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What are the benefits of having an iPad?

G

glittersparkles

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 29, 2012
85
0
London
Basically, I have been deciding between whether to buy a laptop or an iPad for a long time (I went with the 15" retina macbook pro in the end) although it was more because it would be more useful as a student.

What I want to know is what exactly will an iPad do if I get one? Would it be enough to justify the purchase? as I can afford to buy one, i'm just not entirely sure about whether what it does is worth it.

And the last question is, Refurb 2 or the new iPad (3)?

I wouldn't mind hearing negatives as well as positives, it will make it much easier for me to decide :)
 
you would need to tell us a lot more about how and what you use your computers on a daily basis for us to answer that one.
 
There are a lot of threads on this very subject, so I'd suggest using the search function first.
In short, it all comes to what you need. An iPad can serve as an e-reader, a tool to browse your online notes, a database, all being a light and good looking tool. As I said, you need to tell us what you're studying for example, or why do you think you'd need one.
 
charlieegan3 said:
you would need to tell us a lot more about how and what you use your computers on a daily basis for us to answer that one.
Click to expand...

Well as an art student, computers aren't used for everything, i use it for essays and research, photoshop and other graphics programs such as pixelmator.
I was wondering whether it was worth buying an iPad for these uses.
 
The iPad simply serves as a recreational device for me. An alternative form factor for casual browsing.

Nothing is as comfortable & as fast as either my MBA or MBP for email, notes, and serious computing. I'm too used to having a stellar keyboard as my primary input device as compared to the many iPad keyboards I've tried hard to acclimate to.

Conversely for those who've never had a Mac laptop, and come to Apple via iPhone or go directly to an iPad, it's likely that they will find a Bluetooth Keyboard a decent solution for their needs.
 
glittersparkles said:
Well as an art student, computers aren't used for everything, i use it for essays and research, photoshop and other graphics programs such as pixelmator.
I was wondering whether it was worth buying an iPad for these uses.
Click to expand...

wouldn't want to do any really serious work on an iPad keyboard, or photoshop for that matter, only casual use or in a supporting role for your computer.
 
I have a Macbook Air, but I use my iPad 3 most of the time.

It's just easier and more fun to use.

RSS feeds are great.

Youtube on iPad is so much better than the desktopwebsite, plus you can send the videos to Apple TV with one button.

I find photo editing to be much better on an iPad, there are tonnes of great apps that give fantastic results. Using your finger and touch to edit photo's is so much more satisfying than using a mouse and keyboard.

Tweetbot for twitter is amazing, something that nothing on the desktop can compete with.

The iPad 3 also has a decent camera which makes sharing moments with imessage, twitter or Facebook really easy.

The camera also helps with the eBay app. Got a game you want to sell, within the app you can take a picture of it, scan the barcode and Boom! All the fields are filled in and your listing is up along with the picture you took.

I use my Macbook Air if i'm going to be entering a lot of text, like Word documents, or if I need to print anything.
 
The main use for buying an iPad (for me), would be for use at university or on the go, as my laptop/computer would do everything else.. which is why i'm in two minds. I assume there is nothing that an iPad does that a computer/laptop can't?
 
glittersparkles said:
Well as an art student, computers aren't used for everything, i use it for essays and research, photoshop and other graphics programs such as pixelmator.
I was wondering whether it was worth buying an iPad for these uses.
Click to expand...

No. For all of those I wouldn't bother with an iPad. Consider the iPad a consumption device first. Search the forums, you'll see.
 
glittersparkles said:
The main use for buying an iPad (for me), would be for use at university or on the go, as my laptop/computer would do everything else.. which is why i'm in two minds. I assume there is nothing that an iPad does that a computer/laptop can't?
Click to expand...

You are thinking about it wrong. The point of the iPad is not what it can do that a laptop can't, it's that it's much more portable than a laptop, so it can go places where your computer can't go. This is especially true since you have a MacBook Pro instead of the more portable Air. With the right combination of apps and accessories, you could leave your MacBook at home most of the time and just carry the iPad. If you are one of those people who don't mind toting the MacBook everywhere you go, then no, the iPad is probably not worth it. But if having a light weight, super portable computing device that can do about 80-90 % of what you do on a regular computer that can go almost everywhere you go appeals to you, then the iPad is worth considering.
 
Not having to sit all the time is a big plus for me ... Especially not having to sit at a desk so much, being a writer who has been sitting far too much for far too long, with a back that sometimes goes on strike, totally and for several weeks.. With iPad I can lay on sofa or bed to do browsing or Internet research etc. iPad is so "un-computer", a different kind of tool. Goes everywhere with me, has great gps apps, is good for writing with a keyboard and stand, and with Hoverbar clipped onto base of iMac, I use it beside the iMac for mail, messages, googling stuff while I do my work on the iMac. With 3G, always have Internet. I hate phones, so intrusive, but love iPad, so much more connected than before. It can't completely replace computer for me,but has its own niche and is brilliant in that.
 
For me, the main appeal of the iPad was that it's a truly mobile device. What I mean by that, is that you're lucky to get 4–5 hours or so out of a MacBook Pro (half that if you're stressing the device with things like photo/video editing) when I easily get 8–12 out of my iPad. With the exception of a day when I spend a lot of time playing games (usually The Pinball Arcade, SpellTower, or Ascension) I basically never have to charge it during the day—I get a full day's use out of the device, unlike a MacBook Pro where I would always have to plug in at least once.

It's also considerably smaller than any of the MacBook Pros, which helps with portability. Most of the time I was just moving my MacBook Pro between desks, rather than actually using it as a mobile device. And if you compare it to the 11" MacBook Air, which is the closest thing in size to an iPad, the battery life is significantly better. (the MacBook Air battery life sucks) The MacBook Air also requires more space to actually use, even if the footprint is similar, and with no retina display, text doesn't look nearly as good.

It's a great reading device. We do now have a Retina display available on the MacBook Pros, but only at 15" and you have to use them in a landscape orientation. I much prefer being able to hold the iPad more like a book or a magazine in the portrait orientation and read text that way.

It's significantly cheaper than a MacBook Pro. My computing needs are quite demanding, and so I found myself wanting to upgrade my MacBook Pros on a yearly basis. Even when selling the old one, upgrading was a significant expense, especially if you buy the top-spec machine rather than the base-spec. With the iPad there only is one spec, you just pay extra for storage if you want it. At $500, it's cheaper to buy a completely new iPad than it was to upgrade my MacBook Pro. That's what I did this year, so now other family members can have use of my iPad 2. For my computing needs, I built a desktop PC about 18 months ago, which cost about half the price of a 15" base-spec MacBook Pro at the time, and is still faster than any Mac you could buy today. I won't have to upgrade it for at least another 6–12 months (I'll probably wait until the next lot of Intel processors come out) and even then it will still be a lot cheaper, as I'll only be replacing a motherboard & CPU. (I spent a bit more for 16GB of low voltage, high speed RAM so it won't need changed)


It's a much better gaming device. While the MacBook Pros can play "big" games, they don't really have the graphical power to play them well. 30fps at best in most cases if you are running at native resolution. (this has always been the case, not just retina) With the iPad, games are made specifically for that device, and the games for it are much better suited to gaming on-the-go anyway. I have a desktop PC now for all my computing and gaming needs, which bests the MacBook Pros by a significant margin. There's a lot of great board/card games being brought over to the iPad, and they're great fun to play with family/friends, and much more convenient than physical board games. You can get a game of Ticket to Ride done in about 15 minutes compared to an hour or so with the "real thing" for example, and most games support play between multiple iPads and/or iPhones/iPods.


I just generally like the "appliance" nature of the device, and flexibility the touchscreen provides. While the music creation tools like Korg iMS-20, ReBirth, or Animoog may not be as fully-featured as desktop software, I would never have bought desktop software for that to begin with. Instead I can pick up tools like this on sale for less than $10 and actually get interested in that sort of thing and create music. Or I can pick up a great sketching app like Procreate and start drawing again.

I prefer writing on my iPad, whether I have a bluetooth keyboard synced up or not, because it's a single-tasking device so there are no distractions like there are on a computer. I can't just CMD + Tab to another app to read my mail, browse the internet etc. It's not difficult to do on the iPad, but that extra barrier seems to be enough to keep me focused on the task at hand.

And even just for things like browsing the web, it doesn't feel like I'm using a computer. When I'm working, I'm in front of a monitor at a desk all day, but with the iPad I can be leaning back in a chair or lying in bed without a keyboard in front of me. Even if I'm just reading forums (or posting to them) it's a much more relaxed experience.
 
And ... I don't agree that iPad is just a consumption device. People are doing serious art and music projects with it. I do a lot of writing on it, easy to transfer with Dropbox etc to my own or other computers.
 
There are some vocations where an ipad might be situationally superior to a laptop. However, I feel university isn't one of them. You still need a full-powered computer to do your assignments. The only time I can think of an ipad being better is when you want an e-reader (say you need to review your notes on a crowded train, hard to balance a bulkier laptop on 1 hand).
 
hmm okay. so the major benefit (or so the majority of this thread have mentioned) is the portability - interesting, as that does interest me due to having otherwise to lag a heavy laptop and dslr.
however, what about the app styles/layout - eg. are there many available in terms of art and photography?
those who have an iPad, what do you do other than use it for gaming, emailing and browsing?
 
I have both. Obvious benefit is the key board.

Depends what you want to use the iPad for.

You can look at an 11 inch MBA as a midway option.
 
glittersparkles said:
hmm okay. so the major benefit (or so the majority of this thread have mentioned) is the portability - interesting, as that does interest me due to having otherwise to lag a heavy laptop and dslr.
however, what about the app styles/layout - eg. are there many available in terms of art and photography?
those who have an iPad, what do you do other than use it for gaming, emailing and browsing?
Click to expand...
The iPad cannot edit RAW files, so I would not use it with a DSLR. (it edits the embedded JPG preview) The tools in iPhoto are reasonable for doing a quick edit on a photo to send to a friend or something, but for actual work I would use Lightroom on a Mac/PC to edit RAW files. For filtered photos that people like to post on facebook etc. I quite like Camera+ (though it's an iPhone app, not an iPad one)

For sketching/drawing, Procreate is by far the best tool, but an iPad is nowhere near as precise as a Wacom tablet. It's a good tool for getting ideas down quickly, but honestly, you're better off carrying a small sketchbook in your pocket and a couple of pens/pencils depending on your preference.

The iPad is a great tool for hobbyist sketchers, photographers etc. but not for actually doing work with them.

While you can do creative work using them—and there are plenty of good examples of it—they aren't "serious" tools. It's the same thing as a DSLR versus a point & shoot, or a low-end vs a high-end DSLR. A photographer can create great looking images with anything, but give them the right tools for the job, and creating the image they want is much easier, and under scrutiny, the quality of the work is better. (more resolution, less noise etc.)


You can use an iPad to get work done, it just makes things harder in most cases.
I wouldn't say that the iPad is only a consumption device, but that is its primary function.


And don't bother with an iPad 2, unless you really cannot afford the new iPad. The retina display is a massive upgrade.
 
i Books

glittersparkles said:
Basically, I have been deciding between whether to buy a laptop or an iPad for a long time (I went with the 15" retina macbook pro in the end) although it was more because it would be more useful as a student.

What I want to know is what exactly will an iPad do if I get one? Would it be enough to justify the purchase? as I can afford to buy one, i'm just not entirely sure about whether what it does is worth it.

And the last question is, Refurb 2 or the new iPad (3)?

I wouldn't mind hearing negatives as well as positives, it will make it much easier for me to decide :)
Click to expand...
Well, best I know is that you still cannot read iBooks using osx. iOS devices have no problem with the bookshelf app. iPad screen is large enough to read comfortably also. I am not a big fan of retina displays. Maybe the iPad 3 will be cool but you can bet that it will be pricey. Perhaps you might try a second hand iPad 2 before committing a large chunk of change.
 
grumpyguybill said:
Well, best I know is that you still cannot read iBooks using osx. iOS devices have no problem with the bookshelf app. iPad screen is large enough to read comfortably also. I am not a big fan of retina displays. Maybe the iPad 3 will be cool but you can bet that it will be pricey. Perhaps you might try a second hand iPad 2 before committing a large chunk of change.
Click to expand...

this is something to consider - although i prefer the retina (i've used friends 2 and tried a 3 as well) although i think i'm going to weigh my options for slightly longer, do some research on what i could/would use it for.
 
glittersparkles said:
this is something to consider - although i prefer the retina (i've used friends 2 and tried a 3 as well) although i think i'm going to weigh my options for slightly longer, do some research on what i could/would use it for.
Click to expand...

Apple has a good return policy, I think you have 14 days to return an item for full cash back. So maybe buy a 2 and 3, use them over a weeks time or so, see if they are good for you.
 
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