Seven Tablets with a Business Edge

It’s late in the year and many of us will be receiving and giving gifts for the holidays. What is likely on the top of everyone’s list? A tablet. Of course, they’re great for travel, playing games, surfing the Web. But what if you want a tablet that can pull double duty and be useful at work, too?

Depending on the type of work you do and what features you will use most, you have many tablets to choose from in a vast range of price points.

IT Business Edge has identified seven categories for business tablets, so you’re sure to find just what you need among our list of contenders.

Click through for the best tablets, by category, for work.

Best Tablet for Note Taking: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. The Galaxy Note 10.1 comes with the S Pen, which allows you to write, scribble and sketch and save it all when you’re done. It’s great for taking meeting notes and jotting down reminders.

Best Value for Windows Tablet with Keyboard: ASUS Transformer Book T100.  Touted as a 2-in-1 laptop with a 10-inch tablet, this convertible tablet features Windows 8.1, Intel Atom Quad Core processor and 11-hour battery life.

Best Tablet for Business: Surface Pro 2. The Intel Core i5 processor gives this tablet a performance boost. Microsoft says it’s “the tablet that can replace your laptop,” and it likely will. Use the stylus pen to electronically sign documents, use the tablet in quick meetings for notes, and use the whole system together as your laptop to get work done.

Best Overall Tablet: Apple iPad Air.  It’s extremely lightweight. It provides screaming fast CPU and graphics. It offers a 10-hour battery. Apple’s iTunes Store provides so many amazing apps for productivity, it’s hard to not choose them all. And this tablet is just easy and fun to use.

Best Heavy-Duty Tablet: Panasonic Toughpad. For those jobs that require the use of a tablet in the field, the Toughpad fits the bill. Rugged exterior casing, 10-inch screen and Android OS all come together to provide a solid user experience.

Best Three-Way Device: Lenovo ThinkPad Helix. It’s a tablet. It’s a laptop. Turn the screen around and it’s a sharing device that allows others to view your presentation. It runs on Windows 8 and is just the device a busy executive or mobile worker needs to take care of business.

Best Extra Security Tablet: Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security. For organizations that require total security, the Dell Latitude 10 with Enhanced Security is your tablet. It’s been used by government agencies, health care companies and financial institutions to provide business functionality with top-of-the-line security.