Tablet vs Laptop?

[NewJeffCT]

If you are not going to pay for 3G or 4G service, is there any advantages to getting a tablet over a laptop?

I asked on my FB page, but wanted to follow-up here to get a wider response. We got a brand new Asus Vevo tablet that runs the full version of Windows 8 (goes to the full website, not the mobile version of it), and it seems slower on the internet with our in-house wi-fi than does my daughter's el cheapo laptop that she got a year ago.

What I got was that the tablet is easier to transport and has a camera for video/pictures. The laptop is better if you want to do anything with spreadsheets and/or documents.

Anything else?

Thanks

[Skinner]

1. I was given an iPad for my 40th birthday and I love it.

When people ask, I always say this:

A tablet is great for consuming. A laptop is great for creating.

If you're lying on the sofa in your living room, the tablet is so much better. You can hold it on your lap and you don't have that keyboard in the way. It's relatively small and easy to handle. Watch a movie or read a book or browse DU.

But if you want to get work done, you need to sit down at your desk and use a real computer. The keyboard and mouse and larger screen make the difference. If you want to do any real writing or creating, you need a real computer.

[onehandle]

4. A lot of tech bloggers would disagree with your 'real writing or creating' comment.

Constantly they tell tales of leaving their laptops behind on trips and getting things done.

If you have a wireless keyboard, you're golden for most creative endeavors.

[suffragette]

13. Recently got a bluetooth keyboard and love using it with my iPad

It provides great flexibility in making it easier to use the iPad to write, then being able to remove easily to use as a tablet.

Here's the one I bought:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/tablet-accessories/keyboard-cases/ultrathin-keyboard-cover

Also, the many built-in or simple, cheap apps for accessibility on the iPad are great.

[jrandom421]

17. Surface is a LOT different

Surface, either RT or Pro is a totally different thing. While the RT version is great for consuming, it has Office built in and with the Touch Cover, does just fine as an occasional creating platform. The Pro version is full on Windows 8, and with a Type Cover, is a great platform for content creation, because its able to run all Windows version programs.

[jmowreader]

18. Surface is competition for MacBook Air, not iPad

Surface comes with Office, it's expected you'll run it with a keyboard, the Pro version runs Windows 8, and Windows 8 puts a tablet-like interface on every PC.(I expect within 18 months desktop monitors will routinely be equipped with touchscreen surfaces.) It is a thin laptop, not a tablet.

There's nothing wrong with thin laptops, but they're not tablets no matter what you call them.

[hobbit709]

2. Depends on whether or not you want to do any actual work

If you need to do a lot of typing, read/play from CD/DVD, you're SOL on a tablet.

[onehandle]

3. iPads are more portable. And lighting quick on WiFi. Tablets in general are great for portability.

Really, it can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer with tablets and laptops.

Tablets from Amazon and Samsung tend to take shortcuts to make them cheaper.

I type as quick on my iPad as I do on my laptop Mac.

[HopeHoops]

6. Seriously? I heard the top wpm on an iPad was about 65. That's too slow.

Well, unless you want to carry around a blue tooth keyboard everywhere you go.

[onehandle]

7. This article has someone clocked in at 111 WPM.

And this is from a year and a half ago. Probably higher by now.

http://ipad.appstorm.net/how-to/utilities/how-to-improve-your-typing-skills-with-taptyping

[HopeHoops]

8. Must have been an old article I read. I'm pushing 95 wpm now (80 used to be my top).

111 is pretty fucking fast. I've used touch-screen keypads, but I prefer the tactile of a physical one. But hell, I learned to type on an IBM Selectric (with the font ball).

[NewJeffCT]

9. interesting

the newest iPad we tried in the store was noticeably slower on the internet than the Asus tablet (which was just released). It also sent you to the more limited mobile sites instead of the full website.

[HopeHoops]

5. I use phones for making phone calls, laptops for laps, and desktops for desks.

Call me silly, but that's what they were made for.

[MicaelS]

10. Most Tablets are not expandable.

Laptops are expandable. You can add more memory or swap the hard drive for a larger one.

If it is possible, you could hook the tablet up to an external hard drive for more storage. But, in my experience external hard drives fail sooner than internal hard drives, because the average external drive does not have active cooling (in other words no fan). Internal drives receive some cooling. Heat is the enemy of hard drives.

Also many computer repair places can repair a laptop. Not so for a tablet.

If you want to see a detailed teardown on an iPad, look over here:

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad+3+4G+Teardown/8277/1

Oops, won't take the link, had to edit it.

[NewJeffCT]

11. over where?

just curious?

[MicaelS]

12. Bad link. Fixed n/t

[onehandle]

14. A small minority of computer users ever expand their computers these days.

Computers, like cars are getting longer and longer lifespans.

[surrealAmerican]

15. I don't know if this is true for everyone, but ...

... I get significantly better battery life on my tablet as compared to the laptop. It's to the point now that I rarely use the laptop if it's not plugged in.

[Major Nikon]

16. A tablet serves a much narrower purpose

Performance wise, a laptop can do everything a tablet can do and far more. If size, weight, and convenience are an issue, and you have a much narrower set of needs, a tablet may do the trick. Most people I know that have tablets, also have laptops. That's not really true the other way around.