Laptop vs. iPad vs. other tablets About This Page:

[Dlandmom2]

Not sure where this goes, so moderators please feel free to move if necessary.

I'm finding that I may be in the market for a tablet type product. I'm still trying to decide if I want to get one very nice laptop or a mediocre laptop and a tablet. I'm hoping that my great PP friends here will be able to give me some good advice!

I currently have a laptop...it was great when it was new, but as with most laptops, it became outdated within a year or two after I got it. I've now owned this laptop for a good 7 years now. It's getting a lot slower, I defrag it regularly, make sure it's "clean" of malware, etc., but I don't think there's much more I can do to improve it. I think I need to get a new one soon.

I'm starting to travel more with my kids (mostly little trips, but they do involve some driving and sometimes flying), so I'd like to have something that keeps them amused for the travel times.

Factor 1: I'm starting to take some night classes in a Certificate program, so I will be needing a decent computer and updated Microsoft Office suite for homework.

Factor 2: We all like gaming. The kids like online games that aren't too graphics heavy, but we sometimes do play some that are extremely graphic heavy and would need something with a decent graphics card.

Factor 3: I'm starting to get into photography again, so I need to come up with a good way of saving my pictures. Do most people save things onto disk and then delete them off their computers? Then using an online service like Shutterfly as a backup? So far, I haven't taken enough pictures to really affect the memory on my computer, but if I continue to go at the rate I've been going the last few weeks, I'll have to come up with a better system.

Factor 4: I also need to get a new printer that's wireless. I had an old tower that's lived out its life and will be given to a friend soon along with the printer. I need to make sure I get a good new printer that will "talk" well with my new laptop.

Question: What should I get? A close to top of the line laptop that's also light enough to take on vacations? A gaming laptop that I can also use for school plus a tablet for travel?

I don't want to spend a ton (who does?), but I also know that I'm going to have to spend to get something dependable and lightweight. If I can get something through Costco, I'd like to since they double the warranty on their laptops. I'm interested in the iPad for travel (but not the price!) but don't know if there's a decent non Apple alternative that's as "powerful" but less expensive (I saw the Motorola Zoom at Costco, but I don't know if their double warranty applies to tablets, and the reviews seem kind of mixed).

So, with ALL that background, what do you think? What would be the best use of my money (I'd like to get away with spending around $1000-1200, but I doubt it will give me what I want/need...maybe $1500?)? I know it's wishful thinking, but what's the best I can do with the least amount of money?

[Connieq288]

A couple of months ago Verizon had a really good deal where you got 2 Samsung tablets for $300 I believe. Unfortunately we didnt have the money at the time but I would have jumped on them if I did plus you had to have an extra data plan for them.

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by Connieq288

A couple of months ago Verizon had a really good deal where you got 2 Samsung tablets for $300 I believe. Unfortunately we didnt have the money at the time but I would have jumped on them if I did plus you had to have an extra data plan for them.

Yeah, I've seen that. The only problem with that is the two year contract of paying $40-50 a month for the data plan. If I do go the laptop + tablet route, it would have to be the base model tablet that I would just use at home or at free wifi hot-spots if I need internet. The games my kids would play would already be downloaded onto the tablet when I was at home using my own wifi. I already have a Droid that I can use for accessing the internet if I have to.

I guess the real question is given my circumstances, should I get a nice laptop in the $1500 range, or should I get a mediocre one for $1000-1200 plus a base model tablet for $300-400 (if I can find one)? What have others done in a similar situation, and has it worked for them?

[Pris]

The only suggestion I have is printers. I love my HP printers. I would suggest that you get the wireless with "e" capability, because that is the route of the tablets (iPad at least). Even if you don't use it now, you could do it later. As to computers, I have a macbook and love it. You can get a mac version of microsoft office if you want it and need it for school, work, etc.

[Teresa]

I can only tell you what I know:
I love my 4 year old MacBook Pro. It runs well, will convert all of my class papers into MS, and is great for making movies, editing photos, etc.
My sister, mother, and DD all have iPads. They all say "typing" on it is very difficult.

As a student, you can receive a discount on Macs through the apple store website or at the store - but not at Best Buy or other stores who carry apple.

[Mike K]

It depends on all the things you want to do Ipad with Wi fi and 3 G is great for photos, some games and books One of the Ipads strong selling points is it can display Kindel Books, Nook Books and common books.
I have never seen Office 2010 on a Ipad and If your games are using lots of memory 32 or 64 G may not cut it. I would go to Itunes apps and see if they have an app for everthing you want to do. If they do just buy the Ipad. If not you can allways get a laptop to do everything you for around 800.00 and a Ipad for 600.00 so you have both and everyone is happy Another nice thing about the 3g is you can get a plan for internet that you purchase monthly and renew only when you need so you could have a plan for November skip December and January then back in February. Helops with budgeting. Also if you do not need a camera video and still you may want to see if you could find andIpad 1 and save about 130 dollars
Good Luck

[GATechGal]

Does your school have a laptop policy? Granted DD is a freshman, but all Ga Tech students are required to have a laptop that meets certain guidelines. I'm not sure that a tablet would (they explicitly spell out that a netbook wouldn't). So I'd go for a nice laptop. And defintily check out your school's bookstore soon. They might be running a student special for the fall term.

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by Pris

The only suggestion I have is printers. I love my HP printers. I would suggest that you get the wireless with "e" capability, because that is the route of the tablets (iPad at least). Even if you don't use it now, you could do it later. As to computers, I have a macbook and love it. You can get a mac version of microsoft office if you want it and need it for school, work, etc.

I've been thinking about Mac...I've always had PC's, but I see the attractiveness of a Mac...my only concern is that it's pricey (though I'm sure many would argue you get what you pay for). I just need to learn more about what/how to transfer things between PC and Mac. Everything I have is PC, so I'm concerned about how to access my PC stuff if I get a Mac. Thanks for the "e" capability tip!

Originally Posted by Teresa

As a student, you can receive a discount on Macs through the apple store website or at the store - but not at Best Buy or other stores who carry apple.

Thanks for that reminder, I had forgotten all about that! My alma mater does give computer discounts, and I have a feeling the university I'm going to now will offer discounts as well. I need to look into that before I make my final decision!

Originally Posted by Mike K

It depends on all the things you want to do Ipad with Wi fi and 3 G is great for photos, some games and books One of the Ipads strong selling points is it can display Kindel Books, Nook Books and common books.
I have never seen Office 2010 on a Ipad and If your games are using lots of memory 32 or 64 G may not cut it. I would go to Itunes apps and see if they have an app for everthing you want to do. If they do just buy the Ipad. If not you can allways get a laptop to do everything you for around 800.00 and a Ipad for 600.00 so you have both and everyone is happy Another nice thing about the 3g is you can get a plan for internet that you purchase monthly and renew only when you need so you could have a plan for November skip December and January then back in February. Helops with budgeting. Also if you do not need a camera video and still you may want to see if you could find andIpad 1 and save about 130 dollars
Good Luck

Thanks, that was extremely helpful! The iPad would be more for fun than anything else. It's just something lightweight that's more powerful than my phone but not as cumbersome as a laptop. I'm thinking that 32g will be more than enough for what we'll use it for...probably 16g would've been enough, but I think 32g would be a safer bet. Anything more memory heavy will need to go on my future laptop. And thanks for reminding me about the monthly 3g...that was something I had found out when I first started looking at iPads, but I had dismissed it at the time because I would've had to get the mid-level model and not the cheapest one, lol! But now it's seeming like a good idea.

I was going to get the old version of the iPad, but I can't seem to find any new ones with full warranty out there anymore...maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. The base model with 16g was going for $199 at one point. Or, maybe I'll just have to wait until the iPad 2 starts to go down when newer models come out. I'm thinking that the laptop I get will still need a really good graphics card for our gaming, so I can't see finding a good one that'll be less than $1000.

Keep the suggestions coming! They've been very helpful!

[Pris]

"I've been thinking about Mac...I've always had PC's, but I see the attractiveness of a Mac...my only concern is that it's pricey (though I'm sure many would argue you get what you pay for). I just need to learn more about what/how to transfer things between PC and Mac. Everything I have is PC, so I'm concerned about how to access my PC stuff if I get a Mac. Thanks for the "e" capability tip!"
I have my mac at home and PC at work. I rarely have any problems transferring from one to the other. I use Microsoft Office on both and they are fully compatible. I just use my jump drive and I'm good to go.
By the way, if you are buying directly from Apple, you can still get the educator's discount. Just tell them you are a student. I think that there might also be a discount (or student's version) on Office as well. I don't think the iPad can use Office, but you can get the Apple word processing, etc. which is very good as well.

[Dlandmom2]

Thanks, Pris, that's exactly the kind of info I need to hear...someone who's done it! It's going to be an expensive year for me...it's been a while since I've done any hardware update...so in the next 12 months, I'm probably going to get a new laptop, a new printer, a new wireless router, maybe get an iPad, and maybe get a dSLR camera (last dSLR I had is more than 25 years old!). Good thing I've been saving...but I don't know if it will be enough!

Does anyone have experience with other tablets? I know iPad's are pretty much top of the line, but are there any comparable ones that are almost as good and maybe not quite so expensive?

[minemoz1]

My DH just went back to school last year and needed a new computer. He had a regular tower. After much research, he went with an Asus through Costco. I think it ended up costing just under $800 for the graphics/speed he wanted. He purchased it online as they had more selection. He also likes computer gaming and wanted something to handle that if he decided to do it. For fun and travel, he bought a Samsung (small 5" x 7") tablet from Verizon. He LOVES it and takes it everywhere. It basically is an Android phone, without the phone. He pays monthly for 3G service data package and texting, about $35. You can download the kindle app and read books on it too. It also has 2 cameras for skype and HD video.

As for photo storage, I use Photobucket. It's free and they do not hold my photos hostage like shutterfly. If you ever want to get your high res photos back from Shutterfly, you need to pay for an archive DVD or prints. No thank you.

If you want something for backup for the home, we have a networked hard drive. It updates everything wireless in the house, including my Macbook, DHs Laptop, iPod Touch music and photos and our PS3's hard drive. We can also share music off of it.

Oh, and while I LOVE Macs (I've owned one since 1991) if you are into online gaming, your choices can be limited. There are more games for PCs unless they started catching up.

[Dlandmom2]

Thanks, Michele, for reminding me about online games and Mac's. Yeah, that might be a deciding factor for me...I may still go with an iPad, but I think for the laptop I may stay with a PC this go round.

I need to look into a networked backup drive. I have an external one right now that I have to plug in for big backups.

Yeah, it's gonna be costly to get me into the current technology decade, lol!

[MichaelF]

I think a lot of it has to do with personal preference. Some tablets are pretty powerful but I don't think they have the capability of a high end laptop. If I had to choose I would go with a loptop for myself. I still like the old fashioned keyboard. I am struggling with the touch keyboard on my new Evo phone.

[Mike K]

If the Laptop is going to be used for school you will live in Microsoft Office 2010 A student copy is around 100 dollars Until Microsoft office for the MAC gets here in October it going to be more expensive. Usualy software is more expensive for the MAC. Also you mentioned you had an external drive you will probaly have some issues with an external drive it would have to be MS Dos and you would probably need some other software for the MAC to convert. Laptops have come down quite a bit I have a Toshiba P 770 and It was less than 700.00 at Frys Electronics I love it and I like having the larger screen
Good luck