Tablets come in sizes ranging from 5 inches to 12 inches. The smaller tablets are essentially large smartphones. Larger tablets provide more screen size, at the cost of being too big for a pocket or purse. Midsized tablet 10 inch (7 to 8 inches) are intended to provide a compromise between being portable and still having a screen large enough to show an entire page of a book. The higher the resolution, the sharper the images appear.

Virtually all tablets have some wireless capability, which usually means being Wi-Fi capable. However, there are two versions of Wi-Fi. Some tablets only support the 802.11b/g specification. For streaming a lot of video and downloading large items, this may not be adequate. If those activities are part of the intended use, it is best to buy a tablet that is compatible with the 0802.11n specification. A tablet that supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio bands provides the most complete Wi-Fi connectivity