Originally Posted by AQ_OC

There zillions of windows programs that won't run on windows 3.1, which is a desktop OS. MS doesn't even support that os anymore. Apple has never been one to support the old stuff.

I thought Apple did support the old stuff, at least with PCs? The chief argument I always heard for Macs - stated in this very thread earlier - was the longer usable life since they didn't let their operating systems gets as bloated as Microsoft. It was supposedly why they were worth the premium they charged - you didn't have to replace them as often.

Personally, I see where the OP is coming from. I've adjusted and finagled things to work with my iPad 3 or Kindle Fire, but if I were doing serious work on the go - creating content rather than consuming it - I'd get a laptop. I like subnotebooks more than netbooks. Yes, people tout that they're quite productive on their iPads, but once you've added the keyboard case, external drive, etc - you spent as much, you're carrying as much, and you still can't keep up with a full-on notebook for power and productivity.

Originally Posted by s2mikey

, no cursor placement arrows.

Very frustrating, and my chief reason for always using a Zagg, or other Bluetooth keyboard instead of the iPad virtual.

Originally Posted by epb

I thought Apple did support the old stuff, at least with PCs? The chief argument I always heard for Macs - stated in this very thread earlier - was the longer usable life since they didn't let their operating systems gets as bloated as Microsoft. It was supposedly why they were worth the premium they charged - you didn't have to replace them as often.

Personally, I see where the OP is coming from. I've adjusted and finagled things to work with my iPad 3 or Kindle Fire, but if I were doing serious work on the go - creating content rather than consuming it - I'd get a laptop. I like subnotebooks more than netbooks. Yes, people tout that they're quite productive on their iPads, but once you've added the keyboard case, external drive, etc - you spent as much, you're carrying as much, and you still can't keep up with a full-on notebook for power and productivity.

I can see that as well. Like I mentioned earlier the iPad isn't a supermachine capable of everything under the sun. If I'm doing something that requires horsepower and mobility, I reach for my subnotebook(it's an older ThinkPad X200 but it still works well). The main attraction of my iPad/Zaggmate combination are an even smaller footprint than the X200, significantly lighter weight, and better battery life(still around 9-10 hours versus the ThinkPad's 6). If I'm writing or doing typical Internet stuff, the iPad wins out. If I'm doing anything else, it's the X200. If I need to get my gaming fix, it's my quad-core 17" gaming behemoth.

I always loved my iPad as the "computer" for travelling.
And with the iPad Mini I even love it more, as it weights less than an additional lense in my camera bag and is small enough to fit in the bag without a problem.

In combination with a few photo apps, some basic editing and uploading to the web can already be done while on the go.

My current tools are:
Snappseed (Nice B&W convertion and some other cool effects) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snap...439438619?mt=8
PhotoForge 2 (Very powerful photo editing with a lot tools and layers) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phot...435789422?mt=8
Reduce (Resizing and jpeg compression to shrink the images for my blog/web/mail) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/redu...l=de&ls=1&mt=8

In combination with the camera connection kit a must-have for your camera bag.

I knew I needed an iPad when I started consistently using my laptop in situations where a tablet would be more convenient and portable. I needed a "smart book" and not a notebook.

Originally Posted by Asharp

I knew I needed an iPad when I started consistently using my laptop in situations where a tablet would be more convenient and portable. I needed a "smart book" and not a notebook.

Me too. I was tired of lugging around my clunky laptop and dealing with the pathetic battery life. For most things, my iPad gets the job done and its so much more convenient and easy to deal with. Great battery life, always ready to use, plenty of apps to get most things done.