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Pro's & Con's of iPad?

J

JsR

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 28, 2010
117
0
Newcastle
I'm in the UK and the iPad's haven't been released yet but I think they look amazing and from looking on the website I think they are really fairly priced. They have just opened a massive Apple store in Newcastle and when they are released next month I want to hopefully get one.

But I just wanted to ask a few questions (and I apologise if these are very basic, but I am not hugely tech savvy!)

I have an iPhone 3GS and a Macbook - what types of aspects does it offer that differ from this?

Do you have the option to put things like iWork on/Adobe/Spotify?

Can I connect it to a wireless keyboard/mouse?

What are the pro's/con's of the iPad?

I'm starting my Master's soon in Business and Finance and I thought it would be good for lectures for notes (I don't want to take my Macbook - I love it too much and would be devastated if anything happened to it!)
I am also a stock trader - would the iPad be sufficient to use for this?

I would really appreciate any help...thank you! :D

Holly
 
The biggest con about the iPad is that all of your questions have been asked and answered. If you care to search you shall find them.

JsR said:
I have an iPhone 3GS and a Macbook
Click to expand...

You don't NEED an iPad

Can I connect it to a wireless keyboard/mouse?
Click to expand...

Yes/no-why would you want to - OS doesn't have a pointer

(I don't want to take my Macbook - I love it too much and would be devastated if anything happened to it!)
Click to expand...

You would be less devastated if the less durable iPad were to have something happen to it?
 
iPad is a media device. It's for reading books, periodicals, newspapers, watching TV, watching movies, playing games. It does those thing very, very well and increasingly so as the content paradigms mature. If you buy it expecting it to do anything else well, you will be disappointed.
 
I was constantly on the laptop browsing the net, paying bills, watching podcasts, checking email, etc. Having the iPad has replaced all that and allows me to have my magazines and books handy. I am also using it at work to take notes in meetings thanks to the light weight and extended battery.

I would say it is the perfect coffee table computer that gets rid of the need to have laptop power cables running around the living room. Now I leave the laptop in the office hooked up to an external monitor for when I have some actual work to do. Honestly I will probably just replace it with an iMac when the time comes since I don't need the portability now.

Cons:
-Really a lot of the same ones as the iPhone, Multitasking, lack of 3rd party app integration. These should be solved in the OS 4.0 release but we still haven't seen how they will behave on the iPad. I suspect there will be some differences since they are waiting until fall to release it.

-Perception: I say this because a lot of people are trying to make the iPad into a primary computer. It is not. It excels at displaying content and light data entry/manipulation. If you try to make it into a $499 desktop then you are going to feel really gimped
 
Hmac said:
iPad is a media device. It's for reading books, periodicals, newspapers, watching TV, watching movies, playing games. It does those thing very, very well and increasingly so as the content paradigms mature. If you buy it expecting it to do anything else well, you will be disappointed.
Click to expand...

It's more than a media device, I agree with EVERYTHING jonnymo5 said. With Word processing, Spreadsheets, and an extremely useable web it is a HUGE tool that can go well beyond a media device.....

jonnymo5 said:
-Perception: I say this because a lot of people are trying to make the iPad into a primary computer. It is not. It excels at displaying content and light data entry/manipulation. If you try to make it into a $499 desktop then you are going to feel really gimped
Click to expand...

And this is also correct, iPad is a perfect in-between device that if anything, it replaces the use of the old PDA and adds much more to it.

A Smartphone has many uses in our everyday lives and can do so much more than the traditional PDA of the 90's, but you are limited by the size of the display.

Your computer/laptop is obviously your main source of computing, and your obvious limitation is the size....though laptops are smaller, they are still harder to lug around than the iPad plus you have to wait for them to load up. Then you also have the limitations of battery life.

So you have this incredible device that meets you in the middle, incredible screen, immediate startup, highly portable, and has MANY features of your main computer.

The cons? No USB, no flash....but thats what my laptop's for ;)
 
DougFNJ said:
It's more than a media device, I agree with EVERYTHING jonnymo5 said. With Word processing, Spreadsheets, and an extremely useable web it is a HUGE tool that can go well beyond a media device.....
Click to expand...

Yes, it can do those things. In a pinch. Not it's design purpose, might do them well enough to "get by". If the OP buys an iPad expecting it to fulfill those roles well, he will be disappointed.

It's a media device that by the way has some low-level computing functionality.
 
It's PROS not PRO'S. You are not talking about something that belongs to a pro, e.g. (A pro's camera is expensive.) You are talking about multiple PROS. And it's CONS not CON'S. You are not talking about something that belongs to a con, e.g. A con's racket is a shell game. You are talking about multiple CONS.

Do you get it? Can you print this out and give it to your English teacher? Obviously they haven't taught possessive vs. plural in schools since the inception of the internet.

I will hereby be pasting this information every time I see this error. I fear for the life of my CMD+V keys.
 
mcdj said:
It's PROS not PRO'S. You are not talking about something that belongs to a pro, e.g. (A pro's camera is expensive.) You are talking about multiple PROS. And it's CONS not CON'S. You are not talking about something that belongs to a con, e.g. A con's racket is a shell game. You are talking about multiple PROS.

Do you get it? Can you print this out and give it to your English teacher? Obviously they haven't taught possessive vs. plural in schools since the inception of the internet.

I will hereby be pasting this information every time I see this error. I fear for the life of my CMD+V keys.
Click to expand...

It appears you are loosing your patience over this relatively minor punctuation issue.
 
JsR said:
I'm in the UK and the iPad's haven't been released yet but I think they look amazing and from looking on the website I think they are really fairly priced. They have just opened a massive Apple store in Newcastle and when they are released next month I want to hopefully get one.

But I just wanted to ask a few questions (and I apologise if these are very basic, but I am not hugely tech savvy!)

I have an iPhone 3GS and a Macbook - what types of aspects does it offer that differ from this?

Do you have the option to put things like iWork on/Adobe/Spotify?

Can I connect it to a wireless keyboard/mouse?

What are the pro's/con's of the iPad?

I'm starting my Master's soon in Business and Finance and I thought it would be good for lectures for notes (I don't want to take my Macbook - I love it too much and would be devastated if anything happened to it!)
I am also a stock trader - would the iPad be sufficient to use for this?

I would really appreciate any help...thank you! :D

Holly
Click to expand...


Maybe you should read the ten thousand messages that have already addressed your questions instead of starting yet another post.
 
jonnymo5 said:
I was constantly on the laptop browsing the net, paying bills, watching podcasts, checking email, etc. Having the iPad has replaced all that and allows me to have my magazines and books handy. I am also using it at work to take notes in meetings thanks to the light weight and extended battery.

I would say it is the perfect coffee table computer that gets rid of the need to have laptop power cables running around the living room. Now I leave the laptop in the office hooked up to an external monitor for when I have some actual work to do. Honestly I will probably just replace it with an iMac when the time comes since I don't need the portability now.

Cons:
-Really a lot of the same ones as the iPhone, Multitasking, lack of 3rd party app integration. These should be solved in the OS 4.0 release but we still haven't seen how they will behave on the iPad. I suspect there will be some differences since they are waiting until fall to release it.

-Perception: I say this because a lot of people are trying to make the iPad into a primary computer. It is not. It excels at displaying content and light data entry/manipulation. If you try to make it into a $499 desktop then you are going to feel really gimped
Click to expand...

So you could do all this on a Touch as well, right? After all, the iPad is nothing more than a big Touch...:D
 
If you are looking for a device that "adds" something..this is not it. You already a have the iphne and MacBook. To me this is a toy. It's very fun to use. At the end of the day I am using my laptop for productivity use. And phone for portability. This is in between but does neither of those best.

Based on what you wrote I would wait for the Microsoft courier if you don't have the money. If money is not a concern...definitely get an iPad.

This is not a device you need, but one you want. And it sounds like you want it. It's hard regret your purchase even if you don't "need" it.
 
+ It´s cool.

- I can already do everything that iPad can with my iPhone (and more like make calls, take pictures, shoot video, carry it around everywhere in my pocket...).

Conclusion: I´m gonna save that iPad money and buy the new iPhone HD (which can shoot 720p video) in summer 2010! ;)
 
The biggest con for me is that the Ipad doesn't have a file management system that is shared across apps.

Things downloaded on Goodreader directory should be accessible through Pages and then with your word document, it is your right to choose how want you to send it back.

I know apple is trying to hid these levels to make computing system, but is it that hard to have ONE universal folder were you can store all files. Are you that scared that someone is going to screw it up?

But I love my Ipad regardless.
 
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