A comparative study between Tablet and laptop PCs: User satisfaction and preferences

Despite their popularity, usability studies concerning Tablet PCs are lacking. This study aimed at determining user satisfaction and preference aspects of Tablet PCs in comparison to laptop PCs and pen-and-paper environments. Several common computer tasks were examined in an experimental environment on 34 college student participants. User satisfaction and preferences were measured by comprehensive questionnaires. An analysis of variance was used for the empirical comparisons. Participants did not have any difficulty in reading, direct manipulation, and form filling tasks. There was a perception of a high number of errors by the participants for the writing task in Tablet PCs. Overall, participants found the general computing capabilities and portability of Tablet PCs impressive. However, the majority did not prefer Tablet PCs to laptop PCs to meet their everyday computing needs. Results can help designers improve the overall usability of the Tablet PC and help its development as a major computing medium.