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Ditching your laptop (MBA) for an iPad

Scottsdale said:
Well, I went from Kindle to Nook, and the Nook is incredible.

The page turning isn't a good point... it doesn't add anything to the user's ability to READ! For color picture books, the iPad is better... but I don't read a lot of color picture books unless to my kids. That's why my iPad is going to my daughter, LOL.

In truth, I plan to replace it with a 3G iPad for myself. I am disappointed with the iPad, but that doesn't mean I am not going to use it. And it is true that one device that does everything half-assed is still better than five devices that does everything great. I have realized that is the iPad's advantage. It may do those things half-assed, but it does them without carrying multiple other devices.
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Fair enough. LOL, Apple has you hooked in spite of yourself -- well, me too, truth be told. ;)

I have a much more positive take on the iPad, but it could be because I'm so geeked out by it, it being so new and shiney and all.

It'll be interesting to see how I and you and others like the iPad 1-2 months from now. E.g., will I still be using it as my primary book, movie, web and email
client? Or will I be reaching for the ol' lappy most of the time?
 
drummerlondonw3 said:
well thanks first for having a decent debate rather than a flame.

I think it comes down to expectations. I use my air as a second computer. I have a MBP as my main computer and another running as a server. So for me the air was just for out and about or while I'm doing something on the pros. I mainly write on it.

Yes the functionality is limited compared to an air but I think I wil be able to do 90% of my air work on the ipad. I don't need it for authoring work from conception but as an addition much like my moleskin pad!

So no it can't do any of things that you have mentioned but I don't need it to if that makes sense. I need something for when I don't have to bring my 17" pro with me and that has a great battery like the pro. Right now the air doesn't fill this but if the next rev has a much better battery it could complete
my needs.

Hope this makes sense just trying to provide another insight from someone who has an air and uses computers fully (whatever that means) ;)

written on my iPhone :)
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I here ya loud and clear. I love my MBA but the battery just sucks, and always has. If I could just find a way to utilize this as a producer, and not an inbetween gadget I don't need. LOL. Who am I kidding, give me reason to pull the trigger. That wormhole app by Nate True looks promissing, but the reviews are terrible thus far.

Well see how this plays, the apps are going to make it the machine I need it for I think.
 
gwsat said:
I have read many iPad reviews. Like reviews everywhere, their credibility varies. I had never heard of either of the sites upon which the articles to which you linked were published. Further, all of them were published some time before actual shipping iPads were in the hands of actual buyers. I have found, over the course of many years of buying computers, peripherals, and other electronic devices, that I prefer feedback from actual users who are able to address my specific questions. Thus, I hope that you were not being judgmentally critical of my questions about the actual shipping iPad and the responses of other posters to them.
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No, no. I was just putting out one side of the argument. (Anyway, the one actual review of the iPad was written after it's release, with an actual iPad. The other articles were practically just ideas, and collections of thoughts on the iPad, and not direct product reviews. :))

In my opinion, the iPad is still in infancy. It is a first revision product and will obviously evolve over time. In my opinion, the iPad is not out to replace "normal" computers (except for, possibly my grandma's Pentium 3 Windows machine). There will still be the place for dedicated machines for a long time to come. Instead, the iPad should be seen as in "inbetween" device. In between a smartphone and a laptop, where it does some things better, and somethings not as well. Overall, from what I have heard, the iPad user experience is wonderful - with some kinks, which are bound to be fixed sooner or later. In my opinion, the iPad will dramatically influence technology as a whole and will start the movement away from standard computers, as we see them today.

P.S. The iPad and iPhone are perfectly useable without flash. Long live HTML, CSS and Javascript - the web standards!

Also, check out these articles.
ANDY IHNATKO - A hands-on day in the life with iPad proves the tablet is a winner
iPad - Part 1
My iPad as a tool
 
Balty said:
No, no. I was just putting out one side of the argument.

In my opinion, the iPad is still in infancy. It is a first revision product and will obviously evolve over time. In my opinion, the iPad is not out to replace "normal" computers (except for, possibly my grandma's Pentium 3 Windows machine). There will still be the place for dedicated machines for a long time to come. Instead, the iPad should be seen as in "inbetween" device. In between a smartphone and a laptop, where it does some things better, and somethings not as well. Overall, from what I have heard, the iPad user experience is wonderful - with some kinks, which are bound to be fixed sooner or later. In my opinion, the iPad will dramatically influence technology as a whole and will start the movement away from standard computers, as we see them today.

P.S. The iPad and iPhone are perfectly useable without flash. Long live HTML, CSS and Javascript - the web standards!
Click to expand...
Thanks for your courteous response, I appreciate it. Based on what I have learned from test driving an iPad a couple of times and from the posts here, I think your analysis of the iPad is spot on. Although it is in its infancy and far from a legitimate replacement for a real computer, it is innovative and promises to get a lot better as it matures. As noted in earlier posts, I am still considering buying one. Right now, though, I couldn't get one locally if I wanted to. The Oklahoma City Apple Store and every local Best Buy are sold out of the 16Gb model and I am not about to pay an extra $100 plus sales tax for another 16Gb of memory that I don't need.
 
gwsat said:
Thanks for your courteous response, I appreciate it. Based on what I have learned from test driving an iPad a couple of times and from the posts here, I think your analysis of the iPad is spot on. Although it is in its infancy and far from a legitimate replacement for a real computer, it is innovative and promises to get a lot better as it matures. As noted in earlier posts, I am still considering buying one. Right now, though, I couldn't get one locally if I wanted to. The Oklahoma City Apple Store and every local Best Buy are sold out of the 16Gb model and I am not about to pay an extra $100 plus sales tax for another 16Gb of memory that I don't need.
Click to expand...

The absolute biggest "FAIL" part of the iPad is requiring the use of a REAL COMPUTER to even start it up initially. Seriously, what the hell was Apple thinking? Like they say about this or that, if BLANK then BLANK failed. If you need a real computer to own an iPad then Apple FAILED.

Thinking about the iPad further, why the hell doesn't it have the option to upgrade the RAM from 256 MB? Doesn't that tell us something about Apple when all they can afford is a lousy 256 MB of RAM? WHY? Why cannot we at least buy a BTO iPad with a real RAM package?

Also other considerations that really concern me... why no USB port? Why no SD Card port? Those two things would make the iPad so much more useful and practical.

I am still disappointed with the iPad, as I expected something grand. However, Apple usually always fails us with version one of every product it releases.
 
I agree that apple does have a poor record when it comes to Rev A products but I think the iPad is hampered by rev A hardware and essentially software.

I remember when I got the first iPhone OS and it really wasnt very exciting and telling everyone 'but just wait until it can...'

the same is true for the ipad. It is a device that needs software and I am sure it will come but right now its more of a potential device.

Personally I have been longing for something like this for some time and am very excited to see where it will go.

Products like this could be start (or not) of a real change in mobile devices. Although I would say I am less confident about the iPad than about the iPhone. When I saw the iPhone I was instantly convinced of its success. Whether the iPad will have the same long-term impact and game changer status remains to be seen but its certainly interesting.
 
grado said:
I don't like Ipad, the size is quite big, no matter call or doing office work. I really don't know this big touch screen is for what purpose of use. Don't buy, this equipment only for entertaining. quite similar with the Amazon book reader.
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I'm so glad I have you here to tell me what to buy and what not to buy :rolleyes:
 
Scottsdale said:
The absolute biggest "FAIL" part of the iPad is requiring the use of a REAL COMPUTER to even start it up initially. Seriously, what the hell was Apple thinking? Like they say about this or that, if BLANK then BLANK failed. If you need a real computer to own an iPad then Apple FAILED.

Thinking about the iPad further, why the hell doesn't it have the option to upgrade the RAM from 256 MB? Doesn't that tell us something about Apple when all they can afford is a lousy 256 MB of RAM? WHY? Why cannot we at least buy a BTO iPad with a real RAM package?

Also other considerations that really concern me... why no USB port? Why no SD Card port? Those two things would make the iPad so much more useful and practical.

I am still disappointed with the iPad, as I expected something grand. However, Apple usually always fails us with version one of every product it releases.
Click to expand...

Okay, now you're reaching. Good thing this post isn't in the iPad forum because it would be plain trolling.

When you a buy an iPad, they activate it for you in the Apple store. Next thing, you'll say that you need a computer to use a iPhone or iPod touch.

And why are you complaining about an SD card slot, something not even a $1,800 MBA has.

Again, you fail to see that you are in the minority here. Most people HATE computers. Most people hate ports and slots and file systems and troubleshooting and everything associated with current PCs. They just tolerate it because there are no alternatives in an increasingly computer dependent world.

An iPad looks and feels like an appliance, not a computer. It's basically a big glass screen. There are no ports, no keyboard, nothing intimidating about it at all. It's there to serve you, not give you a headache. You don't need to learn anything to use it. You don't need to worry about running out of battery, getting a virus/Trojan, fan noise, cpu overheating, coolbook, where to find the hundreds of thousands of apps scattered around the web because all apps are in one location, whether your system is powerful enough to run a certain app because there are no system requirements, no managing files and folders, no need to close apps or tabs if you have too many open (with 4.0 multitasking), or whether you have enough RAM. Whether you have 256MB or 4GB, you know you can run all the apps because all apps are developed for you.

Look at what the tech journalists are saying: Wall Street Journal (Laptop Killer? Pretty close), Gizmodo (iPad is the future), TWIT (iPad will replace macs, Macs will be exclusively for the professional market), Chicago Sun-Times (iPad is one of the best computers ever made), NYTimes, USA Today, Anand Tech, Ars Technica, etc. In fact, can you show me one truly negative review from a respected source? As negative as yours, I mean.

But Mossberg, Laporte, and all the other journalists are idiots and you know more about technology than all of them, right? I understand if the iPad is not for you but it's tremendously stubborn not to admit that it has tons of advantages over a MBA or any other laptop.
 
The iPad's weakness that worries me most right now is its lack of a USB port. That's bad, it seems to me. Couple that with the iPad's currently crippled network connectivity and a lot of unnecessary problems get created. Still, given Apple's halfhearted refresh of the 13 inch MBP and complete failure to update the MBA, I guess I wil buy an iPad. Despite its weaknesses, it still has a lot going for it. Who said Steve Jobs wasn't a marketing genius? :)
 
I think there are good arguments on both sides of this coin, albeit the MBA faithful strike me as a little defensive. I ditched my 17" MBP and bought my first MBA and I love it. I miss the extra screen real estate at times and the computing power of my MBA sucks compared to my 17" MBP. If I need to do some heavy photoshop work the MBA crawls compared to my MBP. So in a way I could argue that people that want to do "real" computing might not want a MBA either.

I think it all comes down to perspective and use. If you primarily use your MBA for travel, surfing, email and occasionally editing a word document or spreadsheet or power point presentation then an iPad could work as a replacement so long as you can get used to the keyboard.

If you need to type long documents, need to use photoshop or do video editing (or basically any kind of power computing) then you'll need one of Apple's laptops. Now whether that is a MBP 13" or a MBA is probably a bigger discussion.

The iPad is version 1.0 and could for some people be a replacement for a traveling laptop/netbook. As time moves on and the OS improves and more mainstream apps appear, the iPad market will obviously morph a bit.

Much like many of you here I've wondered what the future of the MBA is. Another set of revised and upgraded MBP's were announced today and still nothing on the MBA front. We'll see...

- j
 
The Apple Store finally got in more 16Gb iPad's today and I bought one. Not only is there no indication when, if ever, the MBA will be refreshed, an MBA would cost exponentially more than the iPad did. That convinced me that the iPad was my best choice for having quick and dirty Web access in a highly portable form.

I have barely scratched the surface with the thing, so have no idea how I will like it. At least Web pages load quickly on it so its 802.11n Airport capability seems to be working well. I managed to get email setup, too. The only real problem so far has been its inability to find my Bluetooth keyboard. Go figure. If anybody has any suggestions about this, they would be gratefully received.
 
congratulations!

may I recommend getting the airvideo app, it streams any video direct to your ipad

also (and absolutely amazingly) converts on the fly any videos that are not with nearly zero latency.

re keyboard: is it currently paired with your computer?

how are you finding it?

additionally

turns out my initial guess could be right, hopefully http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/05/found-footage-how-to-connect-an-ipad-to-your-existing-wireless/

see also

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2386976&tstart=0
 
lashedup said:
I think there are good arguments on both sides of this coin, albeit the MBA faithful strike me as a little defensive. I ditched my 17" MBP and bought my first MBA and I love it. I miss the extra screen real estate at times and the computing power of my MBA sucks compared to my 17" MBP. If I need to do some heavy photoshop work the MBA crawls compared to my MBP. So in a way I could argue that people that want to do "real" computing might not want a MBA either.

I think it all comes down to perspective and use. If you primarily use your MBA for travel, surfing, email and occasionally editing a word document or spreadsheet or power point presentation then an iPad could work as a replacement so long as you can get used to the keyboard.

If you need to type long documents, need to use photoshop or do video editing (or basically any kind of power computing) then you'll need one of Apple's laptops. Now whether that is a MBP 13" or a MBA is probably a bigger discussion.

The iPad is version 1.0 and could for some people be a replacement for a traveling laptop/netbook. As time moves on and the OS improves and more mainstream apps appear, the iPad market will obviously morph a bit.

Much like many of you here I've wondered what the future of the MBA is. Another set of revised and upgraded MBP's were announced today and still nothing on the MBA front. We'll see...

- j
Click to expand...

I love the MBA. I bought a Rev A, which had core shutdowns (later fixed by coolbook) and then the hinge broke (which was not covered by apple care at the time). I used a MBA with a broken hinge for four months until Rev B came out. Despite my problems, I spent another two grand on Rev B. That's how much I love the MBA. Apple ended up covering hinge problems much later. I finally had my Rev A fixed and sold it. The hinge on my Rev B broke too a couple months ago, btw.

Although the iPad is polarizing amongst techies, the mainstream love it. Calling any product that sells half a million units in a few days a FAIL (Scottsdale) is just being in denial. The MBA is Apple's worst selling computer (behind even the Mac Pro) and I would guesstimate less than 1.5m have been sold since launch. The iPad will beat that in less than a month.

I'm thinking about selling my MBA for the new 13" MBP. Now that I have an iPad, ultraportability is less of a concern and the new 10 hour battery makes the machine far more usable. The biggest weakness of a MBA is not being able to write all day. Running power cords all around the floor of a coffee shop is not fun. Although I told myself I was never going to buy another computer with an optical drive. Hate to pay for what I think is obsolete technology. For that matter, I think ports are becoming obsolete. The future is not USB3 or light peak, it's wireless. That's why iPad's portless design is so great.
 
Had a chance to toy around with an iPad today.
Managed astonishingly fast typing speeds even on the onscreen keyboard, without practice. Even though typing non-US characters way annoying as hell.

Not sure if I'm going to ditch my MacBook Air altogether. I want to keep a MacBook around, though I'm not sure whether it'll be the Air or the 17" Pro. However, I'm pretty much positive that the iPad is going to replace my MacBook Air for a lot of the things I do.

With the screen turned 90º, viewing PDFs on this thing is so much better than on my MacBook Air (and this already with the simplistic browser view) :eek:
 
AppliedMicro said:
Had a chance to toy around with an iPad today.
Managed astonishingly fast typing speeds even on the onscreen keyboard, without practice. Even though typing non-US characters way annoying as hell.

Not sure if I'm going to ditch my MacBook Air altogether. I want to keep a MacBook around, though I'm not sure whether it'll be the Air or the 17" Pro. However, I'm pretty much positive that the iPad is going to replace my MacBook Air for a lot of the things I do.

With the screen turned 90º, viewing PDFs on this thing is so much better than on my MacBook Air (and this already with the simplistic browser view) :eek:
Click to expand...

Typing is truly great, isn't it? It's funny that people are trying to pair Bluetooth keyboards as soon as they get it. I say, spend a week with the on-screen keyboard. If your speeds still aren't fast enough, then break out the Bluetooth.

Portrait mode is great for more than just PDFs. It's great for any type of reading, especially websites with ads on the right, which you can zoom in and crop out, gaining vertical screen real estate, viewing pictures shot in portrait, and using the device while standing and walking. Reading vertically is much faster than horizontally, which is why newspapers have long narrow columns of text and blogs are formatted the same way. There is a reason any article you read online does not fill up your screen horizontally.

Many people complain about the lack of widescreen, which some even wanting MacBooks to go 16x9 but I think 4x3 is the best ratio for computing. 16x10 is better for multi tasking, sure, but worse if you're working on a single task.
 
drummerlondonw3 said:
congratulations!

may I recommend getting the airvideo app, it streams any video direct to your ipad

also (and absolutely amazingly) converts on the fly any videos that are not with nearly zero latency.

re keyboard: is it currently paired with your computer?

how are you finding it?

additionally

turns out my initial guess could be right, hopefully http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/05/found-footage-how-to-connect-an-ipad-to-your-existing-wireless/

see also

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2386976&tstart=0
Click to expand...
Drummer -- Thanks a million! It turns out that I solved my keyboard problem by unpairing it from my MBP. I am using it to type this into the iPad's mail app now. I have far to go before I sleep but am making progress -- with a little help from my friends. :)

I'll look for the Air Video app next. Thanks again!
 
halledise said:
ditto!
and am still more than happy with my 2.13 SSD Air.
don't care when Apple decide to update and up-spec them - mine will do for long time to come yet. ;)

iPad? - pffft
Click to expand...
Although I bought an iPad today, i agree that it is a pale imitation of an MBA. Unfortunately, I can't use the current MBA because of its 2Gb RAM limitation -- it's a long story. As a device for quick and dirty Web browsing and email, though, the iPad is all right. Nevertheless, those who say that with a Bluetooth keyboard the iPad is the equivalent of the MBA are living in a dream world.
 
The keyboard on the iPad is fantastic. I've been using iPhones, and net books for years...as well as my MBA. And the size is nearly the same as a traditional Mac keyboard, slightly better then a net book even. iPad is a hit.

Btw typed this on my iPad in absolutely no time.
 
ProTip™ : The iPad is not meant to replace the MacBook Air...

content
 
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