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iPad 2 the future of notebooks : i sold my macbook air

TreRep said:
After using for a while my iPad 2, I sold my late 2010 macbook air 13.


i think iPad 2 is the future of notebooks. :apple:
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This is a bit of an oxymoron don't you think?

The iPad isn't a notebook.

And as far as a full replacement until the day that a tablet can run dual monitors, full autocad, efficient word processing I will agree with u.

Until then my iPad 2 is a great couch, bed, airplane, and pooper accessory - thoughts?
 
Born Again said:
This is a bit of an oxymoron don't you think?

The iPad isn't a notebook.

And as far as a full replacement until the day that a tablet can run dual monitors, full autocad, efficient word processing I will agree with u.

Until then my iPad 2 is a great couch, bed, airplane, and pooper accessory - thoughts?
Click to expand...

+1, the iPad isn't there yet for me to cut the cord with my laptop.. If the iPad can replace your laptop, you didn't need a laptop to begin with!
 
Born Again said:
This is a bit of an oxymoron don't you think?

The iPad isn't a notebook.

And as far as a full replacement until the day that a tablet can run dual monitors, full autocad, efficient word processing I will agree with u.

Until then my iPad 2 is a great couch, bed, airplane, and pooper accessory - thoughts?
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you. But you took it too far with the dual monitors and full autocad. The iPad doesn't need to do either of those to replace notebooks for 99% of the people.

The iPad has severe limitations for much easier tasks. My dad sent me an e-mail with about 10 photos in a compressed zip file. There is absolutely no way to take a look at those photos using the iPad. I had to put the iPad down and check them out on my iMac.

The iMac automatically unzips the compressed file. So this isn't something that only power users would do. My dad compressed the pictures simply because there were too many of them, and it's a pain to attach them to the e-mail one-by-one.

I run into such limitations all the time. I still love the iPad, and I'm sure it will eventually be a decent notebook replacement.
 
I got my iPad 2 about 3 weeks ago. I was already not using my laptop anymore from when I got my iPhone 4. With the iPad 2 in the house, my laptop just sits in its case doing nothing.

Long story short, I sold it. In fact, I'm sitting here right now reformatting and reinstalling Windows 7 for the friend that I sold it to.

The truth is, I never liked the laptop form factor. In my opinion, they're uncomfortable to use in a train, airplane, or car, and I have always avoided carrying one around with me if I can. I also just hate the simple act of travelling with one. Carry it around on your shoulder long enough and any laptop will get pretty damn heavy. And I don't even bother with underpowered netbooks, so not an option for me.

The tablet revolution was the answer to my hatred of laptops and I will never use a laptop again if I can help it. I'll stick with my Windows 7 tower and my iPad 2.
 
gnagy said:
I completely agree with you. But you took it too far with the dual monitors and full autocad. The iPad doesn't need to do either of those to replace notebooks for 99% of the people.

The iPad has severe limitations for much easier tasks. My dad sent me an e-mail with about 10 photos in a compressed zip file. There is absolutely no way to take a look at those photos using the iPad. I had to put the iPad down and check them out on my iMac.

The iMac automatically unzips the compressed file. So this isn't something that only power users would do. My dad compressed the pictures simply because there were too many of them, and it's a pain to attach them to the e-mail one-by-one.

I run into such limitations all the time. I still love the iPad, and I'm sure it will eventually be a decent notebook replacement.
Click to expand...

You have made some good points.

I am a power user but at the same time am not looking to replace my notebook.

Needless to say I no longer undock my notebook so I can browse while watching tv. Or watching tv/movies in bed is actually now feasible! iPhone screen has always been to small to do this - lol remember when people were using their iPods for movies?!

Anyways i love my iPad and having been without one for the past few weeks I really do see it as a COMPLIMENT to my notebook. I still need my notebook for all my movies and music hub! the iPad feeds off my notebook.

That said get Logmein and airvideo - amazing apps that really bring out the best of the iPad
 
spiderman0616 said:
I got my iPad 2 about 3 weeks ago. I was already not using my laptop anymore from when I got my iPhone 4. With the iPad 2 in the house, my laptop just sits in its case doing nothing.

Long story short, I sold it. In fact, I'm sitting here right now reformatting and reinstalling Windows 7 for the friend that I sold it to.

The truth is, I never liked the laptop form factor. In my opinion, they're uncomfortable to use in a train, airplane, or car, and I have always avoided carrying one around with me if I can. I also just hate the simple act of travelling with one. Carry it around on your shoulder long enough and any laptop will get pretty damn heavy. And I don't even bother with underpowered netbooks, so not an option for me.

The tablet revolution was the answer to my hatred of laptops and I will never use a laptop again if I can help it. I'll stick with my Windows 7 tower and my iPad 2.
Click to expand...

All a laptop is, is a mobile computer, so you can do all the things you could do on your Mac/PC but on the move away from your desk/power supply.

The iPad is not such a device, it's a different device with much more limited abilities.

It's not a laptop replacement and was never designed as such, as, it can't be.
 
gnagy said:
The iPad has severe limitations for much easier tasks. My dad sent me an e-mail with about 10 photos in a compressed zip file. There is absolutely no way to take a look at those photos using the iPad. I had to put the iPad down and check them out on my iMac.


I run into such limitations all the time. I still love the iPad, and I'm sure it will eventually be a decent notebook replacement.
Click to expand...

Incorrect. Goodreader unzips zip files. Sounds like you need to do a little research on apps. That said, I do agree that there's no reason this shouldn't be native functionality.
 
gnagy said:
The iPad has severe limitations for much easier tasks. My dad sent me an e-mail with about 10 photos in a compressed zip file. There is absolutely no way to take a look at those photos using the iPad. I had to put the iPad down and check them out on my iMac.
Click to expand...

I agree that the iPad has many of these infruiating limitations. In this particular case, however, I believe GoodReader can unzip that zipped file.
 
Piggie said:
All a laptop is, is a mobile computer, so you can do all the things you could do on your Mac/PC but on the move away from your desk/power supply.

The iPad is not such a device, it's a different device with much more limited abilities.

It's not a laptop replacement and was never designed as such, as, it can't be.
Click to expand...

It's not a laptop replacement for SOME PEOPLE. For me, it is. Everything I ever used my laptop for in the first place can be done on my iPad.

So FOR ME, it is worth it to get rid of my 5 year old notebook and just stick with my iPad. I have a very powerful tower for the heavy lifting.
 
Born Again said:
You have made some good points.

I am a power user but at the same time am not looking to replace my notebook.

Needless to say I no longer undock my notebook so I can browse while watching tv. Or watching tv/movies in bed is actually now feasible! iPhone screen has always been to small to do this - lol remember when people were using their iPods for movies?!

Anyways i love my iPad and having been without one for the past few weeks I really do see it as a COMPLIMENT to my notebook. I still need my notebook for all my movies and music hub! the iPad feeds off my notebook.

That said get Logmein and airvideo - amazing apps that really bring out the best of the iPad
Click to expand...

You appear to be someone who was using a laptop as their main computer, so that makes sense. I still have a tower that serves as a media server for my whole house, so the iPad fits into my workflow very nicely, and I sync it with that tower as well as run iTunes backups to a different location, so all my bases are covered.

I plan on getting LogMeIn for it at some point to kind of "complete the circle".
 
spiderman0616 said:
You appear to be someone who was using a laptop as their main computer, so that makes sense. I still have a tower that serves as a media server for my whole house, so the iPad fits into my workflow very nicely, and I sync it with that tower as well as run iTunes backups to a different location, so all my bases are covered.

I plan on getting LogMeIn for it at some point to kind of "complete the circle".
Click to expand...

it's pretty sweet because i will sit in my living room and not have to get up to my pc to queue some downloads (movies, music, etc.)

of course apple could play nice and allow 'those' types of apps on the ipad and we'd be set!

i do use my notebook as my main computer though lately ive been interested in a tower. The thing is i know myself and i'd probably mod the hell out of it

that said nothing beats a notebook on the go for MS Office.
 
When I read the iPad is the future of notebooks, I laugh and smile :)

Yes I know "that's what Steve said" duh!

That's because he's the Dictator calling the shots.
 
Things that the iPad will need to compete as a real replacement for the laptop:

1. File system. You will want to plug in your friends USB drive.
2. Better Hard keyboard: If you are doing some real work, like for instance typing an email or taking notes touch screen will get old after a few minutes.
3. NO NEED FOR A COMPUTER. you should never have to plug it into a computer. For apps, music, Updates. Nothing.

I so far like where android honeycomb is going with its development. Once the local Bestbuy gets an adequate stock of the Transformer I may buy one.
 
Born Again said:
it's pretty sweet because i will sit in my living room and not have to get up to my pc to queue some downloads (movies, music, etc.)

of course apple could play nice and allow 'those' types of apps on the ipad and we'd be set!

i do use my notebook as my main computer though lately ive been interested in a tower. The thing is i know myself and i'd probably mod the hell out of it

that said nothing beats a notebook on the go for MS Office.
Click to expand...

I have been using Dropbox a lot. For example, we recently took a trip without our kids, but I wanted to show my older son a video I took of a really nasty thunderstorm we ran into in Tennessee. Dropped it into Dropbox on my iPhone and queued it up from Dropbox on my iPad. (iPhone screen size is not sufficient now that I have an iPad.)

I also use that method for printing, though I don't do a whole lot of printing in general. I bet I need to print something on physical paper less than 5 times a year. Therefore, a new AirPrint printer would not be a worthwhile purchase for me, especially since I have a 1 year old HP printer already.

But with Dropbox and Home Sharing, I feel like my needs are pretty well met. Actually, I used my laptop kind of like a tablet anyway--I didn't keep anything but the OS and a couple of programs on it--anything I saved got saved to a flash drive and synced to a backup location on my 3 TB external drive. All my media was streamed from the network, not kept on the laptop. I don't do a lot with Office documents, even at work, so Pages will be just fine for me. The one program I need a full blown computer to run is getting an iPad version soon, so I'm not even worried about it.

So right now, my laptop is sitting in the kitchen with a fresh install of Windows 7 waiting for my friend to come by, give me the check, and take it away. It's kind of like when I cancelled cable. It was hard to give up at first just on principle, but I knew that a combination of Roku and iTunes would fill my needs just fine. I am all about simplifying things lately, and the iPad is helping me do just that.

It's kind of funny, I thought I would think of my iPad as a bigger, less versatile version of my iPhone. It's turned out to be just the opposite. I now think of my iPhone as a smaller, less fun version of my iPad. Never thought I would like it this much.
 
jboy123 said:
Things that the iPad will need to compete as a real replacement for the laptop:

1. File system. You will want to plug in your friends USB drive.
2. Better Hard keyboard: If you are doing some real work, like for instance typing an email or taking notes touch screen will get old after a few minutes.
3. NO NEED FOR A COMPUTER. you should never have to plug it into a computer. For apps, music, Updates. Nothing.

I so far like where android honeycomb is going with its development. Once the local Bestbuy gets an adequate stock of the Transformer I may buy one.
Click to expand...

Or maybe:
1) a decreasing reliance on things like USB drives and 'file system' in favour of real-time editing and wireless data transfer will make the necessity of including them irrelevant
2) the hard keyboard already exists, come on
3) this problem is solved, it's a matter of time

Also what's with 'real' replacement and 'real' work? Are people doing a lot of fake work on a fake laptop replacement?
 
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maclaptop said:
When I read the iPad is the future of notebooks, I laugh and smile :)

Yes I know "that's what Steve said" duh!

That's because he's the Dictator calling the shots.
Click to expand...

And he's absolutely right. He usually is.

As for a file system, there's iFiles, ReaddleDocs, etc. Lots of similar apps. Wireless file transfer, wired via iTunes, Bluetooth transfer, etc.

So we already have file systems via apps. Pick the one you like best.
 
Transition Period

I think we are in a transition period where what we mean by 'main' computer will continue to morph due to cloud services, reliable online access, and the power of current, let alone future, mobile CPUs. Except for school work and managing and creating media, I could throw a small wireless keyboard in my book bag with my iPad and with Google Docs, Netflix, Amazon, Drop Box, a VPN solution, etc., operate quite well without directly using a laptop or desktop.

spiderman0616 said:
You appear to be someone who was using a laptop as their main computer, so that makes sense. I still have a tower that serves as a media server for my whole house, so the iPad fits into my workflow very nicely, and I sync it with that tower as well as run iTunes backups to a different location, so all my bases are covered.

I plan on getting LogMeIn for it at some point to kind of "complete the circle".
Click to expand...
 
For those who are now using their new ipad and hardly using their laps much, I take it that the absence of reg keyboard is not an issue then?
 
I know longer have a Macbook Pro because of the iPad. I have an iMac for my photo processing and storing my iTunes content. When I realized that I used my Macbook Pro for just emails, web surfing, listening to music and browsing choice photos, I knew it's time had come. When iPad gets better photo capabilities (as in iPhoto iPad app) it'll be killer.
 
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