2014 Top Tablets: #1 Apple iPad Air 2

Without a doubt, Apple remains on top of the tablet game. It has a powerful processor, beautiful display, and an established app store that hosts everything anyone can possibly imagine wanting from a tablet. In addition, it’s entered our culture as a status symbol, and as such it will be constantly desired as “the original” tablet, no other substitutions will do. The sleek iPad Air 2 is lightweight and slim (thinner than a magazine!), making it easy to hold for extended periods of time. The new version has a more powerful processor and all-day battery life, and all-in-all is just a more polished and upgraded version of an already perfect product.

The price tag for this gadget remains the highest of all of the tablets though, so people are getting ready to bust down doors for pre-Christmas sales. Many retailers aren’t advertising Black Friday tablet deals for this device, but some are throwing in incentives such as Wal-Mart’s $100 gift card with purchase, or Target’s $140 gift card with purchase. Best Buy is leading the holiday discounts by offering for $100 off in-store purchase while supply lasts! There is also the option to consider previous versions of the iPad, as many stores are advertising price cuts on these devices.

iPads have been a popular holiday gift for years now, as there is something really special about unwrapping a present and seeing your love one invested so much in you. It’s the “dream gift” and will continue as such until a new technology comes along to take its spot as the #1 gift.


Click here to learn more or buy Apple iPad Air 2 at Amazon

2014 Top Tablets: #2 Samsung Galaxy Tab S

The latest Samsug Galaxy Tablet is the S version, which is equipped with the most recent version of the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system. This tablet has plenty of power, boasting an octa-core processor and super high resolution display. It is the perfect device to allow users to browse the internet, read magazines or books, stream Netflix or television shows, and play tablet games. It is available in an 8.4 or 10.5 inch display.

Physically, the tablet is super slim and meant to be lightweight and easy to hold for extended periods. The back of the tablet has a soft-touch rubberized dot pattern that makes it comfortable to hold compared to its glossy-back competitors. Despite how slim they are, they are still extremely sturdy and durable. There is a physical home button on the front, volume and power buttons as well as a micro-USB port and a microSD card slot on the side. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S can be purchased in the 16GB or 32GB version, and is likely to be featured in Black Friday tablet deals this year. The tablet comes preloaded with many apps, such as the Android internet browser, email client, calendar, magazine reader, TV viewer, and app store.

The tablet has a 2560x1600 pixel resolution (which equates to 359 pixels per inch, a very great pixel density) and users will notice that the display is very bright and colors are super vibrant. It boasts a 10+ hour battery life while streaming videos, which at this point is one of the best on the market! It is definitely obvious why this is the choice for people who shy away from Apple products.

Click here to learn more or buy Samsung Galaxy Tab S at Amazon

Tablet #3 Kindle Fire

What is considered the best tablet for media consumption, the Amazon Kindle Fire 7” Tablet is proving to be very popular this year, and one of the most anticipated Black Friday tablet deal of 2014. This tablet has a 7-inch color-perfect HDX display, Wi-Fi capabilities, and is available in 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB. Priced at right under $200, it is a reasonable cost even without holiday discounts.

The device boasts perfect-color HDX display and a powerful 2GHz quad-core processor that is three times more powerful than previous versions of the Kindle Fire, and allows fast performance for uninterrupted media streaming. It has 2GB of RAM and runs on the Adreno 330 GPU for an excellent frame rate which allows for perfect streaming and gameplay, even for HD movies. The display is 1920x1200 and 323 PPI high pixel density. The 4500mAh battery is able to last for five hours of intense use.

One of the reasons the Fire is so popular is because Amazon Prime members get to take full advantage of their membership with this device. This includes their TV and music streaming, reading library, movie rentals, and more. Another selling feature is the “Mayday” button which gives instant face-to-face (video chat) tech support year-round. Amazon Fire users have access to 100,000 apps and games in the Amazon Appstore and Playstore, and the device comes loaded with OfficeSuite and email and calendar support. It is also designed to make social media and photo sharing easy, making it a family favorite due to its community focus.


Click here to learn more or buy Amazon Fire Tablets at Amazon 

2014 Top Tablets: #4 NVIDIA Shield

NVIDIA has been on a role in the past few years to make portable gaming more accessible to those who want a multi-functional portable device that has great performance while also running more than games alone.

Their newest release, the Shield Tablet, is able to do just that. A tablet with all of the functionality that users have come to expect from a tablet, while combining serious gaming capabilities. This tablet is the first to use the NVIDIA Tegra K1 CPU chip, making it the most powerful device on the market. It is easy to see the smooth performance for yourself, but the statistics also tell the tale. The shield outperforms other bestselling tablets three times over when it comes to processing frames per second.

It’s not just the processor that makes this device useful to gamers. It also works with a wi-fi Shield gaming controller, Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and gamepad, and it also connects through HDMI cable and displays on HDTVs. While connected to televisions the unit enters “console mode” which turns off the screen and displays everything on the TV, while operating the wi-fi controller though the tablet.

This device is available for $299 on Amazon, and comes in black with grey accents. It has a 8 inch screen size, and measures at 8.8 x 5 x 0.4 inches in dimensions. It weighs 13.7 ounces and has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080, 2.2 GHz processing speed, 16 GB flash memory, 2 GB RAM memory, and runs the Android 4.4 operating system. It has slots for micro USB, HDMI, and MicroSD cards and comes with a stylus included. 



Click here to learn more or buy NVIDIA Shield Tablet at Amazon