Thinking of changing from a laptop to a Ipad

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My son recommended this one,
ref...YWAEY&psc=1

The thing is, do I want an Ipad, or is there a lower cost alternative?

I have no experience with pads/tablets.

Love to hear recommended devices, and other folks experiences.

TIA
 
Step 1: What do you do with your laptop that you will still want to do on an iPad?


Internet device only? Sure, grab an iPad (i would suggest a full size, not a mini) and go to town. There are many options on the market between Android and iOS. There are pluses and minuses to both and it really just boils down to preference. From a don't want to screw with it and just use it, I'd go for an iPad.

My Qualifications:
Current devices: Nexus 6, iPad Air 2, Samsung Note 10.1

Former Devices: HTC Droid Incredible 2, Samsung Note 2, Toshiba Thrive, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S

What I'm trying to say is, I'm not biased to an OS.
 
What is your goal with an ipad or new laptop? What do you use them for? If it's just cruising around the web and streaming, they're great! If you need to "work" on them, such as photo editing (high end), complex graphic layouts, consider the ipad pro. If you want a "pro level" editing tablet consider the cheaper Microsoft Surface 4 over the ipad pro if you're not married to the iOS ecosystem.
 
I went to an iPad mini after having a desktop for years. But I have a work laptop which I tended to use for anything needing "power". Today we have a family computer (which I rarely use) and I bought a used laptop for $25 (which again I rarely use). Those larger devices work better for surfing the web and doing "computer" work. Which I try to avoid when home.

Now the iPad works great as a portable device. I can surf the web while watching tv, or read email, or do light work like that. Small size so I can take wherever I go. I use free wifi when I can find it, or try to keep some books on it. The small size works well for that. A full size IMO might be too big for really lugging around.

I like having the small iPad, and then something akin to a cheap desktop. A laptop isn't that desirable; I would not have bought mine if I hadn't come across a good deal--they just don't last (hinges, batteries, chargers, etc). I'd rather have a mini & cheapo desktop than a laptop that tries to bridge the gap.

Wifey uses our desktop a fair amount, her iPod very very much, and a chrome book sporadically.
 
My wife has an iPad and I have an Amazon Fire tablet and a Winbook Windows tablet in my garage for certain automotive uses.

I hate using tablets.

My rarely used Fire tablet does internet browsing just fine vs my wife iPad.

I'm a lot more efficient using a small laptop than dealing with inputs using my fingers on a tablet.

I'd get a two-in-one.

You could pair a keyboard to a tablet, but many of them forgo having a trackpad. I recommend spending the money on two-in-one.
 
Let me refine this a little. First, I have a desktop with a quad core processor, 1&1/2 gigs of HD and 8 gigs of memory. I don't game, at least anything past freecell. I use an 8 year old ASUS laptop. The laptop is getting unreliable and needs to be formated and reloaded, but the keyboard has gotten flaky, so I'm thinking to just store my collected files on the desktop, retire the laptop and do my day to day general stuff on a small tablet or pad. My son uses his Ipad mini 2 like that. He only uses his laptop when he is editing his photos, (he is a professional photographer).

So, an Ipad type device to do general day to day stuff and small enough to carry around including going out.
 
Tablet can handle 95% of all workload, like browsing, simple emails, calendar, etc very well.

The 5% of the work remaining is where tablet sucks big time: document editing, saving and transferring documents from websites to other places, poorly designed websites (there are lots of them out there), manually entered websites and filling out forms online, etc, and any real work that requires an up to date computer newer than 10 years.

If you have a laptop or desktop already tablet should be fine, if you don't have one already you better not live with only a tablet.
 
Home computing is all about getting information off web. All these computing devices are just screens letting us do so. The larger the screen, the more information you can see simultaneously and do work more accurately with mouse/keyboard. For home that's mostly emails/information research (eg. shopping). Tablets are great for media consumption while you do other things around the home. They're also great for quick checks of email, very basic web surfing. Phones obviously because of the screen size and portability as best used gathering info or reminding you of things when you are out and about.

Eg. My folks love their tablets. Lets them do chores while listening to podcasts/music. Also lets them quick check emails, but most of the time, when they get a serious email to reply to or requires more research they hop onto their laptop.

I think every home needs all three devices. Phone/tablet/laptop or desktop. We're in the information age and that the future of getting info. You'll miss out. Good news is all three items can be had for less than a price of a decent laptop 10 years ago.
 
Screens are great for "consuming media". If you want a little more like I did I grabbed a Microsoft Surface 3, not the pro model. It works well without being an android or iOS platform which is limited. I also really like the detachable keypad.
 
We have an ipad mini and it works fine, just annoying to type on, and some websites don't play well with a touch screen.
You can get a real bluetooth keyboard to help with typing but are SOL on using a mouse with it, apple doesn't support it.
 
All depends on your use cases.

iPad mini is incredible tablet however I find it easier and quicker to web browse and interact with my work laptop or my daughters $110 chromebook that is a real low end laptop.

iPad mini is great for consuming video and certain apps. Typing is bleech.

I have:
iPhone 6
iPad air(work)
iPod touch(work)
iPad mini(wife)
3 Windows laptops
Chromebook daughter
Samsung tablet(work) do not like
 
Consuming information on a tablet can be done well on well designed and simple to render websites. Generating minimal content can be done through apps like posting a picture on facebook.

Any serious content generation will suck on an tablet. You can get around by getting a bluetooth keyboard to remedy it but it will still be a poor substitute.

Surface Pro theoretically is a laptop in a tablet form. I have one sitting on my desk right now that I don't use. Instead, I use my iPad, my smart phone and my laptop. Surface Pro does all the things those devices are designed to do but does everything poorly (too complicated for a tablet, too uncomfortable for a laptop).
 
Mopar- it really depends what the intended use is. I find a tablet much quicker for browsing/reading/information gathering (better for stock tracking/trading) and is less bulky to carry if you are mobile or laying down etc. and has a much cheaper upfront cost especially the cheap Amazon fire which I recommend if you can tolerate the small font. BTW I also have an ipad mini.

The drawback is similar to a phone typing is very slow and voice commands can have limited applications (at least for me) so if you are typing its easier/more convenient to use the laptop/PC.

With regard to costs I think you can greatly extend the useful the life of your laptop which gets bogged down in speed because so many websites with a windows operating system robs your computer memory.
 
I would go for the larger tablet if you are going to use it for web and email. I have an iPad 4th generation and use it extensively for all my web and personal uses. My laptop, now 10 years old, for photo use only.

Having said that, my iPad's performance is not what is was when new. The updates to the OS have slowed it some.

Mine is strictly wi-fi...
 
I bought my wife an iPad Pro 12.9" 128GB last week as a birthday gift. I bought a keyboard for it, too.

She absolutely loves it. She originally wanted a new laptop to replace her old Asus 15", but I took a chance and got the iPad instead. No regrets, she can't put the iPad down now.

The only negative is that the keyboard does not have a trackpad, but she only complained about that one time, and seems to be having a blast with it. She uses it for work and fun.
 
I hate iOS and Apple vehemently. I was forced to acquire an Ipad for my job. Its a pretty piece of hardware and does what it was designed to do well, but you're only going to do what Apple wants you to do. Simple things like copy/paste and accessing files are next to impossible. Forget about having multiple windows open, running different apps simultaneously. Also, theres no tab key on the virtual keyboard. Theres absolutely no modifying/expanding an Apple device. They're masters of planned obsolescence, not to mention they havent really innovated anything new in 5 years. I won't mention how astronomically expensive Apple products are.
 
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Originally Posted By: maximus
I hate iOS and Apple vehemently. I was forced to acquire an Ipad for my job. Its a pretty piece of hardware and does what it was designed to do well, but you're only going to do what Apple wants you to do. Simple things like copy/paste and accessing files are next to impossible. Forget about having multiple windows open, running different apps simultaneously. Also, theres no tab key on the virtual keyboard. Theres absolutely no modifying/expanding an Apple device. They're masters of planned obsolescence, not to mention they havent really innovated anything new in 5 years. I won't mention how astronomically expensive Apple products are.


You haven't researched enough to see how to better utilize the hardware that you have in front of you. When I bought my Air 2 I was intending to use it for more work oriented activities, so I bought a keyboard case for it, best $30 I've spent on an electronic device. FileBrowser App is great, the keyboard is great, copy and paste is the same on Android or iOS. Sure certain apps can't run simultaneously but there are plenty that do, the latest iOS and devices even have multi window. However, multi window is a plus, but it's not the best it could be, but we also have to remember that it's only a 9.7" screen, not a 24".
 
I have a top of the line maxi-pad and it is OK at best. Yes there are apps that let you achieve windows like performance. But you cannot write to a usb stick. You cannot read a CD/Dvd and or use any form of usb accessory.

The keyboard is barely acceptable and does not have a trackpad or mouse feature.

If you are not online or on a network, it's an annoying handicap. One that is impossible to overcome in my world (aviation) where we use discs and usb exclusively.

Work-arounds are possible for many tasks. This does not make it "good".

For the price of this thing and keyboard, an excellent and far more capable laptop can be found.
 
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