Laptop -v- iPad/Tablet

[Wendy]

Chris had an iPad for Christmas and since he's had it he hardly ever uses his laptop.

If you have both have you noticed that you don't use your laptop or desktop as much as you used to?

[uscwest]

I too have an iPad. However, I find that there are a lot of things I do on my laptop that I can't do on the iPad. So yes I still use the laptop just as often as before.

[Mari]

I think it depends on what you use it for

I use the ipad (when the girls let me) to surf the web, check email, facebook, and read

I use the laptop to keep my pics, my music library, work on excel, do photobooks

[Mags]

I use my MacBook most of the time. I cant say that Im totally in love with the IPad. I only use it when I go to bed and want to do a little browsing. I cant say I have got used to it yet, but then again Im a total technophobe.

Mags

[Keith]

Completely changed my use pattern.

My favourite is still my desktop with huge monitors nice keyboard etc. I can see so much on screen at one time which is really useful for my job.

HOWEVER, whereas I used to carry round a laptop everywhere else, now it's my ipad. I reckon I can do 95% of my use on the ipad. Of that, I think right now 50% is actually BETTER on the ipad the other 45% is doable but a slightly or much worse experience. That 45% is shrinking all the time.

Where I wouldve used the laptop, I now almost always use the ipad. Browsing around of an evening? much better on the ipad. in bed? much better. Reading a book Of COURSE better

When I go on holiday or to a conference I always took my laptop and now I take the ipad as well but I find myself using the laptop less and less. In fact it's getting a bit annoying that I HAVE to take it for that last 5% I can't do in the ipad.

Interestingly I've been trying one of the microsoft surface "tablets" and that is much more of a businessy machine than the ipad. It comes with a great keyboard which you can detach, and once setup on the table it feels a lot more capable in terms of business. HOWEVER it's a bit thick/heavy/big when you want to use it as a tablet for browsing/reading a book.

So yeah, tablet more and more for me! Oh and because work is internet/web/email hosting, I can see how many people are accessing content on the internet via various devices and I can tell you for certain that a few years ago, laptops were taking over from desktops, NOW overwhelminginly ipads/iphones/other tablets are taking over from EVERYTHING as the way to access the net. In fact the graph of takeup is quite amazing to see

[Wendy]

Chris uses his laptop for photos, excel, illustrator things like that, but for just looking on the internet it is the pad all the time now.

I can't imagine using an ipad over my laptop, I do too many different things on here.

[Keith]

I can't imagine using an ipad over my laptop, I do too many different things on here.

ok BUT imagine the ipad turned horizontal on a stand with a keyboard attached ;-)

Now yeah sure, not EVERYTHING would be doable on it sure, but you find if you add one of the many keyboard cover cases to the ipad, all of a sudden a lot of stuff is doable and it becomes a very portable little laptop/tablet

[Wendy]

I can see that and I have used Chris' just for cruising the internet. It seriously wouldn't be any good for me because I use DW, PS and things like that and I wouldn't be able to do that with a tablet even with a separate keyboard.

[Keith]

I can see that and I have used Chris' just for cruising the internet. It seriously wouldn't be any good for me because I use DW, PS and things like that and I wouldn't be able to do that with a tablet even with a separate keyboard.

yeah at the moment I totally agree.... *BUT* have you seen online photoshop? it's a website where you can do loads of the photoshop stuff but its just a web page?

What I think you'll find over the coming months is that more and more software which only really "works" with a keyboard/mouse is made to work with a tablet. Some of it will be a normal app recoded to work better with touch and others will be web pages.

(of course with the microsoft surface pro tablet, it WILL run DW and PS just the same way as your laptop would ;-)

[Lisa1976]

I use my ipad more than my MacBook now.

I am trying to go paperless for my business and have found that with Apps like PDF Expert I can create, fill in forms and get clients to sign the screen, email them a copy and hey presto

For photos I've been switching between iPhoto and photoshop and love it. Obviously I use my desktop mac for processing the wedding photos I've taken but I am finding I levitate more o my ipad these days