If you’re on a tight budget and you can’t afford to spend more than what’s absolutely necessary on a new smart device, you’re going to have to make some smart investments and go through a lot of different products and their corresponding spec sheets before stumbling on something suitable. In this case, simply buying the cheapest one is not the solution, because you’ll more than likely experience too many interruptions that will end up spoiling the user experience.
So for a quick answer to the question asked in the title: yes and no.
A longer answer would be: it depends on various factors, including the smart device’s price range and the speed of your connection (after all, you’re going to be watching a video stream in HD).
To illustrate the point better, let’s elaborate on the subject a bit more.
The speed of your connection is one of the biggest factors
In order to avoid constant interruptions, make sure that your internet connection can take a hit. Obviously, the more streams you’re going to be watching at the same time, the faster the connection you will require.
Since there are many different e-learning and video streaming platforms like ITProTV, we can’t go over each single one of them and check the requirements. What we can do, however, is analyze the average recommended speed values from the biggest streaming platforms in the industry and see what they suggest:
– Apple TV: 8 Mbps
– Hulu: 8 Mbps
– Youtube: 5 Mbps
– Playstation Vue: 10 Mbps
– Netflix: 5 Mbps
So if your connection can handle 8 Mbps or so, you’re going to be fine. Please keep in mind these are the recommended numbers/requirements for HD video streaming. If you’re satisfied with a lower quality, subtract about 2 Mbps from the average.
Screen size is another important consideration
Unless you’re comfortable with watching streams on a smartphone, you’re going to need at least a tablet-sized screen. This is important, since most e-learning platforms, including the one we mentioned above, are going to feature some sort of text documents, lessons, exercises, or assignments for you to complete, and such a task is infinitely less challenging to do on a decent-sized screen.
Think about battery life
If you’re looking to get a tablet that allows for comfortable video lesson consumption from your sofa (where plenty of chargers and sources of power are located nearby), battery life is not that big of a consideration. If, however, you’re planning to do the same thing while on the go, you should definitely place battery life higher up on your list of priorities.
Finally, consider the main device specifications like the processor speed and RAM
LG G Pad (which costs around $150 at the time of writing) is a suitable budget-friendly option if you want to tune in to streams or watch video lessons online, and it’s what many people recommend. It has 2 GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, an 8 inch screen, and an octa-core processor. Now, even if you don’t buy this specific model (that’s not the point we’re trying to make anyway), at least make sure the tablet you’ve laid your eyes on has similar technical specifications, and you can’t go wrong.
Conclusion
In the end, we’re going to be answering the initial question again – yes, a tablet, if chosen wisely, is more than suitable for watching video training material. As long as you make sure to avoid the absolute cheapest models out there and have a decent internet connection at your disposal, you’re going to have a pleasant experience watching them.