iPad versus a Laptop or Netbook – what makes sense?

My husband recently received an iPad as a Christmas gift. I took the opportunity to see if the machine was a viable option to purchasing either a laptop or netbook for business purposes.  My husband wanted the machine in order to go paperless in his flying pursuits.  Flight charts are constantly being updated and pilots must replace them on a regular basis, (which incurs quite a cost), but there is a program called ForeFlight that allows you to obtain these charts electronically.  So he needed something that would be good for viewing these electronic charts, as well as, provide the appropriate visibility at night.  You can see the clarity and visibility in these photographs taken from a recent night flight:

viewing flight charts from airplane on iPad

Closeup of flight charts at night on the iPad

As you can see, the iPad is a terrific way to view this content.  But that is exactly what an iPad is good for – content viewing.

In my opinion, the iPad is a terrific tool for those whose only purpose is to view content.  If you need to simply surf the web, obtain email, or if you are a salesperson or business owner who wants an easy, portable means of showing product presentations without the burden of carting around a laptop – then the iPad is the machine for you.

However, if you are considering purchasing an iPad as a replacement for your main machine, I would advise against it. The keyboard on the tablet is not effective in creating high volumes of documentation – such as Microsoft word or excel document creation or editing.  Yes, you can buy the associated peripherals and accessories, but by the time you purchase the keyboard, viewing stand, external DVD drives and other necessary items, you will be well beyond the costs of a good laptop or a strong netbook.  I have a Samsung N150 netbook which is a super light weight, powerful machine that satisfies my business needs as a consultant on the go.

Unfortunately, many of you parents out there were probably convinced by your children to buy these as a holiday gifts for a classroom tool.  It will be interesting to hear the feedback in six months.  These machines are like high-heeled shoes, they may make you look sexy, but you can’t walk great distances in them.

For those of you looking to purchase an iPad, I suggest you watch Ebay over the next several months.  I have a feeling that sheepish college students will be selling them off in droves.

TIP: Use Bidslammer so you are not staying up till 1:00 am bidding.

When I used the iPad all I could think of was that I wished it were a really big phone!


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2 Comments

  1. Hi Lisa,

    I am a Mac person and own a laptop. I also have an ipad (and iphone, for that matter). I have had mixed results traveling with my ipad, I would say that the experience is evolving, I agree with you that the ipad is not a substitute for a laptop.

    On my first trip with the ipad, back in November, I discovered that, while I could access my Constant Contact website account, I could not create/edit an email – a rude awakening. I notice that Constant Contact now has a beta version that works on Safari so that issue has been solved and I expect that companies will also be adapting to the fact that Safari is the only web browser on the ipad. I also had a problem using Apple’s word processing application for ipad that is supposed to be compatible with Word. I haven’t tried that again so I don’t know if that has improved. (You can view word, pdf, and excell files quite easily.)

    The biggest problem, from my perspective, is that it is difficult if you want to send an email with an attachment – only possible from a me.com account – not gmail. It is also annoying that some videos will not play. And, it is difficult, but not impossible, to edit a post in Blogger.

    On the other hand, the screen is beautiful and the size/weight is awesome. I find I am using the ipad more in my home and about town – i.e. I can watch a program via Netflix while I am doing a long run on my treadmill – something I couldn’t do with my laptop as it wouldn’t fit in my treadmill book holder.

    Basically, I am taking the ipad if I don’t feel I need access to my entire computer. Decisions are made on a trip by trip basis. I do notice that I will take it along on day trips where I wouldn’t have done that my laptop. I actually just made the decision to take my laptop with me overseas, a trip I anticipated I would use the ipad for, so I can do more photo editing, blogging, with ease while I am away.

    I actually am glad I have it – the book readers are great – but it is important that people understand it is more like a large screen iphone without the phone element than a light weight computer.

    Love your blog – keep writing!
    Judy

  2. Lisa, I was so glad to see your post about this. I think too many people are pulled in by the sexiness, as you said, and also purchased one because they love having the newest gadget. I read another article online recently that also focused on, as you sad, parents being convinced their child needs one, yet they’re jumping through hoops trying to find apps that do what the child needs it do. Why reinvent the wheel? Just buy a netbook or laptop. I sort of see the iPad as coming full circle – it supposedly was not invented to replace our regular laptops, yet many people are making that comparison, complaints that v1 didn’t have a camera or USB, for example. Maybe by version 5 it *will* be another laptop with more functionality making it equivalent to one, but for now I have no need or use for one. I am floored by the number they’ve sold (12 million? 15 million?), yet you hear how bad the economy is. $500-800 for a *limited* device when a laptop in the $600-800 range can do so much more. To me this totally contradicts the “bad economy” notion (or else everyone used plastic to buy theirs). And then I hear of people with the first version eager to purchase v2, which to me doesn’t offer that much more (would have been nice if the camera was an add-on), and at about $800 for the higher end model as well. Yikes.

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