I pad or laptop

wilson1973

A friend of mine is thinking about buying an i pad and asked me for my advice, as he knows I have had a pc for years, I haven't owned an i pad before but said I would enquire on the net for a few opinions, he would only be using it for watching video clips and sending e mail and surfing the web.
I'm used to having a large screen so I would think from that point of view it would annoy me, he did have a desktop for a few months but it died and he couldn't be bothered to sort it out so maybe he's not to entrenched in the big screen view.
I assume i pad is more secure in terms of less virus but the final factor has to be price could anyone tell me what the prices would range from for an average i pad and average laptop to suit his needs.

I nearly forgot to ask a laptop would need to be wifi ready just in case he uses it out of his home but I'm not sure how an I pad is used out of a home does it need a sim or anything that would give him an extra monthly cost.
If it’s possible for a link to be posted on here if anyone has the time that would be great so I can show him a particular site or product that may interest him I suppose there is also the possibility of a contract for the i pad which I assume uses a sim for use anywhere and then could just be used indoors on wifi when contract ends, if that's the case

Many thanks in advance for any advice:beer:

NeverEnough

There is no definitive answer as a lot of it depends on personal likes / dislikes and available budget. An all-singing dancing latest iPad with wifi and 3G costs over £600 which could buy an incredibly well specced windows laptop which is a bit more versatile for many users. However, iPad2 wifi only version, 32GB, could be bought for around £200. If its only for email, video and a bit of web surfing, a tablet would be fine - I have an iPad and love it, but Android tablets are generally cheaper and achieve the same objective.

Personally, I would avoid the iPad / tablet / laptop contracts via mobile phone companies like Carphonewarehouse or 3 etc like the plague as they are a waste of money, overpriced and entirely unnecessary. Rather save a month or two longer and buy a tablet of your choice outright then if necessary and it has 3g, buy a prepaid sim - you can get 3GB ipad sims brand new on ebay for a tenner, and they last 3 months or until you use up the data. Loads of free wifi hotspots out there, so 3g not always essential these days either.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

You need a netbook or pc or laptop to sync ipad so it's not a matter of either/or so much as both/and.

cootuk

How about a Dell Outlet laptop and a Nexus tablet, both for the price of an iPad.
tbh it depends what they want out of it and whether they've had a play with a tablet and like the feel.