Ipad V laptop

teabag29

Which is better? My 13 year old son wanted a laptop for Christmas and has now discovered the Ipad at school and wants one of these instead. I am not a technical person in the slightest and know next to nothing about the Ipad. Just wondered if anyone could shed some light on which is the better of the 2? He will use it for homework, facebook, games etc.

Tropez

I would say a laptop is much more suitable for school work.

As for other things, it depends on the laptop as the technology in laptops varies wildly. For a laptop costing the same as an iPad you should be able to find something much more versatile, with all the functions of the iPad but lacking the tablet-portability feature, although most laptops are far from cumbersome.

For games, laptops require dedicated graphics processors to play anything but the most basic games and most laptops with these onboard are more expensive, although you should still be able to acquire a laptop with a dedicated GPU for the same price as an iPad.

Personally speaking, for a teenager, I think a laptop is better simply because using it will teach a greater degree of technical knowledge about computer systems than using an iPad will. The iPad is deliberately limited in functionality due to Apple's need to make the device more pick up and play friendly.

Callie22

I think the ipads are great (and I'd love one!) but it'd had to be in addition to my normal laptop. I wouldn't want to have to do much typing etc on an ipad, which is what I'd imagine homework will mainly consist of. Also I'd rather have something with an integral disc drive. Personally I think ipads are great for games, media, messing around on the internet etc, but for actual work I'd always rather have a laptop.

teabag29

Thanks ladies, my initial thoughts were that a laptop would be better for him and after reading the comments I think i'll stick to that

gunsandbanjos

Totally depends what type of homework he would need to do on it. I have both and my laptop is currently under my bed gathering dust, haven't used it since I finished my degree back in may. I love my iPad.

daisiegg

He wouldn't be able to do homework (beyond browsing the web for research) on an iPad. I have an iPad and love it for browsing, email, Facebook, apps - but it's useless for anything beyond that. Do you have a family PC he can access for homework? I'm sure you have thought about it but I'd think carefully about a child of that age having their own Internet device...would you supervise all Internet access and not allow him to have it in his room at night etc?

Errata

It's much easier to smash an iPad to smithereens than a laptop. Particularly by 13 year old boys!

Northern_Princess

We bought DD an iPad, sold her laptop and bought a stand alone PC. The reason we did this was she was surfing Facebook etc when she was supposed to studying on her laptop :mad: OH has now set up the stand alone PC so she can only access sites she needs for the subjects she's studying. She hands the iPad over when studying and gets it back once her homework/study time is done

FATBALLZ

An iPad is basically a laptop with far less functionality and a higher price tag. Although it is more fashionable which is the only reason anyone buys one.

raven83

I think FATBALLZ has summed it up nicely!

Gillyx

I got an ipad the other day, I love it but I wouldn't be without my laptop, more features for your money with a laptop.