Why Choose Apple / iPad tablets with VidaMounts?

If a reliable and high performance tablet kiosk is what you're looking for with your VidaMount, then Apple iPads are probably the best choice, hands down. With a wide range of size options ranging from the iPad mini (8") to the standard 9-10" sizes, as well as the larger Pro Series with 11" and 12.9" screens - all of these tablet options are fully supported by our VidaMount enclosures. The tradeoff? Choosing an option from the iPad family is also likely the most expensive option of all available choices. However, as the old adage goes: "You get what you pay for!"

The biggest advantages of choosing an iPad based kiosk setup include:

1. Great Reliability & Stability in Hardware

Performance wise, when it comes to maximizing uptime, iPad tablets' iOS operating system has shown solid, reliable performance over time. Rarely do devices need to be rebooted, and 'freezes' or 'crashes' are not a common occurence - making them a great starting point for any VidaMount. A big reason for their reliability is the similarity in hardware used from one iPad model to another. For example - the performance on a 'low end' Android can vastly differ from a 'higher end' model - due to the fact that the processors, RAM memory available, and other factors vary from one manufacturer to another (or even one tablet model family to another - such as the Tab S vs Tab A vs Tab E for Samsung Galaxy Tabs). Thus, performance issues like sluggishness / freezes that never occurs in a higher end model can become more prevalent in a lower-end tablet model.

With iPad, since the hardware built-in is often higher end and meets a minimum set of performance requirements, "hangs" and "freezes" are rarely encountered - providing greater reliability and stability. These two characteristics alone already make using iPad tablets + VidaMounts an ideal choice for use as tablet kiosks - since the devices operate in a predictable, appliance-like manner, with nearly 100% uptime.

2. "Walled-Garden" protection against malware

Beyond hardware, one of the reasons why iOS performs more reliably is its protected ecosystem for running of apps. Unlike Android (where APKs can be downloaded + sideloaded) and Windows (where executables or code can be inadvertently run from a download or even browser visit), the only way an app can run on an iPad is via a download through the app store - which has stringent controls in place that vet every submission for viruses, spyware, and other malware. By only permitting the ability to run signed code, this minimizes unexpected behavior, freezes, and crashes from happening often on your VidaMount tablet setup - and when these issues do happen, developers can track down what happened quickly since the hardware is more consistent from tablet to tablet - allowing faster bug fixes since everything is more easily traceable.

3. More feature-rich, performance focused apps

Another undeniable fact is there have been far more iPads sold and in active use than compared with any other tablet family. Due to its wide user base, app developers are incentivized to develop on iOS first (and often only on iOS) in many cases. Even if a developer team can create different apps for the different operating systems, the iOS versions of the app are often more fine-tuned and perform better than their Android or Windows-based cousins. With more development time, re-factoring, and optimizations done - this often leads to greater reliability - pushing iOS even further ahead of the pack when selecting hardware for your VidaMount tablet enclosure.

4. High performance w. large screens in the iPad Pro series

Looking for the largest screen sizes with the fastest performance for your kiosk? The iPad Pro series of kiosks is the answer. At up to 12.9" (or your choice of the smaller 11" screen), the iPad Pro provides the best of both speed and screen size. With other tablets such as Samsung Galaxy and Microsoft Surface, performance-focused setups can be made by selecting a Samsung Galaxy S series mount or the higher-end Microsoft Surface Pro enclosures, respectively. Note: No high performance options exist if we build off an Amazon Fire enclosure, since Fire tabs are made to be as inexpensive as possible by sacrificing performance. Furthermore, Samsung Galaxy and Amazon Fire tabs (both of which VidaMount provides support for) don't have any tablets with screens larger than ~10" at the time of writing - only the Windows Surface Pro models at 12.3" come close to the iPad Pro's 12.9" screen size.

5. Breadth of 3rd party remote support apps

While the Apple tablets are more expensive in cost up front, their greatest cost savings usually come from the ability to minimize unnecessary technical support labor by utilizing third party remote control tools that can be run on deployed iPad mounts in the field, such as JAMF, Teamviewer, and other apps. This becomes critically useful for IT departments supporting a large number of iOS / iPad + VidaMount deployments, as tools like JAMF can be autoloaded on any iOS device as soon as the tablet goes online - which then allows automated configuration of a wide range of settings (such as loading additional WiFi network details + passwords), pre-specified apps (no need to manually download each app off the Apple App Store), and other tremendous time-saving steps. If we factor in labor and support into the "Total Cost of Ownership" (TCO) - many people are surprised to find that, despite Apple iPad's initially high up front costs, the end TCO as more time passes by becomes similar to or less than Android, simply due to the time savings involved and eliminating unnecessary on-site support.

6. More VidaMount options for covered vs exposed home button & front camera / rear camera

Lastly - besides performance, speed, and reliability - another important consideration is the aesthetics and looks of the tablet setup itself. By choosing an iPad, VidaBox offers multiple configurations that allow you to customize the exact look of your VidaMount tablet enclosure setup, with options such as:

- Covered vs Exposed Home Button + Front Camera
- Covered vs Exposed Rear Camera

In many instances, the kiosk owner may feel it's important to provide 100% open, unfettered access to the tablet. In others, installers may feel that it's more important to cover everything but the screen. some cases, the rear camera may also need to be exposed for check-in, ticketing, or payment purposes. The Good News is: With VidaMounts, we can offer all of these options to truly customize your iPad tablet kiosk to your choosing!

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So, with Apple iPads' great performance, reliability, and breadth of mounting configurations - why hasn't it become the one and only option?
The simple answer is: High initial price.

As briefly mentioned earlier, Apple iPads will generally be more expensive than their Android or Windows-based counterparts. Here's a quick comparison chart of pricing at various tablet screen sizes:
(Current as of July, 2020)

"Small" size (7-8") tablets - Street Price:
- Apple iPad Mini: $349
- Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019): $179
- Amazon Fire HD8: $60

"Medium" sized tablets (~10") - Street Price:
- Apple iPad 7th Gen: $329
- Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019): $229
- Microsoft Surface Go: $399

"Large" sized tablets (~12"+) - Street Price:
- Apple iPad Pro 12.9: $999
- Microsoft Surface Pro: $749

As one can clearly see, there's definitely a premium when it comes to choosing iPads for VidaMounts for use as tablet kiosks - but in our opinion, other than high price, the iPads are designed quite well, and won't suffer any major disadvantages if we can get past the initial cost.

On the other hand, if we are working with a fixed budget, or a cost sensitive VidaMount setup, then going with a non-Apple setup would clearly provide upfront cost savings.

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Working on, designing, or building out a new tablet-based kiosk setup, and not 100% sure as to which tablet model to go with? Give our experts at VidaBox a ring at 844-4-KIOSKS / 516-499-5050 - and we'd be happy to help work out which of the various tablet options available would fit you best!