It costs a lot of money to purchase a tablet. When you buy one, you want to know you're getting a quality device, whether it's a Nexus 7 or a Kindle Fire, but you also want to be sure it doesn't break down easily, or cost an arm and a leg to fix if it does.
Maybe even more important than the cost is whether or not repair is even possible. Lots of tablets, especially iPads and Microsoft's new Surface RT and Pro, are notoriously difficult to take apart in case repair is needed.
To help out, the website iFixit has compiled a comprehensive list of all the tablets they've gutted, scoring them on a scale of one to 10 in terms of repairability. One is downright awful, while 10 probably means almost anyone could successfully take the thing apart.
So who fared best?
No tablet managed to score a perfect 10, but the Dell XPS and Streak came close with nine and eight, respectively. They are easy to open, the battery is easily replaceable, and the XPS even has color-coded screws to make the process easier. The most crippling factor here is that no one wants to own a Dell anything these days, so let's move on.
Google's Nexus tablets performed moderately well, with the Nexus 7 scoring a seven and the Nexus 10 sneaking by with a six. The battery in both is easy enough to replace, but the Nexus 10 suffers from the fact that some components are attached with both screws and glue.
The best overall performance award for the "Tablets That People Actually Own" category went to Amazon and its Kindle Fire slates. The HD version scored a little worse (seven) than the standard resolution tablet (eight), but they're both easy to open, and switching out the battery is a snap. The most difficult thing to deal with is the fact that the LCD is fused to the glass.
Okay, but what about the iPad and Surface RT and Pro? That's where things get a little iffy, unless you own the original iPad 1. Even then, the first gen pad only scored a six. In fact, the only items to score anything under 5 were limited to Apple and Microsoft products. With Apple it's at least understandable; they don't want anyone tinkering with any of their products, but the iPad 2, 3, 4, and iPad mini all scored an abysmal two out of 10. They are all full of adhesive and hidden screws, making the repair process a pain in the butt.
In the end, Microsoft took the cake. If you thought the Surface Pro's laptop-like capabilities meant it would be easy to take apart and customize, you are in for a rude awakening. The thing has more than 90 screws keeping it together, and that's not counting the "metric duckload" of glue lathering the internal architecture. Simply opening the case means you risk cutting the display cables, so watch out: The Surface Pro scored a wonderfully low one out of 10.
What does this all mean? We can extrapolate a few things as a result of these scores. Number one: Repairability doesn't mean jack, because if it did Dell would have a future (zing!).
Number two: Considering that iPads are far and away the most popular tablets, we as consumers are willing to sacrifice repairability regardless of asking price in order to purchase Apple products.
Number three: Never, ever, EVER break your Surface Pro.
