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Total O/T : Techie suggestions/opinions sought

StickAFork's picture

Ok... I'm planning on buying another laptop and/or tablet this month.

(Background... one touchscreen desktop, three laptops - two adults and three teens in the house.)

I use one laptop exclusively for school/work. I really like it, but it's large (18" screen) and is getting rather bulky to lug around when I'm not home.

So...

I'm kinda leaning toward getting a tablet whether I get another laptop or not. My thing is, I'm at a loss... do I get Android or iPad? We have Android smartphones (actually got talked out of buying iPhones) but we all have iPod touches, so we're at least a little familiar with the whole "i" thing. Wink I work for a place that manufactures "stuff" for the Apple products, so they're everywhere, and they appear to be very popular.

I'm at a loss. Who likes what and why? Are the tablets basically oversized iPod touches?

I don't really want to walk into Best Buy and sound this uninformed. Biggrin I'm sure the salesman would be happy to show me the *expensive* ones.

Comments

StickAFork's picture

LOL. Why do you like those so much?

Also, does anyone know the difference between Android OS and Windows OS tablets?

B22S22's picture

OS- operating system.

Android OS will have the capabilities of all of the Android apps

windows OS will have all of the windows stuff.

Actually, many people feel the Android OS is a more stable platform than windows. I dunno... but I do know that most low to mid range priced tablets probably do not have the memory and cpu to run window applications such as office (excel, powerpoint, etc).

I have an Acer Iconia tablet and love it. But for work I strictly use a laptop.

Have you considered an Ultrabook? It is half-way between laptop and tablet, really really thin, touchscreen, and surprisingly has a LOT of memory and a high cpu.

z3girl's picture

I don't know much about this, but I have a Kindle Fire which uses the Android OS. I do not recommend it. For strictly reading books, it's great. For anything else, it's terrible. It has a poor wifi antenna, so doesn't connect unless you're within feet of the modem. It freezes fairly often, and is slow to load. I love to read, so none of this is a big deal, and the price is right. DH has an iPad, and it is much better for anything you want to do. It costs three times as much, so I don't think I'd want it unless the Kindle dies. I thought iPads were all overpriced iPhones without the phone, but now that I've been around one, I rather like it. If my Kindle dies, I think I would consider the new iPad Mini because I like the size of the Kindle which is much smaller than the iPad.

My assistant has an HP tablet (don't know what, but must be Windows based) and she can't stand it. I don't know the details, but she was just complaining about it last week.

Not sure if this helps you, but it might give you some perspective.

arjuna79's picture

SAF, my dh in tech sales and service. His main push to iPad is the plethora of apps. He does see benefit in the other tablets, but serious lacking in the range of apps. Windows tablets have got that "windows 8" system just launched - easier file sharing to other computers - but again, inadequate apps.

StickAFork's picture

I want it to take the place of my laptop for school and work stuff. My laptop is big and heavy to carry around.

I don't game, and the only apps I use on my smartphone are solitaire, FB, and the internet. Wink I've found I don't have time for much of the "fun stuff" my kids talk about.

The Windows based tablets look like they offer "work" type stuff better than Android, but what about the iPad??

And is the iPad like the iTouch in that everything has to funnel through iTunes?

Dawn-Moderator's picture

Then how about an ultrabook. Smaller, thinner and lighter than a laptop but will enough power to do what you need. You can also get touch screens on some of those.

The iPad would be kind of like an iPod Touch only bigger.

Dawn-Moderator's picture

Ultrabooks are more powerful than netbooks(ie. cpu and memory) So kind of in between a netbook and a laptop.

Unfreakingreal's picture

Look into the MacBook Air. It's ultra thin and weighs like nothing. The small one has an 11" screen. I like the iPad too but I wouldn't be able to spend hours typing on it. I use it to watch Netflix in bed since I don't have a tv in my room.

arjuna79's picture

^^^AGREE!!!^^^ anyone who's gone from iPad to Air says, "shoulda just done that" and that's been my experience too!!! Lovelovelove my Air, it totally runs my business, is fabulous to travel with, handles files like a dream. (and yeah, I've had a netbook too, not nearly robust enough to do what I needed).

Jsmom's picture

I am anti apple...I like our Acer Tablet and Asus Tablet. I am probably getting the Ultrabook soon so I can work without lugging my Laptop around.

not2sureimsaneanymore's picture

Ipad all the way. Mainly because it's like a computer for me at this point. All my mail, documents (they do have a microsoft office app you can purchase), and storage on cloud (I use drop box) means it functions as a computer for me. I also use the remote desktop lite to remotely access my desktop... which means I basically turn it into a windows tablet for the period of time I'm on it.

I liked my android phone for some of the more interesting apps, but in terms of functionality, my ipad IS my computer/laptop. I haven't touched a desktop or regular laptop in ages. Get the higher memory though, I got the 16GB and I recently ran out of room which is unfortunate, but I needed to delete some 4Gb of songs anyway.