I'd go for the mba myself, especially if you are traveling. The iPad can't handle everything (the 10% of work I cannot get done on it is important), but it makes a great ereader for for Chinese. I held off from buying it at first, but last fall they gave it full Chinese language support, so now it pretty much has everything you can ask for. I haven't had any trouble with encoding on Chinese pages yet, but Japanese ones sometimes come across as gibberish.
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Keep my Ipad or???
- Thread starter DigitalNinja201
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I'd go for the mba myself, especially if you are traveling. The iPad can't handle everything (the 10% of work I cannot get done on it is important), but it makes a great ereader for for Chinese. I held off from buying it at first, but last fall they gave it full Chinese language support, so now it pretty much has everything you can ask for. I haven't had any trouble with encoding on Chinese pages yet, but Japanese ones sometimes come across as gibberish.
I have a Lenovo T420, but I guess you are right... I don't really need a new laptop and I can get one over there if I do need one.So looks like I'll just get an Iphone over my Ipad.
Before you toss that Lenovo or limit yourself to Apple products, you might want to consider the advantage of having a Lenovo laptop in China and its well-earned reputation for ruggedness. Not disrespecting Apple by any means, but Lenovo's are built for abuse. And I would assume that getting it fixed if that's required would be a piece of cake.
And if you're looking for a single device to serve as both a tablet and a computer, consider the Lenovo X220 Tablet. Not cheap, but an amazingly capable (and light) device.
And before someone jumps in by citing the growing popularity of Apple products in China, I get that. But it cuts both ways. Lenovo laptops are ubiquitous and less likely to attract unwanted attention. And yes, I know that Beijing is not an American or European city. Still.
rugged is great. the mba is not rugged. but, it is light. as long as you aren't going hiking with it, i wouldn't worry. besides, if you have any repair issues, there are 20+ fake apple stores in addition to the real ones!
Yeah I'm going to get an unlocked phone. They want to charge me $175 to unlock my Atrix here in Canada XD
techbajan
macrumors newbie
Everyone's needs are different; here's my two cents'
Jaseone, as much as I respect your opinion and grasp what you're alluding to, surely, this is just YOUR experience, no? I read what you said earlier about "don't go to a foreign country with the intent of being a forever alone, take what you need to keep in contact, to chronicle your journey" and "they are focused on bringing every possible piece of gadgetry with them instead of embracing the foreign country" and thought to myself that while this advice might be good for some persons, it all depends on a person's personality type.
He didn't make it quite clear what his goals or desires were for the time to be spent in China, other than that he would be studying and visiting some other places so one cannot be too judgemental about the fact that he wants to take the right devices to "help" him enjoy his experience. After all, it may be better to have all you might need and realise after you didn't need it all than to have less than you need only to realise you needed more. Again, it all depends on the experience the individual wants and things he needs to do.
To DigitalNinja201 though, I'd say that while a MBP or even MBA would be a nice thing to have, they may be an unnecessary expense. Personally, I'd stick with the Lenovo because as much as I love my MBP, you may find there are things you want to do in Windows whilst you're in China without having to borrow someone's PC. If you sell the Lenovo and buy a Mac, you'll have to spend the extra money on the Mac and then, if you want access to Windows, buy a Windows license and possibly VMWare or Parallels.
Instead of focusing too much on FaceTime, go with Skype as you're more likely to have contacts on that and be able to communicate with more people who don't have a Mac or iDevice. After all, you may meet someone in another province without an iDevice during your travels and want to stay in touch; you don't need a Mac for that. Save the extra money you'll spend on the Mac for the trip itself. Of course, with the Mac, you're likely to have less computer troubles during the trip than with a Windows laptop so you'll have to decide if it's worth the extra Sir Robert Bordens at this time.
I'd also ditch the iPad and just get an iPhone. That way, you'll kill two birds with one stone: you'll have a very good phone and can still do FaceTime as a backup. If you have an ultra light laptop, there's no need for an iPad unless you want a device with a fair size screen that boots quickly and is easy to hold for those times you're sitting on "the throne". 😀
Personally, I'd leave the Kindle at home because you can always read your Kindle books using the iPhone since there's not only a Kindle app for iPhone but also the Kindle Cloud website. Heck, sell the darn kindle and have some extra spending money. 🙂
As for the 3DS, well, all work and no play can make you a dull Ninja so why not take that for when you need a timeout and don't feel like leaving home to go exploring with the locals.
So, IMHO, based on what you've said so far, my checklist would be:
iPhone 4 or later
Lenovo
3DS
Extra money to spend. 😎
Jaseone, as much as I respect your opinion and grasp what you're alluding to, surely, this is just YOUR experience, no? I read what you said earlier about "don't go to a foreign country with the intent of being a forever alone, take what you need to keep in contact, to chronicle your journey" and "they are focused on bringing every possible piece of gadgetry with them instead of embracing the foreign country" and thought to myself that while this advice might be good for some persons, it all depends on a person's personality type.
He didn't make it quite clear what his goals or desires were for the time to be spent in China, other than that he would be studying and visiting some other places so one cannot be too judgemental about the fact that he wants to take the right devices to "help" him enjoy his experience. After all, it may be better to have all you might need and realise after you didn't need it all than to have less than you need only to realise you needed more. Again, it all depends on the experience the individual wants and things he needs to do.
To DigitalNinja201 though, I'd say that while a MBP or even MBA would be a nice thing to have, they may be an unnecessary expense. Personally, I'd stick with the Lenovo because as much as I love my MBP, you may find there are things you want to do in Windows whilst you're in China without having to borrow someone's PC. If you sell the Lenovo and buy a Mac, you'll have to spend the extra money on the Mac and then, if you want access to Windows, buy a Windows license and possibly VMWare or Parallels.
Instead of focusing too much on FaceTime, go with Skype as you're more likely to have contacts on that and be able to communicate with more people who don't have a Mac or iDevice. After all, you may meet someone in another province without an iDevice during your travels and want to stay in touch; you don't need a Mac for that. Save the extra money you'll spend on the Mac for the trip itself. Of course, with the Mac, you're likely to have less computer troubles during the trip than with a Windows laptop so you'll have to decide if it's worth the extra Sir Robert Bordens at this time.
I'd also ditch the iPad and just get an iPhone. That way, you'll kill two birds with one stone: you'll have a very good phone and can still do FaceTime as a backup. If you have an ultra light laptop, there's no need for an iPad unless you want a device with a fair size screen that boots quickly and is easy to hold for those times you're sitting on "the throne". 😀
Personally, I'd leave the Kindle at home because you can always read your Kindle books using the iPhone since there's not only a Kindle app for iPhone but also the Kindle Cloud website. Heck, sell the darn kindle and have some extra spending money. 🙂
As for the 3DS, well, all work and no play can make you a dull Ninja so why not take that for when you need a timeout and don't feel like leaving home to go exploring with the locals.
So, IMHO, based on what you've said so far, my checklist would be:
iPhone 4 or later
Lenovo
3DS
Extra money to spend. 😎
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Well, you're clearly less of a klutz than I am. I've found that "hiking" around Manhattan can be a challenging experience. And that concrete is much less forgiving than the soft soil of a Pacific Northwest mountain trail. 😀
Mochi Hana
macrumors 6502a
I really like reading on the Kindle 😛 It's not going anywhere besides beside my bed. 😛
I think what I'm going to do is keep what I have, and go with that. The Ipad will fulfill my lightweight need and I'll keep my atrix. And just unlock it, unless someone wants to trade an Iphone 4 for it.
I think what I'm going to do is keep what I have, and go with that. The Ipad will fulfill my lightweight need and I'll keep my atrix. And just unlock it, unless someone wants to trade an Iphone 4 for it.
give up the kindle!?
oh my goodness no. 3g access worldwide, books at your fingertips, and one of the best reading experiences possible (i like it better than paper). that seems like the only thing i would strongly recommend you don't do!
iPad has full japanese support. but, safari sometimes messes up the encoding, and it is impossible (as far as i can tell) to select it yourself. i think another browser might solve the problem.
as for ruggedness, i'm pretty careful (obsessively concerned) with my stuff. i've got a hard case on the mbp, the mbp goes in a padded sleeve, and this goes in my backpack.
oh my goodness no. 3g access worldwide, books at your fingertips, and one of the best reading experiences possible (i like it better than paper). that seems like the only thing i would strongly recommend you don't do!
iPad has full japanese support. but, safari sometimes messes up the encoding, and it is impossible (as far as i can tell) to select it yourself. i think another browser might solve the problem.
as for ruggedness, i'm pretty careful (obsessively concerned) with my stuff. i've got a hard case on the mbp, the mbp goes in a padded sleeve, and this goes in my backpack.
techbajan
macrumors newbie
Lol. What?! You think the Kindle is great?! The Apple deity Steve Jobs won't be happy to hear one of us say that! After all, he was saying the other day how publishers hate it, to which I thought it didn't matter what he or publishers thought as long as users loved it and demanded it (unless he was wrongfully speaking on behalf of publishers and just taking a stab at Amazon for the row going on over publishing), but that's another thread. 🙂
Anyway, I'd only suggested ditching the Kindle if DigitalNinja201 wanted to just take one device per category and since his other devices except the 3DS could Kindle too.
Palpatine, as for your obsession with your MBP baby, I don't blame you. They're precious jewels and very easy to scratch. Whilst I don't have as much Kevlar for my baby as you, I can relate because whenever I place mine on a table that doesn't have a really smooth surface, I always place a cloth under it. 😛
Anyway DigitalNinja201, won't the cost you said of unlocking and the price you can get for the Atrix be almost the same as the price an unlocked iPhone 4 will be when the new one gets released? Just something to ponder.
I may be able to get it unlocked for less online.
I was thinking. The 11 inch Air is only 200 dollars more than the Ipad I bought...
I was thinking. The 11 inch Air is only 200 dollars more than the Ipad I bought...
Jobs is funny like that. And, he has a vision of the future he likes to push on consumers that doesn't always match what we want. People call him a visionary. I prefer to think of him as someone who creates the future he wants to see and he makes changes, as necessary, to make it more palatable for the rest of us. By they way, he also said no one would want a dedicated reading device because no one reads that much anymore. LOL.
True. And, good point. I don't quite get what the OP wants, but I think there are certainly ways he could lighten his load. Most airlines allow one carry-on and two bags up to 23kg weight. For a year overseas, that isn't too much, and I like to cut where I can. More importantly, I like to reduce my daily load , so I depend heavily on the iPad when I go to campus.
LOL. I am not quite that bad, but close! I saw a kid on the plane the other day (coming back from China) toss his 15" MBP onto his seat. I couldn't believe it. So sad.