A tablet is no longer a toy. More and more, users are ditching their laptops in favor of carrying nothing more than a tablet--not just for a trip to grandma's house, but for honest-to-goodness work. This decision, however, is not one to undertake lightly: Tablets have numerous weaknesses--from the lack of a physical keyboard to muddy file management--that you need to address before you traipse out the door with your iPad or Android slate in hand. Here's what you need to think about before you make the switch.
Go Big or Stay Home
As every netbook owner has learned, you need a little real estate to get work done. To that end, you're likely to end up with better results if you plan for productivity from the start (before you ever buy a tablet at all), by considering a unit with a relatively spacious screen. That means the Apple iPad and Motorola Xoom are in, while the almost pocket-size original Samsung Galaxy Tab is out. Remember: Even the largest tablets on the market today are small enough to slip easily into any briefcase (and even most purses), so a big screen doesn't mean you'll be weighing yourself down.
Plan for Connectivity
Your tablet can liberate you from the chains of traditional computing, but not if you're constantly running from one Wi-Fi hotspot to another. All the major tablet makers offer 3G/4G versions of their products that work over cell phone networks; if you're serious about going all-tablet, you'll need to bite the bullet and get one with a data plan. For the iPad, this is a $130 upgrade, plus data-plan service fees from your carrier of choice.
Prepare for Attachments
Keep It in the Cloud
You can't just load up your tablet with every file you might possibly need--most tablets don't have the storage capacity for that, for starters--but you can do the next best thing by dropping those files into the cloud, via a service such as Dropbox (free). Dropbox's Web-storage system works for iPad, Android, and BlackBerry, letting you keep copies of just about anything in the ether, always at the ready for when you need it.
Set Up a Lifeline
Upgrade Your Typing Speed
Use Apple's Own Apps
Apple knew that people would want to use apps for real work, so it created a series of full-featured (yet simplified) tools to make that happen. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are iPad simulacra of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively. At $10 each, they're relatively minor investments for a serious businessperson, especially the presentation-centric Keynote, which streamlines the slideshow creation process and turns your iPad into a projectorless projector.
Stay on Task
Try One-Stop Travel Management
One of the big benefits of a tablet is that it can take the backache caused by lugging a bag full of gear out of travel. But it can also eliminate some of the headache, too. Checking in for flights, carrying a ream of paper-based itineraries, and figuring out exactly where you need to be can be an inelegant nightmare. Fortunately, plenty of apps are available to take the hassle out of managing complex travel plans. A good first place to start is TripIt Pro (free app; service is $49 per year), which alerts you when you can check in for flights, lets you know via text and/or email if departures are delayed, and, best of all, gives you one-stop access to all of your travel plans via your tablet. Just forward your itineraries to plans@tripit.com, and the app does the rest. It's available for iPad, Android, and BlackBerry.
Don't Forget to Lock the Doors
If you're doing serious work on your tablet, it will probably be chock-full of files whose loss would be devastating were they to fall into the wrong hands. Keeping your tablet secure is of paramount importance, and doing so isn't all that difficult. On the iPad, that means turning on a password: The "simple" four-digit passcode is a start, but using the standard passcode setting--which lets you use any password you want--is probably better. Also, you can set your iPad to wipe its contents after ten failed passcode attempts, using the 'Erase Data' option under Settings, General, Passcode Lock. Android and BlackBerry offer similar options, which you'll find under the appropriate security settings menus.
Keep On Keepin' On
One final consideration: Since your tablet will now be your lifeline to, well, everything, you'll need to make sure that the battery can handle a full day of always-on computing. The good news is that most tablets will give you 7 hours or more of battery life, although not all tablet models are created equal. But if that isn't good enough, you'd be wise to investigate an external power pack that can plug into your tablet to give you a boost when you've otherwise gone dark. Devices such as the Trent iCruiser line connect through USB, making them compatible with dozens of models of tablets and cell phones. You'll also find tablet sleeves on the market with extra batteries secreted inside, giving you a case and extra power in one.