Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
Multi-touch touchscreen, 3-axis gyro, rear HD video camera, aesthetics, wide range of applications, all of which are built to iPad specs (whereas for a netbook, a lot of programs are built for a more powerful PC), pre-screened applications, one-handed use, e-book reader is far superior to any netbook... I can think of a lot of reasons to get an iPad instead of a netbook.
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I'll grant that not a lot of laptops in that price range are coming with a high-quality webcam. Accelerometers and touchscreens are more or less compensation for not having a proper input method. And one-handed use? Have you actually handled an iPad? You need one hand just to support that bad boy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
I've heard a lot of them max out at around 8. So the average range being more like 6 to 8.
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Depends on the brand, and often the device. Word on the street is that Asus likes to make bold claims but can't back them up, but that Toshiba and Acer tend to be more reliable. Even at eight hours, I would contend that once you get to that range you're really only appealing to a small subset of users by adding more battery time. When was the last time you were away from AC for ten hours? And when was the last time that you were not only away from AC for ten hours, but also not otherwise engaged and therefore able to fritter the whole period away playing on your iPad or netbook?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
Use your imagination to make meaning. Picture those little "foldin' computers" as what I'm generally referring to. I'm sure there are laptops that have comparable or even better battery performance than the iPad, but it was my understanding that the iPad was better than most.
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That was really more of an aside, but if you want to debate the point I'm game. Taking the entire group of "foldin' computers" and comparing that group as a whole to iPads isn't a fair assessment, because there are so many different laptops built to do so many different tasks. A desktop replacement has extremely powerful and therefore power-hungry hardware. Of course that won't compete with a device that's designed specifically to be mobile. This is why I restricted my comparison to netbooks -- that's specific enough to be meaningful, and if we're comparing the iPad to netbooks (even as we take the entire range) the battery life advantage proves to be not nearly as dramatic.
It's like lumping a Prius in with an SUV and then saying that a Honda Civic is more fuel efficient than hybrids.
Look, I'm not saying don't get an iPad. I mean, yeah, I kind of am. But what I'm really getting at is whether or not what we need individually or as a societal whole is another niche product.
The very concept of tablets is bizarre to me. There are so few situations where I have a need that isn't fulfilled by an existing device that I just can't imagine why anyone would really want to dump another pile of cash on something that, let's face it, very few people have a use for. At least a laptop is a robust device, capable of a wide range of tasks. If you buy yourself a EEE PC you'll probably find things to do with it apart from reading in bed. An iPad, maybe, but quite possibly not.