A REPORT ON

A study on the usage of laptops and tablet

computers
ST.FRANCIS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH

TITLE PAGE-

A REPORT ON

A study on the usage of laptops and tablet

computers

BY
Malcolm Dsouza - 64
Mamata Bangera - 65
Vaibhav Jhanwar-115

FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016

A Report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of MMS program

PROJECT GUIDE
Prof.Sanchayita Banerjee and Prof.Sinimol Pillai

DECLARATION
This is to certify that project report A study on the usage of laptops and tablet computers
has been successfully completed by Mr. Malcolm Dsouza , Ms. Mamata Bangera and Mr. Vaibhav
Jhanwar in partial fulfilment of the requirement in the award of the degree in Masters in
Management Studies at St.Francis Institute of Management and Research under Mumbai University.
The information submitted is true, original and to the best of our knowledge.

Guide name: Prof. Sanchayita Banerjee

Prof. Sinimole K.R.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
So, First of all we would like to thank our college, St. Francis Institute of Management and
Research and Director of the college Dr. S.S.Mohanty for his continuous faith who has given
this opportunity to do this project in this curriculum.

-Our professor, Mrs Sanchayita Banerjee and Mrs Sinimol Pillai for their guidance and support
throughout this project.
-All the innumerable auto drivers and public users for their valuable time, providing information,
insights, inputs, whole-hearted interaction and co-operation, we remain extremely grateful.

INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

Ever since the emergence of the iPad as a major technology product, the question has been
asked: laptop or tablet ? Is laptop even necessary when tablets can perform so many of the
same functions? The answer is, it depends. Every person uses their technology a bit
differently, and some can indeed get by with a tablet alone. But we cant go assuming that
the days of the laptop are numbered. While some can make do with a tablet, there are some
compromises required for the tablet-only lifestyle that some users can't make.
Laptop , like desktop PCs before them, have a built-in benefit over tablets, and that benefit is
power. As a rule, laptops have more powerful processing hardware, allowing for a wider
range of uses, faster performance and better multitasking. Laptops can easily handle common
tablet useslike Web browsing and media streamingand then go significantly further, with
uses ranging from simple data entry to complex tasks like photo and video editing. And while
games may be a significant part of any app store, serious PC gaming is worlds away from
Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, relying on faster processors and discrete graphics processing
to crank out complex rendered environments at resolutions and frame rates that tablets can't
touch. Joining the processing hardware is storage. Where tablets may boast anywhere from
16 to 128GB of storage space, the average laptop offers 500GB or more. Even the slimmest
laptops featuring smaller SSDslike the Apple MacBook Air 11-inch (Mid 2013) offer at
least 128GB, starting where tablets top out. Add in features like optical drives for DVD or
Blu-ray discs, card slots for full-size SD cards, and USB-connected flash drives and portable
drives, and you can have mountains of data at your fingertips.
There's also the question of form factor. Laptops have the benefit of having a keyboard and
mouse built-in, allowing you to do all of the typing and mouse-related work you would do on
a desktop. Touch screens don't offer the same level of granular control that a mouse and
cursor does, while on screen keyboards are really only fit for entering short bursts of text,
such as a status update or a tweet. A physical keyboard is a must for entering long blocks of
text, and a mouse is far more efficient than a touchscreen for frequent swapping of windows,
clicking of links, etc. This is even more important in the workplace, where those very tasks
may make up the bulk of your day.
Tablets
On the other hand, Tablets with few exceptions are more affordable. The Apple iPad (4th
Generation, Wi-Fi) might be little costly, but there are dozens of competitors like the Google
Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD (7", Wi-Fi) that cut that price in half, making
tablets one of the most affordable options around when it comes to media, games and the
Web. The exception to this pricing is the Windows tablet, which attempts to merge the PC
operating system with the form-factor and touch screen of a tablet. Where tablets running on
Android and iOS can be had for less, Whether or not the tablet market will support laptop
pricing is a question that's largely unanswered, but if price is a consideration, you may want
to steer clear of Windows tablets. The design of the modern tabletall touch screenis also
extremely intuitive, especially when paired with touch-friendly operating systems, be it

Windows 8, Android, or iOS. The icon-heavy designs are very easy for tech-newcomers to
figure out, and gestures like swiping from one screen to the next are far easier to grasp than
tapping Windows keys or navigating a file tree. Many tablets support some level of
multitasking, allowing you to run one or more apps in the background while working in
another, but the full screen focus of most tablets is also seen as a distraction-free alternative
to the multitasking of Windows.
The small size of tablets also make them more mobile. While
laptops maybe be portable, easily packed along in a laptop bag, tablets are truly mobile,
tailored for use while in motion instead of sitting stationary. The smaller form factor also
makes it more comfortable to use the device casually. A tablet can be used at the library, but
also on the subway, in the kitchen, on the couch, in bed, and everywhere in between. The
small screens are also well-suited to personal media consumption, whether it's watching
shows and movies or reading an e-book or website. Tablets also offer excellent battery life.
This efficiency is the flipside of the processing issue-smaller, less powerful mobile
processors are also more battery efficient, sipping at a battery for hours longer than even a
long-lived laptop.
Where laptop PCs deal in software, tablets are all about apps, providing a user experience
tailored to the use of a touch screen, and blending always-on data connectivity with the
unique capabilities of a mobile device, taking advantage of touch input, motion sensors, GPS
data, and built-in cameras. Apps are also generally less expensive than PC software, with a
large selection available completely free.While laptops offer all sorts of options for file
support and available programs, the process of buying and consuming digital media is often
simpler on a tablet than anywhere else.
.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
P S:

Why tablet computers have not yet replaced laptops

ABSTRACT

Tablet computers were expected to replace the Laptops, with the launch of the Apple I pad everyone
expected desktop computers and laptop computers to vanish. Tablet computers offered consumers
with a more interactive experience through the touch screen user interface, however despite this,
tablets have not replaced laptops. We will be analysing the factors that influence the use of both a
tablet computer and a laptop and find out to what extent a tablet computer can be a substitute to the
laptop. Through this research we will attempt to find out the reasons as to where the tablet
computers are lacking by studying the preferences of consumers from different age groups and
analyze the responses using statistical tools.

OBJECTIVE

To study the factors that influence the use of tablets and laptops
To analyse the reasons as to where tablet computers are lacking behind laptop computers
To study the utility of a tablet computer and laptops.
To analyse whether tablets can replace laptops
To analyse the consumer preference between laptops and tablet

2. Literature Review
2.1 History of Tablet PCs and Tablet PC usability
Most people think of the tablet computer as being a recent invention, in reality they are the result of
many years of development and evolution. That being said the tablets that are appearing on the
market these days are quite a bit different than the early versions.
The history of tablet computers goes back a lot further than most people realize. The first one was
actually built in 1888 and used a stylus to capture hand writing. There were numerous other tablets
built over the next few years that relied on a pen for data input. Except for a few specialized uses
like allowing deliver drivers to collect signatures they really never took off. Nonetheless the
technology that went into them played an important role in the ultimate development of the current
generation of tablet computers.
The first appearance of what we would think of as a tablet today came in the early nineties. For the
most part these were more like early laptops than they were like the current tablets. These tablets for
the most part were developed into laptops mainly because nobody could figure out a good way to
enter data into them that didn't use a keyboard. The addition of the keyboard created the shape of the
laptop as we know it today. These early models did however serve to prove that there was a market
for a portable computer and this led to the development of other technology.
The concept of Tablet PCs has been around for more than a decade since their formal introduction in
1989 (Warkentin, Bekkering, Schmidt, & Johnston, 2004). However, Tablet PCs have been limited
to niche markets until 2002. The biggest boost to the medium came with the release of commercial
Tablet PCs (a move that was led by Microsoft) in the fall of 2002. The few initial reviews on Tablet
PC usability issues were positive to a great extent (Arar, 2001; McLeod, 2003). Ute initial concept
of Tablet PCs first started in late 1980s and was largely based on the idea of a highly portable device
eliminating the keyboard and allowing users to input data into computers with their own
handwriting (Wahl, 2003). The developments in neural network and fuzzy logic technology allowed
more accurate handwriting recognition algorithms in the 1990s, but technical difficulties, including
handwriting recognition issues as well as the development of a dedicated operating system,
portability, and screen visibility, have delayed the large-scale deployment of a commercial product
that has a wide variety of usage domains. Wahl indicated that newer Tablet PCs do well in bridging
the gap between the paper and digital worlds. For example, users can use the "digital ink," namely,
the ability to scribble notes over typed text. This feature is available in almost all programs
including Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat. Further, Tablet PCs also do well as in other usability
areas, including screen size and visibility and interface well in converting handwriting to text. The
prices of Tablet PCs vary from about $1,000 to $4,500. All Tablet PCs come with wireless Internet
connectivity cards. Tablet PCs are used in a variety of areas where portability and easy note taking
are key, and the leading areas in Tablet PC use include academia, construction, and other field

businesses; government entities; and many other domains where mobile computing is essential.
Newer Tablet PCs are lighter (under 3 lb) and have longer battery life (Gros, 2004). Tablet PCs are
seen as the next step in mobile computing, allowing tremendous flexibility in using e-mail and
accessing the Internet (Levack, 2003). Further, Miller (2002) predicted that Tablet PCs might
support the revolution of "electronic newspaper," changing news delivery entirely where at one
point in the near future, news content may be beamed to the Tablet PC wirelessly every morning.
Tablet PCs are already used actively in retail and services as
well, including restaurants and wine-tasting places. With advances in technology, Tablet PCs have
become sophisticated. In 2005, Gateway developed a model that consists of a Tablet PC and laptop
PC hybrid that functions under both operating systems and allows the users to use full Tablet PC
and laptop PC functionalities. With respect to software, it should be noted that the major difference
between Tablet PCs and laptop PCs is that the former uses the Tablet PC edition of the
desktop/laptop PC operating system, which has some limited capabilities in comparison to its
equivalent desktop-based operi1ting systems but allows major handwriting recognition and onscreen scribbling capabilities.
Although the Tablet PC is a highly commercial product, because of its relatively new introduction,
scientific research on the use of Tablet PCs has been lacking. Early studies in Tablet PC domain
consisted of product tests and evaluations of specific-brand products (Gros, 2004; Miller, 2002) as
well as marketing studies on future prospects concerning Tablet PC industry (Pienta, 2004). These
early scientific studies concluded that Tablet PCs did in fact have a place in meeting the day-to-day
computing needs of consumers and workers alike and that there is a substantial market for Tablet
PCs to establish themselves in as a serious contender to laptop computers (Gras, 2004; Miller,
2002).
Some preliminary studies focused on basic usability issues
concerning Tablet PCs. Specifically, the most often evaluated and studied issue was the use of the
electronic pen for inputting data into the Tablet Pc. Pienta (2004) concluded that although notetaking capabilities of Tablet PCs are highly advantageous compared to laptop and desktop
computers, it is too soon to tell whether Tablet PCs will be the next wave of personal computers. A
body of research was conducted by Microsoft on how people used Tablet PCs in their day-to-day
tasks with specific emphasis on the use of the handwriting recognition capability of the medium
(Microsoft Corp., 2003, 2004), and indicated that handwriting is a preferable aswell as an
adequately accurate form of data input in Tablet PCs. These findings are also corroborated by other
researchers in the area (Walker, 2001). These studies generally indiGlte that the handwriting
recognition capabilities provide a great convenience advantage to the medium by allowing users to
enter data without a keyboard; in the meantime, more improvements in handwriting technology as
intuitiveness, are essential to broaden the medium's appeal to larger masses. Furthermore, the
findings concerning users' comfort and performance using handwriting to input data to their Tablet
PCs are in accordance with earlier studies. Those studies concluded that recognition accuracy is
highly correlated to users' acceptance of media that uses handwriting as the primary means of data
input (frankish, Morgan, & Hull, 1996). Moreover, keeping the error rates at a minimum is a
persistent challenge in this type of data input (Frankish, Morgan, & Noyes, 1994). It should be noted
that pen gestures have been difficult to recognize in the computer environment for some time (Long,
Landay, Rowe, & Michiels, 2000), and problems still continue on the path to perfect this
mechanism. Others indicated that free-form handwriting is a concept highly difficult to interpret
(Bargeron & Moscovich, 2003). Yet more studies indicated low precision rates in computer
recognition of hand writing (Levin, Clough, & Sanderson, 2003). Same precision issues occurred in
manipulation of menus on Tablet PCs (Fitzmaurice, Khan, Pieke, Buxton, & Kurtenbach, 2003). On
the other hand, Tablet PCs offer promising results in note-taking tasks that require both speed and
accuracy, for example, for in-class students (Berque, Bonebright, & Whitesell, 2004). Similarly,

McClard and Somers (2000) indicated that participants found early versions of Tablet PCs as a fun
medium and ideal for e-mail and chatting, Web surfing, and casual scribbling. However, they do not
suggest that Tablet PCs will replace regular desktop and laptop computers anytime soon. finally,
McClard and Somers indicated that Tablet PCs have been found useful in small-scale group
presentations and are good at maintaining audiences' attention. Right before the official commercial
release of Tablet PCs in November 2002, Dray, Siegel, Feldman, and Potenza (2002) conducted a
study presenting preliminary usability issues in a field trial concerning Tablet PCs. Although explicit
results of their study are not discussed in their article, Dray et a1. Concluded that integration of a
new technology evolves over time, and this is the case with Tablet PCs. They indicated that
participants most frequently used Tablet PCs in their daily routines such as sending e-mail, surfing
the Web, and word processing. Feedback concerning the usability and related design issues were
then integrated onto the design of the first-generation Tablet PCs.
In March 2006, Microsoft announced the next mobile
computer expected to hit the consumer market sometime in 2008. The Origami, also called the Ultra
Mobile Personal Computer, is expected to have the full functionality of a PC with the size slightly
bigger than that of a Personal Digital Assistant. An on-screen thumb keyboard is expected to be the
main tool for data input to the device along with the stylus. Usability and user preference issues
concerning this new mobile device remain to be explored in the near future.
The currently available literature contains practically no
significant scientific studies on usability of Tablet PCs. User surveys are firmly established as a
method to determine user satisfaction and preference issues concerning specific media or features
(Ozok & Salvendy, 2000; Wei & Salvendy, 2000). Because of the lack of empirical usability studies
concerning Tablet PCs, especially in the user preferences and user satisfaction domains, this study
aims at examining the usability issues concerning Tablet PCs empirically and uses a survey
approach to do it.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY -

A Scope of the study:

B Research design: Descriptive research design.

C Sampling framework:
Sampling technique: Quota Sampling
No of respondents: 55
Age group: <30 : 39 respondents
30-50 : 5 respondents
> 50: 6 respondents

D. Statistical technique for data analysis: Z test

FINDINGS
After the completion of the survey on the basis of the data collected, it was found that total
respondents were 55 out of which females were 23 and male 32 age between 18-36 and elder. It
was found that 32 respondents own laptops and 19 respondents own both laptop and tablet pc. Most
of the respondents spend time on laptops or tablets under 5 hours in a week. It was found that 74.5%
respondents use laptops/tablet pc for both work and entertainment purpose. On the basis of the
objective i.e. to study the utility of the tablet pc and laptops the following question was asked i.e. In
what situation would respondents most likely use a laptop and tablet? Majority of the respondents
prefer laptop for surfing the net, Audio, Video and Image editing and working on documents,
spreadsheet and presentation while for watching a movie, playing computer games and other
purposes tablet is preferred.
To analyse the consumer preference between laptops and tablets, the respondents
were asked to rate this factors according to their preference while purchasing laptops and tablet?
Most respondents rate the following for Laptop
Very important long battery life, Memory and connectivity.
Important cd drive, size of the screen and weight of the laptop.
For Tablet pc
Very important Long battery life, Memory a nd weight of the Tablet.
Important Size of the screen and Connectivity.
So from the above analysis long battery life and memory are considered as very important features
while purchasing laptop and tablet.
The other question was asked If the price and memory/ performance was the same would you
purchase a laptop or tablet? So 38 respondents voted for laptop and 17 for Tablet.
Therefore it can be concluded that 26 respondents replied for tablet cannot replace
the laptops while 19 feel it can and 10 cant say.
Therefore, it can be concluded that participants did not have a significant issue concerning their own
performance using the Tablet PC but they feel laptop as a more reliable device for computing task.

Based on the secondary data

RAM: Laptops start with much, much more

Even casual users might notice a lack of RAM. The less RAM a device has, the
more often it will need to dump old information from its memory. Youll see this
when you return to an old browsing tab or jump from a game to email and back.
Less RAM means these apps will need to refresh more oftena minor nuisance
that can become particularly irritating to the avid multi-tasker. Note that todays
laptops tend to start with 4 to 8GB of RAM, enough to store information from
several applications at once. In contrast, many top tablets have 1GB of RAM or
less. Another group of tablets clusters at 2GB of RAM, but only a notably smaller
subset exceeds that.

Storage: Laptops easily prevail

A devices internal storage determines how much stuff you can cram into it,
from photos to music to high-definition videos. Currently, most tablets come
standard with between 16- and 64GB of space. A few come in variations with
128-, 256-, or 512GB, but youll have to pay a handsome sum for those. Heres a
plot of entry-level tablets storage vs. price. Note how the vast majority are
clumped below 50GB, and that MSRP is strongly correlated with the storage
amount. Now consider laptops, where you can get a terabyte (1,024GB) of
storage, and where price and space have a very weak correlation. With laptops,
more storage is practically free.

Display: You'd think laptops would be better

So far, the specs havent been kind to the tablet, which has failed to match the
laptop in all three categories. Heres a look at the pixel density on some of
todays most popular tablets. Since 2013, the average tablets display has
boasted 218 pixels per inchpretty crisp for devices that tend to measure from
7 to 11 inches, diagonally. Among popular laptops, the average pixel density sits
at a measly 116 pixels per inch, which is nothing special in 2014.

Battery Life: Tablets lead by a wide margin

Battery life is a bit harder to assess. For comparing two phones, using battery
capacity (mAh) is a pretty good bet, given that each device is of roughly the
same size and shape. The average laptop lasts about 6 hours, according to
manufacturers, despite a few standouts (the ThinkPad X240 can go for 17
hours). Compare that to tablets, where the average reported battery life is just
under 10 hours. Its worth noting that 10 hours is by far the most common
vendor-reported battery life for tablets.

Connectivity: Tablets have little room to spare

Its the last thing you think about when youre buying the device, and often the
first problem that comes up at home: ports and connectivity. Tablet pc still lag
far behind laptops in connectivity. Virtually every laptop on the market (in 2013
and 2014) has a USB port, we found, compared to only 27 percent of modern
tablets. The discrepancy is similar for HDMI ports, at 82 percent (laptops) versus
15 percent (tablets). A typical projector or printer will almost always work with
your laptop, and will rarely ever work with your tablet. Today, thats still a
problem.

Laptops win, but tablets are learning

The laptop remains safefor now. In three out of five productivity specs, the
tablet failed to compete. But the tablet is making progress, riding its battery-life
advantage and banking on new technologies (like cloud storage, Chrome cast,
and Airplay) to overcome its remaining deficiencies.

RECOMMENDATIONS

As the ram, storage and the connectivity of tablet pc are very poor than laptops, so they
should increase the memory of the tablets, so that to replace the laptops.
In today's connected world, there isn't really an either-or decision to be madelaptops
and tablets are best used together, as companion devices. Hybrids are the computer those
can be tablet and also laptops. These laptop/tablet hybrids are made to close the gap
between laptop capabilities and tablet convenience, and the new hybrid category will
only get better over time as technologies improve and designs are refined.
Intel has spent gobs of money promoting an array of two-in-one devices, with small
laptops with detachable tablets, like the HP Envy X2 (11-g012nr) or the Lenovo
ThinkPad Helix and convertible designs that flip and fold between the two, like the
Lenovo Idea Pad Yoga 11S or the Dell XPS 12 .

When trying to decide between a tablet and laptop, remember that there is not necessarily a
winner, only a more preferable choice for your specific needs. Both laptops and tablets
offer extremely convenient and powerful features, but the most efficacious for you will be
based upon the tasks you seek to complete by the device.

CONCLUSION

LIMITATIONS

REFERENCE