Laptop or iPad?

[5teve]

I have heard folk saying that an iPad is no replacement for a laptop but so far, I can't see why not.
I have both at my disposal but it must be several months since I fired up the Advent Netbook.
Of course, the main difference is the ease with which you can slip a CD or DVD into a laptop's drive makes a heck of a difference but then my Advent has no DVD drive either.
So just how is an iPaq 2 inferior to a laptop?
Of course, it is true to say that an iPaq may never replace a desktop PC.
Cheers,
Steve

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[s2mikey]

Well, laptops have way more storage space on them for one thing. They have built in keybopards with more keys and are easier to type long documents on. The screens are larger. They have stereo speakers and can accept external speakers for even better sound. They have more powerful hardware for things like gaming and desktop publishing. There is some software that simply cannot and will probably never run on a tablet. They run OS's that arent as restrictive as the iPad.

Printing is easier from your laptop with more printer support. Laptops have card readers and DVD drives built in. USB drive support too.

I love my iPad2 and it is the goto device for most computing or media consumption needs. However, there are some things best left to the trusty laptops and it wil be that way for a while, Im thinking.

[tazz3]

for somebody just surfing the web and music and doing emails the ipad cant be beat .
i dont own a laptop so i think the ipad will be fien for me for moble use around the home.
and i will use my desk top for other things

[ziffos]

I have a desktop pc for heavy work and my iPad 2 for when I am around and about.

I sold my laptop as I was no longer needing it.

[elau]

I find myself using my iPad2 as a laptop more and more everyday. You just need to look for the apps that suits your needs. I may be the minority here but I actually like the touch screen keyboard on my iPad2. Then again, I am also one of those who use the touch pad on the laptop. I cannot recall when was the last time I used a mouse.

[Vaden15]

I own both a laptop and an iPad. I switch between the two almost frequently depending on what tasks need to be done. Sadly the iPad is limited with regards to downloading torrents for movies, music and books so i still revert to my laptop. Plus, I've been a PC user for most of my life and I only became a solid Apple person when I got our iPad so i still have to learn the ropes of Apple since I found some things too simple as compared to the complicated twists and turns of the Windows OS. I use the iPad for games, apps and portable browsing, mainly. So if you have the luxury of owning both, no problem there... but if you need to choose.... well, I'd say just get a small netbook or a Macbook Air coz iPad may be awesome, but in my limited experience of being an Apple guy, it just won't have the power and storage of a regular laptop or desktop

[lkilgore]

I am an expat, which means that I often live "out of a suitcase." I bought my first iPad1 when I lived in Egypt (actually bought it in Kuwait). Last summer I went back to the US. While there I bought the iPad2. Now I live in South Korea. Being mobile and being light is very important to me. I have a large, and heavy, Dell Studio laptop that I use as my base computer. I have a Toshiba netbook that I used to use all the time. Now that I have the iPad, I find I never use the netbook - it remains turned off and gathering dust. My iPad has become a very good replacement for my netbook, but it does not replace my big and beefy Dell. Using a Zagg bluetooth keyboard, which also becomes a hard carrying case, I have a keyboard big enough to type on (I am using it right now to type this message). I hardly ever use the built in virtual keyboard. Storage space is no longer a problem either. I use Dropbox for easy file sharing. I also have iCloud. And I have 3 terabytes of what I call my "personal cloud" (Western Digital drive connected to the WD Media Player Live, which in turn is connected to my home Internet router). When I travel I take my iPad, not my laptop. I still read my books on Kindle, but I could use the iPad to do it all. Next June, July, and August I'll travel around Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and Uzbekistan. I can guarantee you I will only travel with my iPad - to save weight and luggage space. I firmly believe that devices like the iPad are going to replace most devices that people use. There will always be a need for a big device, with power, storage, and other benefits, but more and more, the hand held and light weight devices are going to become the primary devices.

[5teve]

Thanks for the replies, guys.
I guess it's true to say that it all depends on what you use your iPad / laptop for. If you use your laptop as a replacement for your desktop PC and give it a mahoosive hard drive to save all your files and a DVD drive to watch films from not to mention having 5 USB ports to run all of your extra stuff from then your iPad won't replace it. But on the other hand, if your iPad is just for surfing the web, writing e-mails, reading books, watching movies and stuff like that, then you don't actually need 5 USB ports, DVD drive or a huge hard drive.
I also have both. In fact, between us my wife and I have loads of hardware including desktop computers (Windows and Mac), 17"Toshiba laptop, Netbooks, iPads, Ipaq PDAs & iPhones and right now I am using the Mac Mini desktop wired up to my TV because the iPad 2 and it's external keyboard are charging but normally I would be using the iPad and watching TV from the corner of my eye, lol

Cheers,
Steve

[s2mikey]

I find myself using my iPad2 as a laptop more and more everyday. You just need to look for the apps that suits your needs. I may be the minority here but I actually like the touch screen keyboard on my iPad2. Then again, I am also one of those who use the touch pad on the laptop. I cannot recall when was the last time I used a mouse.

You and me both make up the touch-screen keyboard-lovers minority. I love typing on the iPad....

[420benz]

I gave my laptop to my Grandson and I don't miss it at all.