Ipad buying advise

[i-sidd]

I want to get the Ipad2 whenever it comes out for my wife. But I wanted to know a few things before I do that.

Can the Ipad be used as an ebook reader she wants the kindle but I keep telling her that the Ipad can do much more than the kindle along with ebook reading.
where will I be buying the ebooks from? how much do they cost less or more than what kindle offers?

The ipad can't replace a laptop right? can an external drive be used with it? how easy is it to transfer pics from memory card/flash drives etc?

I already have a macbook and she has a PC for work, but she also wanted a mac, so instead of buying a mac we are thinking if we can buy an Ipad and if it can be used like a macbook not entirely but to some extent.

What else can the Ipad be used for ........please enlighten me.

 

[ri0ku]

iPad has the kindle app so :S could use that I guess but iBooks is better imo. It can replace a laptop if you only use it for entertainment, if you need to do real work then iPad isnt for you.

External drives do not work flash sticks may work i think they do with an adapter, SD card reader works to transfer images.

I use my iPad for browswing the net, watching videos online or movies i have on the device itself, music and for reading books and playing games. Sometimes I can do a little art work in autodesk sketchbook pro.

So as you can see its built for entertaining rather than doing actual work on.

edit: I also bought mine thinking I could use it as a digital portfolio. However if you are truly proffesional about your work.. then DO NOT use the iPad for a portfolio it doesnt display colours correctly (if you really care about your colours) it does not colour manage and you cannot colour manage on it. (I had a link but lost it it shows you an image that was green and if you loaded the same image on an IOS device it turned red or something cant remember, but it was to prove a point that the IOS doesnt colour manage)

 

[0007776]

The iPad can be used for ebooks, as far as where to buy the books from you have several options, you can use Apple's iBooks store, the Kindle app, or Barnes and Noble's Nook app. The one disadvantage of using the iPad as an ereader vs the kindle is the iPad doesn't do as good under direct sunlight.

Depending on your uses the iPad may be able to replace a laptop however you still need a computer to sync it with as you can't get anything on to it otherwise. The iPad can be used for a lot of things, just think of what you want to do with it and check the app store to see if there is an app to do what you want.