Should I buy an iPad?

So, I'm getting tired of the constant problems with a windows laptop (I've one through 1 Dell and 2 HP laptops in the last few years) with the updates, conflicts and all the other BS. It seems that every time it downloads an update to solve one problem, it creates another. The latest round of updates left me with a battery status of "plugged in and not charging" and attempts to remedy that have now left me with an unrecognized boot sector, which has left me with a brick. I have the recovery disks, but that takes me back to how it was when I bought it (been there, done that when the same thing happened a year ago). Anyway....

I manage a racetrack and we are moving more and more of our operation to being online, and the other bulk of it is on spreadsheets and word docs, etc. 99% of my laptop use is surfing and other online operations (mainly www.motorsportsreg.com), editing spreadsheets and docs, pdfs and the like.

Tell me this, oh mighty beeb - what is an iPad NOT capable of that my current laptop is capable of? I doubt I'm using my laptop to the fullest of it's capabilities, but I just don't want to find out the hard way that the switch would leave me lacking in a critical area of need. Are the iPad versions of Excel, Word, etc fully functional compared to what I have now? Does the iPad have to use Safari, or can I put Firefox/Mozilla on it?

Any other general plus/minus that I may not be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

 

I have an ipad and it's a very nice toy. It doesn't replace a laptop in my opinion, it just adds another doohickey to the pile of gadgets. My daughter uses it to watch youtube videos and I play monopoly and angry birds on it when I remember it's around.

To moderate a BBS the ipad is almost worthless.

 

Thanks, this is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for, but can you elaborate on why?

 

I have been debating it myself. I dont like lugging my laptop all over the world. So im thinking about leaving it at work, then just buying another laptop for the house. Then buying a tablet for traveling.

I dont like that the iPad doesnt have a USB port. The Samsung Tablet does though.

 

i picked up an Asus Transformer Infinity tablet with the keyboard dock off of newegg to replace my laptop. The keyboard dock has its own battery to boost the tablets working time. One thing this has that the Ipad keyboard docks dont is a full size usb port, full size sd card port and a track pad like a traditional laptop.
I bought it to do my school work on and something i can use thats not the 70lbs macbook pro i've been relegated to since my samsung was destroyed last fall... Polaris office uses microsoft office file structures (docx, xlsx) so you should be able to use them in conjunction with what you;ve already done. I mainly just upload everything to my google docs account though so i can work on stuff at the office, at home on the mac or at school on the tablet. Thus far im pretty happy with it.

 

Simple, I have not been able to pick a set point in the "back" in the recent pages. I have go back a single page. Same is the case with IE 9 and 10 so I'm still using IE 8 or maybe it's 7, I don't pay attention.

There is a very limited selection of "tools" that are useful if you moderate a board.

Like I said, nice toy but it's tits on a bull for me in my work enviorment as well.

 

Lack of Adobe Flash for iPads is very annoying sometimes.

 

I read that somewhere (i think maybe on the Best Buy site in a review) and thought it couldnt have been right. Lots of online stuff uses Adobe Flash. Why wont it work on iPads?

 

I have a Motorola tablet that i replaced my netbook with. The lack of keyboard was fixed with an auxiliary one that I use when I have to type a lot. But the biggest issue for me is most often it tries to default to mobile versions of pages which often are clunky and awkward.

Another downside is you can't have one tab in the browser playng say... a podcast or music, and navigate in another tab. Nor can you have youtube playing and be in another tab or app.

It works OK, but there are times I miss/need my netbook or laptop .

If you browse on your phone , just imagine a tablet as a large phone. They work the same.

 

Chris, I wouldn't buy an ipad as a total replacement for a laptop for your travel. I travel a bit and could see using it on the plane and maybe in the airport but I'd rain down hell on it if it was my only tool.

In a golf bag it's the putter. Nice for the shorts but idiotic for the longs drives.

 

So basically, a Tablet would be like my phone..........just smaller.

 

When I was traveling every week I used a MacBook Air with a superdrive. Very light, easy to handle and has all the features of a regular laptop that I wanted for work or play. I have a 15" rMBA now and if I had to go back to traveling it would be perfect. It actually feels lighter than my regular 13" MBP.

But I still want an iPad Mini however I'm waiting until they upgrade the processor. Why buy an iPad with a processor that is two generations older than the one in the current iPhone?

 

Because Steve Jobs would not allow it.

 

I use my ipad almost exclusively at home. One thing to understand, while you "can" create content, it's primarily a media consuming device.

 

Nice

It would only be used for the actual traveling from point A to point B. Just to keep me entertained on the planes and shit. I have computers at work, then also at home.

 

What a douchemissle.

 

If you're always going to be connected to wifi I would look into a chromebook. I don't really like tablets mainly because I still want to type on a physical keyboard. I use it everyday. Does spreadsheets, documents, emails, bbs, streams motogp to my tv, etc. it's $250 bucks and was worth every penny. Boots super fast, light as hell. The downside is if you're not connected to wifi it does kinda become worthless because everything is cloud based. I never really have an issue though.

 

If you really have to use a laptop for work? ... don't play on it. "Surfing" is playing. Straight up.

The problems you are having were likely caused by your own actions.

Not trying to be a dick, but that is reality.

-jim