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Is the iPad Better When Abroad than A Laptop?

Maura

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I really enjoyed reading this feature in the Wall Street Journal today called "An American in Paris Says Au Revoir To His Laptop". Written by Walter S. Mossberg, the feature tells of how the writer decided to see how he'd get on when he went on a 10-day working vacation with his wife, if he left his laptop behind and relied only on his iPad, smartphone and a digital camera. Mossberg writes that the reason behind the test was to see if the iPad, and other tablets, could actually be viable replacements for laptops when travelling.

Mossberg says that his experiment was "a pleasant success", and that for the most part, the iPad helped him to get everything done that he normally would have used a laptop for, "yet I toted a lot less weight, enjoyed much better battery life, and had a computer that started up instantly whenever I reached for it."

Mossberg adds that he was far from the only person using the iPad in his hotel, in fact he says that at breakfast every morning he saw several other iPads appear with their owners at the breakfast table, noting that even a small laptop would have had a job fitting on the breakfast room's small tables.

Among the other things that Mossberg discovered about the iPad on his Parisian jaunt was the fact that you can rent iPads at the Eiffel Tower, preloaded with a tourist guide!

Mossberg concludes his article with a word of caution, however, saying that while the iPad did everything he wanted it to do on his working holiday, he'd still prefer to use a laptop for more serious work, such as writing long documents or delivering presentations. Be sure to click through and have a read, it's a really interesting article.

Source: The Wall Street Journal
 

Anappaday

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iPad in Europe Mac in the menders

I used my iPad on a two week holiday in France in August. I had dropped the Macbook Pro and it was being repaired, so had to rely on the pad. I used the screen capture trick to take shots of the maps of each leg of the holiday, each time I booked into accommodation I used the free wi-fi to download my emails and organize the next part of the journey.
I used the French Talk Board app to get emergency help when my wife fell seriously Ill, my French is useless. It became my holiday read, guidebook, map, work thoughts jotter, travel agent, social network and life saving device.

All in all I drove over 2000 miles and the iPad sat nicely down the side of the car within a hands reach. I know that a laptop would have been a pain not to mention not as instant as is needed. My wife although sceptical about the initial purchase is now a fan, Tv guide, Internet and Social Network all at the swipe of a finger.

The only thing I needed was the ability to print out in hard copy, but I have heard that the next release will take care of that as well.
:ipad-keyboard:
 

henry2

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i do agree with him about the long documents thing that way if iam in putting long word documents i put it on the dock and use a keyboard set up for whole thing ..for the ipad keyboard is ok for inputting small things like emails or searchs for the diff items on the library applications i have ..

as far as traveling with the ipad it was worth it not to have to carry all that extra weight around with everything i need to do as far check emails and write a few emails and check a website here or there or look up something i need to see about when out in the area..

so when i travel it is with my ipad and smartphone for it has between the two all the things i need to carry for work and as far as a i digtal camera set up i use it for photos i take and i will load them up onto the a sd card and then load them onto the desktop for editing as a need and it great way to travel with a lot less weight to carry and haveing a ipad is a great travel unit for if need to check something out ..

just drop into a local coffee house for a break and get a drink then fire up the ipad and get the wifi network and check out the website or check a emails or write a quick email as it need..then out the door and back to going to the place that you looking for ...
 

henry2

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I used my iPad on a two week holiday in France in August. I used the French Talk Board app to get emergency help when my wife fell seriously Ill,

i do not know if American Express still does this ..when i was liveing overseas in the military.. i kept a american express card in my wallet for Emergency if something happens if i was away from a military base if called a american express center there ..they had people who they called to help you out with doctors and hospitals that you could go to plus you could pick up mail and other things make life a little easlyer when liveing overseas ..

so i do not know if they had this places still around ..
 

Cklasse

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I am going to Tokyo next month and the iPad is going for the holiday too. Train maps are downloaded into my iPad and will be using the walking street map with the GPS.

I will see if this traveling partner is going to be helpful.
 

andsoitgoes

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In my honest opinion, for pretty much anything, the iPad plus a keyboard of some sort wins out over a laptop.

At home, on the go, whatever. I cannot think of anything I use on a daily basis that would make me go "I'd need my computer to use this", as the flexibility and enjoyability of the iPad is a far larger bonus.

I do miss the ease of using a mouse from time to time, selecting can be a bit of a headache - but really, these are nits. I would pick my iPad over a laptop almost any day. Just... Damn, I love this thing. Maybe I'm too biased ;)
 

donka

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My iPad is now my go to device in the house - I have my iPhone for out and about - the iPad was purchased as a home device and the laptop is now waiting for more serious work such as Photo editing, office work, video conversion and serious browser sessions. I'm using the laptop once or twice a week now instead of everyday and the iPad is still a whole lot easier to use in bed or on the couch. I'm impressed how quickly I have taken to it.
 

deckyon

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I recently went to Scotland and decided to leave my laptop at home. Already, I had enough to take with me in my camera rig and gear that a laptop was out of the question. I took my iPod Touch and my Blackberry (work BB, with international data/voice). I hardly touched the iPod except for music. The BB, I used Wordpress to write a daily blog with photos, but by the end of the vacation, I hated using the BB... Small screen, small keyboard, limited formatting. You get the picture.

I was dying for my laptop, however I had no room. When I got home, and put my hands on an iPad for the first time, I thought "this thing would have been all I needed" and vowed to get one before my next trip. Well, I did.

At home now, I use my laptop to sync the iPad with iTunes and to play games. Being a hard-core PC gamer (games well outside the capabilities of the iPad and even netbooks) I will never get rid of my main laptop. However, if I am not gaming, I am on my iPad for surfing and email. The instant on and speed of the apps make turning on the laptop for the same reasons just plain overkill. I dont even miss flash - Vimeo supports the iPad for 90% of all its videos and the youtube app is functional enough.

I would like a better Office solution (Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Access) than what I have seen so far. A Google Docs app that allows editing would be a workable solution, at least for me. I miss the ease of cut/paste (just not the same without a mouse) and a few other little things, however for my non-gaming situations, the iPad seems like it will be able to handle most everything I need to do on a computer.

I am looking forward to heading out of town in a few weeks and taking the iPad over my laptop.
 

Al Rogers

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Going back to the question, (Is the iPad better when abroad than a laptop.) My answer to that question is this, If you are on vacation then hands down the ipad is the best, but if you are on a business trip then the laptop is the one to take if you are going to do reports and spreadsheets. Mobility is the key factor.

Al.
 

donka

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I would like a better Office solution (Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Access) than what I have seen so far. A Google Docs app that allows editing would be a workable solution, at least for me. I miss the ease of cut/paste (just not the same without a mouse) and a few other little things, however for my non-gaming situations, the iPad seems like it will be able to handle most everything I need to do on a computer.


Google Docs Office Components will be compatible with the iPad in the next couple of weeks.
 

donka

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Going back to the question, (Is the iPad better when abroad than a laptop.) My answer to that question is this, If you are on vacation then hands down the ipad is the best, but if you are on a business trip then the laptop is the one to take if you are going to do reports and spreadsheets. Mobility is the key factor.

Al.


For me, yes provided it is a vacation and not work. The iPad is just much more convenient than a laptop. I tried a netbook before but it didn't work. The iPad does all I wanted the netbook to do but in an easier to use package.
 

deckyon

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Google Docs Office Components will be compatible with the iPad in the next couple of weeks.

This is great, and will really offer me a solution that is at the right price. I have pretty much found all I needed (so far) to really make my iPad a road-warrior device. And no, I do not expect it to fully replace my laptop.
 

donka

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DM51

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What do you guys do about WiFi vs. 3G when you're abroad? Do you buy a new (local) 3G simcard, or use the one you already have? Or do you take the Simcard out to avoid exorbitant roaming charges and use WiFi only?
 

IGonz

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What do you guys do about WiFi vs. 3G when you're abroad? Do you buy a new (local) 3G simcard, or use the one you already have? Or do you take the Simcard out to avoid exorbitant roaming charges and use WiFi only?

I've been to Switzerland and Italy with my Ipad in the usual free wifi places. Use the wifi with no problems....even residential unsecured wifi from neighborhoods.
On the train from Milan to Rome.
In airports in Rome,Dubai,Cape Town,and HongKong.
I use a VPN.

Now I have my eye on this.....
Product Detail - Euro iPad Pack

If you or anyone else find something similar or has used one on their iPad post it on this forum.

Would love to have a reasonably priced global sim card for my iPad. Plenty of free wifi out there but nice to have for a backup.

I have used a global phone simcard on a rtw and it work well except in Caracas and Easter Island.
 

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