Pad, Netbook, or Laptop?

[TromboneAl]

After working with the iPad all day, she gave it a thumbs down. I've erased all the data, and we'll send it back tomorrow.

The main issue is that it really isn't a standalone computer. We can't print anything without jumping through hoops. She can't access folders on my networked laptop without purchasing another application. She finds that there are things that she can't do on some web sites.

Part of it may be that she doesn't like learning the new ways of doing things. The few minutes of playing with it at a store really weren't enough to evaluate it.

So, next it will be between a laptop and a netbook.

 

[Midpack]

Very sorry to hear that, but hopefully you've found out with no dollars and only a little hassle. I thought a tablet would be a good fit for "90% of her use is surfing the net, looking at knitting stuff, and researching answers to questions for crossword puzzles. The other 10% is email." I personally use my tablet about 75% of the time, and my desktop the rest of the time. But all users have different needs, some apps simply require a full on PC for CPU power/RAM, storage space, peripherals, etc.

Tablets and smartphones are still 'satellite' devices with full on PC's as the center or 'digital hub in a digital lifestyle' and that may not change soon. I gather the industry vision is for "the cloud" to become the new digital hub, but I am not sure users will warm up to moving all their files and apps to a connected third party hard drive, there are files I can't imagine sharing. So having tablets as standalone devices may be at least a few years away...

 

[Bestwifeever]

....We can't print anything without jumping through hoops. ....

I certainly see the appeal of the iPad, but this would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[Lsbcal]

...(snip)...
So, next it will be between a laptop and a netbook.

When we looked into laptop vs netbook a few years ago we chose the 15 inch laptop. DW loves it. She mostly uses it in the house. The battery is charged to 75% and then taken out and stored away (it's still like new because of this). She tends to use the laptop as a desktop so it's just always plugged in.

BTW, we bought an HP laptop and found that the buyer reviews on the HP site were quite helpful in narrowing down the choice. I went through the site menu to determine any features we wanted. Then I placed the order by phone just in case the tech/sales person might have some comment that would help in the purchase. If you don't get a person good in English on the phone, I'd just try again later when the US sales offices are open.

 

[W2R]

I certainly see the appeal of the iPad, but this would be a deal breaker for me.

I wouldn't want to depend on an iPad as a laptop replacement, because of this and for other reasons. But still, as an additional toy..... hmmm! Might be fun.

So, next it will be between a laptop and a netbook.

She might just want another laptop, since she is used to having a laptop. It sounds to me like the best way forward would be to go shopping with her and let her pick out what she wants. Sounds like that is what you have in mind.

 

[Ronstar]

I certainly see the appeal of the iPad, but this would be a deal breaker for me.

I'm not having a problem printing to an eprinter - except it seems like l have to get new print cartridges a lot.

 

[Ronstar]

...She can't access folders on my networked laptop without purchasing another application. ....

I have been saving files to the cloud? (Apple idisk) from my mac and they are accessible from an iPad. But I don't really want to save all of my files to idisk. I'm going to try the FileBrowser app - it's supposed to access a network drive.

 

[explanade]

Well that's the printer companies because they make their money from consumables, not the actual printer.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I'm not having a problem printing to an eprinter - except it seems like l have to get new print cartridges a lot.

I'd probably e-mail an attachment to myself using the iPad and then open it on my laptop or netbook and print from that.

 

[Ronstar]

I'd probably e-mail an attachment to myself using the iPad and then open it on my laptop or netbook and print from that.

That's a good idea - I do that when I have a day at work. I just email stuff to work and print it there. But at home I only have one printer, so it doesn't matter what device I use to print to it.

 

[ERD50]

I'd probably e-mail an attachment to myself using the iPad and then open it on my laptop or netbook and print from that.

Unless Lena was going to do a lot of printing, this is pretty simple method to get stuff printed (or exchange files), and it is totally independent of OS and special apps. If you print often, it gets a bit tiresome.


-ERD50

 

[TromboneAl]

I'd probably e-mail an attachment to myself using the iPad and then open it on my laptop or netbook and print from that.

Except that the laptop will be in the landfill.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Except that the laptop will be in the landfill.

Oh. Then I'd e-mail it to DH to print for me.

I don't think even the most ardent iPad-er would suggest it acting as one's only computer.

 

[TromboneAl]

I don't think even the most ardent iPad-er would suggest it acting as one's only computer.

Right, that's what we discovered. It's surprising to me, however, because with a few changes, I'd think it would work fine as a standalone computer. If, out of the box, you could just plug a USB cable in and print, and if you could browse network folders, Lena MAY have gone for it. OTOH it may have just been too "different" for her.

 

[Midpack]

Right, that's what we discovered. It's surprising to me, however, because with a few changes, I'd think it would work fine as a standalone computer. If, out of the box, you could just plug a USB cable in and print, and if you could browse network folders, Lena MAY have gone for it. OTOH it may have just been too "different" for her.

USB does seem like a no-brainer, for a printer and an external hard drive/mem stick. I assume Apple is trying to avoid canibalizing their desktop and laptop sales. That will work until other non-PC consumer electronics firms get a toehold with a great product.

 

[explanade]

There are Android tablets out there with USB ports. But I'm not sure those are used for printing.

THe software support, especially for peripherals, is behind that for the iPad because iPad has much bigger sales.

As for accessing files on other computers, there is DropBox, which I haven't used but I know people swear by it for things like sharing PDFs between computers and iPhone/iPads.

I believe it's a free app./service. I think SugarSync is in the same vein.

With iCloud, which is a free service, you can also share files though I think you have to use apps. which support iCloud, so something like Pages would work.

 

[Meadbh]

I was just reading that the Netbook market has collapsed due to the popularity of tablets. If the iPad doesn't meet Lena's needs, perhaps she could consider a deeply discounted netbook. Personally, I would not buy a netbook, since a decent laptop can do so much more.

The iPad printing thing is not a huge issue for me. I don't print much, and most of what I print would be documents in MS Office, which is not supported on iPad anyway. So the iPad's utility in the working world will be focused on electronic information transfer. The iPad's versatility on the fun side gives it a whole new place in my electronic toolbox.

 

[Bestwifeever]

...So the iPad's utility in the working world will be focused on electronic information transfer. The iPad's versatility on the fun side gives it a whole new place in my electronic toolbox.

I wondered what you do with the medical records I imagine you are maintaining--they must end up in electronic files in your office. Duh.

I really think Steve Jobs didn't want the iPad to just be a next-generation computer but a whole new animal, so that's why it has no smart card drives, no USBs, no Apple-designed peripherals (including printers).

 

[Meadbh]

My organization now has the ability for physicians to securely access electronic patient records and diagnostic imaging on the iPad. We can't enter any information but we can see what's happening with patients. I haven't yet done this, but I've seen a demo. Apparently we use the Desktop app to "see" the screen but the device does not retain any information. Maybe the techies can explain it more clearly. I'll report back once I'm up and running with it.

 

[explanade]

Probably streaming the graphics to it but not sending the files of the images themselves.

Or there are a number of screen sharing programs which let you log onto a computer and view the display output on that computer. Presumably the computer would be on a secure network while the iPad would connect to it via a secure connection like VPN.

 

[ERD50]

If the iPad doesn't meet Lena's needs, perhaps she could consider a deeply discounted netbook. Personally, I would not buy a netbook, since a decent laptop can do so much more.

How so? I bought a cheap netbook a few years ago to take on a trip. It does everything my other computers do, except for having a slot for CDs/DVDs - but I can read/write those fine with a cheap external writer/reader plugged in the USB port. Built in Wifi, web cam, mic, bluetooth, keyboard, touchpad, drive space, sd-card slot, usb ports, external monitor port, ethernet port - what's missing (other than pure power in the CPU/graphics, but this is a tradeoff for size/weight)? And that was a cheap netbook - $280 a few years back (ASUS PC901 - kinda bulky compared to today's netbooks, but 8 hours battery life).

AFAIC, they should have tablets that are nothing but a netbook w/o a built in keyboard (add one thru USB or Bluetooth if needed). Just a netbook with a touchscreen. They're probably out there, I just haven't noticed.

I don't print much, and most of what I print would be documents in MS Office, which is not supported on iPad anyway.

Solution:

Apple - iWork - Open, save, and email Microsoft Office files.

iWork makes it easy to open, save, and share documents with anyone on a Mac or PC.

Open and save Microsoft Office files.

If someone sends you a Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, you can open it in iWork. It’s easy to make Microsoft Office documents look great, thanks to the powerful graphics and formatting tools in iWork. You can also share your iWork documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with anyone using Microsoft Office on a Mac or PC. Just save everything you do in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote as a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file.

-ERD50

 

[TromboneAl]

Today she researched and ordered this from TigerDirect for $279:

Dell D630 Refurbished Notebook PC - Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, 2GB DDR2, 80GB HDD, 14.1" Display, DVD-ROM, Windows XP Professional 32-bit (J001-140402)

 

[modhatter]

The 14" is a very good size and I think she will like that. It should also meet most all of her needs. The only thing missing which she may not like is the screen resolution. Dell, like Lenovo have "not so stellar" screens - unless you order one with high resolution screen, which are pricy. They seldom have them in their refurbished store, and if so, it is with their XPS line. Lenovo uses a IPS screen in their high resolution laptops, but definitely not cheep. I am a screen nut, so it is important to me. Other people could care less, as long as they can read on it. Dell makes pretty decent computers.
Better than HP or Acer in my opinion.


As for using Drop Box with Android tablets, it is available to most all Androids as far as I know. I know two of mine have it.

What I find tablets useful for, is moving around the house with. If I have to input something in Netflix in the living room and need a computer, it is much easier to grab a tablet instead of lugging your laptop into the living room. Or if I want to watch streaming news while I'm in the kitchen or working at my dining room table where I don't have a TV, I can grab my tablet. (also good for the bathroom, but won't elaborate on this) With the 7" tablet, I can easily put it in my purse and take it with me if I'm going somewhere where I might have to wait, so that size is convenient. I don't care to type on my tablets, anything than navigating the web with it. I use my laptop for typing anything long.

 

[Nodak]

There is a Printbot app for Android that works very well with my Brother wireless laser printer.

 

[Marita40]

I'm looking into the Asus Transformer: an android tablet with separately purchased keyboard. The best of both worlds I think: tablet and, with attached keyboard, very much like a netbook.