iPad: why?

Fbjm

I saw someone in a lecture last tuesday typing away on a propped-up iPad, and it got me wondering - not for the first time - why do people buy these?

Does it have any advantage over a laptop? What are the pros of iPads compared to laptops? Or is it just the whole "cool gadget, must have" type of deal?

I'm not anti-apple either, my phone is a 4S and my laptop is an MBP. I just really don't see the point in buying an iPad though.

philiporeilly

While I wouldn't be using an iPad to type long documents, I prefer to use it for taking notes than dragging around a laptop.

The iPad is primarily a media consumption device and is perfect for filling the roles I need it for.

In a lecture environment, I use it as an eBook reader for my notes and books and can annotate PDF files. I have audio recordings in addition to my typed notes / drawings and these are synced back to my computers automatically. Evernote and Goodreader are excellent apps that I use regularly.

At home, I use it for browsing the net on the couch, and as a media remote for my AppleTV. The iPad also has great games which can be played over the air to your TV.

The iPad should be considered a different class of device and may not suit everyone but I do use it more than my laptop.

Fbjm

philiporeilly wrote: »

While I wouldn't be using an iPad to type long documents, I prefer to use it for taking notes than dragging around a laptop.

The iPad is primarily a media consumption device and is perfect for filling the roles I need it for.

In a lecture environment, I use it as an eBook reader for my notes and books and can annotate PDF files. I have audio recordings in addition to my typed notes / drawings and these are synced back to my computers automatically. Evernote and Goodreader are excellent apps that I use regularly.

At home, I use it for browsing the net on the couch, and as a media remote for my AppleTV. The iPad also has great games which can be played over the air to your TV.

The iPad should be considered a different class of device and may not suit everyone but I do use it more than my laptop.

Hey, thanks for the reply.

But can't a laptop do all that too? And I would've thought an iPad was the same size as a closed laptop.

MrJoeSoap

Fbjm wrote: »

And I would've thought an iPad was the same size as a closed laptop.

Definitely not. I got a gift of an iPad and have to say that where it really comes into its own is when travelling, especially the way Ryanair charge for bags. It slips quite handily into any bag and takes up very little space. I'd never think of bringing a laptop away on holidays but the iPad is dead handy for that.

On the other hand though, I have to say that I find typing on the iPad to be an absolute nightmare.

philiporeilly

Not many laptops I know that are as tidy to carry around than an iPad.

You seem to have convinced yourself that the iPad is not for you but it has its roles for me.

Fair enough a laptop could do all that but I prefer the iPad. Likewise people with laptops also have desktop computers as they prefer them for other tasks.

Paparazzo

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Definitely not. I got a gift of an iPad and have to say that where it really comes into its own is when travelling, especially the way Ryanair charge for bags. It slips quite handily into any bag and takes up very little space. I'd never think of bringing a laptop away on holidays but the iPad is dead handy for that.

On the other hand though, I have to say that I find typing on the iPad to be an absolute nightmare.

A small netbook can do that. At about 1/3 of the price.

MrJoeSoap

Paparazzo wrote: »

A small netbook can do that. At about 1/3 of the price.

I'm sure it can. But I'm sure there are some things the iPad can do that netbooks would be fairly useless for. I've only ever used a netbook for an hour or two and it didn't really sell itself to me.

I'm not a big fan of Apple and the way they go about business, but as I said, I got the iPad for free and it is handy for when I'm travelling and/or the laptop isn't an option, as I'm sure a netbook would be too. The price of the iPad never really came into the equation for my personal situation.

Mr Trade In

I use my Ipad in class and have a Philips dictation app to record my lectures and take down my notes on notepad. It is handy for looking up stuff mentioned in lectures on google and bookmarking them there and then.

pippip

I'm a bit anti apple myself but the wife bought me one for xmas. I have a powerful dell laptop which I use for work.

I wouldn't compare the two. The iPad is VERY convienient but is not a computer in my opinion.

It is great for
- battery life (8hrs)
- no boot time, just pick up and use
- e reader, very comfortable to hold and read in any position.
- portability, like carrying a small book, no need for bag
- silent (operating and typing)

I find it's great to have but wouldn't especially need it.

philiporeilly

Paparazzo wrote: »

A small netbook can do that. At about 1/3 of the price.

Any netbooks I've used are just poorly built underpowered laptops and are highly frustrating to use. And if only around €160 (1/3 iPad cost) surprised the market isn't awash with them.

MrJoeSoap

pippip wrote: »

I'm a bit anti apple myself but the wife bought me one for xmas. I have a powerful dell laptop which I use for work.

I wouldn't compare the two. The iPad is VERY convienient but is not a computer in my opinion.

It is great for
- battery life (8hrs)
- no boot time, just pick up and use
- e reader, very comfortable to hold and read in any position.
- portability, like carrying a small book, no need for bag
- silent (operating and typing)

I find it's great to have but wouldn't especially need it.

I'd second all of those points, well put.

Paparazzo

philiporeilly wrote: »

Any netbooks I've used are just poorly built underpowered laptops and are highly frustrating to use. And if only around €160 (1/3 iPad cost) surprised the market isn't awash with them.

But most people seem to use the ipad for something handy to browse the net with. You don't need a high powered gaming pc for that.

naasrd

Fbjm wrote: »

I saw someone in a lecture last tuesday typing away on a propped-up iPad, and it got me wondering - not for the first time - why do people buy these?

Does it have any advantage over a laptop? What are the pros of iPads compared to laptops? Or is it just the whole "cool gadget, must have" type of deal?

I'm not anti-apple either, my phone is a 4S and my laptop is an MBP. I just really don't see the point in buying an iPad though.

Some people say why? Some why not? If you don't get it there's no real answer as to why.

Creamy Goodness

Seriously comparing an net-book to an iPad? lol

Right speaking from someone who has both the iPad wins hands down on these points.

1. It's sleek, weighs about as much as an a4 pad.
2. it's not clunky and made with ****ty plastic parts, every net-book i've seen has at one point has a part fall off or the hinges break.
3. iPad has no moving parts, little knocks won't fry all your data.
4. Instant on, the only laptop that's come close to ipad's instant on is the Macbook Air (which i also have).
5. Apps that run on a net-book are designed specifically not for net-books, runs a browser in a net-book, it's dire 1/3rd of the already small screen is taken up by stupid toolbars etc.
6. iCloud, everything i write in my notes, emails, documents, photos, music gets synced from my ipad up to iCloud and is available for me if i change devices instantly. there are Windows/Linux equivalents with iPad's it's as simple as signing into your appleID and toggling the iCloud switch.

that being said this isn't for everyone, you need to be in a certain mindset to like apple products I feel, most people just look at the price as being the major factor where as I look at the copious amount of hours that Apple devices have saved me.

Thinkingaboutit

Are there not keyboards that be used with the IPad?

culabula

Thinkingaboutit wrote: »

Are there not keyboards that be used with the IPad?

There are, but who needs them? If I can't be bothered typing, I just talk to it.

There are some people who believe that tablets will eventually replace laptops - your data will be stored in the cloud rather than on the device. Not sure I like that prophecy myself but we'll have to see how things go.

Oafley Jones

philiporeilly wrote: »

Any netbooks I've used are just poorly built underpowered laptops and are highly frustrating to use. And if only around €160 (1/3 iPad cost) surprised the market isn't awash with them.

I've used some pretty decent ones. And given the choice between even a middle of the of the road netbook and an iPad for taking notes, I'd choose the netbook.

Eire Go Brach

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

6. iCloud, everything i write in my notes, emails, documents, photos, music gets synced from my ipad up to iCloud and is available for me if i change devices instantly. there are Windows/Linux equivalents with iPad's it's as simple as signing into your appleID and toggling the iCloud switch.
.

I have an iPad. No Mac computer though. A pc But I much prefer google docs to apple ones.

Fbjm

Thinkingaboutit wrote: »

Are there not keyboards that be used with the IPad?

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose though?

Branoic

isnt this question, like, a year late?

pfurey101

Ive an iPhone 4S that can see my cloud docs on the move, a flashy desktop and use the wifes laptop when out to meetings.

I love me gadgets and gizmos but can never, for the life of me, see meself buying an iPad. Gorgeous yokes, but...........

Wisco

I got an iPad just because, let's face it, I wanted one, but I find myself using it for everything at college. I download my lectures to it and then use Noterize (occasionally Goodreader) to annotate them (there's also an audio recording function that I have yet to use) and use apps like Genius Scan in place of the photocopier. I can then email any thing to other people for group projects, etc. I agree that it's not great for typing, but if I have something lengthy to type I use the laptop instead.
I also use it to subscribe to things like NHL Gamecenter as well as other fun stuff like games, and of course, e-readers. In fact, as a person who loves books, I never thought I'd like an ereader, but I can download books from the library for free so I don't even have to purchase stuff. I also download podcasts and listen on my commute, so yeah, I think the iPad is pretty great as it means I really need only the one device for all my stuff. Great portability too and much nicer to use than a netbook, in my opinion. Not perfect, but excellent for my needs.

Hobbes

I have a laptop at home. It gets used mostly as a desk machine. It is just in the event of a power outage the machine will continue to work.

Other then that everything explained above covers why I have mine.

If I had to choose between laptop/ipad/netbook. iPad would win every time.

As for keyboard, the screen keyboard is fine. But you can hook up bluetooth keyboards to it, as well as a keyboard docking station is available.

Tom Dunne

A laptop is a device for creating content, an iPad is for consuming content. There is some overlap, but in my view, they are quite different devices.

I have a wireless bluetooth keyboard for the iPad and to be honest, it is borderline farcical. Aside from connectivity issues, I might as well carry around my laptop.

However, on the couch, for casual browsing, reading, facbooking and all that, there is no beating the iPad.

For development, writing, creating stuff, it's the laptop all the way.