iPad as primary computer

Nope.

 

Practically yes.

 

You could use it a primary computer - if you have something like a mini as your secondary computer to be your media server.

I have a Macbook Pro which I consider my primary computer, but my iPad gets just as much use if not more so it's hard to say which is 'Primary'.

 

No, but I do use it alot. Win' pc does some things, but browsing, email etc. done on iPad.

 

Primary access to the internet? YES. For general computing? NO.

 

That is my intention when I get it. I want to make it my main computer. I plan to use my other computer only when I need to add media or sync my media.

I think we are getting closer everyday in being capable of doing this. As more apps become available they will make it a smoother transition.

 

If by primary, you mean use more than my iMac. Then hell yes.

 

Don't you find it slow for internet use compared to a computer?

 

As an entertainment device - yes.

If you can use it as your primary computer, you didn't need a computer in the first place.

 

The iPad 2 loads pages pretty damn quick.

However, it's pretty much impossible for anyone that likes to use their computers to the fullest to have an iPad as the primary. I am considering having a setup as listed above though, where there's an always connected home system that you can access from anywhere with the iPad/iPhone. My question is, why have two devices (iPad and home PC/Mac) when you can just have one that's both portable and capable of full computing (MacBook)?

 

I use it primarily, but not as my primary.

 

Personally I don't think the iPad 2 is very quick for browsing on wifi, and 3g is even slower. It doesn't make it a bad device, but in my opinion you wait a lot for pages to load.

 

I'll definitely agree it's not as fast as an intel-based system, but still I'm impressed with its speed. You are right though, you will ultimately be waiting longer for some pages on the iPad. I actually saw a post recently where someone said try out www.msnbc.com, and compared to my mac, it loaded significantly slower on the iPad.

 

internet browsing, mp3, youtubing, apps/games, yes.

everything else, no.

 

That was probably me. I actually had an iPad 2 completely freeze up loading that at the Apple store last night. I tested loading that site on several iPads and almost every Macbook in the store. The Air was much faster than the iPad, and the Macbook Pros were somewhat faster than the Airs. I thought it was a good comparison to try since all machines were on the same wifi network. Less complex pages loaded much quicker on the iPad.

 

Nope. It is just a content consumption, wev surfing etc device for me.

I need a full PC to do my work on.

 

Pretty much so, after I got my iPad i haven't even touched my MacBook pro. I love this thing.

 

most of the time

I use the iPad almost exclusively daily!! Browse, gaming, reading, viewing,emailing, chatting on forums, etc. I rarely use my macbook pro.

 

You know, people do consume on the laptops as well??

 

It should be faster on the macbook pro which are going at 2 ghz with either dual core or quad. The Air is going at a higher speed, too. Duh! Bandwidth!! Word!

 

Same here!!

 

Sure. I just find tablets superior for things like reading the news, surfing the net on the couch etc.

But laptops are far superior for doing real work as I need full software options, a file system, ability to get files onto jump drives etc that you can't do on a Tablet currently. maybe if there is full Mac or Windows tablet someday that doesn't suck like the ones of the past....

But for now a tablet and a full PC/Mac are complementary devices. Something like the IPad can't be main PC for someone who uses a computer for work. Maybe if it's just straight writing. But not for someone like me who has to use a wide array of software packages to carry out my research etc.

I work on my PCs and play on my iPad mainly.

 

I use it for everything but writing code.

I expected it to be much more of an "accessory" device that I'd check mail on etc. However, I'm finding that my original assumption was wrong. I do a lot of writing, spreadsheets, proposals, and draft specs on the iPad. I save almost everything directly to the cloud (using iWork.com, iDisk, or DropBox.)

If it "docked" to a big screen and ran XCode, I'd sell my iMac.

 

No way, no how.

I prefer a mouse.