The best tablets are more powerful than some budget laptops, but is a tablet really a suitable substitute for a traditional portable computer?

Input Method: You Can Do More With Laptops

Tablets rely solely on a touchscreen interface for input, which can present challenges when you need to input text. Since tablets have no keyboard, you must type on virtual keyboards that have varying layouts and designs. 2-in-1 tablets come with a detachable keyboard, but these models still fall short of the laptop experience because of their smaller size and more restrictive designs. If you add an external Bluetooth keyboard, you’ll add costs and peripherals that must be carried with the tablet, making it less portable. Laptops are better for people who type a lot.

Size: Tablets Are More Portable

Most tablets weigh under two pounds. Even the smallest laptops, like the Apple MacBook Air 11, weighs more and has a profile larger than most tablets. The main reason for the larger profile is that the keyboard and trackpad take up additional space. Laptops that include more powerful components require additional cooling, which adds to the size. Because of their smaller size and weight, a tablet is much easier to carry around than a laptop, especially for travel.

Battery Life: Tablets Last Longer

Because of the low power requirements of their hardware components, tablets are designed for efficiency. In fact, most of a tablet’s interior is taken up by the battery. Laptops, on the other hand, use more powerful hardware. The battery within a laptop takes up a far smaller percentage of the space needed for its internal components. Thus, even with the higher capacity battery offered by laptops, they don’t run as long as tablets. Many tablets can support up to ten hours of web usage before requiring a charge. In comparison, the average laptop only runs for about four to eight hours.

Some premium laptops running ARM-based processors achieve battery lives competitive with tablets, but some key software won’t run on ARM-based platforms.

Storage Capacity: Laptops Have More Space

In order to keep the size and costs of tablets down, manufacturers rely on solid-state storage memory to store programs and data. This technology has one major disadvantage: the amount of data it can store. Most tablets allow between 16 and 128 gigabytes of storage. By comparison, most laptops still use conventional hard drives that hold much more. The average budget laptop comes with a 500 GB hard drive, although some laptops have moved to solid-state drives as well. Both laptops and tablets include features like USB ports or microSD cards that make it possible to add external storage.

Performance: Laptops Are More Powerful

For tasks like email, web browsing, or playing video or audio, both platforms will work equally well since these activities don’t require much processing power. Things get more complicated once you start performing more demanding tasks that involve multitasking or HD graphics. In these cases, laptops typically perform better. There are exceptions, though, such as for video editing. Some high-end tablets can actually outperform laptops thanks to specialized hardware.

Software: Tablet Apps Are Restrictive

The same software running on a laptop versus a tablet can be vastly different in terms of capabilities. If a tablet is running Windows, it can theoretically run the same software as a laptop, but it will likely be slower. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro, a tablet that you can deploy as a primary laptop with the same software used in a work environment.

The two other major tablet platforms right now are Android and IOS,  both of which require applications specific to their operating systems. There are many apps available for each of these platforms, and many will perform most of the basic tasks as a laptop. However, they still lack input devices, and hardware limitations mean that some more advanced features supplied by laptop programs may have to be dropped to fit into the tablet environment.

Cost: It’s a Toss -up

There are 3 tiers of tablets on the market. The majority of them are budget models that cost less than £100 and are ideal for simple tasks. Models in the middle tier cost between £200 to £400 and do most tasks just fine (as a comparison, budget laptops start at around £200) Primary tier tablets cost from around £500 to more than £1000. They may provide the best performance but at these prices they tend to provide worse performance than a laptop for the same cost.

Final Verdict.

Laptops still offer greater flexibility for mobile computing. They may not have the same level of portability, running times or ease of use as a tablet but there are still a number of technical limitations that tablets must resolve before they replace laptops. If you already have a laptop, a tablet may be a great add on for those times when you just want to read, play games or browse the web

Blog by Suzanne Hodnett

Cast your mind back however many years you need to, to the time when your days in school were coming to an end and you had that dreaded decision to make of what you were going to be.  If those school days were in the UK then it’s likely you had a careers department available to help you but you could only choose one vocation and then you had to stick with it!  At 16 or 18, not many of us are equipped to make such a good decision in that area.

But life has probably dealt you a few more cards by now and the mist may be clearing on what you want to do.  Added to that, lockdown may have shown you a better work/life balance or a financial vulnerability and a new or greater desire for better financial resilience, self-sufficiency and independence. How you earn a living is one of the biggest areas to analyse in satisfying all of those things.

So, where do you go from here?  It is certainly very true that lockdown changed the financial landscape for employed and self-employed people alike so you may be looking at those options and seeing a weakness in both models, and you would be correct.  But what is emerging from the results of the last 5 months of lockdown is the resilience enjoyed by those with a ‘portfolio career’.  This can be defined as someone who operates within a diverse range of industries, contract types and with a range of skills for adaptability so that they can change their focus and offering quickly as something causes market demand to change.  Adaptability is actually a very simple and very necessary business tactic but it is also something we need to be able to do ourselves. After all, our skills are a service and the work market is our target whether that be as an employed or self-employed person.

Whatever your situation was at the beginning of the year, if you are now unemployed and are evaluating where you go from here to come back stronger with a better work/life balance, a role you enjoy and a more secure income, get in touch with the Inspiring Enterprise team. We can help you with, business planning and/or employment planning, 1-2-1 mentoring, training, resources, 3^rd party funding sources, networking and some key contacts to help you keep going even after you leave us.

For more information please contact donna.chant@inspiringenterprise.org.uk or call 0800 140 4537

Opening a business in 2020 is going to be a real challenge. Potential business owners must now deal with the coronavirus pandemic that has plagued the world since December 2019.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major changes in the economy and it has drastically altered the world that we live in. These two factors now influence how businesses open and operate.

• YOUR BUSINESS MUST BE PANDEMIC READY

The 2020 pandemic has changed how businesses operate. All businesses (regardless of industry) must be safe for customers and employees and be able to prevent people from getting and spreading this disease. One of the biggest problems with the pandemic is the transmission of the coronavirus through public gatherings.

Up until March of 2020, people could meet inside business premises, but the pandemic no longer makes this possible. Since the coronavirus is a viral disease, it has the potential to spread quickly from person to person. Also, you are aware by now that many people who have the coronavirus might not even know they have it and can transmit this disease to others without ever knowing they have been affected.

The law now requires businesses to have protections in place such as wearing face masks, hand sanitizer stations and frequent cleaning procedures. Businesses have also been required to reduce the number of people they can have inside of their business at any one time and you should check regarding your business and coronavirus laws and regulations.

•  STARTING THE RIGHT TYPE OF BUSINESS IN 2020

The Coved 19 crisis has exposed the close connection between people’s health and the economy. People who live in a society where the fear of illness and potential death is high, generally will not feel confident about venturing out into public. Remember, up until March of 2020 people were used to going out into society and interacting with each other and this fear of illness or death was not unknown.

Businesses were open. Restaurants were serving clients, sporting events were packed with spectators, cinemas had lots of visitors, and conferences had lots of attendees. Once the virus arrived; all the bars had to shut down, hairdressers could no longer operate, people couldn’t gather at the shops and even the local markets had to close.

Anyone trying to start a business must be very selective about what type of business they will run. Many businesses have been closed as a result of COVID-19. The service, retail, and hospitality industries have been severely affected by the forced closures that the coronavirus caused.

At least half of all businesses that operate within these industries before the pandemic hit, are no longer open and the forced closures and social distancing measures have made them impractical.

Tech businesses are thriving and continue to grow during the pandemic. Medical suppliers, cleaning services and even food shops have fared well during the coronavirus situation.

Ultimately, all businesses must be able to run effectively in a pandemic world.

If you start a business that is very suspectable to the negative factors of COVID-19, chances are you won’t be around for long.

• MAKE A BUSINESS PLAN

Having a business plan in place has always made good business sense and a business plan is essential to the start of a new business. Without one, you are seriously harming on how successful your company will be. A good business plan is needed to help guide your organization.

• START A BUSINESS THAT MATCHES YOUR SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Of course, you can start a business in any field that you want to, and no one is limited to starting a business in their area of expertise. However, you should think about the type of business that you want to work in before you start.

Again, you can jump into any type of business that you fancy but if you don’t have skills in that area; you either won’t stick with it, perform poorly, or create a lot of problems for yourself.

• GENERAL BUSINESS ACUMEN IS NECESSARY

Having general business expertise is critical. Regardless of the type of business you start, there are some important aspects of business you must understand. For example, you should know about cash flow and how to balance your books etc.

These are but a few considerations that every business owner should be familiar with. If you don’t have a general knowledge of business, you could run into problems with many things, such as paying tax, VAT, operational rules and regulations, and knowing how to effectively dress your shop window.

• ACCOUNTABILITY AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Accountability, and I’m not talking tax or vat here, is a huge problem because very few people want to be held accountable for anything. But many people want to hold lots of businesses accountable in today’s environment and you will be held accountable for what you (and your employees) say and do.

Social media makes it easy for critics to hold businesses accountable. People can log onto their social media account and put out bad information about businesses and can also use blog sites, videos and even podcasts to cause mayhem so you 

 must make sure that you are operating with knowledge and in a way to keep your business reputable and respectful.

Treat customers with care and don’t engage in shady or dodgy business deals.

Even your own personal social media accounts should not have anything bad or questionable on them. Accountability is very serious in the modern age and your business could suffer greatly if you don’t take it seriously.

• GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

Your business should be community orientated. When you can give back to people within your neighbourhood and town, people there will know that you like to help, that you care, and they will be more willing to do business with you.

Opening a small business in 2020 will be challenging but you will have a better chance to succeed once you know what to do and how to do it.

With thanks to Christy Bella, Blogger by passion.

Abbie Hills is a graduate of the University of Winchester and runs The Dazey Hills Company

The Dazey Hills Company is a Talent Agency and Production Company focusing on inclusivity within the film and TV industry. They represent a variety of Actors and Models in the South of England, and also represent Production Crew – They also make their own films in house.

 Abbie grew up wanting to act, and she has a passion and talent for making films. Having previously worked as an actor and model she noticed how difficult it is to break into the industry for actors and creatives working and living outside of London and had always wondered why that was. She identified that there was no sort of talent management local to her, she realised that there were lots of talented people, some she knew and she didn’t, living outside of London and not being able to get local representation. Identifying a gap in the market and following her passion she decided to set up an agency herself, and The Dazey Hills Company was born.

 Abbie joined the Inspiring Enterprise programme through the University of Winchester after graduating and has been working with her Inspiring Enterprise mentor to develop and grow her ideas for the company,

Abbie says of her mentorship with Inspiring Enterprise, Winchester:

“Working with Donna has been so valuable, as a creative person it can be difficult to ground your ideas and clearly identify the next step of where you want to go. Donna has helped me pull focus on my priorities as a business owner, as well as developing further as a creative”

Abbie has been using her time in lockdown to develop the company and plans to host a variety of workshops for those who wouldn’t normally have the chance to get involved in acting and filmmaking, she is also working on ways to continue to expand and develop her client base and will, of course, be making films along the way!

You can check out The Dazey Hills Company here:

https://www.thedazeyhillscompany.co.uk/

Gemma joined Inspiring Enterprise via the University of Winchester and has set up a family business called Countdown Cards, selling innovative and fun cards counting down to children’s birthdays. Here she talks about her business and her time with Inspiring Enterprise

“My business idea started when my son was sad when boxing day came and he had no ‘windows to open!’ And it got me thinking 4 Year olds don’t usually understand the concept of a week and a card could be a really fun way to get them understanding how many sleeps to go to their birthday (and stop asking me!!!!) I first saw inspiring Enterprise posted a free session on FaceBook in a local residence page about managing money and got in contact. The Inspiring Enterprise probably meant the most to me when I spent time at the meet the mentor workshop sessions because you meet so may people with different opinions and can take on board lots of feedback. Someone was quite firm which was helpful than the normal cuddly and meeting up with Jane helped me get an actual plan and idea and actually see this as a business. An idea becomes different when you see it as a business. We all love a countdown so you can send some happy post with us”

Her website is www.countdowncards.co.uk

Find her on Instagram and facebook @countdowncardsuk