computer graphics homework

de Goes, Wallez, Huang, Pavlov, Desbrun
SIGGRAPH / ACM Transactions on Graphics (2015)
     

Introduction and Purpose

This course is an introduction to three-dimensional computer graphics. Students will learn both the theory of 3D computer graphics, and how to program it efficiently using OpenGL . The course primarily teaches the "modern" shader-based OpenGL (core profile) , but also introduces the "classic" fixed-function OpenGL (compatibility profile). Topics include 2D and 3D transformations, Bézier and B-Spline curves for geometric modeling, interactive 3D graphics programming, computer animation and kinematics, and computer graphics rendering including ray tracing, shading and lighting. There will be an emphasis on the mathematical and geometric aspects of computer graphics. This course is regularly offered every semester (the instructor may vary from offering to offering, as may the content somewhat). instruction (by instructor), and 1 hour of recitation (by the TA or producer) weekly. -->

Annoucements

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Schedule | Prerequisites | Textbooks | Assignments | Grading | Resources and Supplementary Reading | Academic Integrity

Prerequisites

• Junior, senior, MS or PhD student, or explicit permission of instructor
• CSCI 104 (Data Structures and Object-Oriented Design)
• MATH 225 (Linear Algebra and Differential Equations)
• Familiarity with calculus and linear algebra
• C/C++ programming skills

Textbooks (both strongly recommended)

• Edward Angel: Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL, Sixth edition, Publisher: Addison Wesley, ISBN: 9780321535863
• Dave Shreiner: OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Version 4.3 , Eighth edition, Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional, ISBN: 9780321773036

Assignments

There will be three programming homework assignments, teaching students OpenGL and how to program 3D computer graphics. Please see the schedule for links to assignments and due dates. All assignments must be done individually.

Assignments: 17% each (51% total)

Mid-term exam: 19%

Final exam: 30%

All assignments must be completed before the final exam to pass the course. Students must take the mid-term and final exams to pass the course. The assignments will have a small amount of extra credit.

Late policy: Programming assignments should be turned in by midnight on the day they are due. A total of three late days may be taken during the semester on programming assignments. For example, you can use one late day on the second assignment, and two on the third assignment. All days are counted, including any weekends and holidays, as follows: Less than 24 hours late = 1 late day, 24-48 hours late = 2 late days, 48-72 hours late = 3 late days, and so on. The flexibility provided by the late days is intended to get you through the time where all your classes just happen to have assignments due on the same day. Beyond the three late days, there will be a penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment / day. Exceptions will be granted only under most dire circumstances and must be discussed with and approved by the instructor at least one week in advance. Assignment and exam grading may be discussed within three weeks of them being returned to the students.

There is a forum on Piazza where students can ask questions.

Resources and Supplementary Readings

Academic integrity.

All students are expected to maintain the utmost level of academic integrity. Do not copy any parts of any of the assignments from anyone. Do not look at other students' code, papers, assignments or exams. The university policies on academic conduct will be applied rigorously, and the USC Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards will be notified.

Academic Conduct Plagiarism - presenting someone else's ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words, is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Section 11, Behavior Violating University Standards, https://scampus.usc.edu/1100-behavior-violating-university-standards-and-appropriate-sanctions/. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct, http://policy.usc.edu/scientific-misconduct/.

Discrimination, sexual assault, and harassment are not tolerated by the university. You are encouraged to report any incidents to the Office of Equity and Diversity http://equity.usc.edu/ or to the Department of Public Safety http://capsnet.usc.edu/department/department-public-safety/online-forms/contact-us. This is important for the safety whole USC community. Another member of the university community -- such as a friend, classmate, advisor, or faculty member -- can help initiate the report, or can initiate the report on behalf of another person. The Center for Women and Men http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/cwm/ provides 24/7 confidential support, and the sexual assault resource center webpage [email protected] describes reporting options and other resources.

Support Systems A number of USC's schools provide support for students who need help with scholarly writing. Check with your advisor or program staff to find out more. Students whose primary language is not English should check with the American Language Institute http://dornsife.usc.edu/ali, which sponsors courses and workshops specifically for international graduate students. The Office of Disability Services and Programs http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.html provides certification for students with disabilities and helps arrange the relevant accommodations. If an officially declared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible, USC Emergency Information http://emergency.usc.edu/will provide safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued by means of blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technology.

Statement for Students with Disabilities

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

I wish to thank Prof. Frank Pfenning and Prof. Jessica Hodgins from Carnegie Mellon University for generously providing materials from their computer graphics courses at CMU. This course has also been influenced by computer graphics courses at Cornell, MIT and UC Berkeley.

COS 426: Computer Graphics

Spring 2022.

• Description

Computer graphics is the intersection of computer science, geometry, physics, and art. This course will study topics in this broad and remarkable field, with an emphasis on practical methods and applications. In particular, the course will provide an extensive introduction to image processing, modeling, rendering, and computer animation. The goal of this course is to equip students with the various tools and techniques they need to build large projects with significant graphical components; this includes applications for realizing artistic visions (art and architecture), user interaction (UI/UX development), entertainment products (video games, CGI, animations, and augmented reality), visualizations and academic research (physics, biology, chemistry, engineering, and other disciplines), etc.

Topics include: color theory, sampling, image processing, image compositing, mesh representations, mesh processing, parametric curves and surfaces, implicit surfaces, subdivision surfaces, geometric data structures, geometric transformations, ray casting, lighting and reflectance, global illumination, rasterization, scan conversion, particle systems, animation, computer games, fabrication, etc.

• Prerequisites

The course is appropriate for students who have taken COS 217 and COS 226 (or equivalent). JavaScript will be the main programming language; however no prior knowledge of the language is required for students who wish to enroll in this course.

• Lectures and Precepts

Lectures are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00–4:20PM.

Precept is held on Thursday from 7:30–8:20PM and Friday from 10:00–10:50AM and 11:00–11:50AM. Students may attend any precept during any week, regardless of their registration. In general, precept attendance is highly encouraged.

• Required Reading

There is one required textbook for this course:

Computer Graphics with OpenGL , 4th Ed., Hearn, Baker, and Carithers. Prentice Hall, 2010. ISBN: 978-0136053583.

In the past, most students have found it is possible to pass the course without opening the textbook once, as almost all graded material is provided through lecture and precepts; nevertheless, this textbook will prove extremely useful for especially eager and motivated students who wish to pursue further studies in computer graphics. In addition to covering graphics concepts that could not otherwise squeeze into this course, the textbook contains wonderful C++ and OpenGL implementations that all graphics programmers would be well-suited to know.

Staff contact information is listed below, but students seeking help should keep in mind that it is almost always more appropriate to post their question to Piazza rather than emailing an individual member of the course staff.

Felix Heide

• Office Hours

Thursday after lecture

Graduate TA

Monday 1pm-3pm (online)

Ethan Tseng

Tuesday 1pm-3pm (in-person)

Vivien Nguyen

Sunday 12pm-2pm (in-person)

Yuting Yang

Monday 3pm-5pm (online)

Undergraduate TA

Friday 4:30pm-6:30pm (in-person)

Edward Yang

Friday 2pm-4pm (in-person)

Sunday 8pm-10pm (online)

Saturday 6pm-8pm (online)

Vedant Dhopte

Tuesday 4:30pm-6:30pm (online)

The precepts for this class follow the “flipped classroom” methodology and serve to assist students with their assignments. During the first 10–15 minutes of precept, instructors briefly review precept materials with the entire class; these precept materials generally consist of “tips and tricks” slides for current assignment. It is highly recommended that students read through an assignment’s precept slides (in their entirety) before starting work on the assignment itself.

Following review, the precept then turns into a problem session , during which instructors are available as LabTAs to answer students’ questions individually and to provide personal assignment troubleshooting.

• Expectations

COS 426 is a 400-level class. For students concentrating in Computer Science, this course will be marked as a senior departmental on their transcript. Accordingly, students should not only expect to be held to higher standards, but should also expect less hand-holding in general than they may find in 300-level courses and below.

In particular, students should not expect LabTAs to give them the answer to an assignment problem after enough pestering. Course staff are available to help students with their learning, not their grade. Here is a list of what instructors can help with:

Course staff are happy to help explain course concepts or general techniques that students may be confused about.

• e.g. “Could you please explain image convolution?”

Course staff are happy to clarify assignment specs, provided the clarification is not about an intentional ambiguity.

• e.g. “Should this filter rotate the image clockwise or counterclockwise?”

Course staff are happy to give the occasional starting hint (but no more) to put students on the right track for a certain problem.

• e.g. “The runtime of the brush filter should not exceed 4r^2 per center.”

Course staff are happy to answer questions about JavaScript syntax.

• e.g. “How can I iterate over entries in an Object?”
• Course staff will give modest debugging assistance only once students have demonstrated that they understand the solution to a problem at a high level (in other words, after students explain what they are trying to do, and that explanation is correct).

Unless a student has a JavaScript syntax question, instructors will not look at any code until the student has demonstrated that they understand the solution to the problem they need help with (see the last bullet point above). Second, unless it’s a syntax issue, instructors will not fix a student’s code for them. They will simply state what region of the code looks wrong. Also, if a student’s explanation is incorrect, instructors will not fix it for them. Course staff will either state what part of it is wrong, and / or ask a question to give the student something to think about.

• Course Grades

Final grades are based on six biweekly programming assignments (60%), one written exam (15%), a final programming project (20%), and course participation (5%). Throughout the semester, there will ample opportunities for extra credit and student participation. In particular, students are highly encouraged both to enter each assignment art contest, as well as to engage regularly with their peers on Piazza .

• Written Exam

Only one exam is administered during this course. Currently, this exam is scheduled to be taken in-class on the Thursday of midterms week. The exam is closed-book; however, students are permitted to each bring an 8.5x11” double-sided cheat-sheet . The written exam covers all course material up through (and including) Week 5. Students may be tested on any and all graphics concepts touched on through lectures, readings, and assignments during this period. Examples of exams from previous offerings of this course will be posted; however, note that past exams may have covered different material. Students may also find the qualitative exercises available on the course website helpful when preparing for the exam, but they should expect more quantitative questions on the exam itself.

Although the six weeks of course material that follow the exam are not covered on any written test, it is still “tested” through strict no-collaboration questions that are introduced into assignment writeups following Spring Recess. Effectively, these questions will serve as a second “take-home” exam spread throughout the later assignments. This is done in order alleviate the dependency of students’ final grades on their sole written exam grade, while also testing material without overburdening students with tedious and stressful examinations. Note that the grades for no-collaboration questions are incorporated into assignment grades rather than into exam grades.

• Programming Assignments

There are six biweekly programming assignments. Assignments are not weighted evenly. Assignments will be implemented mostly in JavaScript. Any computer and browser may be used for development, however students should ensure that their programs work on Chrome with the latest release of macOS, as this is the environment in which submissions are tested and graded.

Assignments are submitted via the Princeton CS Dropbox, also known as TigerFile. Students should look for the submission link in the description of each assignment, login with their Princeton netID, and then submit all applicable files by the posted deadline. Students may resubmit and unsubmit files as needed up until the submission deadline. Further alterations will result in the assignment being marked as late.

When submitting an assignment, all code, writeup, input images, output images, overlay images, etc., should be packed into a single folder titled “assignmentN” (where N is the assignment number — eg. , assignment0) and compressed. In the interest of preserving space, it is requested that all images are submitted in .jpg format.

• Final Project

The final project is a chance for students to build a system incorporating one or more idea that has been learned in class. Projects should be done in groups of two or three (other team sizes are permitted with permission of an instructor). The focus of the project can be anything of the group’s choosing, as long as it somehow involves computer graphics. Many students choose to create games, or art demos, but it really can be anything.

Students are welcome to recycle code infrastructure provided for previous assignments, and they are also permitted to borrow ideas or other code infrastructure from the web or elsewhere. However, teams should be very careful to distinguish which parts they contributed to directly, and which other parts are loaned from elsewhere. Moreover, while it is ok to use common libraries/infrastructure, they should not dwarf students’ own code in terms of their role in the project. In particular, if a hypothetical group were to make a game, they should not build on top of a highly polished and complete game engine like Unity.

• Late Policy

Assignments are due at 11:55PM on their posted due dates, where submission time is determined by the file date of the file upload. Following a very brief grace period (which students should confirm with an instructor beforehand), one minute late is the same as one day late. Note that if any part of an assignment is submitted late, the entire assignment will be marked late. To submit an assignment late, remove all uploads from the online submission system, since instructors will grade partial submissions as-is (whereas no submissions are marked late). Note that work cannot be accepted after Dean’s Date without a Dean’s recommendation.

Late assignments are marked down 1/4 of the full grade per day or partial day late. This said, students may elect to wave up to three days of late penalties. We will not apply late days automatically in this course since the assignments are not weighted evenly. Therefore, if students would like to apply late days to a submitted assignment, please indicate at the top of the write-up . Additional late penalties will be waived only in the case of unforeseeable circumstances like medical emergencies, as documented by a student’s Dean or Director of Studies. Note that late days cannot be used for the final project as it is due on Dean’s Date

Students who feel they have been incorrectly graded may write a short private Piazza post describing the potential grading mistake. All regrade requests must be posted within two weeks of when the potential grading error was made.

• Collaboration Policy

Programming is an individual creative process much like composition. Students must reach their own understanding of the problem and discover a path to its solution. During this time, discussions among students in this course about the assignments is not only permitted but encouraged . Moreover, those who find they benefit from bouncing ideas off of their peers are encouraged to work in pairs .

Note that this is somewhat more relaxed than the collaboration policies of COS 126, COS 226, COS 217, etc., in the sense the conceptual components (ideation, brain-storming, understanding, problem-solving) of all assignments are partnered, even though programming components of assignments are still individual. This relaxed policy does not mean pairs are allowed share all their code with one another. Here is an executive summary:

• Individual Solutions

Students must individually compose all of their own solutions. The term solutions refers to any of the products created when completing a programming assignment excluding the writeup file, such as source code (including comments), a personal understanding of all submitted work, and output images. It includes both finished and unfinished products, regardless of correctness or completeness.

• Students must never share their code with anyone (besides their current partner) who is taking COS 426 now or who might take COS 426 in the future. Note that sharing output artwork with others is not only permitted but encouraged, so long as doing so does not expose solution specifics.
• Students must never receive or view someone else’s solutions to a programming assignment (or variant of an assignment), besides that of their current partner.
• Students must never view someone else’s writeup, including that of their current partner.

All the rules above continue to apply after assignments are graded and after the end of the semester.

• Collaboration with Course Staff

Students are welcome to discuss their solutions with course staff members during the precept problem sessions, in office hours, and via private Piazza posts.

• Collaboration with Partners

Students may show their partial or complete solution to another student, and they may examine their solutions. However, all submitted code must be fully understood and more specifically typed into the computer by student submitting the assignment. If a student sees and understands another student’s solution (perhaps because they are working as a pair) then they should take a minute to think about it and then type their own version of the solution.

For each assignment, students must specifically state in their writeup file the names of any individuals with whom they collaborated, or from whom they received help, and the nature of the help that they received. This includes help from friends, the internet, classmates, and course staff members, among others.

• Collaboration with Classmates

Students are encouraged to discuss common concerns with classmates either in private or publicly in the Piazza course forum. These discussions must be kept at a general level, without exposing their solutions.

• Concerning Electronic Communication

If a student has a question or comment that will be helpful to other students, and they need not reveal any parts of their work to express the question or comment properly, then they should post it to the course’s Piazza page. One of the course’s instructors will reply as soon as possible. Instructors also welcome replies from other students and may “endorse” a student’s response instead of composing an instructor’s response.

If a student has a question or comment that will not be helpful to other students, or if they must reveal parts of their work to express their question or comment adequately, then they should post it privately on Piazza .

Students should not, under any circumstances, share code in digital form!

Please do not publish solutions to programming assignments in a way that could compromise their utility as pedagogical tools. For example, do not make them available on a publicly accessible web page, such as GitHub. At Princeton, this is a violation of the basic Rights, Rules, Responsibilities of members of the University community.

Plagiarism and abetting plagiarism are serious academic infractions. Programming is a creative work and the academic regulations that apply to plagiarizing prose also apply to plagiarizing code. Princeton’s Rights, Rules, Responsibilities defines plagiarism as “the use of any outside source without proper acknowledgment.” It ranges from “verbatim copying” (e.g., cutting-and-pasting code) to “thorough paraphrasing” (e.g., changing variable names or rearranging code).

• Copying from a Partner

The more lenient collaboration policy for this course is a privilege; it is founded in the trust between students and instructors. If students are caught breaking this trust by violating the collaboration policy, they risk having this policy revoked for the entire class.

• Outside Sources & Citations

Students are only permitted to copy or adapt that is not theirs if it comes from the course materials (i.e., the course textbook, programming assignment specifications, lecture slides, precept slides, etc.). When students use outside sources, they must cite any code that they copy or adapt (with the exception of code that is included in the assignment starter files).

• Plagiarism Penalties

We refer alleged academic violations (including plagiarism and abetting plagiarism) to the Committee on Discipline . If found responsible, the typical penalty is an F as a course grade plus whatever penalty that the CoD imposes. (The typical CoD penalty for plagiarism is suspension from the University for one year.) Violators of course policies that are not adjudicated by the CoD will receive penalties based on the severity of the violation, ranging from a warning (for violations that are both unintentional and innocuous) to an F in the course (for violations that are both intentional and serious).

• Acknowledgements

The COS 426 course staff would like to thank former COS 426 undergraduate and two-time TA Reilly Bova ’20 for creating this beautiful website and revising all the assignment specifications. We would also like to thank William Sweeney ’20 and Reilly Bova together for rewriting the precept slides and compiling supplementary content for the course.

Thanks to past contributors to course material: Keenan Crane, Kayvon Fatahalian, Stelian Coros, Nancy Pollard, Michael Choquette, Se-Joon Chung, Sky Gao, Qiuyi Jia, Zach Shearer, Bryce Summers, Nick Sharp, Maxwell Slater.

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Best Tablets For Students To Study Long Into The Night

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While students need a wide variety of applications to complete their education, a tablet can bring an extra level of versatility to read ebooks, take notes and multitask during long study sessions. The best tablets for students can be a great supplementary piece to a companion laptop, or in the case of our top pick—the Apple iPad Pro M4 —it can be a computer all its own.

The best tablets for students can be used alongside a laptop or on their own.

But we’ve also got great options from Android, Chrome and Windows, too. The best Android tablet for students, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra , can keep you fully integrated into the Samsung ecosystem. For those that want a powerful machine with Copilot, the Microsoft Surface 11 ticks those boxes. There are more options, too. Here are the best tablets for students in 2024.

• Best Tablet For Students Overall: Apple iPad Pro M4
• Best Budget Tablet For Students: Amazon Fire Max 11
• Best Apple Tablet For Students: Apple iPad Air
• Best Android Tablet For Students: Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
• Best Windows Tablet For Students: Microsoft Surface Pro Copilot+ PC (11th Edition)
• Best E-Ink Tablet For Students: Amazon Kindle Scribe

Best Tablet For Students Overall

Seamless integration with your laptop, earbuds and more, apple ipad pro m4.

Adam has been a leader in the tech media field for over a decade, with bylines at a number of different publications. When he's not hosting the Benefit of the Doud podcast, he's busy getting his hands on as many phones, tablets and laptops as possible. He regularly uses both iOS and Android (six-month rotation for each), and he fully embraces technology. He hasn't carried cash money since 2018, and pays for everything with his phone wherever possible.

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Display size: 13-inch | Resolution: 2,064 x 2,752 | Storage: Up to 2TB | Operating system: iPadOS | Size: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.2 inches | Cellular option: Yes | Weight: 582 grams

Best for: Enjoying a fully integrated ecosystem 

• Powerful M4 processor
• Gorgeous OLED display
• Seamless integration with other Apple products
• Keyboard/stylus not included

Apple has long dominated the tablet space since the introduction of the original iPad. Since then, the company has been pushing the boundaries of what a tablet can do and what a tablet can be. It offers a 13-inch Tandem OLED display, which is essentially two layers of OLED pixels stacked on top of one another, which solves two problems tablets have with OLED—brightness and burn-in. The dual-layer of OLED pixels allows for greater brightness and more power efficiency with less chance of burn-in during normal use. 

Moreover, the iPad Pro gives you a huge screen with a fully integrated app ecosystem that allows you to do basically anything you might need during your studies, from writing to research. You can even start typing on your favorite MacBook and seamlessly transfer to the iPad to streamline your study session. Plus, Apple supports the iPad for a very long time. The longevity of iPads means that this tablet will stay with your student long after graduation. Just keep in mind that you'll need to add the Apple Pencil (2nd Gen) to take notes and the Magic Keyboard to make it function as a laptop.

Best Budget Tablet For Students

Amazon productivity combined with microsoft software, amazon fire max 11.

Display size: 11-inch | Resolution : 2,000 x 1,200 | Storage: Up to 128GB | Operating system: FireOS | Size: 10.2 x 6.4 x 0.3 inches | Cellular option: No | Weight: 490 grams

• Inexpensive compared to the competition
• Included trial of Microsoft Office 365
• Underpowered
• Weak app ecosystem (beyond MS Office)

Amazon tablets are a close second to iPad when it comes to tablet market share. Generally they’re pretty respectable devices for content consumption and some light gaming. Recently, Amazon decided to make a push into productivity, and its first steps into that arena come with this Amazon Fire Max 11. You can get the tablet on its own or you can get the Amazon Fire Max 11 bundle that includes a keyboard and stylus for typing and note taking. Amazon also partnered with Microsoft to bundle in a three-month trial of Office 365, meaning you get Word, Excel and Powerpoint for your classes and presentations at a discount for a short time. Bringing one of the most popular productivity suites to the Amazon Appstore was a great move because the rest of that app store is decidedly not great.

Specifically, the Amazon Appstore is something of a wasteland of broken and forgotten apps beyond the typical content streamers and Microsoft apps. You can get the main apps like Netflix and Hulu (and, of course, the Kindle app), but most simply aren’t available. Maybe that’s a good thing to send with your student to keep them from getting distracted. But mostly, this is a light and portable writing and streaming machine which should get your student through a day of studying and a night of relaxing.

Best Apple Tablet For Students

The best value for dollar of all ipad devices, apple ipad air.

Display size: 11-inch | Resolution: 1,640 x 2,360 | Storage: Up to 1TB | Operating system: iPadOS | Size: 9.8 x 7.0 x 0.2 inches | Cellular option: Yes | Weight: 462 grams

• Rich app ecosystem filled with productivity apps
• Works great with other Apple devices.
• Good balance of cost and power
• Keyboard and stylus can be expensive
• Not great for multitasking

If you want a great Apple tablet, but you don’t want to shell out for the best of the best, the iPad Air is a great alternative that will offer a similar experience at a significantly more affordable price. You still have the same disadvantages as the iPad Pro—notably the lack of included keyboard and stylus. Not only are they not included, but the cost of those accessories alone almost equal to the cost of the tablet by itself, effectively doubling your investment.

But if you’re carrying an iPhone and/or MacBook, the iPad Air is a wonderful companion serving as a second monitor for the MacBook, or syncing with the Wi-Fi hotspot from the iPhone for 5G connectivity. You can also use the devices almost interchangeably, snapping a photo with your iPhone and importing it directly into a PowerPoint slide on the iPad.

iPadOS has come a long way in terms of being a great tablet interface, but there’s still some work to do. It’s not the greatest multitasking experience, lacking the taskbar for easily switching apps. Other apps don’t work very well with multitasking in general, so don’t expect to get a full PC-like experience. Overall though, you still get a ton of power in a thin package that can almost completely replace a laptop in a pinch.

Best Android Tablet For Students

A productivity machine, powered by dex, samsung galaxy tab s9 ultra.

Display size: 14.6-inch | Resolution: 1,848 x 2,960 | Storage: Up to 1TB | Operating system: Android | Size: 12.9 x 8.2 x 0.2 inches | Cellular option: No | Weight: 732 grams

• Huge, gorgeous display
• Samsung DeX is a multitasking game changer
• Keyboard case not included

Samsung is one of a couple of tablet makers still pushing the envelope when it comes to the devices. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is loaded with the best processor, RAM and storage space in an effort to draw in the productivity crowd. One of Samsung’s signatures is in the gorgeous display. The 14.6-inch AMOLED 2x display gives you that large canvas to work on with a high contrast ratio and super deep blacks. You also get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which was the flagship processor at the time when this tablet debuted in the summer of 2023. At the time, I tested this tablet, and you can read the full Samsung Tab S9 Ultra review for plenty of more insight.

Samsung adds DeX, its multitasking platform that imitates a desktop operating system, complete with floating windows and a task bar for fast app switching. If you’re looking for a desktop experience with Android’s extensive catalog of apps, look no further. But the tablet is expensive, and doesn’t include the keyboard (though the stylus comes in the box), so it doesn’t come cheaply. But it has all the power and more than you'll need for your studies, and some gaming afterward.

Best Windows Tablet For Students

The very best from microsoft, with a powerful processor, microsoft surface pro copilot+ pc (11th edition).

Display size: 13-inch | Resolution: 2,880 x 1,920 | Storage: Up to 1TB | Operating system: Windows | Size: 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches | Cellular option: Yes | Weight: 895 grams

• Full desktop OS
• Snapdragon X Elite with Copilot
• Built in kickstand
• Keyboard not included
• 1st Gen processor could be tricky

If you want a combination laptop/tablet, the Surface Pro is about as close as you’ll get. The Surface Pro Flex Keyboard completes this package as a laptop replacement, but it isn’t shipped in the box, which means you’ll need to shell out extra for it. The Surface Pro certainly isn’t the only tablet that sells the keyboard separately, but it feels extra egregious when you consider that this is, for all intents and purposes, a Windows laptop.

The Surface comes with lovely industrial design that has become a trademark of the brand pretty much since its inception. The device has an all metal chassis with a tight hinge that can pose the tablet at any angle you might need. This year’s Surface also comes with Microsoft’s all-new Copilot button, which summons the AI engine when you press it—if one were so inclined.

The Surface also runs on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite processor, which is the next generation in ARM-based processing. Essentially, it’s a hard pivot away from the likes of Intel and AMD, who have ruled this space for years. By all reports, the processor seems to hold up well compared to its x86 compatriots, but as of this writing, it’s still very new, so it’s hard to see how it’ll hold up long-term. Of course, the fact that Microsoft used the chip for its flagship hardware speaks to Microsoft’s confidence in the architecture.

Best E-Ink Tablet For Students

Great reader with pen support for highlights and notes, amazon kindle scribe.

Display size: 10.2 | Resolution: 300ppi | Storage: Up to 64GB | Operating system: Kindle OS | Size: 7.7 x 9.0 x 0.2 inches | Cellular option: Yes | Weight: 1.0 pounds

• All the Kindle reliability that you know and love
• Adding markup to books is awesome
• Amazing battery life
• Limited functionality beyond just reading and note-taking

The Amazon Kindle is something of a staple in reading habits these days. Though people still appreciate the physical book, digital e readers are more often the norm when it comes to reading books. But one thing that e-readers have traditionally lacked was the ability to markup texts like what one might do if studying. To that end, the Kindle Scribe might have been made just for your student headed off to college.

The Scribe gives you a much larger canvas for reading and battery life that is measured in months, not weeks. That’s no small thing. It’s no good showing up to class with a dead tablet, especially if that tablet is your primary study device. The battery life on the Kindle Scribe should ensure that basically never happens.

The only problem is, that's about all this tablet does. The E Ink screen is not suitable for displaying anything except books—even web pages are a challenge. So while the Kindle Scribe can be great for reading and taking notes, it falls short when it comes to general research. Put simply, there is zero chance this is the only large-screened computing device you’ll use at college. 

What our editors say: Consumer tech editor Rebecca Isaacs says in her full review , “One of my favorite things about the Scribe is the notebook feature and the writing experience itself. The notebook comes with complete customizability. If I wanted to swap between a large rule-lined page or a dotted grid, I could open the settings and change it with a couple of taps. Additionally, writing on the page felt smooth and fluid. One of my great concerns when I test out E Ink tablets is that my script can sometimes appear pixelated. The Kindle Scribe keeps my handwriting looking natural and like I actually used a pen to write.”

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The Forbes Vetted team has amassed an impressive library of tech content, including recommendations roundups and tested reviews .

• The author of this story, Adam Doud , is a Chicago-based freelance reviewer who has been writing about consumer electronics for over a decade with a focus on mobile phones, tablets and cellular technology. He has tested almost every major phone on the market over the past several years, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Google Pixel 8 Pro .
• Rebecca Isaacs is Forbes Vetted’s consumer tech editor, and she oversees and approved this article. She’s spent the past several years learning everything there is to know about consumer technology, with a special focus on smart home.
• Since the computing world moves at lightning speed, we regularly review and fact-check our articles to make sure the recommendations are still current and accurate. This article was last updated in July 2024 to include an all-new lineup of tablets.

How We Chose The Best Tablets For Students

At Forbes Vetted, we’ve tested plenty of tablets to get a sense of the top picks across a range of needs. Our picks for best tablets for students largely came down to our experience with each device.

• Our writers and editors have tested all of our picks.
• We looked at tablets that spanned all operating systems. These days, personal technology is so interconnected, it makes a lot of sense for your phone and tablet to run on the same operating system, or at least comparable operating systems. This way, you can have the same apps and experiences from device to device.
• In addition to our own testing, we spoke with industry experts and consumer tech analysts to determine the top features a student might need to complete their tasks.
• Finally, cost came into play. Since some students will be buying their tablets themselves. To that end, we wanted to span as large a field as possible, while remaining within the confines of what a student will find useful.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can a tablet replace a laptop.

The answer to this question largely depends on individual needs. For many people, a tablet like the Apple iPad Pro M4 can absolutely replace a laptop for a thinner, lighter portable machine. Where you might run into trouble is when it comes to desktop-class apps like video editors, graphics programs and even some sound editing tools. Many of them aren’t available on tablets, but that is a rapidly evolving shift. There are indeed apps that can accomplish all of those tasks, but the key difference comes in missing some heavier duty features. All that being said, it’s fair to say that well over half of a computer’s capabilities can be replicated on a tablet with very little compromise involved.

What Are The Advantages Of Choosing A Tablet Over A Laptop?

The key advantage to choosing a tablet is in the touchscreen. Not all laptops have touch screens, and that can be a disadvantage when it comes to things like drawing or marking up documents—both of which happen frequently when conducting research and/or writing papers in school. The other advantage is the posture you take when working on them. Yes, you can lean back on a chair and read off of your laptop, but it’s a lot easier and nicer with a tablet. Laptops can also outperform tablets in some scenarios, such as when perched on someone’s lap during a lecture (hence the name). It will boil down to your needs.

Should A Student Have A Tablet And A Laptop?

There’s a good argument to invest in both for the school year, especially if you’re investing in a note taking tablet like the Amazon Kindle Scribe . Tablets can act as a second screen when conducting research, or just keeping track of a sports game while doing research. There are many apps that you can buy that allow you to extend your screen onto a tablet even when built-in functionality isn’t there. A art student may want a tablet for drawing, and a laptop for writing, as an example. When going into a versatile environment like school, those multiple options can make the difference.

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