Pad, Netbook, or Laptop?

[rescueme]

Obviously a personal choice based on what you intend to use the device for, and how mobile you want to be.

Exactly.

That's why I own/drive an SUV and a convertible; each has its use, under certain conditions ...

 

[FUEGO]

My Eee (Asus) netbook has an ethernet connection port, along with the external video, 3 USB, and SD card slot.

Don't know what you mean by "hard wired"...

My dell netbook has same features. I think they are fairly standard on all netbooks sold in the last few years.

 

[MichaelB]

If netbooks have improved connectivity and reasonable performance I'll certainly look once my laptop needs to be upgraded. Hopefully by then the tablet will have greater capabilities.

 

[TromboneAl]

Don't know what you mean by "hard wired"...

It's how Luddites hook up their networks.

 

[MichaelB]

It's how Luddites hook up their networks.

A master recognizing a student? In spanish they say "Burro llamando al conejo orejon". Roughly, the pot calling the kettle black...

 

[rescueme]

It's how Luddites hook up their networks.

Reminds me of the old IBM2260 CRT's hooked up to a mainframe (360's) with "paddle cards" back in the early 60's (yes, last century - I'm showing my age )...

 

[Mulligan]

I started with computer, then bought laptop. Pitched the computer once I figured out I never used it after laptop purchase. Bought an ipad on a whim. After a couple days of transition, the laptop never came on. In the past few weeks, I have entered the world of mint.com and online banking. Oddly enough, I am turning on the laptop to use those sites. I dont like the short cut app on mint with Ipad. For just reading, you tubing, and emailing, I prefer Ipad. I especially love the 10 hour battery and the fact it doesnt generate heat on my lap. I might be an odd duck that actually prefers the Ipad keyboard to the regular one. Probably because I am a very efficient 2 finger typer.

 

[ERD50]

It's how Luddites hook up their networks.

Not necessarily. There are times when one has access to a wired port and the wireless access is either not available or slow/weak.

In those cases, it is good to have wired as an option. Some might prefer wired for security reasons, but I'm not sure that makes a difference.

-ERD50

 

[TromboneAl]

Luddite waiting on hold for tech support:

 

[REWahoo]

Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow and I hope it's the perfect toy for travel . At home I use a laptop but I refuse to lug it with me when I travel which is becoming more frequent . I'm usually ultra cheap but at $199 I'll try it .

I ordered one for DW and it it due to arrive on the UPS truck late today. She's picking up our 13 year old grandson from basketball practice after school and when they get home he'll probably race her through the front door to see who can get their hands on it first...

 

[rescueme]

Luddite waiting on hold for tech support:

Looks like it's wireless ...

 

[Nuiloa]

I have an iPad and use it primarily for camping. It has its limitations: no USB port and the Flash player thing can be a pain.

I like the touch screen and the connection speed.

I also bought a cradle for it, which helps a lot. Holding it for any length of time gets hard on the old arthritic hands at times.

I will be buying a decent laptop for long-term travelling.

Nui

 

[TromboneAl]

I found a place with a demo iPad unit, and we'll try it out on Saturday. But, if Lena likes the tablet idea, we'll probably consider the Kindle Fire instead.

 

[Midpack]

I found a place with a demo iPad unit, and we'll try it out on Saturday. But, if Lena likes the tablet idea, we'll probably consider the Kindle Fire instead.

From Bogleheads this afternoon FWIW...

I have an iPad, had a number of Kindles over the years, and a few days ago received a Kindle Fire.
I would ONLY read a book on an e-ink Kindle. The Kindle Fire and iPad are for different uses. I don't have one, but I would guess the same for the Nook (back-lighting is not good for long reading sessions).

Having said that, the iPad is fun for Word With Friends and checking my emails. The Kindle Fire seems to be fun for watching movies and TV while on the elliptical.

... to every thing, there is a purpose ...

 

[donheff]

From Bogleheads this afternoon FWIW...

Originally Posted by Claude
I have an iPad, had a number of Kindles over the years, and a few days ago received a Kindle Fire.
I would ONLY read a book on an e-ink Kindle. The Kindle Fire and iPad are for different uses. I don't have one, but I would guess the same for the Nook (back-lighting is not good for long reading sessions).

Having said that, the iPad is fun for Word With Friends and checking my emails. The Kindle Fire seems to be fun for watching movies and TV while on the elliptical.

... to every thing, there is a purpose ...

DW and I have both the Nook Color (Fire equivalent) and the Nook Touch (which is like the e-ink Kindle). I prefer the Touch for it's light weight and excellent ease of reading in sunlight but I far prefer the backlit Color for reading in low light and particularly in bed. In low light I can dim the screen way down and comfortably read while DW watches TV. Even in bright light the Color is fine with the screen turned up high. Battery power goes decisively to the e-ink readers.

Bottom line for me is get a tablet if you want multi-use and/or multi-location reading. Get e-ink if you will only be reading books in well lit situations.

 

[FurBall]

DH got me an iPad last Christmas. My poor laptop now sits unloved and unused. To access my desktop I got VNC. I love reading on it -- adjusting the font size to accomodate aging eyes. I got used to typing on it but there are covers that include a bluetooth keyboard.

 

[REWahoo]

DW's Kindle Fire arrived about an hour ago. She and our oldest grandson are currently arm wrestling over who gets to play with it...

 

[TromboneAl]

I've read many books on my iPad touch, and don't seem to get any eye fatigue from the backlit screen.

 

[W2R]

I've read many books on my iPad touch, and don't seem to get any eye fatigue from the backlit screen.

I didn't see the difference either, until I owned an e-ink device.

Or maybe I'm just another Luddite. But like the guy on Bogleheads, I prefer e-ink.

 

[Ronstar]

I have a netbook, laptop, and iPad. I find that:

Ipad is great for email, internet, apps, music, reading books, movies - at home or traveling. As described above, it's best for accessing information.

Laptop is great for writing and creating documents. (although iPad can create docs with pages and numbers)

netbook is like a laptop light, and is more portable for travel.

I find myself using the iPad most, I use the laptop mostly for work tasks (becoming less), and I find myself almost never using the netbook.

 

[easysurfer]

I have a laptop and and netbook (using that right now). I don't have a Pad so really can't comment on this.

I like my current netbook for travel (so easy to pick up and transport). But the 10 inch screen is just a tad too small. Maybe a 12 inch one, would be best (or does the extra size make it a laptop?).

I really don't miss not having an internal DVD writer (have an external one if needed) and use a portable USB drive for my data.

 

[M Paquette]

I just don't want to be afflicted by buyer's remorse - - I can beat myself unmercifully (metaphorically speaking). That's no fun.

I have been thinking about a wi-fi iPad to be justified as a toy (like my Wii), but I am still on the fence and unsure of how I feel about that.

I bought one, as a sort of toy for myself, and it had turned out to be ridiculously useful, far more than I had anticipated. (I'm on the sofa, with my feet elevated 18 inches higher than my chest, and posting with the thing right now while a cat circles around on my stomach.)

Today's usage:
Breakfast: put on "wall street journal this morning" podcast while making coffee, then listened to the podcast while reading the morning e-paper and eating my oatmeal.

Exercise: did an hour on the elliptical while listening to tunes, and watching a TV show that was on my desktop computer, streamed over WiFi to the iPad.

Later this morning, read this forum, did some online shopping, and a little research work.

Now: reading and posting here.

Later: I'll catch the evening news with dinner, catch up on e-mail, and check market futures before bed.

It's handy...

 

[Katsmeow]

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.

So, not much typing is done, but I have a feeling that she would not like typing on the iPad or Kindle fire.

We'll have to find someplace to try one out (no Apple stores around here).

From her use it doesn't sound like she particularly needs a notebook although I think one would be fine particularly if she does a lot of writing (but it doesn't sound like she does).

About the typing -- with the ipad there are a couple of options. First, you can get a keyboard for it. I was sure I would use the keyboard a lot and bought one although as it turns out it is easy to type on it so I rarely use the keyboard (every few months). Also, I think you can download Dragon dictation app and use that to dictate instead of typing. I just got the iPhone 4S which has dictation built into apps and it is great. With the app you can get for the ipad I think the dictation isn't built into the apps but understand it is fairly easy to use it to do email.

There are occasionally websites I can't do on the ipad because they use Flash but that is rare.

I have a notebook which I use hardly at all. For me, its main use is to play World of Warcraft when I travel. Most everything else I do I can do on the ipad. (I do have a desktop so for actual major composing of documents or spreadsheets I just use the desktop).

DH just received his Kindle Fire today (I have one of the early editions Kindles which I haven't used much since I got the ipad). He hasn't had time to do much on it yet but it does have a nice looking screen. It is quite a bit smaller than the iPad and is not as versatile and you can't store anywhere near as much on it. But it is several hundred dollars cheaper.

 

[REWahoo]

... you can't store anywhere near as much on it.

Remember that you can store all content you download from Amazon free in the 'cloud'.

 

[Lakewood90712]

I got an HP Netbook about 2 years ago. Has plenty of computing power , but the 10" screen is just too small. If I had to pick again , I would get a low end laptop.