Tech Talk: Choice dilemmas

TECHNOLOGY is wonderfully empowering when you know how it works – but completely baffling if you don’t. So how do you choose between an Apple and an Orange if the closest you’ve been to either is the greengrocer’s?
By David Behrens
Published 30th Jan 2012, 00:00 BST

Phones

If you are considering a smartphone, here’s what you should know. All models let you check email, take pictures, browse the web and consult maps on the move.

Apple iPhones work out of the box. They’re well-built and mostly reliable and it’s pretty well impossible to press the wrong button and destroy everything. Apple expects you to have its iTunes program on your computer and to connect the two together to back up your data.

USEFULNESS: 4/5 TECHNOPHOBE RATING: 4/5

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Android phones are Apple’s chief rival. They are made by Samsung, HTC and others, and use software supplied by Google. They are more “geeky” than iPhones and many users like them because they are more readily customised.

USEFULNESS: 4/5

TECHNOPHOBE RATING: 3/5

Also consider Blackberry phones which have a physical keypad instead of on-screen buttons – but a smaller screen.

Laptops and tablets

Netbooks – small laptops powered by Windows and designed for web surfing – are in decline as users move to tablets.

Apple’s iPad is the original tablet and still the best – but it’s only really suitable for web surfing, using social networking sites like Facebook, reading and playing games. If you use your PC for word processing, a tablet isn’t for you.

USEFULNESS: 3/5

TECHNOPHOBE RATING: 5/5

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Android tablets encompass nearly all those not made by Apple. Like Android phones, they are more easily customised but require some technical knowledge to get the best from them. Build quality varies greatly between manufacturers.

USEFULNESS: 3/5

TECHNOPHOBE RATING: 2/5

Portable PCs come in various flavours, the latest of which are lightweight Chromebooks and top-end Ultrabooks. The latter are “proper” computers with Windows, which start faster and last longer on a single charge. But they are pricey. Chromebooks are tablets with keyboards, suitable for web surfing and light word processing.

USEFULNESS: 5/5

TECHNOPHOBE RATING: 3/5

If all that still sounds confusing, may we recommend you beat a hasty path to the last refuge of the technophobe: your nearest 10-year-old grandchild.

Related topics:AppleBlackberrySamsung