iPad and equivilent

aurongrande_2

I already know that Netbooks are a complete waste of money which you can end up paying through the teeth on a rubbish mobile contract which gives you poor connection and/or a dongle that dies in a few months which you cannot replace till your contract renews. (Sorry for the long sentence.)

I've always been interested in a portable computer (I use to own a laptop years ago which die.) The thing is, I like to write stories. I've already got a 3 book series in print, but failed to sell well so ended up being terminated.

I can't always be around my big desktop, so basically I could do with a basic portable computer. A laptop would be too much hassle, so I was thinking one of these iPads or equivalents.

I don't need it to be a powerhouse, but I do require it to meet certain requirements. I can running something like OpenOffice on it, a large enough screen (too small and I'll get headaches fast) and a means to transfer data between it and my big computer; USB, memory card, that sort of thing.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

itwiz

aurongrande wrote: »

I already know that Netbooks are a complete waste of money which you can end up paying through the teeth on a rubbish mobile contract which gives you poor connection and/or a dongle that dies in a few months which you cannot replace till your contract renews. (Sorry for the long sentence.)

I think what you mean is that a Netbook from a mobile phone supplier on a monthly contract is poor value. I would argue that a Netbook is exactly what you need, but just buy it outright and forget about the mobile broadband. The Samsung N150 is currently £230 on ebuyer and in Sainsburys and is a great little machine with up to 10 hours battery life.

I seriously wouldn't recommend a touch-screen device for heavy word processing, you'd be far better off using something with tactile feedback.

penrhyn

A netbook is merely a small footprint laptop, usually having no optical drive.
I have a Dell Inspiron Mini 1018 which with 2Gb of memory works well.

I only use it with my and the families wifi.

It is not necessary to be connected to the internet to perform basic functions like wordprocessing.

RussJK

If you like to write, then your main requirements are a decent screen size and a decent keyboard. You aren't going to get those on an ipad.

Netbooks are hardly a waste of money when bought for the right reasons. I wouldn't spend over £200 on a simple 10" netbook unless it was a dualcore like the Samsung N150 that the other poster mentioned with great battery life. For netbooks, Samsung are usually the best build quality. Read reviews and learn which have the best keyboards for writing on.

Next step up are the ultraportables, 12", 13.3", and 14". Check on https://www.saveonlaptops.com and use check the appropriate boxes on 'screen'. You don't have to buy from there, but the Lenovo's are decently priced. Use https://www.cpubenchmark.net to compare the processor speeds.

welshdent

As above - I love my iPad but I would never consider it a word processing beast. A Bluetooth keyboard may add that functionality somewhat but you are better off with a small laptop. If not a netbook then maybe a MacBook air or one the smaller sonys?

poppy10_2

Getting a free netbook on a mobile contract is poor value, but you can buy a decent netbook outright for £200. Then you only have to pay £5 a month for a 3g mobile dongle (my vodafone one works well, doesn't drop the connection at all). The basic iPad model costs double that, and doesn't even have a 3g connection.

IF you are going to be using it to write stories, the last thing you want is a tablet - it's painful to write even a longish text message on a touchscreen.

aurongrande_2

itwiz wrote: »

I think what you mean is that a Netbook from a mobile phone supplier on a monthly contract is poor value. I would argue that a Netbook is exactly what you need, but just buy it outright and forget about the mobile broadband. The Samsung N150 is currently £230 on ebuyer and in Sainsburys and is a great little machine with up to 10 hours battery life.

I seriously wouldn't recommend a touch-screen device for heavy word processing, you'd be far better off using something with tactile feedback.

I've tried using a Netbook before. Darn things are too small.

aurongrande_2

I wouldn't know what a touchscreen computer is like for typing. The only touchscreen devices I've ever had is my mobile phone and an HP iPaq. As you know, both are way too small for writing with. Netbooks are way too small as well. I was thinking a basic laptop, but they're usually way too much hassle to setup. I've never personally seen what an iPad looks like, or any of the equivalents. This is why I was asking.

welshdent

aurongrande wrote: »

I wouldn't know what a touchscreen computer is like for typing. The only touchscreen devices I've ever had is my mobile phone and an HP iPaq. As you know, both are way too small for writing with. Netbooks are way too small as well. I was thinking a basic laptop, but they're usually way too much hassle to setup. I've never personally seen what an iPad looks like, or any of the equivalents. This is why I was asking.

They look like this ...

penrhyn

My goodness its huge,( or is Steve Jobs shrinking?) was in Mcdonalds the other day and a bloke came in flashing his ipad, he moved around the store trying to get a signal, unfortunately when he got one he was in a window seat and the display looked very dim.

welshdent

I did the same in australia with my laptop ... think someone was sat in the carpark in a camper van hogging the free wifi! LOL