With advances in technology, schools continue to have more choices about what to use in their classrooms.

Tablets are "immensely popular in their own right," according to an article on EdTechMagazine.com. "But their rapid rise to popularity also demonstrated that people will eagerly embrace new types of mobile devices if those devices offer sufficiently distinctive attributes that meet their particular needs."

"Mobile device manufacturers have taken notice and have introduced tablet alternatives that fall into two basic categories," the article said."The first is the phablet — a phone and tablet combined. Phablets pack the power of a slate computer into an oversized smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3."

The other category, the article said, "is the convertible notebook, which endows the tablet with notebooklike form and features. Popular products in this category include the Acer Aspire Switch 10, ASUS Transformer Book T100TA and the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga S1."

"Both of these form factors can be a great fit for users who like tablets but who need something just a little different," the article said. "The following chart will help IT managers choose the device best suited to their organization based on maximum productivity and value."

The chart compares the phablet and the convertible in its size, processor and memory, operating systems, input, ports, camera, and battery life.

When it comes to size, the phablet is a "5.3-inch to 7.4-inch screen in a smartphone form factor [anything larger than that is considered a 'mini-tablet']" and the convertible is a "8.7-inch to 12-inch screens with sturdy, detachable keyboards that allow the device to be used as a tablet."

When it comes to processor and memory, the phablet is "typically a dual-core processor, although newer models sport quad-cores", and the convertible is "typically a quad-core processor, although some less expensive models rely on dual-core."

Read the full story and comment below. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor