techies: ditching my laptop for a tablet ?
i own a macbook pro. it's about five years old, so i'm scared it might croak soon (knock on wood).
my question is, how viable would it be to replace it with an ipad (mini)? my main concern is how compatible it is with office files (word, excel, powerpoint/open office) and if office for ipad is any good/easy to use.
apart from that, i basically only surf the internet and play a very limited selection of games.
thanks in advance guys and girls
my question is, how viable would it be to replace it with an ipad (mini)? my main concern is how compatible it is with office files (word, excel, powerpoint/open office) and if office for ipad is any good/easy to use.
apart from that, i basically only surf the internet and play a very limited selection of games.
thanks in advance guys and girls
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Comments
Calling Ipad experts: @lunar , @Pibaro , @meagloth , @Illydth , @CrevsDaak
Even if you can do anything with a tablet, you'll miss a pc or a mac in many situation.
Working with excel or word with a tablet isn't easy at all even with a keyboard.
And you'll need something where you can storage your backup.
I can't really explain, but believe me, there are many situations where you'll still need a laptop.
Maybe an old - not well performing one could be enough.
Tablets are meant to work as peripherals. Think of tablets as of over-sized telephones. They are here for fun, not for any kind of work.
Now, if you really don't do anything else on you computer, save for surfing the web, playing very few very simple games (no Skyrim on tablets) and occasionally writing an email or a word document - a tablet can do. However you are setting yourself up for a disappointment if you'd ever need to do something else than the three things I described above. And you will. Trust me.
If you long for a tablet, buy one. But keep your old computer as well. Or get a newer, cheap one for the tasks that the tablets can't do. Or get a notebook, that also has a touch-screen. They are popular nowadays. So you can smear fingerprints on your screen.
But it is not a desktop. It does not do everything your computer does. It does most of the things your computers does, and it does some thing you computer can't(fit in your pocket. run Mobil apps and games. Portable facetime and imessage, ect.) but it doesn't run full desktop applications. it holds 128GB MAX, and that costs more than an ok PC. it doesn't have a CD drive. It doesn't have any USB ports, or any other kind of plug.
However, if you're operating with your current computer anyway, it can probably fill in the holes that the mini leaves. You could definitely make it work in conjunction with your current computer. If your worried about it dying, buy a cheap 1TB hard drive, and start time machine backups if you haven't already. i think Icloud capacity was expanded drastically with iOS8, so storage should be *to* much of a problem, at least if you buy the 32GB version.
a) Check my email
b) Schedule control. Really practical when you just want to check everything you have to do the following day...
c) Browse the Internet
d) Play.
They can be extremely handy when you need something simple done and do not wish to turn on your computer, but sometimes you just need the full power of a computer. In my case, the simplified word processors available in mobile platforms, be it Android or iOS, just are not enough for my needs, although good enough for quick editing of existing documents.
I actually sometimes go for days without turning on my computer at home... of course there is always someone asking me to edit something in the mods thread and I wouldn't even try editing a big html post like that in a mobile platform. Not because they cant, but because it's simpler and more comfortable to do in a computer.
However, an iPad can't run VMs, or be properly used for controlling remote desktops due to the limitations of the touch interface, which is a large part of what I have to do at the moment, so I will have to get a laptop sometime soon.
However when I needed to get stuff done seriously for a school project, I ended up on my laptop, there are programs for word/excel in Ipad but laptop is, ofcourse, way better and easy to use in this aspect. Other than that, I use my laptop very sparsely, for downloading stuff to watch (I then drag them to my Ipad to watch there, so comfy!), for a chatting aplication with hook-ups and stuff (Ipad and flash or java based things don't mix well) and modding up my bg2 game. But that's it.
Do I prefer my Ipad and spend more time with it and love it more than my laptop? Yes, ofcourse. Do I think my laptop is unnecessary and should be thrown out of the window? Hell no. Ipad is enough for %90 of my needs and is simply great/easy to use/comfortable/practical/cool in stuff it does. I am so attached to it. But for the remaining %10 stuff a pc or laptop is a godsend.
Let me try to be a bit more technical and detailed than the other responses.
First, lets talk about your current laptop. I am currently beta testing BG and BG2 on a Late 2007 17" macbook pro. It's now had 3 batteries and was used full time by my wife as her main computer before they announced the discontinuation of the 17" MBP's and my wife panicked and begged for a new one.
The 2007 Pro has a 64 bit dual core (2.4 Ghz) processor and can hold up to 4G memory. Is it a screamer? No, can it do business data? Absolutely. Spreadsheets, Documents, E-Mail, etc. etc. etc. All of this this machine is MORE than capable of handling.
Is it going to play Skyrim? Nope it's not...but your statement is about work, not play (other than "limited games" I believe was your quote). Your current laptop is excellent...and they really do not make them like that anymore.
What's your concern about your laptop dying on you? Screen? This one's almost 7 years old and still on an original screen...no issues there. Harddrive? That's replaceable. Motherboard/Graphics Card? They don't die often. (I'll *knock* On wood here also as I hate tempting fates)...
The age of that laptop doesn't scare me for what you're talking about it doing. Your system may be venerable...but it's certainly not dead.
Now lets talk about your choice in replacements.
An iPad Mini? Even the smallest MBP is a 13" model (and you're most likely running 15" or 17") and you're going to replace it with a screen size approximately HALF that (at best)?
Trust me when I tell you you're NOT going to be happy with that. Were you talking about a new iPad Air with something like a Zagg keyboard case (which having just bought one for myself and my son will run you something close to 1K all told) I'd tell you that you MIGHT be able to get away with it.
A mini? Not on your life. That thing is a toy...not a work device. You're barely going to be browsing the internet with that thing, let alone trying to setup spreadsheets. No offense intended to the iPad Mini users out there BTW...I just don't see one of them being a main productivity device...unless of course you LIKE the thought of ending up blind at 35. As a secondary / take it to meetings / on the go checking e-mail or reading a book device? ABSOLUTELY. A mini is built for PORTABILITY not FUNCTIONALITY.
Next lets talk about input. Yea, I know all the major operating systems are going to touch screen devices now (see Windows 8 laptops)...but there are things touch does awesomely with and things it DOES NOT. There is NO REPLACEMENT for a good old-fashioned laser mouse (except maybe the trackball...)...even a touchpad is not sufficient sometimes. I'll get arguments on this I'm sure, but spend all day trying to design interface elements, resize windows to EXACT specifications, move text cursors to exact locations on a page or (heaven help you) edit pictures and work artistically and you'll quickly find your iPad mini and it's touch screen leave you EXTREMELY frustrated.
Again, were we talking about an Air you might sell me as a replacement device...I carry one almost exclusively to meetings these days...unless someone calls a war-room, in which case the FIRST device I'll go to is my laptop and the SECOND that comes with me is the iPad.
Here's my logic, follow me for a second: In the war between portability and functionality, which wins?
* If you bring a heavy lug-able to Starbucks your arm is going to get tired, but you'll get your work done...no matter what it is.
* If you bring an ultra portable to Starbucks and all of a sudden realize you can't function with it, you're going to be driving back home to find the device you can use.
EVERY device on the market these days has it's use. There's a reason why tablets haven't killed laptops and why laptops haven't killed desktops. All 3 devices have their uses. The functionality over the years has shifted (where the laptop used to be the go to portable device, now the tablet is), but you still can't take your desktop into a meeting, and you really DO NOT want to re-render the entirety of StarWars 7 the film or re-compile your corporations main piece of software on your Macbook Air.
And your tablet computer doesn't replace either of these devices either. While it can get close to replacing the laptop (with a big enough tablet) the reason we still have ye'ol qwerty keyboard and mouse isn't because no one's been smart enough to build a device that doesn't need them anymore.
Finally, if you STILL really want to replace your computer with a tablet, you're not browsing enough internet. The number of internet sites that DO NOT work well on a mobile machine and/or which DO NOT allow you to access the REAL website because it detects you're on mobile (thus giving you a stripped down and entirely useless version of their website) is pretty mind blowing. For that reason ALONE I HIGHLY recommend you keep some kind of "computer" device handy...REALLY sucks to have to go to a website that does not work well on mobile only to find the only device you have ready access to is mobile.
The argument between "Computer" (Desktop or Laptop) and "Tablet" is the same argument between "wired" and "wireless". Wireless computing (wifi networks) is about CONVENIENCE not functionality. There is NOTHING better about wifi that a hardwired connection to a network doesn't do better that doesn't come down to convenience.
It's pretty much the same thing to be said with Tablets. Lets all face it and call the spade a shovel for a second: We all LOVE our tablet computers and anyone who's owned one for any length of time will tell you they'll NEVER get rid of it. But if you thumb screwed any of us to the table we'd be pretty damn hard pressed to name ANYTHING we do consistently on our tablet computers that we can't do just as well or better on our laptops and even better than that on our 37" Monitor Desktop Computers that doesn't have to do with drinking hot, overpriced latte's at some ritzy coffee shop.
At the moment I would NEVER get rid of my iPad...I love it too much. Yet, as I say that, I'm typing this response on a 17" laptop, plugged into a 24" Acer Desktop Monitor, typing on an external USB Keyboard with an attached USB mouse (not on the laptop...a desktop keyboard/mouse setup) running through a KVM switch...and that, right there, pretty much proves my point about Computer vs. Tablet.
All the above said: There's some good news for you.
You HAVE a functioning Laptop. Unless you have some serious concerns about the hardware (abuse, drop, spill damage, environmental damage, you just ran your car over it and don't want to look at what's happened) your best bet MAY STILL BE to buy that tablet computer you want.
Look online at your MBP's maximum specs and have an apple certified repair place upgrade your RAM to max capacity and maybe replace your battery. That'll give your ager a little more room to grow and the functionality you need in those few scenarios where you REALLY need to go to a real computer.
Then go out and buy an iPad (*shudder mini*) and forget this entire thread: Be happy with the 85% of the things you can do on your Mini and be extra happy for the 15% of things you CAN'T do on your mini that your MBP still functions properly and can pick up the slack where you need it.
(Sorry for the book reply).
--Illydth
Also, I don't have much to add (this guy basically nailed it thrice over), but I'm feelin' the appeal of a tablet or small notebook too. At the same time, yeah, functionality > (for the most part)
Some of the tablets that you can get a legitimate keyboard with look awesome, but then, I'm always reminded of the fact that I'll be staring at a tiny screen. So there goes that thought.
I'd say pick up a tablet though if you can also afford to get a new laptop, whenever that time comes. Can't beat that Netflix in bed awesomeness.
honestly what i'd like a tablet for most is doing the things i normally do at my desk on the settee.
all i need word and stuff for is making the occasional presentation and my students' administration, which isn't much, but still, might be handy to keep my laptop running for a little longer
may even be a 13", not 100% sure anymore
But there are certain things that only a full computer can do. Especially anything that involves moving a lot of files around. And obviously anything "non-standard".
It's funny, I've only had the tablet for four years (?), and I really do 60% of work and play on it. But a big part of what's left I really just CAN'T do on the tablet.
I used to have a laptop like you do, but then the Dovahkiin robbed my house...