Laptop or Ipad?

red0209

I must apologise for being a little hasty with my previous response. I was a little busy and didn't fully read the steps you suggest via the link to the other thread. I am not computer illiterate and have previously carried out at least half of the steps on your list, but I will try the other things and report if it makes the laptop faster. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply again.

The laptop is slower than it was, but it's also worn out physically too. The screen is scratched, the keyboard is wearing out, the battery is absolutely knackered (the laptop will literally cut out after less than 30 seconds if not plugged in). The slowness is a small factor, but the other problems make me want to replace it. Not having any battery life is a major issue. I know I'm posting on a money saving site, but the cost of buying a new laptop/iPad isn't an issue for me, I just want something that will work efficiently and can be used on the move without needing to be plugged in.

Anyway, to answer your questions:

Sony Vaio VGN-FS415E (Intel Celeron M processor 390 1.70GHz), Windows XP SP3, 2048MB ram (upgraded from 512MB).

Commit charge currently Total: 844164, Limit: 4025608, Peak: 941716. The CPU usage whenever I open task manager is also usually 75-100%.


I'll give your suggestions a whirl. In the meantime, any iPad feedback is still very welcome.

fluidthinking

I got an iPad recently and I think it is great, but I was told in the Apple Store that it is NOT a replacement for a PC or Laptop... I was not sure why until I used it and I fully agree... if you need a proper PC or laptop thny you should get one.

The iPad is great for surfing the web and looking at emails... all that kind of thing. But if you want to do 'proper work' then it falls way short of a laptop or pc. The one good area for work is for photo presentations or flip chart style things, where you are using it like you would a book.

Basically, to keep the power usage down (I assume) most things are stripped down versions (which is actually nice and simple to use). Email for example on yahoo is stripped down, you cannot see you sent box, only the inbox.

Oh, also most importantly, you cannot connect anything to the iPad except a PC, so no cameras etc. You need to go through the PC / laptop. I also have main music library on main machine and then use iPad like a big ipod.

Some may disagree with me, i am sure there are lots of fancy aps out there for many tasks.

I do love my iPad though...

dealsearcher

In fact the direct comparison is with netbooks. The iPad has a 9.7 inch screen. Ipads at present are around £450 for the 16Gb, lowest memory, version. It has no flash compatibility. It has no proper keyboard. It is vulnerable to scratches and damage. Netbooks are at around £250. They have screens around 11 inches. They have hard drives starting at around 160Gb. They are compatible with all windows or open source programs. They have a proper keyboard which acts like a clamshell to close, protecting the netbook.

So why get an iPad? Fashion? Fad?

macman

red0209 wrote: »

I must apologise for being a little hasty with my previous response. I was a little busy and didn't fully read the steps you suggest via the link to the other thread. I am not computer illiterate and have previously carried out at least half of the steps on your list, but I will try the other things and report if it makes the laptop faster. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply again.

The laptop is slower than it was, but it's also worn out physically too. The screen is scratched, the keyboard is wearing out, the battery is absolutely knackered (the laptop will literally cut out after less than 30 seconds if not plugged in). The slowness is a small factor, but the other problems make me want to replace it. Not having any battery life is a major issue. I know I'm posting on a money saving site, but the cost of buying a new laptop/iPad isn't an issue for me, I just want something that will work efficiently and can be used on the move without needing to be plugged in.

Anyway, to answer your questions:

Sony Vaio VGN-FS415E (Intel Celeron M processor 390 1.70GHz), Windows XP SP3, 2048MB ram (upgraded from 512MB).

Commit charge currently Total: 844164, Limit: 4025608, Peak: 941716. The CPU usage whenever I open task manager is also usually 75-100%.


I'll give your suggestions a whirl. In the meantime, any iPad feedback is still very welcome.

A new battery is a lot cheaper than a new laptop, if you can live with the other defects.

zorro10

The only reason to get the Ipad is it looks cool .

closed

red, you have plenty of ram, however the high commit charge and high cpu usage suggests some bloat, possibly security software. tasklist or task manager should give you a clue as to what is slowing it down.

If money is no object, a lightweight laptop or macbook would be more useful than an ipad imo

Chorlie

fluidthinking wrote: »

I got an iPad recently and I think it is great, but I was told in the Apple Store that it is NOT a replacement for a PC or Laptop... I was not sure why until I used it and I fully agree... if you need a proper PC or laptop thny you should get one.

The iPad is great for surfing the web and looking at emails... all that kind of thing. But if you want to do 'proper work' then it falls way short of a laptop or pc. The one good area for work is for photo presentations or flip chart style things, where you are using it like you would a book.

Basically, to keep the power usage down (I assume) most things are stripped down versions (which is actually nice and simple to use). Email for example on yahoo is stripped down, you cannot see you sent box, only the inbox.

Oh, also most importantly, you cannot connect anything to the iPad except a PC, so no cameras etc. You need to go through the PC / laptop. I also have main music library on main machine and then use iPad like a big ipod.

Some may disagree with me, i am sure there are lots of fancy aps out there for many tasks.

I do love my iPad though...

100% agree...

I love my iPad, but it's not a replacement for a PC / Laptop or even a Netbook.

If you're Laptop is knackard and can't be fixed / upgraded for a sensible price then buy a new Laptop or a Netbook. If on the other hand you have a Laptop or PC and are considering a Netbook then consider an iPad (Tablet Device).

Replacing a Laptop with an iPad is like replacing a cooker with a microwave.

Note: You can cut a standard size sim down to be a microsim, but you'd then have to buy a 3G iPad which adds about an extra £70, so a mifi is cheaper.

MissMess

I think if he is using it for homework it might be annoying not having actual keys - I find Ipads best for browsing/viewing pictures etc. Bought mum one for her birthday and its great for her - browsing the papers online in the morning with a cup of tea, doing the odd bit of facbook and emailing..... I would love an ipad - but i see it as a luxury and would always revert to my laptop if i needed to work from home in any way.

Humphrey10

Since getting my iPad, I have only switched on my laptop to sync my iPad to iTunes. It's replaced my laptop completely, for everything. However I don't use it for work/essays at all, I think I would want to get a keyboard for it for long written pieces, it works fine for mind maps, presentations, visual things like that.

diable

For iPad users the way to go is Google Apps, email, word processing and a spreadsheet and all accessed via the web browser.