It's rarely a tablet issue. Some folk DEMAND that the tablet arrive with the apps to do this. Some DEMAND that you only use a PC or some DEMAND that only the cloud be used.
If the maker will not answer your questions, why buy it?
-> Back to the basic question. You need Apps like Documents To Go to get at those Word files. Research that app and your choice of tablet.
Bob
I recently moved to Chicago and started a new job, and my commute has me sitting on a train for 20-25 minutes each way every day. I have a lot of books and articles in pdf format that I'd like to bring with me to read on the train, without having to print them out. I also regularly read/write MS Word documents, which would also be handy to bring with me. So I'm considering buying some sort of tablet or laptop, primarily just for this stuff.
I'm leaning towards a tablet, just because they're smaller and easier to carry than a laptop. However, most tablets seem to be focused on things like games, movies, and internet, which aren't what I want it for. I'm not the type to play games or watch movies on it, and I'm content with having internet just through wifi, not necessarily everywhere I go.
The e-reader things like Amazon's Kindle seem to focus on getting you to buy mainstream books to read on their machine, so I don't know if they can handle pdf and MS Word formats, let alone writing any of my own stuff. Besides, being able to browse the web through wifi every once in a while is something I'd occasionally like to do, even if it isn't my primary reason for buying a tablet. So I think I can rule out a straight ebook reader.
Researching on the internet, it seems that editing MS Word docs may be a pain in the butt on most tablets, even if it is possible. For what I'd be using it for, I'd probably be ok just typing out my stuff in plain text on the tablet, then copying it into the MS Word doc to make it look prettier once I get to my home or work PC. I mostly just use Word as a text editor that happens to have different fonts and sizes, so the rare occasion that I want to do something fancy with it can wait for when I'm in front of a desktop PC. I do want to be able to read MS Word docs on the fly without having to copy them to a different format first, though.
Being able to easily copy files back and forth between the tablet and a PC is important. I don't want to be forced to save everything out to the internet somewhere to get the files back and forth. Do all tablets come with a wire that lets you plug them into a PC, or am I assuming too much?
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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