Master Index of Archived Threads


iPad or new Notebook?

seawolf17 Nov 08 2010 09:52 AM

I have a $500 grant to blow on a new technological gizmo for myself. I'm torn between an iPad, which is sexy and hip, and a regular new Windows laptop, which will allow me to continue my OOTP Baseball game. Thoughts?

metirish Nov 08 2010 09:56 AM Re: iPad or new Notebook? Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 08 2010 02:26 PM

I'm not a fanboy here or anything but I'd go with the iPad , what Laptop would you be getting for $500??? I have a friend that has the iPad and yeah it really is super cool and can do ll types of stuff, just not in my price range.

seawolf17 Nov 08 2010 02:17 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

Looks like you can get a pretty solid notebook for about $500 at Best Buy. I bought a netbook there a while back, but it's slow as hell. I want something that's a little bigger and faster.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 08 2010 02:22 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

I'm pretty sure that the pad is where things are going, but I wouldn't know if that makes it a wise purchase now or a few years from now.

bmfc1 Nov 08 2010 02:26 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

I got my wife an iPad and she loves it. My techie son has one, and he loves it, too.

metirish Nov 08 2010 02:27 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

I gotta say the people I see on the train using the iPad look like douchebags, I may be jealous though.

Benjamin Grimm Nov 08 2010 02:28 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

I got an iPad just last week. I didn't buy it, it was issued to me by my company. I don't have a data plan, so I can only use it at home or at work and not out in the world (unless there's free Wi-Fi around). It's a nice toy, but for me it could never replace an actual desktop/laptop. While I like the portability, and it has a nice physical "feel" to it, I get frustrated by its limitations. But I'm probably more of a "power user" than the typical iPad user. If I had to buy one myself I wouldn't... at least not until they got a lot cheaper. They're a nice supplement to a real computer, but not a good replacement.

seawolf17 Nov 08 2010 06:08 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

For what it's worth, I'd use it for gaming and browsing, largely. I still have my regular computer for real work and CPF-surfing. If it does e-books (I'm assuming it does), then that's cool too.

Fman99 Nov 08 2010 07:37 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

I bought a refurbished $200 Dell netbook with a 10" screen and a keyboard. I love it. It came with Windows XP, which runs a bit slow on it, but I installed Linux on it also (dual boot) and it's plenty fast for web surfing and such.

soupcan Nov 08 2010 08:20 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

Have had an iPad for about a month, don't have - or necessarily need - a laptop. The iPad is great for commuting. My bro-in-law is a tech guy and swears by his for all sorts of things. It's a cool toy, I like it.

RealityChuck Nov 09 2010 09:08 AM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

The iPad (I have one) is useless for text input. The touchscreen is a piss-poor input device (Apple has a long history of shitty methods of inputing data; I mean, they brought back the Chiclet keyboard, for God's sake). You certainly can't type well on it, and it's often pretty damn hard to touch weblinks correctly (they're too small -- so you have to enlarge the image in order to get anywhere near the link). It has no Flash, which means you miss out on plenty. I like to watch the game highlights on the Mets website, but they won't display. ESPN.com doesn't let you show their game tracker, which is how I have to see the game in real time (My cable company doesn't carry SNY). So figure about 10% of websites won't display on it (some have danced to Apple's tune, including Youtube, but not all). What it's good for is, say, looking up things on the Internet without having to go to your computer (assuming a home wireless network). You can view online photo albums and movies conveniently (assuming they don't use Flash). It's OK as an eBook reader (though too heavy and hard to hold for any length of time). Battery life is great at first, but it deteriorates rapidly. But that's relative -- I used to go a weekend without recharging; now it's only a day and a half. Very limited amount of software available, and all from the iTunes store, which is slow and inefficient to navigate if you're browsing (You see some software on the third page of listings and tap it to see more. When you go back, you are returned to page 1, not the page you were looking at). You don't have to worry about viruses, which is good. Installing and uninstalling is simple. It's also not designed for multiple users -- it assumes across the board that only one person uses it, so if someone else wants to, you have to manually delete all your accounts and stored password if you're concerned about security. In summary, it's pretty poor as a primary computing device, but is convenient for things like web browsing and viewing files. Just be prepared to pay more money to add features that can make it more usable for business.

The Second Spitter Dec 04 2010 07:38 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

I can't speak for anybody's personal needs, but the amount of reading I've been doing since I devoted myself to my iPad has increased something like 10-fold. T

seawolf17 Dec 04 2010 08:13 PM Re: iPad or new Notebook?

Wound up getting a Flip video camera, which only left enough for an iPod touch. Still a cool toy.