Ipad

[rockundergirl]

I use a laptop for travel and as my main computer, its very large and heavy 17.5 inches. If i sit in coach I can't open it up without it being on someone else's tray ha ha.
My plan for the past few months has been to buy a second laptop thats much smaller and lighter for travel and ease of use and just permanently plant my current one in a desk top position.

And then.... I played with my friends ipad......
I love it very much
I have an iphone and I'm very familiar with the apple os.

Here are my questions
- assuming I'm buying a keyboard for it , what can a laptop do that an ipad can't?
- 3g service... should i bother?
- what do you use your ipad for?

Thanks guys .. all info is helpful

 

[SuzanneSLO]

A lot depends on what you need to do on your iPad/laptop when you travel. I use my iPad instead of a printer when I travel. I often have to review documents and if they are .PDF files, I can do that better on my iPad than on a laptop. I can also mark them up using the Goodreader app.

I also use GoToMyPc when I am away from the office to remotely connect back to my office computer. I have this app on my iPad, but find it much easier to use on my laptop.

We love having the 3G when we travel. Even if free wifi is available, like at MCO, it is often painfully slow. -- Suzanne

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

There are a few things that are more difficult on an iPad than a small laptop. Flash on websites, for one. If you already have an iphone you don't really need the 3G version as you can use your iphone as a wifi hotspot for your ipad or laptop. However, I believe you can activate the 3G only when needed at Verizon or ATT (you have to pick one when you purchase the device as they are carrier-specific) and drop it as necessary.

I miss being able to load files and documents on it by way of a thumb drive. I understand there are now small adapters one can buy that connects them. The lack of a physical keyboard used to bother me but I have become fairly adept at typing on the screen. I also use a griffin stylus to 'hand write' notes during meetings. I like that I can hold it as I would a legal pad and take notes without having to rewrite them later. It's not a perfect device... but it's fairly close.

 

[ascwilson]

I use my ipad for work quite a bit. Our board meetings are completely paperless and all done by ipad. I have a Typad bluetooth keyboard for the ipad so I can type as I would on a computer. I use various apps like PDF pro, pages & numbers so I can work on MS Office documents. I do wind up emailing things to myself so I have what documents I will need since I can't just plug in a thumb drive and go.
I don't have the 3g, but haven't had any issues with it so far. When we travel, it is a life saver for entertaining our 5yo.