Quote:
Originally Posted by Urzu 7
@Ledgem: It seems like I would have uses for a tablet. I don't have any portable computers. No laptops and no ultra portables.
|
I could see why you were looking at something like the Surface, then.
I don't really know how best to advise you without knowing more about your day-to-day usage and intended usage for the tablet. If you're just interested in having something for multimedia viewing and web browsing (but no flash games or things that would require a mouse), a tablet - any tablet - would probably be fine. I can't speak for Android, but I know that there are productivity apps on the iPad that would allow you to get some light work done (there are equivalents to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). The only potentially sticky issue is in transferring files easily between your iPad and your main computer, which will need to be done through web services (Dropbox, iCloud). It's not a huge issue, but I'm pretty sure you'll feel some frustration - at least initially - over not being able to just plug it in and mount it as a disk device.
The big question in my mind is whether you'd be better served by an Android-based tablet over an iPad. I don't really know anything about the Android devices other than that they're cheaper and seem largely functionally equivalent. There are two reasons why I would choose an iPad over an Android-based tablet, and these are both specific to me: 1) I already have a number of other Apple products, so the flawless synchronization between them is very appealing; and 2) I like the iOS ecosystem and the "walled garden" approach. It's a turn-off to a lot of people and I admit that I would have hated it years ago, but I no longer have the time to tinker and mess around with my systems. If it works flawlessly and doesn't take up my time to troubleshoot, I'm happy.
In your case, you're using a PC (I presume) and don't use an iPhone (I presume). You're not invested in any other iOS apps, and synchronizing with the iPad or an Android device would require configuration either way. In other words, they're both equal. I don't think that the iPad is any more capable than most Android tablets. Unless there's some killer application on iOS that isn't on Android, what does the iPad offer over most Android devices?
I mean, I can recommend the iPad, but I really don't know if it's worth the extra money over an Android tablet for someone who isn't using any other Apple products. If you decide to go with an iPad, consider going with the 32 GB version if you can afford it.
Either way, this conversation has been beneficial for me. I was inspired to look around, and found a few other productivity applications that make the iPad more useful. Tomorrow I'll leave my computer at home and will just take the iPad. I've seen many of my classmates doing that; I might as well try it out.