a below-par electric motor that is not powerful enough to keep the fan rotating at high speeds for long periods of time. After only a few minutes of use, these electric motors tend to get extremely hot. As you might be aware that metals expand on heating, which causes the copper windings in the motor to initially distort and then finally melt, thereby leaving the air cooler unit out of operation. Cost of repairing the motor might range from a few hundred bucks to more than a thousand bucks and this process is recurring.

• Inefficient cooling pads. Cooling performance of an air cooler is a result of the material used in manufacturing the cooling pads as well as their thickness. As a rule of thumb, cooling pads having thickness greater than 85 mm are most effective in sufficiently cooling the space. Thicker cooling pads also last longer than their thinner counterparts and require less frequent replacement. However, thicker cooling pads are a little costly, so in order to cut production costs and to reduce the overall cost of the product so as to lure innocent customers, some manufacturers resort to using thinner, poorly fabricated cooling pads, the cooling prowess of which is inadequate, which often results in leaving the users feeling uncomfortable and uneasy despite the air cooler being in operation for a long time.

Now, having learnt how some manufacturers cut costs, let us proceed to zero down on some of the best air coolers available in the market that not only offer efficient cooling capabilities, but are also made of components that offer reliable and long-lasting service, thus providing most value for the money spent.

Note: In our constant endeavour to assist you in making an informed buying decision, we test the new launches of the products on multiple parameters, and if they stand tall in our analysis we periodically add them to the below mentioned list of our recommended products. So, if you plan to make the purchase at a later time, you may visit the links once again at the very time of buying to ensure that the purchase turns out to be a very fruitful one.

Personal Air Coolers
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11, Best Choice 12, Best Choice 13 and Best Choice 14

Desert/Window Air Coolers
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11, Best Choice 12, Best Choice 13, Best Choice 14, Best Choice 15 and Best Choice 16

Tower Air Coolers
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11 and Best Choice 12

Product Recommendation - [Tablet]

In this post, we are providing at glance the products we consider to be some of the best offerings in the market in their respective categories. The products mentioned below have been put to rigorous tests, compared against the competing products from multiple brands, and have been analysed on various aspects pertaining to their intended use. For a comprehensive post on Tablets, you may read our detailed guide - https://shoppinaire.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-detailed-guide-to-buying-tablet.html

Convertible Tablet PCs
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11 and Best Choice 12

Stand Alone Tablets
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10 and Best Choice 11

Note: In our constant endeavour to assist you in making an informed buying decision, we test the new launches of the products on multiple parameters, and if they stand tall in our analysis we periodically add them to the below mentioned list of our recommended products. So, if you plan to make the purchase at a later time, you may visit the links once again at the very time of buying to ensure that the purchase turns out to be a very fruitful one.

Recapitulating on the most crucial aspects of buying a Tablet -

FORM FACTOR

Convertible Tablets PCs

These tablets are commonly known as Tablet PCs and as the name suggests, solve dual purpose of functioning both as a laptop and as a tablet as and when required. These tablets are attached to the keyboard via a magnetic pin. One can attach or detach the tablet to the keyboard depending upon the required use.

When the keyboard is attached to the tablet, the combination works just like a regular laptop does with an added functionality of ‘touch-screen’. Convertible laptops mostly come with either a Windows OS or a Chrome OS, though the latest Apple iPad Pro features the dual capability as well. However, majority of Convertible tablet PC buyers are in the market for a Windows OS installed device. Though, the ones who are Android developers would find themselves more at home with the Chrome OS ones.

Now, let’s discuss the Pros and Cons of Convertible Tablet PCs.

PROS:-

• Portability. This one is obvious. You can carry this lightweight dual purpose device in tablet sleeves/cases, thus eliminating the need to carry big laptop bags around.

• Touch-Screen. You have to experience this functionality to cherish it. It’s so much better when you can touch that ‘Start’ button and all the other icons that you are habitual of clicking with a mouse. Having a touch screen functionality makes things so much better.

• Battery Life. This itself is a deciding factor for majority of users who are mostly on the go and find a tough time putting their laptops on charge for 2 hours straight only to get a 4.5 hour of battery life. This is when Tablet PCs come to the rescue, with some of the machines offering battery backup of upto 10 hours.

• Performance. These devices are fast, really fast. After pressing the power button, you can find a fully booted device and ready to take your commands in less than 15 seconds. This is really beneficial for users who require to do a lot of spontaneous tasks like sending an urgent mail to the clients.

CONS:-

• Fragile. No doubt, you have to be careful with these devices. Since the keyboard and screen are attached via a magnetic pin only, you have to be extra cautious with your handling. One hard jerk to the screen could cause it to detach from the pin and fall off.

• Limited Hardware upgradation possibility. These devices are compact in form, thus all the circuits and hardware components are assembled in a small space. So, there is no room for aftersales hardware upgradation. Thus, with these machines, it is advised to go with the hardware specifications that not only caters to your present needs but future proofs your device as well.

Stand Alone Tablets

These tablets are overgrown mobile phones, though with several added advantages that come with the larger form factor and screen real estate.

Each leading brand manufactures at least five to six such products with varying internal specifications so as to suit each type of user. These tablets, unlike the convertible tablet PCs do not have the functionality of connecting with a keyboard and working like a regular laptop. However, the absence of magnetic mechanism to attach the keyboard opens up more room for the hardware that can be installed onto the device. Thus, you find better sounding speakers and more RAM or internal storage in these devices than a similarly priced convertible tablet PC.

Here, unlike the Convertible Tablet PCs, the majority of tablets in the market run either the Android OS or the Apple’s iOS. This makes sense too, as buyers of these tablets want a mobile replacement and more than 95% of the mobile phones run either on these operating systems and people feel more at home when they find the same operating system in their tablets too.

(Image of a Stand Alone Tablet)

Now, let’s discuss the Pros and Cons of Stand Alone Tablets.

PROS:-

• Extremely portable. This is the prime positive point of these tablets and the single most important reason to why these tablets are sold in mind boggling numbers all over the world.

• Screen size. Whether you require a smaller 7 inch tablet or a larger 10.5 inch one. There is a tablet for each one of you, catering to your personalised requirements.

• Robust. These devices, unlike convertible tablet PCs do not have any detachable parts. The absence of any magnetic pins or hinges makes these tablets extremely robust and tough.

• Better Specifications at a lesser price. Since these tablets do not have the added functionality to work as a laptop, the cost comes down and that too by leaps and bounds.

CONS:-

• Limited functionality. This one is obvious. Since this is not a convertible tablet, it does not have to behave like one. The performance and the tasks you can accomplish on a convertible tablet PC can’t be accomplished on this. Take for example, you have to copy a paragraph of one word file to another. In a PC or a tablet PC, you can simply use the ‘Ctrl+C and ‘Ctrl+V’ command and your job is done, as simple as that. Achieving the same functionality in stand alone tablets is not possible due to hardware constraints - particularly, absence of keyboard.

• Performance. We knew this one was coming. Didn’t we? A stand alone tablet doesn’t have the prowess and the processing power to handle heavy tasks like music or video editing. Simply speaking, these tablets are not designed to tackle performance intensive tasks. After all, a 7 mm thin device can’t have enough space to fit in those dedicated GPUs and those heat sinks which are a must for performance intensive tasks.

For an extensive buying guide on Tablets, head over to our detailed post - https://shoppinaire.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-detailed-guide-to-buying-tablet.html

A detailed guide to buying a Tablet

Who could have imagined that a piece of technology that existed way back in 1972 would not get popularized or commercialized until the late 2000s. Thanks to the first iteration of tablet that came into existence in the form of an iPad in 2010, the term 'tablet' first started gaining recognition as an ultra portable computer. It's surprising that a gadget that had not even seen the light of the day until the past decade would eventually go on to become one of the essential pieces of hardware one needs to have in order to accomplish one's daily tasks. Be it is the online school attendees, be it the creative professionals, be it the binge-watchers, be it the news buff, a tablet has come a long way to appeal to a vast segment of consumers. 

Today, when it comes to buying a tablet, majority of buyers generally belong to one of these categories:-

One, who want a replacement for their laptop. They are tired of carrying the big, bulky laptops to their workplace each day, just to give a PowerPoint presentation or one who travels a lot and does not want to carry one's expensive laptops to watch movies/videos on the journey. They want something light, easy to carry device that works as well as their laptop, if not better.

Two, who want a replacement for their mobile phones. They are either gaming enthusiasts or students who study via online videos or are a heavy media consumer. In each case, the mobile phone’s screen is too less a real estate for them to fulfill the task they want to achieve.

 

In each case, the tablet manufacturers have flooded the market with products to fulfill the requirements for each type of user. However, not all the tablets available in the market are worth your money. In this post, we’ll discuss certain factors that a tablet must be tested upon to qualify it as either worthy of purchase or not and then go on to decide which tablet would be the right buy for you depending upon your usage.

Having spent 5 years in the tech. industry and having designed webpages and applications for both PC and tablets, I have formed a pretty good view of which product in the market is worth your time and money and which is not.

Having said that, I would like you to kindly identify yourself in one of the above two categories, depending upon your lifestyle and tablet buying requirement. This post shall cater to both the category of buyers, individually.

THE FIRST CATEGORY

Buyers belonging to this category want a truly capable work machine with an additional advantage of portability. The tablets that are targeted to this category of buyers are designed to work both as a regular Laptop and as a Tablet as per the user’s requirement and hence the name, Convertible Tablet PCs.

Convertible Tablets PCs
These tablets are commonly known as Tablet PCs and as the name suggests, solve dual purpose of functioning both as a laptop and as a tablet as and when required. These tablets are attached to the keyboard via a magnetic pin. One can attach or detach the tablet to the keyboard depending upon the required use.

When the keyboard is attached to the tablet, the combination works just like a regular laptop does with an added functionality of ‘touch-screen’. Convertible laptops mostly come with either a Windows OS or a Chrome OS, though the latest Apple iPad Pro features the dual capability as well. However, majority of Convertible tablet PC buyers are in the market for a Windows OS installed device. Though, the ones who are Android developers would find themselves more at home with the Chrome OS ones.

(Image of a Convertible Tablet PC)

Now, let’s discuss the Pros and Cons of Convertible Tablet PCs.

PROS:-

• Portability. This one is obvious. You can carry this lightweight dual purpose device in tablet sleeves/cases, thus eliminating the need to carry big laptop bags around.

• Touch-Screen. You have to experience this functionality to cherish it. It’s so much better when you can touch that ‘Start’ button and all the other icons that you are habitual of clicking with a mouse. Having a touch screen functionality makes things so much better.

• Battery Life. This itself is a deciding factor for majority of users who are mostly on the go and find a tough time putting their laptops on charge for 2 hours straight only to get a 4.5 hour of battery life. This is when Tablet PCs come to the rescue, with some of the machines offering battery backup of upto 10 hours.

• Performance. These devices are fast, really fast. After pressing the power button, you can find a fully booted device and ready to take your commands in less than 15 seconds. This is really beneficial for users who require to do a lot of spontaneous tasks like sending an urgent mail to the clients.

CONS:-

• Fragile. No doubt, you have to be careful with these devices. Since the keyboard and screen are attached via a magnetic pin only, you have to be extra cautious with your handling. One hard jerk to the screen could cause it to detach from the pin and fall off.

• Limited Hardware upgradation possibility. These devices are compact in form, thus all the circuits and hardware components are assembled in a small space. So, there is no room for aftersales hardware upgradation. Thus, with these machines, it is advised to go with the hardware specifications that not only caters to your present needs but future proofs your device as well.

Now let’s move on to the second category of users, i.e the mobile replacement seekers.

THE SECOND CATEGORY

The tablets in this category of users do not attach with any keyboard or any other accessory, hence the name, Stand Alone Tablets.

Stand Alone Tablets
These tablets are overgrown mobile phones, though with several added advantages that come with the larger form factor and screen real estate.

Each leading brand manufactures at least five to six such products with varying internal specifications so as to suit each type of user. These tablets, unlike the convertible tablet PCs do not have the functionality of connecting with a keyboard and working like a regular laptop. However, the absence of magnetic mechanism to attach the keyboard opens up more room for the hardware that can be installed onto the device. Thus, you find better sounding speakers and more RAM or internal storage in these devices than a similarly priced convertible tablet PC.

Here, unlike the Convertible Tablet PCs, the majority of tablets in the market run either the Android OS or the Apple’s iOS. This makes sense too, as buyers of these tablets want a mobile replacement and more than 95% of the mobile phones run either on these operating systems and people feel more at home when they find the same operating system in their tablets too.

(Image of a Stand Alone Tablet)

Now, let’s discuss the Pros and Cons of Stand Alone Tablets.

PROS:-

• Extremely portable. This is the prime positive point of these tablets and the single most important reason to why these tablets are sold in mind boggling numbers all over the world.

• Screen size. Whether you require a smaller 7 inch tablet or a larger 10.5 inch one. There is a tablet for each one of you, catering to your personalised requirements.

• Robust. These devices, unlike convertible tablet PCs do not have any detachable parts. The absence of any magnetic pins or hinges makes these tablets extremely robust and tough.

• Better Specifications at a lesser price. Since these tablets do not have the added functionality to work as a laptop, the cost comes down and that too by leaps and bounds.

CONS:-

• Limited functionality. This one is obvious. Since this is not a convertible tablet, it does not have to behave like one. The performance and the tasks you can accomplish on a convertible tablet PC can’t be accomplished on this. Take for example, you have to copy a paragraph of one word file to another. In a PC or a tablet PC, you can simply use the ‘Ctrl+C and ‘Ctrl+V’ command and your job is done, as simple as that. Achieving the same functionality in stand alone tablets is not possible due to hardware constraints - particularly, absence of keyboard.

• Performance. We knew this one was coming. Didn’t we? A stand alone tablet doesn’t have the prowess and the processing power to handle heavy tasks like music or video editing. Simply speaking, these tablets are not designed to tackle performance intensive tasks. After all, a 7 mm thin device can’t have enough space to fit in those dedicated GPUs and those heat sinks which are a must for performance intensive tasks.

Having discussed the two types of tablets along with their Pros and Cons, let’s proceed to discuss the specifications one should consider in these tablets that qualify the product for a good purchase and for long term reliability.

For First Category of users i.e., Convertible Tablet PCs

• At least an Intel Core i5 Processor, 10th Generation or higher or an equivalent processor from Ryzen's AMD series.

• At least 8 GB DDR4 RAM, though 16 GB of RAM would give you unmatched performance and you won’t face any lags or stutters even when handling the heaviest of heavy tasks.

• At least a 128 GB SSD or a 1 TB HDD. When deciding on a Tablet PC, it is imperative to note that the generation of the CPU or the amount of RAM are not the components that bring drastic changes in performance, it is the presence or absence of SSD that does. In case of SSD, when the user requests a file, the controller, also known as processor of an SSD has the exact addresses of the blocks where the specific data is written, and the data is almost instantly made available to the user. There’s no waiting for a read/write head to find the information it needs. SSD access times are thus measured in nanoseconds. This results in potent performance, which is evident from the fact that SSDs have a read-write speed of up to 3500 MBps. There’s no waiting for a read/write head to find the information it needs. On the other hand, HDDs manage to provide read-write speed only in the range of 50–170 MBps.

• At least a 3 MB Cache. Most users are unaware of this term, though it is one of the most important factors on which the performance of your device depends.

For Second Category of users i.e Stand Alone Tablets

• At least 3GB RAM. More RAM would be preferable if intense multi-tasking is required or if needs to install multiple academic/profession specific software.

• Full HD Display.

• At least 32GB internal memory to install all the necessary applications. Music, Photos, Videos may be saved to an SD card, hence there should be a provision for the expansion slot.

• 6–7 hours of screen-on time. Generally, a tablet with battery capacity greater than 5000mAh would impart great results in terms of battery life.

• 8 to 10.5 inch Screen size. Larger screen size is best suited for reading/creative purposes. For general use, 8 inch screen would be fine.

Furthermore, awareness about the ways by which manufacturers resort to maximizing their profits by packing-in gimmicky and often unnecessary features that are best avoided in a tablet, too needs to be kept in consideration while making the purchase -

• Bloatware - In order to rack up profits, some manufacturers often pre-install applications in the tablets they produce, the creators of which pay hefty fees to the brand for doing so. Such apps are often difficult to uninstall and eat up the storage space.

• Extraneous Specifications - Face unlocking, Optical Image Stabilization in camera, water resistance, etc., are some of the specifications that find their best use in a mobile phone.

• Subscription of Paid Apps/Services - Brands often pre-load some of their tablets with annual/monthly subscription to some of the otherwise paid apps/services. The truth is, cost of that subscription is already included in the cost of the tablet. Therefore, by avoiding such marketing gimmicks one can save considerable amount of money.

Now, remember not all products available in the market are built for consumer satisfaction. Some are built to last only for 1–1.5 years, after which they start showing signs of lags and hiccups. This forces the consumers to again purchase a new device and hence the business of manufacturers thrive.
Only a few devices in the market are designed to last more than 3 years with little to no drop in performance.

Note: In our constant endeavour to assist you in making an informed buying decision, we test the new launches of the products on multiple parameters, and if they stand tall in our analysis we periodically add them to the below mentioned list of our recommended products. So, if you plan to make the purchase at a later time, you may visit the links once again at the very time of buying to ensure that the purchase turns out to be a very fruitful one.

Convertible Tablet PCs
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11 and Best Choice 12

Stand Alone Tablets
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10 and Best Choice 11

Product Recommendation - [Data Storage Device]

In this post, we are providing at glance the products we consider to be some of the best offerings in the market in their respective categories. The products mentioned below have been put to rigorous tests, compared against the competing products from multiple brands, and have been analysed on various aspects pertaining to their intended use. For a comprehensive post on Data Storage Devices, you may read our detailed guide - https://shoppinaire.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-detailed-guide-to-buying-data-storage.html

HDD

For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, My Preferred Choice(External), Best Choice 4, My Preferred Choice(Laptop Internal), Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, My Preferred Choice(Desktop Internal), Best Choice 7 and Best Choice 8

SSD
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice(2.5 inch SATA Internal), Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, My Preferred Choice(M.2 SATA Internal), Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, My Preferred Choice(External), Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, My Preferred Choice(M.2 NVMe Internal) Best Choice 8 and Best Choice 9

RAM
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice(Laptop), Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, My Preferred Choice(Desktop), Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11 and Best Choice 12

Note: In our constant endeavour to assist you in making an informed buying decision, we test the new launches of the products on multiple parameters, and if they stand tall in our analysis we periodically add them to the below mentioned list of our recommended products. So, if you plan to make the purchase at a later time, you may visit the links once again at the very time of buying to ensure that the purchase turns out to be a very fruitful one.

Recapitulating on the most crucial aspects of buying a Data Storage Device -

HARD DISK DRIVE(HDD)
This is an electro-mechanical data storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and retrieve digital information using one or more rapidly rotating disks, known as platters which are coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving read-write arm, which reads and writes data to the platter surfaces. A typical HDD has two electric motors: a spindle motor that spins the platters and an actuator (motor) that positions the read-write head assembly across the platters.
The platters of modern consumer-grade HDDs rotate at an RPM of 5400 or 7200. Higher the RPM, better will be the read-write speeds and hence, better would be the computer’s overall performance. The read-write speeds of a typical HDD is in the range of 50–170 Mbps, which is significantly lesser than that of SSDs.
Based on their use and the purpose they serve, HDDs are primarily manufactured in two configurations:-

• Internal
• External

Internal HDD:- As the name suggests, this configuration of HDD is installed within the chassis of a desktop or a laptop and primarily functions as boot up drive for the operating system. All the registry files required for successfully running the operating system are mostly stored on an internal HDD. This configuration of HDD sits inside its dedicated slot and is held in place by the means of screws. It is connected to the motherboard by the means of a SATA connector. An HDD that is installed in a desktop has a disk diameter of 3.5 inches, whereas, in a laptop, the diameter of the disk measures 2.5 inches. Depending upon the storage capacity of the HDD, one may save one’s documents, media files, and install one’s required software on this drive, apart from the operating system.

External HDD:- Unlike the Internal HDD that is installed inside the chassis of a computer, an external HDD connects with the computer externally via a USB port. By virtue of its easy connectivity with the computer, an external HDD is highly portable in nature and often functions as a mass data storage device which one can carry along if one is a frequent traveller and requires to make use of the data on the go or if one requires to share data of one computer with another. Another area where an external HDD shines is serving as a backup drive to the internal HDD. If in case data on the internal HDD gets corrupted for some reason, one can restore all of it by the backup made on external HDD. 

SOLID STATE DRIVE(SSD)
This is a type of storage device that has no moving parts unlike an HDD which relies on rotating platters and a read-write arm. Instead, an SSD makes use of NAND type flash memory to store data. Instead of a magnetic platter, files are saved on a grid of NAND flash cells. Each grid, also called blocks can store between 256 KB and 4MB of data. When the user requests a file, the controller, also known as processor of an SSD has the exact addresses of the blocks where the specific data is written, and the data is almost instantly made available to the user. There’s no waiting for a read/write head to find the information it needs. SSD access times are thus measured in nanoseconds.

An SSD requires significantly less power to operate as compared to a traditional HDD. This characteristic feature of SSD solves dual purpose in case of laptop users: first, charge on the battery lasts longer, hence an improved battery life is observed. This facet of SSDs is especially a boon for those who travel frequently and have to go for longer duration without plugging the laptop to the power socket and second, since battery life is enhanced, it needs to be recharged less often. This results in less frequent recharges, thereby enhancing shelf life of the battery.

Like HDDs, SSDs are also manufactured in two configurations to serve the varied requirements of users. The configurations are:-

• Internal
• External

Internal SSD:- An internal SSD can be configured as an HDD replacement and can be installed in place of the HDD in the dedicated slot compatible with 2.5 inch drives. In this case, the SSD is connected to the motherboard by the same SATA connector that an HDD is connected to the motherboard with. An M.2 form factor of SATA based SSDs is also a popular choice in the market, apart from the traditional 2.5 inch one. Another iteration of internal SSD is the NVMe protocol based SSD that connects to the motherboard by the means of PCIe interface, which is a high-bandwidth interface. SATA based SSDs have a maximum read-write speed of 560 MBps and 530 MBps respectively which are immensely less than PCIe based NVMe SSDs that have a maximum read-write speed of 3500 MBps. Like an Internal HDD, an internal SSD too is mostly used as the boot up drive for the operating system with all the registry files essential for running the operating system stored on it. Due to significantly faster read-write speeds of SSDs as compared to HDDs, the boot up and application load times are significantly lesser.

External SSD:- This type of SSD appeals to the likes of those who have to work with huge file sizes, up in the range of several gigabytes, and are not comfortable with the relatively slow read-write speeds associated with HDDs. External SSD connects with the computer externally via a USB port. All the facets of external HDDs stated earlier, apply to external SSDs as well, with external SSDs exercising a distinct advantage of superior read-write speeds when compared to that of external HDDs.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY(RAM)
RAM is the primary memory of a computer. Whenever the user opens a file or an application, it is fed from the computer’s HDD or SSD, into the RAM. Once the RAM receives data, the CPU accesses the file or runs an application. In case when multiple programs are open at the same time such that the total storage capacity of the RAM is almost entirely utilized, the RAM might not be in a state to hold on to any more programs or data. In such a scenario, when the user opens another file or runs a new application, the RAM, in order to allocate space to load the new data has to perform an additional task of compressing or transferring some of the then relatively non-essential files back to the HDD or SSD, thus slowing down the computer significantly.

This phenomenon is commonly observed in instances when multiple browser tabs are open simultaneously, utilizing a major chunk of the RAM’s total storage capacity. In such a scenario, when one revisits a tab that was opened a while ago, the computer would freeze for a few seconds and the tab would often reload. It is also not uncommon to find some resource intensive applications occasionally crash due to shortage of RAM.

In such scenarios, enhancing the primary memory of the computer by either replacing the existing RAM with a higher storage capacity one or by supplementing the existing RAM by adding another similar or higher storage capacity one in the vacant RAM slot, would enhance the performance of the computer significantly. 

 COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

• Poorly soldered connections between circuit elements on the data storage device. Data storage devices make use of billions of transistors, resistors and capacitors to store the user data. These billions of circuit elements require to be soldered in place on a PCB(Printed Circuit Board). The entire process of fabrication needs utmost precision, which requires deploying hundreds of robots and skilled work force. This adds to the overall cost of production. Hence, to reduce manufacturing costs and to increase profits, some manufacturers resort to making use of relatively inexpensive machinery and materials which are usually not as accurate in soldering the connections between the numerous circuit elements, and the soldering technique deployed is often sub-par. As a result of this, solder joints between the circuit elements come apart and the data storage device fails only after a few months of use, and along that, often the entire user data stored on the device is lost. The consumer is thus left duped and requires a new storage device, thereby giving recurring profits to the manufacturer.

• Little to no thermal considerations. High operational temperatures have severe negative repercussions on the shelf life of a data storage device and on the performance of a computer. Thus, to safeguard the device from the influence of intense heat, such circuit elements are to be used that have low electric resistance and high thermal tolerance. However, circuit elements with these characteristics are slightly costly to manufacture and procure. So, to reduce manufacturing costs further, those manufacturers resort to installing low-grade components in the products they manufacture that generate high amounts of heat when power is supplied to them. The heat, apart from impacting the device, dissipates to other components, inside the chassis of the computer, as well, thereby shortening their operable life too.

For an extensive buying guide on Data Storage Devices, head over to our detailed post - https://shoppinaire.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-detailed-guide-to-buying-data-storage.html