Ipad or notebook? What to buy?

F

freelance2018

Joined
Jul 10, 2018
Messages
2
I’m torn between getting the latest Ipad or buying a notebook for myself. I’m a freelance web content writer and most of the time I’m always travelling. I guess you could consider me as a digital nomad. I already have a Macbook but sometimes it feels so inconvenient to bring it around. I always have to use bigger backpack so I could carry it with me when travelling. I’m going away to a Ukraine ski trip this coming winter. I wanted to bring something smaller where I could write whenever. Any suggestions or comments from the people on the internet?
 
I'd get a small notebook, or a less expensive Android tablet with wireless keyboard cover thingy. An iPad or any tablet will be a PITA to type on if you're doing professional writing. You can do the same with an iPad, of course, but by the time you buy it plus all the accessories, you'll have spent enough for a pretty serious laptop. A Chromebook would work good too. Something that detaches, or at least is mountable/dockable with a dock or wireless keyboard/mouse setup but also usable as a tablet would be ideal, I think. Take the tablet part with you wherever you're eventually going, but leave the dock part at the hotel.

TLDR: Something with a USB interface that you can dock with, but can take only the screen part when you want to travel lighter.
 
Biggest issue I have with an iPad as a sole device is file handling. Especially if cloud services are sparse. If you already have a MacBook (not the Pro) you already have a minimal footprint notebook. It's small and light and has a great keyboard and has full featured file handling.

For content, few devices can compete with an iPad Pro 10.5, it's very fast and light. The best reading device I've used.
 
Dell Ultrabook.

It is a notebook/tablet combo but ultra small with touchscreen capability. Also has cellular capability (if subscribed) so it is usable away from WiFi sources.
 
0D975030-99C2-44E1-A1FB-31AF336349FE.jpeg I like the 12.9 ipad with the Apple keyboard. Mine has a 128GB memory and a SIM card for cellular data capability. I am not tethered to a WiFi modem. The camera is great and so is the sound. I can stream music from the Apple library (30,000,000 songs). I can post pictures to B/F directly from the pad.
I use cellular data for navigation, checking facts, news reports (fake only), banking, bill paying, emailing, contact information, time keeping, knife steel chart, wireless microscope, events calender, calculator, notes to self, etc. Watching videos on cellular data chews up data, so I usually tether to a WiFi to watch Netflix or YouTube.
 
Currently, I use a MacBook Pro but I will be transitioning to a iPad Pro in the near future. I would highly recommend the larger iPad Pro if you plan to use it for both work and play. Productivity increases significantly with the larger screen.

Also, if you can wait a few months I would highly recommend doing so. Apple is rumored to be releasing an updated iPad Pro this fall.
 
If you have a MacBook I'd just take that, if your MacBook is a MacBook Pro I'd sell it and get a MacBook.

I do use my iPad as my portable but I also don't do anything serious with it for that I have a MacPro. I have a couple WiFi hard drives I throw in my bag when I travel so I can connect them to the iPad when extra space is needed.
 
I was in a similar boat awhile ago. My responsibilities while traveling include editing two websites, writing long correspondence or editing/amending contracts (long papers were more of an issue in grad school), creating MS Excel spreadsheets, and a little video and photo editing. When writing long papers a good keyboard can save you a LOT of time from correcting mistakes, as well as increased typing speed. A good, integral trackpad also speeds the editing process, and cuts down on clutter from packing an additional mouse (and/or keyboard if it’s a tablet) or if you are working on a small deskspace, or even off of your lap. These are just a couple of the many reasons I opted for a small notebook (my previous travel setup was a 10" tablet, BT keyboard, and BT mouse - I'll also mention that some BT keyboards and mice have BT hiccups in the connection that would not register letters frequently when typing or interfere with the Wi-Fi connection... explanation is complicated).

Do yourself a favor, and go into a store with different tablet and mini-laptop options (like BB) and test out how well you type on the different options, how many mistakes you make, and even from different positions, i.e. typing on the keyboard off to the side like you are transcribing off of other notes/screens. Similarly, try using the touchscreen for placing the cursor in between words (like you are making a correction), selecting phrases, and copy and pasting those phrases into other areas. You might find that it takes longer to do, which might be repeated many times throughout writing an article. The last thing I want to do is make work take that much more time when traveling.

Personally, I went with a now DC'ed Lenovo Yoga 710 11.6" (the 10" keyboards were just too small for prolonged typing for me), and I replaced the 128 GB SSD with a larger 500GB Samsung SSD (I also could have installed a 1TB Samsung SSD but that went over budget; no micro SD slot). It was a BB exclusive version with 8 GB RAM and a 7th gen core i5... and a full size USB port. The USB port also meant that I could charge my phone off of it in a pinch, directly transfer files, or tether my phone when necessary. Additionally, I had a lot of old software on CD and an older portable CD USB drive to install my older versions of Adobe Photoshop, Elements, and MS Office.
 
Last edited:
Generally speaking, tablets are consumption devices and notebooks are production devices.

Real keyboard and mouse make a difference.
 
freelance2018 said:
I’m torn between getting the latest Ipad or buying a notebook for myself. I’m a freelance web content writer and most of the time I’m always travelling. I guess you could consider me as a digital nomad. I already have a Macbook but sometimes it feels so inconvenient to bring it around. I always have to use bigger backpack so I could carry it with me when travelling. I’m going away to a Ukraine ski trip this coming winter. I wanted to bring something smaller where I could write whenever. Any suggestions or comments from the people on the internet?
Click to expand...

Ipads suck at being a Notebook computer replacement IMHO. They are great for content consumption but, even for a simple long email, they are pretty tedious to use.

With good WiFi, I could see a Chromebook being a reasonable substitute for someone like myself. Even better is a business traveler class notebook computer. Dell and HP both make good lightweight reasonably sized notebook computers appropriate for use as you describe it.
 
No question for me.... note book computer. Yes, you can get keyboards that connected to tablets via blue tooth, but why bother really? I bought a tablet and bought the keyboard.... never use the keyboard because all I use the tablet for is mostly checking email, checking the weather, google maps, and it's dominant use.... Kindle reader.
 
Notebook is a better option compared to iPad. You will use it for writing contents so you will prefer having a keyboard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top