IPad or laptop

u812

u812

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Mar 15, 2002
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Thinking of replacing my old laptop. Still running XP. The only thing I really use my laptop for is web surfing,checking email pay pal and banking. I know the apps for PP and banking do not show the full site but I think I can open them with Safari and it would.
Would I be better off with an Ipad or laptop?
 
A tablet will do almost anything a casual user would want a laptop to do. The trade-off is that some things in that "almost" category can be exceedingly frustrating and difficult to on a tablet whereas it's simple and easy on a computer. Like a random website that just won't format properly, a form that there's no "app for that", etc.

The obvious advantage of the tablet is portability and (usually) price. Battery life is usually quite long and a USB cord is far easier to have with you than laptop cord and power supply. Wi-fi and cloud storage can alleviate some storage capacity concerns. And of course, you can always get a keyboard for your tablet. A tablet/case/keyboard combo is far smaller and lighter than most any laptop that doesn't cost $2K+.

A Surface tablet will get you as close to a proper laptop as you'll get, but they're not cheap.
 
Laptops are barely being supported and apps are mostly made for iPads/tablets and phones. i strongly favour computers/laptops which I need for work and document processing but it seems to me they are less and less practical for general use
 
Get a light light laptop (MacBook) or a large table (iPad Pro 9.7 or 12.9). Hit the Apple store in your area and spend a few hours trying both product lines to X off your list or keep on your list. It either stay, check the refurb section of the Apple site for last year's models at 10-20% off. I bought a 2011 MacBook Air for my kids and it's still running strong with multiple free OS upgrades. Most small laptops/tablets are solid state so no moving parts to break....they last a good long time before replacement is needed.
 
I use both. I like the ipad for convenience- I can pick it up, open the cover and it's on. It has better battery life than a laptop so I only charge it occasionally. Checking websites, reading PDFs, showing photos to people, looking at maps- it is convenient for that. But sometimes it is very frustrating to use on the internet, at least with built-in browser. I haven't tried Firefox or Chrome on it.

But if I sit down to extensive internet reading I use the laptop. It is easier to view complicated websites, easier to save things from the internet including web addresses, things like that. But even if the battery life of my old laptop is 3 hours or so I use it a lot so I almost always use it with the cord.

If I had an old laptop in good physical condition I would put a small solid state drive in it and load it with Windows 10. For the cost of a cheap tablet you could upgrade your current computer to work like a new one.
 
I can only tell you what I do. I have a desktop (2), laptop (2), and a android tablet. Just bought a new desktop in the last couple of months with Windows 7. I increased the memory on the tablet, so memory is not an issue for light use. But I create documents and I find a tablet in convenient for that. But you can get a keyboard add on (which I have and never use). Grandson would choose a tablet (Ipad to be exact) as he is totally internet oriented. He uses the Ipad at school and has no laptop. Things tend to be cloud based on tablets if you're comfortable with that.

I download photos a lot from cameras... sometimes a gig or more at a time. I need more storage and things are set up to easily backup either the desktop or laptop. In most cases, the photos get downloaded to a desktop and then transferred into my laptop via an external hard drive for viewing, deleting, editing, or inserting into reports.

Using the tablet for internet only, no document creation, and it works just fine with the forums. It is a pure joy over using a smart phone for the forums. The dominant thing I use the tablet for is reading BF, checking email, Kindle books, checking weather, and google maps. I would have no problem with banking with a tablet if I had good virus software. The gps feature is handy when traveling like a smartphone. I use it a lot for the Kindle stuff (A LOT). I like the better screen resolution over the Paperwhite Kindle I have.

My choice is and would be to have both a laptop and tablet (about 8"). Tablet for "reading" and laptop for "writing" and everything else including banking. But if I could have only one, it would be a laptop because I'm more comfortable with them for flexibility. My brain is not cloud based and that pretty much says everything in terms of my choices.
 
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When it comes to tablets, you have to consider how you'll be using it. I'm not talking about what you'll be doing with it, but how you'll be using it. 2 hands or 1? Case or none? Propped up or flat?

I like the ~8" form factor. Most 7" tablets physically aren't much smaller than 8-9" tablets (big bezels), but that extra inch or so of screen makes a big difference. My old tablet was an LG 8.3, and it was close to perfect for me. Screen was plenty big for browsing, playing games, reading eBooks, etc, yet it was small and light enough that I could comfortably hold it in one hand for extended periods. Great tablet until it crapped out on me.

If I were to get an iPad (not bloody likely, but that's a different discussion), I'd get the Mini 7.9". The large ones are too big to use comfortably for a long time unless it's propped up somehow.

Go ahead and check out tablets at Best Buy or wherever, but if you want a good deal on a used, refurb, or NOS one, go to swappa.com.

For a long time I wanted to replace it with the Samsung Tab S 8.4". Faster, beautiful AMOLED QHD screen, feather light, but it was always too expensive. Even now a new or refurb is at least a couple or $300 off eBay or Amazon. I just bought a brand new one off swappa for $115.

bdmicarta's suggestion of getting a tablet and a solid state drive for your laptop is a good one. Your laptop will feel like new, so you have that if you need it, and then you've got the tablet when you want something more portable.
 
I mostly use an Ipad Pro 12.9. It has a hard wired keyboard that does not fight with the Bluetooth hook up between my iphone 7 plus and my hearing aids. The ipad has cellular data capability, so I am always hooked to the internet. The ipad camera is great and lets me compose on a big screen. I can upload photos directly to the Forum using the Image Size app.
The main thing I use my desk top for is printing bills, emails, airline tickets, and storing old photos. The desk top has 2 terabytes of memory. I am currently using 0.3. The desk top is a PC, and it cannot get all the apps that are available on my phone and pad. Also the apps are not that useful if the computer is stationary. When I am on the road, I can do maps, routes, motels, restaurants, weather, gas stations, etc.
 
My personal opinion...

I've had different size laptops and tablets. Yes, it really depends what you will be using it for... And in Android and Windows land, brands and models all have different pros and cons.

For mostly info consumption, my 8" Samsung has the right mix of screen size, weight, sound, etc. for me. However, using the on-screen keyboard on anything between 6" (Swype style) and 10" (normal typing) is slow, and even the 10-12" tablets on screen keyboard is much slower and full of mistakes compared to a regular keyboard. Also, taking along a separate keyboard bulks up the carry load that I hate bringing it along... Plus charger and or batteries.

I think most of the things you listed can be done fine with a tablet, and Apple's tablets are really nice... as long as you don't mind the price of accessories and external storage options. Also keep in mind that often tablet browsers are mobile browsers.

That being said, if you don't plan on inputting a lot of work, and info consumption is your primary use, a small tablet is much easier to lug around, hold one handed, etc.

Personally, (although I have a 3 monitor desktop setup for the home-office) I use the 8" tablet watching videos, reading the news, controlling the TV, Skype, and other info-tainment when lounging around the house. Then I have a large screen smart phone combined with a 11.6" Windows 2in1 for work and when traveling.
 
I agree that the ~8" tablet is close to ideal as you can hold it in one hand. The larger ones look great, but begin to approach a laptop in size and as a result, are more for "work". You don't need to spend a lot of money on a tablet.
 
iPads are great for the tasks you mentioned. They’re fast, light, and the new ones offer a high level of security. I run multiple devices so would not suggest one as your only device. More likely would go with a MacBook Pro or Air, nothing beats a full OS for getting work done.
 
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I have numerous tablets, desktops and laptops running a variety of operating systems.

When I really need to do work, I need a real computer.

My iPad is used for very light web browsing and reading. I don't have much use for it otherwise.

If you have basic needs and are not really a "computer guy", get a MacBook Pro.

Otherwise, I would just get a premium Windows 10 machine.
 
So what do you get with the higher end/more expensive tablets? Processing speed? Screen resolution? Weight reduction? Better wifi connection? Better connection via phone towers?

I notice with my latest Android based smart phone and tablets that you now get automatic OS updates to the software which is not the case in past years. You buy one with something installed.... that was it.

You can print with tablet even though I tend not to like the wireless printer connections.

Tablet use tends to grow as you get used to using them. I used to feel precisely like Mitchell.
 
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u812 said:
Thinking of replacing my old laptop. Still running XP. The only thing I really use my laptop for is web surfing,checking email pay pal and banking. I know the apps for PP and banking do not show the full site but I think I can open them with Safari and it would.
Would I be better off with an Ipad or laptop?
Click to expand...

To me, a tablet computer is a smart phone accessory. You didn't mention photography, but it's something I do and I'll use it as an example to keep the discussion concrete.

Let's say you take photographs for the usual amateur reasons: showing them to friends and family, posting online, editing the best ones and making small prints, selling stuff on fleabay. More often than not, you use your phone to take photographs because it has a usable camera and it's always in your pocket. OK. Showing, editing, printing just work better with a bigger screen than a phone screen, and posting is less onerous. So you buy an iPad if you have an iPhone, an Android tablet if you have an Android phone. They use the same apps and the apps are cheap. You store photos in the cloud.

If you're more serious about your amateur photography, you'll be shooting more with a real camera, and you'll want a Photoshop clone for editing, a hard drive for backup, and a large format printer if you're printing larger than 5 x 7. You obviously need a laptop or desktop computer.

Just for the uses you mentioned, I think a Chromebook would work better than any tablet and it would cost the same or less.
 
Since no one mentioned it I will..

Pick a Chromebook maybe get a 2 in 1 so you can flip the screen over and use it as a tablet. You get the Android app store as well as normal computer aspect. Best Buy and the Samsung Chrombook plus on sale right now for $400 nice screen and has a stylus.
 
If you don't use any heavy editing when you type and such then iPad is the way to go. I have not touched a laptop/computer for probably 6 years now when at home that is. For work I have to work with a desktop. Additionally, my luck is that any laptop I buy usually lasts me max around 2 years and they it goes kaput. IPad is about 3-4 years and still working as it did on day 1.
 
I think a lot comes to personal preference. I pretty much hate tablets but I know a lot of people like them. I type a lot while using computers and tablets suck at typing, for me. I know you can connect keyboards to some, like a wireless keyboard & mouse setup, but you're basically at a laptop at that point.

I was given a surface tablet/computer at my new job a few months ago and the portability is fantastic and that is appreciated. However, I never use it not attached to a keyboard either from a docking station or the magnetic clip thing that comes with it. It's also far from cheap but since I didn't pay for it, I don't care much.

I have considered looking into something like a tablet and then use the wireless keyboard and mouse for the input devices. However, you usually give up computing power for the price. I have done something similar with a laptop and just never used the laptop's key board but then you lose desktop space and have the redundancy of two keyboards.

I still prefer desktops but the lack of portability is the obvious disadvantage. With the power of modern laptops I'm probably more likely to get another laptop at my next upgrade so that it can travel with me from office to office to living room to family gatherings etc. with only needing one device. Cloud storage has also relieved me of the worry of damaging a laptop during transit and losing all of my information.
 
22-rimfire said:
....Grandson would choose a tablet (Ipad to be exact) as he is totally internet oriented. He uses the Ipad at school and has no laptop. Things tend to be cloud based on tablets if you're comfortable with that.....
Click to expand...
Asked Grandson.... what would he choose? He said laptop for more versatility down the road. Likes the idea of being more in control of the content. Said tablet would work in this case, but it is too limiting.
 
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