Comments | cobrabay: Thinking of going over to the dark and shiny side

cobrabay

Thinking of going over to the dark and shiny side

Apr 12, 2012 17:44

My netbook is well over 3 years old now, and while it is still working, it is getting a bit flaky. Plus, I'm beginning to get bored with installing new operating systems on it. I've had over 10 on it, many flavours of Linux, Jolicloud, etc., but I have a spare laptop I can use for that purpose now. The netbook's 512MB memory is the main limitation ( Read more... )

ipad

Comments 10

alexmc April 12 2012, 17:36:00 UTC

Anna recently bought a 64Gb iPad 3 to replace her iPad2. She tells me you can't get large iPad2s any more....

So cough up and get an iPad3.

(Personally I don't own a tablet of any sort so why I am advising you I don't know... personally I was going to buy a transformer but never got around to it)

bopeepsheep April 12 2012, 18:22:58 UTC

Argos have them, store by store - I can get a wifi or wifi/3G 64Gb 2 in one of my 2 local stores, either colour. Amazon have loads.

alexmc April 12 2012, 18:39:55 UTC

Ah - thanks. Maybe she was saying - couldn't get them from Apple. Glad to hear there are options.

cobrabay April 12 2012, 19:15:19 UTC

Yes, I'd noticed the ones on Amazon, and Apple sell refurbished 64mb iPad 2s (at least they did yesterday). PC World have them at a reasonable price too.

daveon April 12 2012, 17:49:21 UTC

Maryse basically loathes the top of the range Android tablet I gave her and is pestering me to replace it with an iPad. We've a HTC Jetstream and it's really awful compared to even an iPad 1.

But I am also not much of an Android fan either.

bopeepsheep April 12 2012, 18:25:09 UTC

I was splurging - inheritance - so got a wifi/3G 64Gb 2 last summer, and it's fine for more or less everything I do (and is weaning me off Flash FB games nicely). With a Speccy-keyed bluetooth keyboard (which I might upgrade having seen a really nice one at Eastercon) it's as good [for my purposes] as a notebook, but it's a tablet.

sugoll April 12 2012, 21:07:26 UTC

I adore mine, but I'd suggest you be sure it can fulfill your requirements, first, due to the lack of an accessible file system.

cobrabay April 12 2012, 21:42:41 UTC

I looked into tools for getting stuff on & off an iPad. I'm not a fan of iTunes and it looks like using tools like iExplorer and Dropbox I can transfer files fairly easily.
Too late to change my mind anyway, I've order a refurbished one from Apple. Went for a 64MB wifi iPad 2.
I realise I'll probably have to do a lot of file conversion, particularly of video files, but I already have multiple tools to do that, some of which will do it in batch. Most of my recent ones are MP4 so I'm hoping they'll play as is.

bohemiancoast April 14 2012, 08:48:25 UTC

Too late! But I was going to say 'look very hard at a refurb MacBook Air instead'. Because they weigh only a tiny bit more than an iPad, but unlike iPads, they actually do all the stuff you want.

iPad is awesome for (a) watching stuff and (b) playing games though. It's just rubbish when you want to interact with people online through the magic medium of text. Which I do a thousand times a day.

edit: iPad *also awesome for* -- cooking from; it has changed my life in a way no wirebound recipe notebook ever couldhave. And keeping its charge in the middle of a field or other place where you have no access to power. The MBA's not bad, but it's much less good than iPad.

cobrabay April 14 2012, 11:35:47 UTC

I did look at the MacBook Air, the 11.6 one was very tempting, but even buying a refurb it would cost nearly as much as my last 3 computers combined (all new, including 2 laptops). I realise the text drawbacks of tablets, so I'm going to try my old iGo Stowaway bluetooth keyboard with it, and I'm looking at combined keyboard/cases, the Zaggfolio looks very nice.