iPad v laptop...for 14 yr old?

Humphrey10

Re: Flash - I've not found it a problem. Other than websites with free Flash games eg Congregate I'm not aware of seeing any website rendered unusable due to lack of Flash. Some websites have embedded Flash videos which don't work on iPad, but they usually have an iPad specific app to get round the problem eg YouTube, BBC News. And like you say, he has access to a desktop if he does want to view a site that uses Flash.

Re: homework. Yes an iPad will be almost totally useless for this. You can get word processing and spreadsheet apps but frankly I can't imagine they would be any good, you want a mouse and keyboard for that sort of stuff (I'd consider a laptop with no proper separate mouse equally useless btw, I HATE trackpads). Although, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few good apps for doing flow charts and mind maps. And for researching stuff on the Internet it works fine.

Re: battery life, overheating - iPad wins hands down here. Although you can get an iPad to overheat by using it outside in the sun on a very hot day, so it's not immune to overheating.

Re: sturdiness - iPads are by no means indestructible, but are a lot more study than most laptops. My iPad 1 survived a drop from waist high to a carpeted floor (I think I was lucky though!), there is no way my laptop would be in one piece after a fall like that. But because they are so portable, there is an increased risk of dropping an iPad, and the screen is glass so can break. Also Apple have been known to replace accidentally broken iDevices that are under warranty, although this isn't guaranteed.

grizzly1911

barbiedoll wrote: »

I just know that the iPad would have the wow factor, especially on Christmas morning.

and we just wanted to give him a treat this year. But I still want value for money and a gift that he will use and will love.

I guess the paraphrasing provides the answer you want.

If you can afford it without getting into debt then the ipad wins from the heart if not the head.

mancitychick

Have a look at the asus eee pad transformer. Its an android touchpad similar size to ipad but can be docked into a keyboard, thus turning it into a notebook. I love mine!

robmar0se

Ipad will definitely wins for cool and wow factor - but don't kid yourself, it will be a toy for a 14 year-old. Java, printing and keyboard (for anything lengthy) are issues - other more practical issues for a 14 year-old are damage and loss(stolen) - but I guess the heart may win.

Head says laptop (or even netbook) -- more of a tool and does everything the Ipad does, and more.

Humphrey10

Everyone keeps saying 'iPads don't do enough'. I have both a laptop (a proper one, with a full sized keyboard and dedicated graphics card etc, not a silly little 'netbook') and an iPad. The iPad is of course capable of far less than the laptop. My laptop is currently put away in a laptop bag, and has been for the last year or so, except when I take it out to use it to update the OS on the iPad. I use the iPad daily.

I have no idea how one would go about printing from an iPad though. But I can't remember when I last needed to print something.

CazuaLL

Humphrey10 wrote: »

I have no idea how one would go about printing from an iPad though. But I can't remember when I last needed to print something.

If you have a Wifi printer that most people have these days its so so simple

robmar0se

CazuaLL wrote: »

If you have a Wifi printer that most people have these days its so so simple

Yes? Other than transfering the file to a proper PC/laptop, I know it can be done via a very circuitous route that makes it impractical, but if you have a simple solution, then all the other posters who say it isn't simple may well benefit from your expertise on how to do it "simply" - go on tell us all how..............

wba31

I'd go with iPad... You can buy a keyboard dock for him to sit at a desk and type http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC533B/A?fnode=MTc0MjU4NjE&mco=MjM2MDg2NzU, music etc can be bought off itunes, unless you have a pc in the home he can sync it with and transfer his CD's etc from. However get one with a big memory. It wouldnt take much music and video to fill his iPad so he cannot save important documents.

There are parental settings so you can disable safari for !!!!!! viewing, but then that takes away his browser capabilities. If you are concerned about it then talk with him, or get a browser like X3 watch or something similar (a friend has a filtered browser on his iPad but i cannot remember the name) that works as well as safari but either emails questionnable sites to a user or filters adult content completely.

Plus to see his little face light up on christmas morning...

prowla

Laptop for homework/editing/storing files/surfing/research.
iPad for casual surfing and portability.

SuperHan

By Christmas the iPad should be running on the new operating system, so although it might need plugging into your PC to set up initially, it wouldn't need to be connected to the computer again afterwards, providing you have WiFi set up at home.

As for printing, it isn't as cut and dry as using a wireless printer - Apple has a specific list of printers that can be used to print from iPad. I have a wireless HP printer, and I can only print photos and PDFs from my iPad via the HP app. The native iPad OS doesn't recognise my printer at all. But it's easy enough to e-mail documents etc off the iPad to your desktop.

As for reliability, I feel like people tend to take better care of iPads than laptops as they look to be more fragile, and laptops (I know mine does anyway) gets a lot less care taken of it. Apple users are also very reluctant to say bad of any Apple product. I include myself in this, but even when my MacBook isn't working to the best of its ability, I will under no circumstances blame Apple So sometimes the reviews are slightly tainted.

But if it isn't for homework and just for general internet browsing, I think iPad wins hands down. Like you say, it really has the wow factor over a laptop.

And the no flash and monitored app store means that it will be remarkably more difficult to get questionable material on the iPad than on a laptop! (Although it is not impossible!!)