Alright,
These are two of the most budget-friendly tablets
You can buy
Tablets laptop vs
Tablety tablet
Microsoft Surface Go 3 vs Apple iPad (9th Generation)
Let’s go over the raw stats…
The Surface Go 3 is a 2-in-1 laptop,
combing the best features of a tablet and a laptop, such as a touchscreen and Windows 11,
coming in at a reasonable…
$400.
While the iPad is a tablet coming in at an even lower…
$330
Both have their own strengths and weaknesses,
starting with externals
The Surface Go 3 is 10.5 inches with a really cool built-in kickstand,
and the iPad is 10.2 inches
So, they’re similar in size,
and where they really differ externally is in their displays
The Surface Go 3 resolution is 1920x1280,
while the iPad’s is 2160x1620
So,
while the Surface Go 3 is bigger,
The iPad looks marginally better because of that higher resolution
What not marginally better…
connectivity
The Surface Go blows the iPad out of the water
1 USB-C, a headphone jack, a microSD card slot, and the Surface Connect Port
Which, honestly,
still could be improved with maybe an extra USB port because it is supposed to act like a laptop,
but
let’s not get ahead of ourselves
Because the iPad only has…
1 lightning port and 1 headphone jack
With that said, however,
I can’t think of too many things you’d want to connect to a basic iPad
besides, maybe, some external storage (not defending Apple tho)
More on storage later
For internal specs,
It’s interesting…
To preface, in many cases for these “budget-friendly” devices,
don’t expect “amazing” specs
They’re just supposed to be a little bit more than adequate to complete your daily tasks.
And, yeah, both of these devices are great at that
But, don’t expect too much performance beyond their prices
Here are the benchmarks:
For storage,
both of these devices are…
fairly disappointing (for me).
64GB starting,
which is not a lot
But,
it’s probably enough if you’re just going to be taking notes and drawing,
and, for the price, it is justifiable
And, lastly,
one more important thing to note before I go onto my suggestion…
is the differences in operating systems
The Surface Go 3 runs Windows 11 S Mode,
which is a typical computer-based OS with some added touchscreen-tablet functionality
While the iPad
run iPadOS
an operating system that’s only used for the corresponding handhelds
Meaning,
before you make your purchase,
You should find out which operating system works best for you
So,
Which tablet is better?
Great question
And, that, like I always say…
really depends on you
Will you be taking a lot of notes or drawing?
Or will you be running a lot of different programs?
Do you want a more tablet experience?
Or more of a computer one?
All of these factors are important to consider because, again, both of these devices use different operating systems
The Surface Go 3 is like a typical computer
Meaning, you get the freedom of Windows, which is great for a laptop,
but it’s not amazing for a tablet
because that means that a lot of different programs…
are not going to be well optimized, meaning you’ll probably encounter some lag or glitches
On the other hand,
The iPad runs Apple’s iPadOS,
which is a more restricted operating system, yes,
but that also means that most of the programs on the iPad
will run fine
However,
you will be limited on the amount of programs that you can run
So, to answer the age-old question of which one you should buy,
that depends on your needs and wants
More specifically, one tablet can act like your primary or main device,
while the other can act more like a secondary to your primary computer
The Surface Go 3 can kind of act as its own small workstation because it has the freedom to do anything a typical computer can,
while having some tablet functionality, such as taking notes
The iPad, on the other hand, is meant to be used
creatively,
such as with taking notes and drawing
It’s not a workstation.
It’s meant to be used with other devices
It’s more of a complement to your current setup
Specifically, if you use Zoom or some exam proctoring program,
so
if you’re in college
You absolutely need another device besides an iPad
So I’d say if you don’t already have a computer,
get the Surface Go 3
But if you do,
especially an Apple one with of that convenient ecosystem,
get the iPad.
But, ultimately, all of this is your decision based on your preferences
Don’t just watch my video on this.
I’ve linked many more down in the description to view at your discretion.
My name is Cyrus. It’s spelled like “Cyrus,” pronounced like “See Rooster,” just take out the “ter.”
Thank you very much for watching, good luck with your purchase, and have a wonderful day.