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How do you use your tablet? (poll)

Is it just a glorified e-reader? A laptop replacement? Or do you use it to suck down media content like there's no tomorrow? Vote in our poll!

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
Does your tablet double as your primary source of magazines? Next Issue

When the iPad first came on the scene back in 2010, most people bought them without having much idea how they'd use them. It was more out of curiosity, to see if a tablet would indeed meld with modern life.

Fast-forward three years. Now we all know exactly what tablets are good for and what they're not. We buy different sizes to accommodate different needs and purposes. Heck, some of us are already moving on to our second or even third tablet.

But why? What drove you to buy one, and what's your primary use for it now that you have it?

As the owner of an iPad, a Kindle Fire, and a couple Barnes & Noble Nooks, all of which I purchased initially for purposes of writing about them, I can tell you that I use mine mostly for reading. E-books, yes, but also blogs, newspapers, and other Web content (usually courtesy of Flipboard, but I also use PressReader to devour digital newspapers).

Plus, I'm a huge fan of reading magazines on my tablet. There's no better app for it than Next Issue, which delivers more than 80 magazines (including back issues) for a flat monthly fee, but I'm also enjoying the Retina-optimized Zinio, which makes magazines jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

So, yeah, first thing I do with pretty much any tablet is get it set up for reading. But what about you? Is your tablet primarily for business? Do you use it to stream Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go? Have your kids co-opted it for everything from Dr. Seuss books to Solar Walk? I'm curious!

Vote in our poll at left, then hit the comments to talk more about how you use your iPad, Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire, or whatever. Note that I purposely didn't include an "all of the above" option, because obviously most people use their tablets for multiple purposes. I'm interested in your primary use, the main reason you reach for it.