IPad vs. Laptop

[SacramentoMike]

I know it doesn't sound as sexy as "Colt vs. Glock," but it looks like we'll get one or the other for the kid--17 in a couple of weeks, coming up on senior year, good student, good kid. Doesn't look at the FJR Forum, so he won't be getting a sneak birthday preview.

The IPad looks terrific, and of course when you go to their website it looks like the best thing ever, but that's what they do--make it look good. I'm really looking for chinks in the armor.

In my limited understanding, a laptop is everything you want in a computer for all purposes. Is an IPad fully as functional? What kinds of things can't you do with the IPad that another computer can do? If you have an IPad, do you have any little gripes? Big gripes? Would you do it again? What about sturdiness? That big screen seems kind of vulnerable, even with the little folding cover they offer. Is it? Does seem like the closed lid of a laptop is more protective. Battery life? Does one have the advantage there?

If you have an IPad, or if you've researched it and decided against it, I'd really appreciate all the input you can offer. The FJR Forum. Everything you need to know about FJRs. And most everything else.

 

[ShawnKing]

In my limited understanding, a laptop is everything you want in a computer for all purposes. Is an IPad fully as functional?

Not at all.

What kinds of things can't you do with the IPad that another computer can do?

Lots of things, most of them having to do with software and processor speeds. For example, I can use a software application to turn a DVD into data for watching later. Can't do that on an iPad.

But don't think of it in those terms. You're asking a question similar to "what can a Ferrari do that my FJR can't?" Different tools for different jobs.

If you have an IPad, do you have any little gripes? Big gripes? Would you do it again?

All kinds and yes. I use my iPad more than I use my laptop - and I use a laptop for work.

What about sturdiness? That big screen seems kind of vulnerable, even with the little folding cover they offer. Is it?

Absolutely. It's just glass after all. The cover Apple (and many others) sell will in no way protect your iPad from serious damage. Then again, it's a delicate piece of electronics. You shouldn't let it get seriously damaged.

Does seem like the closed lid of a laptop is more protective.

To the screen, yes. But if you drop a laptop and an iPad, both will get damaged and both could become unusable.

Battery life? Does one have the advantage there?

Depending on how you use it. They iPad, for me, has *much* greater battery life.

A more important question is, what does your son need/want? Does he need a laptop for school or an iPad for fun? Find out from him first before you make the call. Good luck.

 

[Ignacio]

You can't run programs that you may be used to on Windows products (e.g. Streets and Trips). It really comes down to living life in some basic things native to the iPad plus what's in the "App Store" universe. If your kid lives and breathes Office, PC-based video games, and other installed applications...he might not like an iPad.

I live with a windows laptop and iPhone. iPhone works in a pinch or as a satellite device, but I hate typing a lot on it. An iPad is bigger, but still no real keyboard. I couldn't come close to replacing a laptop and iPhone with an iPad.

That all said. 17 is different than 43. If your life starts with an iPad--you may have a fundamentally different outlook on important things. Millions are either delusional or get something I don't.

 

[Hudson]

Mike, the next gen Windows tablets would be a good hybrid. I am using a borrowed Asus touch screen tablet computer, running Windows 8 (the dev build open to the public). It rocks! All the fun of the Ipad, but able to handle PC tasks (you can run windows 7 apps on it too). I can do most tasks with my fingers, haven't used a mouse or a keyboard.

My wife is eyeing an Ipad and for comparison, we looked at the Samsung tablets last week at the windows store. Bigger screen and way more functionality on the Windows site, but the Ipad has tons of apps and is available now. Windows Store is running a special on the Samsung for $999 plus a $200 gift card (to buy the dock and keyboard and mouse for those times you want to use it like a PC), which makes it comparable in price to an Ipad, but way more flexibility. It is super thin like an Ipad, but doesn't quite have the battery life (6 hours vs. 10 hours). Also, it will take time for the Windows devices to catch up on the apps available (it took the Win 7 Phone about a year to reach 50k apps, but I'd expect Windows Store to take less time).

I am waiting for all the slates announced at CES to percolate into stores so I can run a Win 8 tablet and use my Garmin and S&T software, Word, and others, while still having apps. Public launch of Win 8 in 2012 has not been confirmed, but watch the various tech sites for details of the next beta version. So far, my beta has been very stable.

 

[garyahouse]

iPad vs computer:

There are a number of reasons to get an iPad instead of a computer, and visa versa. In my case, I was looking at the difference between an iPad and a Macbook Air. For typing and writing papers, something both a high school and college student must do, the computer is the way to go for most students because of its keyboard. There's no substitute for the feel of a keyboard or the power of Microsoft Office.

For me, the best solution was a Macbook Air. It has no hard drive. It's a fully solid state computer with access speeds that almost every computer out there can only dream of. So I don't have to worry about crashing hard-drives, the achilles heel of most laptops. But you asked about iPads vs. laptops.

Battery life: around 10 hours for the iPad 2; 3-6 hours for the average laptop. Winner: iPad

Viruses: iPads are just about bulletproof here because they use Apple operating systems. Compared to an apple laptop like my MacBook air, it's a toss up. Compared to every other pc: iPad wins again.

For photo editing software, the iPad struggles to keep up with a laptop, and the software isn't as robust as titles like Photoshop available on laptops.

Price: you can buy a good laptop for 400, which is cheaper than an iPad. My MacBook air was about 1200... a little steep for most folks. However, the lighting fast access speeds, the bullet proof operating system, great sound (and loud) from it's stereo speakers, rugged solid aluminum chassis, the solid state hard drive and its 7 hour battery life clinched it for me. My laptop wins here.

Resale: it's easier to sell a used iPad than most laptops: popularity counts. iPad wins here.

I'll let the other forum members shed some more light on that subject as my knowledge about that direct comparison is limited. For now, here's an interesting article comparing iPads w/ laptops to help you:

https://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/apple/ipad/ipad-or-laptop-is-the-ipad-a-laptop-replacement/

Keep in mind the iPad 2 (which is out now) has a little more umph than the iPad 1 spoken of in the website above: the article was dated 4/10/10.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[wfooshee]

The biggest thing is connections. You can't hook up a printer, you can't connect it to your camera and download pictures, you can't even stick an SD card into it.

(Although most of these have workarounds. You can print to a networked printer, and I've heard of an adapter that goes into the data port that will read SD cards.)

If you're looking for a carry-around portal to your connected life, it's great, and hard to beat. If you need to do "work," you'll find yourself emailing your files to yourself so you can get to them on the PC at your desk. Typing on it is a pain for anything longer than a short email reply.

Myself, I can't use one. Where do I put the Cisco console cable?

 

[LDRydr]

If you decide to go the iPad route who's going to pay for the monthly 3G connection? Or will it be WiFi only? Just something to consider when making your decision. I have a Kindle Fire which is great around the house, but it's ability is severely limited when it has no internet connection.

For me it's a Netbook (so I can run Streets & Trips and Mapsource) with a USB cable for tethering to my Droid phone if no WiFi is available (and I only have to pay for one data-plan).

 

[LDRydr]

The biggest thing is connections. You can't hook up a printer, you can't connect it to your camera and download pictures, you can't even stick an SD card into it.

(Although most of these have workarounds. You can print to a networked printer, and I've heard of an adapter that goes into the data port that will read SD cards.)

An Eye-Fi card might solve this issue with using it with an SD-card equipped camera.

 

[ShawnKing]

An Eye-Fi card might solve this issue with using it with an SD-card equipped camera.

You can also buy the iPad Camera Connection Kit.

 

[twistedcricket]

New printers offer wireless connectivity. Really, who prints these days?

It'll get stolen if left about unattended.

I'm in the netbook crowd. I have a Samsung tablet (7") and it will do almost everything I need. It's useless for work (until the vpn-solution catches up). Think of it more as a "viewing" tool than a "doing" tool. You can read and post to Facebook/twitter. Emails and basic web-browsing are fine. Youtube works. It's not great for creating or editing documents, unless you spend another $50-$100 for a bluetooth keyboard. Even then, a 10" screen isn't greating for editing anything. Reading e-books, at least for me, is the real reason I have my tablet.

I'd get the wifi only. There are tons of free wireless access points around me so I'm guessing there are gazillion more around you or wherever he may roam.

Good luck

 

[FJR Flyer]

Got my wife a MacBook Pro in August. I'm not an apple guy so I asked the girl at the apple store if I should get an iPad or a laptop. She said, if you don't already have a good laptop and you want to do more than just check email or surf the net, you should get the laptop. Her words were that an iPad is really an extension of a laptop. As my wife was looking to do more and use Office, etc., I opted for the laptop.

 

[AVGeek]

I have had both the iPad 1 and 2, and also have a Macbook Pro (yea, I've been assimilated). Where the iPad really shines is in battery life; I travel a lot for work, and use it to watch movies on the plane. Around the house, it is great for email and web surfing (though without Flash, there are some sites that are useless). A lot of what you can do with an iPad depends on the Apps that are available; I use Excel a lot for work, and while Numbers is good (and available on the iPad), I can't do the import/export necessary to use it. I was really impressed by Photoshop Express; I also have the Camera Connection Kit (which gives you a USB adapter and an SD Card reader), and Photo Stream (new Cloud based App) lets you take pics on your iPhone, and have them available to the iPad.

For a student, the laptop will be far more useful, since they can run more software, and have more flexibility.

 

[Bounce]

you can simplify the comparison: consumption v creation.

if you only consume content then a mobile platform is fine (tablet, phone). if you have to do much more than check boxes or click on OK/CANCEL buttons, then before long a real keyboard becomes important. once you start considering lugging around a blu-tooth keyboard with a tablet, it loses its value when compared to any number of laptops that are more powerful for the same (expanded) footprint.

this will continue until dictation and voice commands become more ubiquitous and accurate.

as for printing... my iPhone and iPad print fine to my network-connect Brother laser printer (or any other printer I choose) thanks to a little app called Printopia that runs on my iMac. anything the computer can print to, so can the iOS device (even without an AirPrint-enabled printer or hub).

There's no substitute for ... the power of Microsoft Office.

this is where we agree to disagree. MS Office on the Mac is a shadow of what it is for the PC (but at a high cost still). the open source LibreOffice is the heir apparent to the now-languising OpenOffice. it can work with MS Office files and is free for personal use (available for Mac and PC). I have MS Office 2010 for Windows and didn't even bother to install it into the VMWare Fusion VM Win7/64 installation on my iMac. MS' ribbon bar was a solution looking for a problem.

 

[phroenips]

I have both, and love both, but they serve two different purposes. For a student, potentially going to college, I would opt for a laptop. As previously mentioned, they're going to have papers to write, and while you can get a bluetooth keyboard for the iPad, he'll have an easier time with his homework, and with his teachers if he has a more traditional computer and operating system.

The better question to ask instead of what can/can't the iPad do, is "what will the user be using it for?" Several years ago, I bought my mom a used laptop, and it's been great, she uses it almost every day. If I had it to do again, and if the iPad were available then, I probably would've gotten her an iPad instead. But then again, all she's doing is surfing the web, emailing, and sharing her pictures.

My father-in-law on the other hand, would be a perfect candidate for an iPad. He can never remember how to do anything on the computer, including check his email, and he's always clicking and dragging things to the trash which he explains as "it disappeared." ...except for one thing: He gets a lot of emails from his brother with video file attachments in the Windows Media Format. You can get a plugin or software on the Mac to play these files, but no such thing exists on the iPad (.wmv a horrible, inefficient codec/format anyway).

So, all that to say, for your son, I vote laptop, but I will also say I haven't been too impressed with the small netbooks. I had to help a friend's son once figure out how to use his school's application/website something which I think was an electronic version of his textbooks. Turned out, the screen resolution was so low, that the buttons to navigate through the pages ran off the screen. Fortunately, I was able to show him a workaround by pressing F11 in his web browser which takes it full screen (no toolbar or anything...simply maximizing the window still didn't make it large enough). There may be something similar that your son might run into.

 

[garyahouse]

Thanks Bounce.

Mike I hope all the input was of some help. Though as usual, we don't always agree, when it's all said and done, we hope you come away a little more knowledgable than you were. Now if we could all just agree on which is better, Gen1 or Gen2...

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Sharif]

What's the intended use? Is he going to take it to college? What's the intended course of study? Any software requirements?

Knowing none of the above, if you're bound to Apple, I'd strongly consider a MacBook Air, especially if he's a touch-typist and speed of text entry is a requirement.

If you end up going with a laptop, pay the extra $$ for an SSD - the performance gain is significant, as most modern laptops are performance bound by disk performance.

I have an iPad, Galaxy Tab, Lenovo W510, and MacBook Pro (with Parallels running Win7 for specific software requirements). I use the MacBook 80+% of the time, with the iPad or Galaxy as a weekend away travel device (good for sticking in a saddlebag...). MacBook Pro w/ 8GB of RAM and an SSD - it's a beautiful thing.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Thanks Bounce.

Mike I hope all the input was of some help. Though as usual, we don't always agree, when it's all said and done, we hope you come away a little more knowledgable than you were. Now if we could all just agree on which is better, Gen1 or Gen2...

Gary

darksider #44

It's Gen 1.

As to the other controversy, I really appreciate everybody's input, even if I didn't understand all of what you were saying (and I didn't--but the computer's for a kid, not this old pen-and-ink relic, thank God). If you're interested, I'm going to find him a laptop. It'll be much more usable when he starts college in a year (my GOD, he starts COLLEGE in a YEAR???) :dribble:

The thing that really sunk the IPad for me was finding out that the little IPod "Touch" he's had for a year or so really does virtually everything the IPad does--it's just smaller. Kind of pointless duplication. But thanks to all of you for weighing in.

 

[ShawnKing]

The thing that really sunk the IPad for me was finding out that the little IPod "Touch" he's had for a year or so really does virtually everything the IPad does--it's just smaller. Kind of pointless duplication.

Sorry but not even a little bit true. For example, there are all kinds of apps that are available for the iPad that *aren't* available for the iPod touch. The iPod touch is a great little device but the iPad is *much* better in almost every regard.

 

[SacramentoMike]

The thing that really sunk the IPad for me was finding out that the little IPod "Touch" he's had for a year or so really does virtually everything the IPad does--it's just smaller. Kind of pointless duplication.

Sorry but not even a little bit true. For example, there are all kinds of apps that are available for the iPad that *aren't* available for the iPod touch. The iPod touch is a great little device but the iPad is *much* better in almost every regard.

I suppose we disagree about the Gen I v. Gen II thing too.