Idiot questions about tablets

[FromGirders]

I've got a birthday coming up, and people are offering me a tablet for my birthday. At the moment I have a basic laptop and an oldish android smartphone. I don't want to spend too much / have them spend too much, so i'm thinking an android tablet.

Questions include:
Can you download photos from a camera straight onto a tablet? My camera will take much better quality photos than any tablet I'd think, but it would be good to display them on a tablet.
Is there much difference in display quality between brands?
What's the battery life like and what happens when it starts failing? Can you replace the batteries?
Is everything done by an app, or can you access the internet through a firefox type program?

I'm sure I'll have more once I start thinking harder . . .

Photos straight to tablet? You may be able to get a card reader thingy though that you can plug in. Upload your photos to dropbox google drive or picasa though and and it's easy to see them on the tablet without storing them there taking up space...

There is heaps of difference in display between brands yes - iPad retina display and kindle hd are different league to sub 50 quid generic tablets as you'd expect. Have a look at them. Actually something around the hudl/nexus/samsung galaxy tab 3 type will be great though if your not an apple addict...

Batteries are non user replaceable but I don't think an issue. My iPad one still does ok re charge etc the problem with it, and all tablets is they updates to the operating system eventually render them almost obsolete. Like phones I would guess a 2-3yr life span really until they start not being compatible with stuff etc?

All tablets have a browser function. It could be an app or native to the device. My dh has Firefox and chrome on his hudl.

Bang for buck my purchase in your situation would be a hudl I think. Dh loves his and it's cheap. The nexus tablets are lovely too. I have an iPad as there are a few specific work related things that won't run on android tablets at all..

Just to add a couple of points:

• "app" is short for "application" and can mean a pretty substantial piece of software such as Firefox

• both tablets and smartphones have a design life after which various components may start to fail, the battery and the memory on which files are stored being the two most likely to wear out. In most cases the device will be pretty much obsolete before it wears out

Can you download photos from a camera straight onto a tablet?
It depends on the camera and the tablet. Most (but not all) Android tablets have an SD card slot so if you have an SD card in your camera you can pop that in the tablet and get the photos that way. Some tablets have a USB port so you can also use a USB card reader. Otherwise you can upload your pictures via a PC to a cloud service like Dropbox and retrieve them on the tablet.

Is there much difference in display quality between brands?

Yes. The key thing to look at is the screen resolution. Although there are other smaller factors which make a difference too. Some top end Android devices have better resolutions than the iPad. But also, a lower resolution on a smaller screen will also be sharper so look for the ppi (pixels per inch) figure. Anything above 250 will be pretty nice above 300 will be stunning.

What's the battery life like and what happens when it starts failing? Can you replace the batteries?

Battery life depends on the tablet. Some, such as the Asus Transformers which have batteries in the tablet and the keyboard can give you 15 hours plus, but check the spec. Generally they are not replaceable but a tech shop may be able to do that for you. However it's not something you will likely have to worry about in mid to high end devices for several years.

Is everything done by an app, or can you access the internet through a firefox type program?

Everything you use on a phone, tablet or PC is an app, application or program. They all mean the same thing. Tablets will come with an Internet browser. This will either be the standard Android browser or the manufacturer's own. However, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Dolphin along with many others are available to download for free.

Take your time looking at reviews online. Many cheaper tablets are a false economy. They are made with cheaper parts, slower processors and less memory. But you could do a lot worse than a Nexus 7 for under £200.

Thanks for all replies :)
Think I need to actually go and look at some.