Laptop or iPad?

[tutenkhamunsleeping]

As a life-long PC-using, trendy mobile phone-hating, Apple fanboy-loathing sort of chap, I must say the latest iPad is probably the greatest invention since genitalia.  Highly recommended!

[Flakmunky]

I find the iPad is great for surfing, writing short emails and note taking in meetings (using Evernote).

I have Quick Office but I would not use the iPad to do any serious typing as it is a PITA. A touch screen keyboard is not the same as a proper keyboard and I just can't get away with the spelling suggestions; it seems cack-handed to me in that it comes up with a suggestion and if you DON'T want what it suggests you have to tap on the suggetion... This is useful when you are typing a long word and it gets the suggestion right but anything else 

Also the text selection is pretty poor (although better than my Andriod ICS phone).

All in all, if you want something to surf the web with, write a few emails and maybe use JMRI throttle then the iPad is great. If you want to do any proper work, a cheap laptop would be better.

IMO.

HTH.

Timmo

[PLD]

A 'Tablet' (of any brand) and a Laptop are different tools for different jobs...

The laptop these days is essentially a fully functioning PC in a portable form. Designed to do the job of a full PC in any location but stationary in that location.

The Tablet is much more limited in functionality (some are in reality no more than toys or oversized mobile phones), but is smaller and lighter to be easier to carry around and potentially use on the move.

I'd take a step back and think what you actually want to use it for and go from there.
(you mention taking photos on the iPad - you will be dissapointed with the quality from any tablet compared to even a basic modern digi camera - relatively low resolution, no optical zoom lens)

Whichever format you go for, I personally would avoid the i-brand. If you look beyond the hype and the label, you will find that the alternatives deliver better performance, more functionality and more flexibility for half the price...

[Oldman]

General question to the Ipad users.
Can you print from them yet or do you still have to transfer the doc to a pc

[zwilnik]

General question to the Ipad users.
Can you print from them yet or do you still have to transfer the doc to a pc

You can print wirelessly straight to your printer (if it's a modern one that supports AirPrint) or to a printer connected to a wireless network. You can also share your docs direct to your computer or via iCloud to all your iOS and Mac OS devices and computers.

[PLD]

What is it about sticking an 'i' on the front of everything that makes people blind to the lack of functionality??? or shall we refer to that syndrome as an i-infection?? 

[EtchedPixels]

What is it about sticking an 'i' on the front of everything that makes people blind to the lack of functionality??? or shall we refer to that syndrome as an i-infection?? 

And the price of the apps. But that cuts both ways - one reason I prefer Android is because all the apps i need are free. One reason ipad has a lot of apps is because Apple users are more easily parted from their money

But there are lots of  people who went the tablet route who are happy because even though its not a proper computer and is very limited in what it can do - it does what they want.

To me though a tablet for mobile (as opposed to around the house) use is an oversized phone that I can't make calls on

[zwilnik]

What is it about sticking an 'i' on the front of everything that makes people blind to the lack of functionality??? or shall we refer to that syndrome as an i-infection?? 

And the price of the apps. But that cuts both ways - one reason I prefer Android is because all the apps i need are free. One reason ipad has a lot of apps is because Apple users are more easily parted from their money

Actually it's because 'free' apps get their payment from you in other ways, be it advertising which gets in the way of the function of the app or collecting your valuable personal information to sell off (which is the principle revenue for google). And I would certainly pay 69p instead of giving my info to Russian spam distributors.

[EtchedPixels]

Actually it's because 'free' apps get their payment from you in other ways, be it advertising which gets in the way of the function of the app or collecting your valuable personal information to sell off (which is the principle revenue for google). And I would certainly pay 69p instead of giving my info to Russian spam distributors.

Erm no.. the apps I mostly use do not do advertising nor do they send my details off to Russians (indeed unlike the iphone Android actually has separate permissions for access to things like address books).

A lot of them like the firefox web browser, k-9 mailer, engine driver (the JMRI DCC control app), and so on are just free (indeed free with source code).  Other stuff is free because the app vendor makes money elsewhere (eg iplayer, the ebay app, or the kindle app the google apps (maps, google+, youtube etc)

I think the only ad supported app I actually use is the tuner app for tuning the harp and that one doesn't really annoy me. Quite a few games are ad supported by I find things like Angry Birds even more irritating than the adverts

Looking forward to having LibreOffice on Android too then I might start trying to write documents on it, although without keyboard I'm still skeptical.

[red_death]

What PLD said!  Tablets and laptops don't do the same thing.  Tablets are great for consumption (eg reading e-mags, books, watching films, browsing etc), but not so great for anything that requires creation eg typing!

Yes, you can type on a screen keyboard but it isn't great.  My boss swears by her ipad + wireless keyboard, but by the time you have that why not just get a netbook or light laptop?

There are netbooks and laptops with decent battery life and still relatively light out there - just needs a bit of research.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 and really like it but it doesn't replace my laptop...

Cheers, Mike

[zwilnik]

Actually it's because 'free' apps get their payment from you in other ways, be it advertising which gets in the way of the function of the app or collecting your valuable personal information to sell off (which is the principle revenue for google). And I would certainly pay 69p instead of giving my info to Russian spam distributors.

Erm no.. the apps I mostly use do not do advertising nor do they send my details off to Russians (indeed unlike the iphone Android actually has separate permissions for access to things like address books).

A lot of them like the firefox web browser, k-9 mailer, engine driver (the JMRI DCC control app), and so on are just free (indeed free with source code).  Other stuff is free because the app vendor makes money elsewhere (eg iplayer, the ebay app, or the kindle app the google apps (maps, google+, youtube etc)

I think the only ad supported app I actually use is the tuner app for tuning the harp and that one doesn't really annoy me. Quite a few games are ad supported by I find things like Angry Birds even more irritating than the adverts

Looking forward to having LibreOffice on Android too then I might start trying to write documents on it, although without keyboard I'm still skeptical.

Google is essentially an ad agency. All their income is from ads and the reason Android is free for hardware manufacturers to use is because at heart it's there to gather users (and their info) for Google.

App wise, there's no difference in price on the iPad to Android. If anything, you're more likely to find a good, free (or very cheap) app on the iPad than on an Android tablet simply because there are a *lot* more apps designed for it (rather than phone apps). iPad apps are also less likely to be ad based as devs make (far) more money from paid iPad apps than paid Android apps.

So far I'm finding Pages and Numbers quite handy for writing documents on the go and iMovie is certainly up to scratch. If I've got my MacBook Air handy I'd rather use that for actual editing, purely because of the keyboard, but the iPad's certainly useable. It's fills a niche between desktop and laptop in how it's used. The ability to just pick it up and use it straight away, wherever you are, without any sort of startup time, makes all the difference.

[Mustermark]

What is it about sticking an 'i' on the front of everything that makes people blind to the lack of functionality??? or shall we refer to that syndrome as an i-infection?? 

Hi PLD, i see you're not a fan of the brand, and you have mentioned the lack of functionality a couple of times.  I think it would be helpful, even for those of us who are happy with our (admittedly rather expensive) iPads, if you could be more specific about what functionality is missing. So, price apart... What am i missing out on (apart from Flash)?  What is there that the OP might need that can be found on a PC compatible tablets?

[PLD]

Cant remember where I read it now, but the quote from one app developer gave an interesting insight into the economics of developing apps for the various platforms.

It was something like "each time one i-user downloads the apple version, the $1 he pays covers the cost of his and the 3 users who download the android version for free!"

[Newportnobby]

I find the iPad is great for surfing

Timmo

Do you have to stand on one leg or can you get both feet on it


The taxis running.........

[Mustermark]

My phones battery only used to last half a day, since getting an iPad it will almost last two days! Some days I don't even bother turning my pc on now.

I got it as an impulse buy on eBay deal of the day, thinking it wouldnt get used much and could easily sell it on, but it gets used loads. I was looking at getting a laptop to take on holiday, but the problem was battery life on them. IPad battery life is great, should be able to watch three films and play some games on a single charge. Plenty for your average flight/journey.
Would even consider buying a second now to save fighting with the other half over it lol.

That's funny!  My wife got an iPad a while ago and she loved it.  I couldn't see the point.  Why, when it's just a big iphone that you can't put in your pocket?

But i eventually got one so i can do stuff on a decent sized screen without going to be in my den, and i love it.  I still think the fact that it is always on (vs a laptop) is very cool. Biggest problem for us now is putting them down and actually being together, rather than just sitting in the same room.  We are going away for a long weekend soon and we are going to leave he ipads at home!


I got the wifi version and when i am out i can use my iphone as a hotspot.