Post: #26

I also have the new iPad, and I must admit it's mostly an expensive convenience. I used it as a laptop replacement in school for a while using a BT keyboard, but it's a bit limiting. It's basically a portable high quality screen. A MB Air is not much heaver than an iPad.

Post: #27

You need an ipad so your 5 year old doesn't mess up your laptop an play with your phone all the time.

Post: #28

I think I'll play around with it for another week then flip it for a quick buck. A laptop + iphone + kindle combo is all I need. I wonder if it'll take a hit on resale value when they introduce the ipad mini next week...

Post: #29

(10-17-2012 09:38 AM)el mechanico Wrote:  You need an ipad so your 5 year old doesn't mess up your laptop an play with your phone all the time.

I grant you that my daughter loves it dearly and wants one for her 6th birthday (not happening).

Post: #30

(10-17-2012 09:58 AM)Menace Wrote:  

(10-17-2012 09:38 AM)el mechanico Wrote:  You need an ipad so your 5 year old doesn't mess up your laptop an play with your phone all the time.

I grant you that my daughter loves it dearly and wants one for her 6th birthday (not happening).

I bought my kid this one months ago it has games and leaning spelling stuff
[attachment=8269]
Nabi Tablet It's created enough friction with her mother to warrant the $200 I spent.

Post: #31

You need one of these jammies.

Post: #32

Since the birth of Apple, the company has shamelessly advertised their products and shoved their propaganda down our throats. First, the iPod came out. As a result the masses became unable to function without having some shit blasting in their ears constantly. Next, the iPhone came out. I don't see what's so special about a phone that plays music. any phone with YouTube capability can do just the same. For the grand finale, they come out with a flat rectangular "computer", hence the iPad. As it has been stated above, the various features are pretty useless, besides the wifi and video capability. Why people get so excited is beyond me? I've never seen anyone get excited over a desktop.

Post: #33

I'm laughing at some of your reports of ipad users taking photos on their device. I've been seeing this left and right as of late and wondered why people are using a fucking tablet as a replacement for a camera. It looks awkward every time I see it.

I'm disappointed that Asus discontinued their EeePC line of ultra compact laptops. They were cheap and made perfect travel computers. Even had built in cam and mic for Skype. The explosion in tablet sales killed the market for netbooks. Acer still makes them but for how long who knows.

The ipod and iphone were truly revolutionary devices. I still rock a 160 gig ipod classic I bought in 2009. Couldn't live without it. But the ipad is utterly pointless and just seems like an attempt for Apple to stay relevant.

Post: #34

(10-17-2012 01:28 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  I'm laughing at some of your reports of ipad users taking photos on their device. I've been seeing this left and right as of late and wondered why people are using a fucking tablet as a replacement for a camera. It looks awkward every time I see it.

I'm disappointed that Asus discontinued their EeePC line of ultra compact laptops. They were cheap and made perfect travel computers. Even had built in cam and mic for Skype. The explosion in tablet sales killed the market for netbooks. Acer still makes them but for how long who knows.

The ipod and iphone were truly revolutionary devices. Especially the latter. I still rock a 160 gig ipod classic I bought in 2009. Couldn't live without it. But the ipad is utterly pointless and just seems like an attempt for Apple to stay relevant.

Also saw some people take theirs to the bowling alley for pics and video of family bowling night.

I love my lenovo s12...except for the processor. It bottlenecks there and youtube videos barely run if the system is hot and there are a few things open.

Post: #35

I have the new Ipad which I think is better than the Ipad2, I love the screen resolution and yes it is an expensive toy.

It is great for when you don't want to lug around your pc, I also like it to view my pics, facetime is pretty cool to talk to your friends/relatives in another country (assuming they have the same app). It is very convenient for when you are on a plane or hanging out at your local coffee shop.

Sadly, the trend of taking pics is increasing. It screams look at me I have an Ipad, I am not part of that clique.

Post: #36

The New MS surface has potential, it's a tablet, you get a keyboard that is also a cover and it has office installed, I'll definitely take a closer look when it launches in a weeks time.

Post: #37

I have an ipad. "Garageband" is amazing for ipad, way better than it is for iphone or for osx - it's my favorite tool for sketching music out and for mobile recording (w/ a yeti usb condensor mic). It's easy to transfer your work to logic afterwards. The ipad is also a pretty incredible device for supplementing ableton live, for anyone who uses that to dj. You set up your computer as the live server and launch/control clips via the ipad.

For general though, I agree - tablets are like computers, but most things take 1000 times longer to do. The exception being specialized niches like music. It's OK as a PDF/document reader, but like other people in this thread, I prefer not having a backlight and reading on a kindle or something like that.

In the US, I also think having an iPad in your car(or backpack if you dont have a car) in addition to a cheap burner phone is a much better solution than a smartphone. You get maps and mobile internet anytime you need it, but you don't have the temptation of having the internet in your pocket/in front of your face anytime you have a down moment. It works out being a lot cheaper as a data plan as well.

Post: #38

(10-17-2012 05:15 PM)Jalouse Wrote:  The New MS surface has potential, it's a tablet, you get a keyboard that is also a cover and it has office installed, I'll definitely take a closer look when it launches in a weeks time.

I've been skeptical but if it works fast it might be worth a look.

Post: #39

Tablets are efficient if your speed on a screen is fast. I do 80% of my travel work on a tablet and 20% on a laptop. When in office it's 100% laptop with a 3 screen set up.

If you are trying to upload stuff it is not a work device for you.

Most of my posts are done from a phone or tablet. All writing work done on tablet. All email done on tablet. All reading done on tablet, unless stuck in office of course.

You can do work while "in transit" is really the huge value add.

Post: #40

My LTR has just bought a used iPad 3 for only $300 and I've been playing with it a lot. I must say I'm pretty impressed. I don't have much experience with Apple products, but this new iPad is effing fast - switching between apps, loading, surfing, etc. is pretty much instantaneous. User interface is really amazing, smooth and intuitive, though sometimes I found it a little bit too big - I can see the appeal of the small and cheap 7" tablets, think of getting Nexus 7 for myself. Battery lasts much longer than laptops as well, all with extremely high resolution screen. Definitely great for browsing or watching videos, basically consuming any kind of content. For writing it's probably pretty useless without a keyboard, although you could try the integrated text-to-speech which I found quite reliable. However, for drawing there is an excellent app called Procreate that is very popular with pro artists; I got a stylus for it (about $15) and it works very very well. Extremely impressed.
I'm a developer so for serious work in my field it's useless - I personally cannot work on anything less than a full screen keyboard with a 19" screen - at work I have a 4 screen desktop setup. But for anything else I definitely prefer it to laptops. I think that even for a writer it could serve as a laptop replacement with a good keyboard once you figure out a good workflow.
Looking anxiously at the upcoming Windows 8 slates - that could be a perfect way to have both laptop and a tablet all in one, and with access to desktop applications like IDEs. Hopefully the battery life will be decent.

Post: #41

I played around with the microsoft surface. Depending on how well it syncs with google calendar/contacts which I use heavily, I'd consider it. Pretty fast, keyboard is great....its a pretty functional hybrid.

But I'd almost rather spend an extra 300 for an mac air.

Post: #42

I'm definitely selling the ipad 2. Still somewhat open to a table but I'll go with an ipad 3 or the surface if I like it.

Post: #43

For surfing the web and assimilating information fast there is nothing better than an ipad, from what I hear its out of other tablets league.

If there is a topic you want to know about, you can have the most important books on there and flick between that and online information in a flash.

If you are learning a language have all the language pdfs saved on there with associated tapes.

Its a great devise, but I would say the point of it is for supplying info/entertainment rather than creating, for that you do need a laptop.

Post: #44

I picked up the Surface so far I love it. I think it's almost the perfect travel companion, load it up with a netflix account and an xbox music pass and you're good to go, add to this the keyboard and office and for most people it's all you'll need.

I have a couple of little complaints but they're mostly software related and this seems to be something they're actively updating so in a month or two I doubt they will be a problem.