huge-O-chavez wrote:
Ipad 2 = the microwave oven of computing... It really does nothing well, but the alternative is so detestable that it caught on.. It pretty much is only good as a toy for surfing the internet or checking email. They tried them out for the exec's at work for traveling and easy access to email. There is an app that allows you to access work email through it, but the machines were not purchased by my company, cause the IPad choked on opening spreadsheets and ppt's, and the functionality to edit a spreadsheet is poo.
I'd say no Ipad cause they're too expensive and I am inherently against apple products, too much flash not enough substance.
Just go to www.slickdeals.net or woot.
I found this laptop on sellout.woot.com http://discountlaptopshop.com/p-17-dell-latitude-d830-18ghz.aspx
You can buy 4 of those laptops for the price of the Ijunk.
In this case a laptop is probably the best choice, but the iPad having too much flash and not enough substance?
It's a 1.5lb machine running a BSD Unix, with more computing power than I had on my CAD workstation 10 years ago, all with an interface that my 3 year old can use. It can access and view almost any file format on almost any type of server (NFS, Samba, AFP, SFTP, FTP, POP, IMAP, etc), run an ssh tunnel and vnc viewer to connect to a desktop securely, function as a file server, etc. It's packing an accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope, capacitive touch screen, HD video camera, IPS display (you can count the laptops available with an IPS display on one hand), quad-band GSM/802.11n/Bluetooth, aGPS, and incredible graphics hardware. The whole thing weighs less than two cans of coke and has a 10+ hour battery life. That seems substantial to me, though I can understand not being able to see past the pretty glass and aluminum enclosure. :)
As for whether or not it's good for work, that depends on what you need. I used to wander around with stacks of 11x17 documents, a paper notebook for drawing in and a laptop computer for taking notes/sending email/giving presentations. Now I get by with the iPad and its video output adapter, a pen, and a stack of index cards when I'm out of my office.
It's not intended to replace a laptop. I dunno if it's the best choice here, and sure, Apple is run by a bunch of evil motherberkeleyers, but they do deserve a little credit. I'm pretty confident that 5 years from now almost everyone will have something that looks like an iPad.
