+- MacResource (https://forums.macresource.com)
+-- Forum: My Category (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Tips and Deals (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device (/showthread.php?tid=147089)
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - guitarist - 01-10-2013
I'll offer the contrary opinion.
It's biased, because I've been using an iPad exclusively, as a laptop substitute, for over a year. In that regard, I'm the ideal test-case for such a question.
I didn't end up here voluntarily. My MacBook Pro is crippled (it's a 2006 model, and I can't justify repairing it, can't currently afford to replace it) and I happened to have just gotten an iPad 2 around the same time my MacBook Pro ran into trouble and became unusable. So what I have is a desktop Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad. No laptop.
If I could choose, by a slight inclination, I'd definitely want a laptop, particularly a MacBook Air, rather than an iPad. I can say that because of my situation. I've had to live this way for a while. I don't like it. The grass is definitely greener, as they say, on the other side. If it were reversed, to be fair, I might be really longing for an iPad, it's a luxury I have that I probably take for granted.
Here's the thing. I can't stand those moments, using my iPad, when I want to use it the ways we take for granted we can use a laptop. When typing text, for example, and I wish I could navigate a cursor via a trackpad, or reach for a mouse, and there isn't one.
The competing platforms (the Surface, for example) are smart to make a hybrid product that responds to mouse gestures. Even if you sync a bluetooth keyboard to an iPad, you still have to touch the screen, there's no choice. It's mandatory.
Normally, I prefer Apple's design and Apple's wisdom in such matters, but as a consumer, with no laptop option, I find it vexing. My impulses are limited by the design. And I think it's aimed more at protecting Apple's product categories (not cannibalizing potential sales of its own products) than it is at serving the user's needs, frankly.
Do I enjoy my iPad? Absolutely. I particularly am impressed by the pleasure of reading books on it. Light web browsing, purchasing items on eBay, playing games, lots of great apps. As a mostly passive device, it's reputation as the most-loved tablet is well-deserved.
But there are times when I would kill to be able satisfy the occasional need to kick into power-user mode, like one can effortlessly on a full-featured laptop. Type fast, edit, browse, move data around, copy/paste/process/correct, manage larger writing tasks, at normal speeds, without sticking my finger on the damned screen, trying to compensate for the missing cursor/mouse advantages. At those moments, the iPad feels too limited, and extremely frustrating, and I have to suppress the urge to hurl it across the room.
Plus, I think the MacBook Airs are beautiful. They've gotten better over the last few years, and are affordable, too, compared to that first overpriced one that introduced the model. I covet the MacBook Air, in a deeply Biblical, sinful way. Gnashing of teeth, burning lakes of fire, dogs and cats, sleeping together...
I haven't sold my wife's jewelry, or her car, or cashed in our retirement funds, to buy one, yet, so..if I"m patient, maybe I can survive one more year without a MacBook Air. But I'm not making any promises!
In conclusion, I think an iPad is ideal for someone who already has a Mac laptop, a portable Mac. Or someone who simply never writes or edits anything longer than 50 words, and will have no need to, ever.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - Lew Zealand - 01-10-2013
iPad. If nothing else, you have access to a different set of Apps with iOS.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - Lew Zealand - 01-10-2013
guitarist wrote:
I'll offer the contrary opinion.
It's biased, because I've been using an iPad exclusively, as a laptop substitute, for over a year. In that regard, I'm the ideal test-case for such a question.
I didn't end up here voluntarily. My MacBook Pro is crippled (it's a 2006 model, and I can't justify repairing it, can't currently afford to replace it) and I happened to have just gotten an iPad 2 around the same time my MacBook Pro ran into trouble and became unusable. So what I have is a desktop Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad. No laptop.
If I could choose, by a slight inclination, I'd definitely want a laptop, particularly a MacBook Air, rather than an iPad. I can say that because of my situation. I've had to live this way for a while. I don't like it. The grass is definitely greener, as they say, on the other side. If it were reversed, to be fair, I might be really longing for an iPad, it's a luxury I have that I probably take for granted.
Here's the thing. I can't stand those moments, using my iPad, when I want to use it the ways we take for granted we can use a laptop. When typing text, for example, and I wish I could navigate a cursor via a trackpad, or reach for a mouse, and there isn't one.
The competing platforms (the Surface, for example) are smart to make a hybrid product that responds to mouse gestures. Even if you sync a bluetooth keyboard to an iPad, you still have to touch the screen, there's no choice. It's mandatory.
Normally, I prefer Apple's design and Apple's wisdom in such matters, but as a consumer, with no laptop option, I find it vexing. My impulses are limited by the design. And I think it's aimed more at protecting Apple's product categories (not cannibalizing potential sales of its own products) than it is at serving the user's needs, frankly.
Do I enjoy my iPad? Absolutely. I particularly am impressed by the pleasure of reading books on it. Light web browsing, purchasing items on eBay, playing games, lots of great apps. As a mostly passive device, it's reputation as the most-loved tablet is well-deserved.
But there are times when I would kill to be able satisfy the occasional need to kick into power-user mode, like one can effortlessly on a full-featured laptop. Type fast, edit, browse, move data around, copy/paste/process/correct, manage larger writing tasks, at normal speeds, without sticking my finger on the damned screen, trying to compensate for the missing cursor/mouse advantages. At those moments, the iPad feels too limited, and extremely frustrating, and I have to suppress the urge to hurl it across the room.
Plus, I think the MacBook Airs are beautiful. They've gotten better over the last few years, and are affordable, too, compared to that first overpriced one that introduced the model. I covet the MacBook Air, in a deeply Biblical, sinful way. Gnashing of teeth, burning lakes of fire, dogs and cats, sleeping together...
I haven't sold my wife's jewelry, or her car, or cashed in our retirement funds, to buy one, yet, so..if I"m patient, maybe I can survive one more year without a MacBook Air. But I'm not making any promises!
In conclusion, I think an iPad is ideal for someone who already has a Mac laptop, a portable Mac. Or someone who simply never writes or edits anything longer than 50 words, and will have no need to, ever.
That's a pretty damning critique of touch-based computing in general (like a number of Windows AIO PCs), but I suppose the advantage for those machines is that they still have a KB & mouse, even if you are "supposed" to use them as a touch screen.
I've paired an Apple BT KB to the iPad exactly once and just having arrow keys made it significantly easier to use vs. touching the screen for cursor positioning while typing.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - guitarist - 01-10-2013
I realize, your original post leaves out an important detail:
Secondary device to what?
What's the primary device? Is it a laptop, or a desktop?
If you already have a laptop, even if it's not the latest and lightest Apple laptop, then you're covered, I think.
And the inclination toward a new iPad (especially if you've never owned an iPad) is the right one.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - pinkoos - 01-10-2013
guitarist wrote:
I realize, your original post leaves out an important detail:
Secondary device to what?
What's the primary device? Is it a laptop, or a desktop?
If you already have a laptop, even if it's not the latest and lightest Apple laptop, then you're covered, I think.
And the inclination toward a new iPad (especially if you've never owned an iPad) is the right one.
Important detail left out...you are right.
It's a desktop Mac mini Server 2011. It has an internal SSD (256GB) and internal HDD (750GB). It's paired to a wall-mounted 24" LED Cinema Display hovering over my desk at home.
Use it as my primary Mac, of course. Additionally, it's on 24/7, providing server duties to our Apple TV and our iDevices.
I recently got my wife a 13" Air off Craigslist (converted her from PC to Mac finally) and fell in love again with the Air form factor (I've had an Air in the past).
We have a family iPad mini that is just that - for the family. I'll be starting a new job at the beginning of February where I'll be working at a different hospital every week or so. I won't really have my own office and won't really have a work computer that I can set up the way I want to (I'll be using the office of the physician for whom I'll be covering during any given week).
So, I envision wanting either an Air or iPad that's exclusively for my use (not for the kids to muck up, etc.). Note that I said envision wanting...not quite sure I really need one yet as I haven't started the job.
We used to have an iPad 3 that I sold off and used the proceeds to buy the iPad mini, but I am really missing the Retina display of the iPad 3.
As an aside, for those that would have me consider an Air: 11" or 13"?
Thanks.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - graylocks - 01-10-2013
pinkoos wrote:
We used to have an iPad 3 that I sold off and used the proceeds to buy the iPad mini, but I am really missing the Retina display of the iPad 3.
this is what i plan to do when the iPad mini gets Retina.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - guitarist - 01-10-2013
That's a pretty damning critique of touch-based computing in general (like a number of Windows AIO PCs), but I suppose the advantage for those machines is that they still have a KB & mouse, even if you are "supposed" to use them as a touch screen.
The key here is that they're different categories, a tablet isn't positioned to be a substitute for a laptop. At least in the Apple world. That said, it turns out, a laptop has more features than is needed in a lot of situations. And are positioned to overtake (if they haven't already) laptop sales, because they're so affordable, convenient, and frankly, lovely products.
I've paired an Apple BT KB to the iPad exactly once and just having arrow keys made it significantly easier to use vs. touching the screen for cursor positioning while typing.
I agree, it helps, but I've anytime I've paired a keyboard with the iPad, in an attempt to approximate the convenience and speed of word processing tasks on a laptop, it doesn't remain paired for very long. It's just not nimble enough to use in a comparative way. In that regard, it's limited as a content-creation device, for power-users who have expectations based on experience using laptops.
Having firmly established habits as a computer user, as a developed adult, it's likely different than it would be for a young consumer with a relatively blank slate, habits not formed yet.
I can see how parents are happier buying a tablet than a laptop for their kids who may not need all the power and features of a more expensive laptop. And for whom smart phones and other hand-held devices are their main orientation. And computers are geezer legacy machines they have little or no history with.
Still, those hybrids have a good niche going! (my wife has a Surface) They really can flip back and forth, between laptop use and tablet use. Maybe like a couch-bed, may not excel at either category individually, but that one benefit goes a long way to satisfying a certain kind of customer, in a way Apple's iOS products don't. Don't get me wrong. I think the Surface isn't otherwise as elegant or app-equipped as an iPad. Microsoft's lame ecosystem just doesn't fit into my rich, Apple-centric ecosystem.
Still, it's really the only time I've been jealous, or upset, that competing platforms (the Galaxy line, too) offers an innovation that Apple has declined to offer.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - guitarist - 01-10-2013
As an aside, for those that would have me consider an Air: 11" or 13"?
Good question!
Since I already have an iPad, and the Air would be exclusively my only portable Mac, I'd be inclined toward the 13".
But the ultra-portability of the 11" has a powerful appeal.
The funny thing about having this iPad, if I didn't have it, I'd probably have broken down and bought a laptop by now. This has worked against me! In a strange way, my iPad is contributed to delaying --- though not replacing -- the necessity of a laptop. Rats!
It works almost good enough to get by. I want a laptop. But because I have an iPad, I don't need one bad enough to make it a priority and really do something about it. I blame the iPad for this delay!
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - edgarbc1 - 01-10-2013
i would go MB Air
i do PDF manipulation and mark up a lot for work
and Ive field tested our in-house iPads for this purpose
and it sucks.
having a MBAir with trackpad and keyboard is killer
portability without sacrificing full fledged capability of
computer.
Re: Discounted iPad 3 or used 11" Macbook Air as secondary device - Wags - 01-10-2013
I've got both a 2nd gen iPad and a 11" Air. I like the iPad for simple things - checking email, light surfing, etc. the Air is definitely a big step up. Great form factor, and surprisingly powerful for so small a unit. I can run Mainstage and Logic Pro, including some large piano samples (Ivory II). If you go for the Air make sure you get enough ram. HD is easy to upgrade, though.