What is the difference between an Apple iPad and an Android tablet?

Apple were the first to the market with their iPad tablet which has now gone through 4 upgrades.  The current model is the iPad 4 and it is a considerable improvement over iPad 1 which did not have a camera built in.  Recently the tablet market has grown very quickly and other companies put their designers to work so they did not miss the boat.  Samsung, Microsoft, Sony and others have brought out some excellent products that are close to Apple on price.  Others are now coming on the market at a much lower price - around the £120 mark, (Tesco's own tablet, the HUDL) rather than £300 - £400.  

The difference is mainly the operating system - iPad have their own - iOS, whereas all the Android tablets use the same system, designed with Google applications in mind and widely used on smartphones.  So if you are used to a Samsung or similar android phone, a Samsung tablet will be easy for you to get to grips with.  Other specification differences will be the quality of the onboard camera, amount of storage, and amount of external connection possibilities, e.g. usb, hdmi or card slots. iPads do not come with these - you have to buy an extra connector to provide this capability.  We can demonstrate both systems to you on both budget and more expensive tablets.

All tablets now offer wireless internet connectivity, ebook readers, cameras front and rear of variable quality, applications galore and a touch screen, with minimal buttons.  This should make them comparatively much easier to use for those not used to dealing with computers, mice and fiddly keys, especially those with motor skill impairment.  Newly designed tablets have very clear screens and you can alter the text size to suit your eyesight and volume depending on your hearing.

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