iPad 2 or a netbook?

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  • Marcus BradshawMarcus Bradshaw Posts: 4,153
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    swills wrote: »
    I woul have thought an SD slot was a basic requirement these days, as is a USB port, Your'e sitting there with your nice Ipad, your mate has brought a load of video, documents and some pics on a memory stick, eage o show them to you, but you have say sorry, but my £500 tablet does not acccept it ! (luckily he has bought his £200 netbook, or laptop with him and rescues the day ! :) )

    Ha... Memory sticks are so 2009 ;)
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    USB port at a minimum I would have thought but I understand you can pay more money for add on kits including USB?

    64Gb is pathetically small by today's standards so you would need to access an external hard drive? I take 1TB of movies out to my place in Portugal, 64Gb is only about ten movies.
  • swillsswills Posts: 4,004
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    As a 'user', I can confirm that I do not need extended memory on my iPad. In fact I foolishly bought a 64gb model... Next time I'll buy a 16gb model.

    I can interface my iPad happily through the connections provided. I've actually plugged it into a computer less than a dozen times in the past year.

    I appreciate others have different requirements, but it makes sense to me that the future will be increasingly wireless with centralised storage.

    Is wireless not already starting to give problems with 'home based' PC's with the ever increasing amount of people 'going wireless' and clashes abound, and I would never subject my archives or anything to a central storage on line !
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,625
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    USB port at a minimum I would have thought but I understand you can pay more money for add on kits including USB?

    64Gb is pathetically small by today's standards so you would need to access an external hard drive? I take 1TB of movies out to my place in Portugal, 64Gb is only about ten movies.



    Buy a cheap DVD player that does divx via usb etc £30



    Job done and no need for USB on the ipad.


    If you have a laptop then air video allows streaming to the ipad as well.


    Plus who wants to sit around with an iPad with cables hanging out, defeats the purpose of it.

    Simples..............
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,625
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    swills wrote: »
    Is wireless not already starting to give problems with 'home based' PC's with the ever increasing amount of people 'going wireless' and clashes abound, and I would never subject my archives or anything to a central storage on line !

    Centralized storage isn't online, its something like a network drive.

    It means all kit can access data without needing computer on.

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/filebrowser-access-files-on/id364738545?mt=8 allows ipad access to it :cool:
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    BOOTHY2905 wrote: »
    That's not the arguement. I didn't pay for it and thats that. Probably would of moved on but someone kept flaming the post I made about a Free HD desire. And SIM free prices don't count in this topic because it isn't sim free.

    It is relevant, however.

    You originally stated "iphones are a rip off. my desire HD was free and is as good as an iphone. they are overpriced and that is a fact.", followed by "I paid nothing for it. just went to the shop and swapped sim cards over. 12 month contract renewed but the equivalent iphone would of been over £200 on an 18 month contract because apple are a rip off. "

    You made it seem as if it was some sort of standard offer.

    Yet the only reason you were able to get a Desire HD for free on a non-standard 12 month contract was because you were a long-term customer who had not "upgraded" in ages and who threatened to leave if you did not get what you want.

    Therefore you getting a Desire HD for free on a 12 month contract is not a very good example of the iPhone being a "rip-off" and other phones being far cheaper, because not everyone can have what you had.

    Also, especially regarding "12 month contract renewed but the equivalent iphone would of been over £200 on an 18 month contract because apple are a rip off.":

    With Vodafone (your network), a 16GB iPhone 4 on an 18 month contract with a £35pcm tariff costs £199 up-front.

    With Vodafone (your network), an HTC Desire HD on an 18 month contract with a £35pcm tariff costs £99 up-front.

    Yes, there is a difference in price, but it is not as massive as you made out, because any normal customer not stomping their feet for a retentions deal would not get the Desire HD for free.

    SIM free prices do count, btw, because your (non-standard) example was only given to justify your blanket claim that the iPhone is a "rip-off" & horrendously expensive, yet your example is but one of many, & given the way you obtained it is certainly not a particularly valid example.

    neo_wales wrote: »
    USB port at a minimum I would have thought but I understand you can pay more money for add on kits including USB?

    64Gb is pathetically small by today's standards so you would need to access an external hard drive? I take 1TB of movies out to my place in Portugal, 64Gb is only about ten movies.

    In addition to Big_Ted's comments:

    64GB is about 32 movies, if you go by the average size (2GB) of an .mp4 movie obtained via iTunes (e.g. purchased separately, or from a Blu-ray "Digital Copy").

    It's even more than that, if you consider movies of e.g. 700MB or 1.4GB in size.

    Or perhaps TV episodes... 180something x 350MB.

    Due to being Xvid within an .avi container, the 350MB/700MB/1.4GB files would require something such as VLC to play them (no longer in the App Store), however .mp4 videos for iPad/iPhone are also easily available, plus it is very easy to rip & convert your own DVDs etc. to .mp4, with a file size far less than your example of 6.4GB [When watching on an iPad, your hardly need to have a straight 1:1 DVD rip... Much more efficient to recode it to a more convenient size]
  • Marcus BradshawMarcus Bradshaw Posts: 4,153
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    swills wrote: »
    Is wireless not already starting to give problems with 'home based' PC's with the ever increasing amount of people 'going wireless' and clashes abound, and I would never subject my archives or anything to a central storage on line !

    Yep, I believe it is.

    However, I work in a building where my laptop can see 20+ wireless networks and haven't had a problem to date.

    As I understand it, wireless technology continues to improve but there have been cases where older kit experiences problems.

    Still, the fundamental principle - wireless is more convenient than wired - is surely sound.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    These days with storage so cheap I rip DVDs uncompressed to hard drive as .ISO files and mount on a virtual drive to watch, no real advantage to compression software when you have shed loads of disk space. That said, I can rip to pretty much any format I want but tend to do this for loading onto my phone or PSP to be honest (just put 20 episodes of 'The Avengers' on my phone for instance). If you told me twenty years ago I would have 6TB of internal storage on a desk top plus external storage I would have have laughed at you. We all moan and groan about the short comings of this and that when in reality all this I.T. kit, phone, computer etc is remarkable. Even things like a humble torch you take camping has gone from a large 'C' battery job that lasted two hours to LED that can last days and Cree emitters that are blindingly bright and run off a 'AA'...we live in an age of wonder.
  • BOOTHY2905BOOTHY2905 Posts: 1,974
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    Matt D wrote: »
    It is relevant, however.

    You originally stated "iphones are a rip off. my desire HD was free and is as good as an iphone. they are overpriced and that is a fact.", followed by "I paid nothing for it. just went to the shop and swapped sim cards over. 12 month contract renewed but the equivalent iphone would of been over £200 on an 18 month contract because apple are a rip off. "

    You made it seem as if it was some sort of standard offer.

    Yet the only reason you were able to get a Desire HD for free on a non-standard 12 month contract was because you were a long-term customer who had not "upgraded" in ages and who threatened to leave if you did not get what you want.

    Therefore you getting a Desire HD for free on a 12 month contract is not a very good example of the iPhone being a "rip-off" and other phones being far cheaper, because not everyone can have what you had.

    Also, especially regarding "12 month contract renewed but the equivalent iphone would of been over £200 on an 18 month contract because apple are a rip off.":

    With Vodafone (your network), a 16GB iPhone 4 on an 18 month contract with a £35pcm tariff costs £199 up-front.

    With Vodafone (your network), an HTC Desire HD on an 18 month contract with a £35pcm tariff costs £99 up-front.

    Yes, there is a difference in price, but it is not as massive as you made out, because any normal customer not stomping their feet for a retentions deal would not get the Desire HD for free.

    SIM free prices do count, btw, because your (non-standard) example was only given to justify your blanket claim that the iPhone is a "rip-off" & horrendously expensive, yet your example is but one of many, & given the way you obtained it is certainly not a particularly valid example.




    In addition to Big_Ted's comments:

    64GB is about 32 movies, if you go by the average size (2GB) of an .mp4 movie obtained via iTunes (e.g. purchased separately, or from a Blu-ray "Digital Copy").

    It's even more than that, if you consider movies of e.g. 700MB or 1.4GB in size.

    Or perhaps TV episodes... 180something x 350MB.

    Due to being Xvid within an .avi container, the 350MB/700MB/1.4GB files would require something such as VLC to play them (no longer in the App Store), however .mp4 videos for iPad/iPhone are also easily available, plus it is very easy to rip & convert your own DVDs etc. to .mp4, with a file size far less than your example of 6.4GB [When watching on an iPad, your hardly need to have a straight 1:1 DVD rip... Much more efficient to recode it to a more convenient size]


    Your boring me now !! I had an opinion and your just flaming it. Apple are a rip off and it's a well know fact thoughout the world. you keep playing on your simple phone that is expensive. bye bye and please stop having the last word cox you look like a stalker"""
  • fifilapewfifilapew Posts: 4,390
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    One major bonus of the iPad over a laptop/ notebook is the wide viewing angle of the screen. I can watch a film with 2 or 3 other people and the picture quality is not distorted as it is on a laptop when you are not directly in front of it.
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    I thought it had to distort movies in order to fill the web useful 4/3 screen?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,661
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    BOOTHY2905 wrote: »
    I had an opinion and your just flaming it. Apple are a rip off and it's a well know fact thoughout the world.

    :D

    And you wonder why someone is arguing with you when you say stuff like that.
  • PencilPencil Posts: 5,700
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    Cheapest iPad 2 (purchased from Apple)

    Price: £429 (estimated)
    Height: 24cm
    Width: 18.5cm
    Depth: 8.8mm
    Weight: 601g
    Processor: 1GHz Dual-Core A5 CPU
    RAM: 512MB ?
    Storage: 16GB
    OS: Apple iOS 4.3
    Screen: LED multi-touch, 9.7 inch
    Resolution: 1024x768
    Back Camera: 720p HD, still camera with 5x dital zoom
    Battery life: 10 hours
    USB ports: None
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology


    Cheapest Netbook (purchased from Argos)

    Price: £179.99
    Height: 26cm
    Width: 18cm
    Depth: 19cm
    Weight: 1200g
    Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455
    RAM: 1GB
    Storage: 160GB
    OS: Microsoft Windows XP
    Screen: LED, 10 inch
    Resolution: 1024x600
    Back Camera: 0.3mpx and video
    Battery life: 7 hours
    USB ports: 3
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology

    iPad-priced laptop (purchased from Argos)

    Price: £399
    Height: 3.8cm
    Width: 38cm
    Depth: 25cm
    Weight: 2400g
    Processor: 2.26GHz Intel Core i3 350M.
    RAM: 4GB
    Storage: 320GB
    OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Premium
    Screen: LED multi-touch, 15.6 inch
    Resolution: 1366 x 768
    Back Camera: 0.3mpx with video
    Battery life: 5 hours
    USB ports: 2
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology
    Extras: DVD+RW/DVD-RW(read/write),
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,625
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    Pencil wrote: »
    Cheapest iPad 2 (purchased from Apple)

    Price: £429 (estimated)
    Height: 24cm
    Width: 18.5cm
    Depth: 8.8mm
    Weight: 601g
    Processor: 1GHz Dual-Core A5 CPU
    RAM: 512MB ?
    Storage: 16GB
    OS: Apple iOS 4.3
    Screen: LED multi-touch, 9.7 inch
    Resolution: 1024x768
    Back Camera: 720p HD, still camera with 5x dital zoom
    Battery life: 10 hours
    USB ports: None
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology


    Cheapest Netbook (purchased from Argos)

    Price: £179.99
    Height: 26cm
    Width: 18cm
    Depth: 19cm
    Weight: 1200g
    Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455
    RAM: 1GB
    Storage: 160GB
    OS: Microsoft Windows XP
    Screen: LED, 10 inch
    Resolution: 1024x600
    Back Camera: 0.3mpx and video
    Battery life: 7 hours
    USB ports: 3
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology

    iPad-priced laptop (purchased from Argos)

    Price: £399
    Height: 3.8cm
    Width: 38cm
    Depth: 25cm
    Weight: 2400g
    Processor: 2.26GHz Intel Core i3 350M.
    RAM: 4GB
    Storage: 320GB
    OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Premium
    Screen: LED multi-touch, 15.6 inch
    Resolution: 1366 x 768
    Back Camera: 0.3mpx with video
    Battery life: 5 hours
    USB ports: 2
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology
    Extras: DVD+RW/DVD-RW(read/write),


    And what does this prove or disprove ?


    An iPad is not a laptop so comparing is a waste of time. You need to compare iPads with other tablets.

    Its like comparing a laptop with a dvd player and tv Combo, they are for different things. A laptop is your main computer or a desktop is, a tablet is for different uses such as an mp3 player is for different purposes than a media player, similar but different.....
  • GormondGormond Posts: 15,838
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    BOOTHY2905 wrote: »
    Your boring me now !! I had an opinion and your just flaming it. Apple are a rip off and it's a well know fact thoughout the world. you keep playing on your simple phone that is expensive. bye bye and please stop having the last word cox you look like a stalker"""

    You just sound like a troll. The iPad is very competitively priced, it's 600 grams, aluminium body and a good spec. Say the price is £450, what tablets are better at that price point?

    Many are heavy and made out of cheap plastic, saying apple are a rip off is just completely false.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    Keep it polite lads, this thread has done really well considering a similar title would have resulted in WW3 by now normaly;) A couple of normal Apple supporters are on 'holiday' but I dread their return as this thread will go straight down the pan :(
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    we live in an age of wonder.

    Indeed we do :)

    Makes me laugh that current smartphones are more powerful, and have more storage space, than my first PC!
    BOOTHY2905 wrote: »
    Your boring me now !! I had an opinion and your just flaming it. Apple are a rip off and it's a well know fact thoughout the world. you keep playing on your simple phone that is expensive. bye bye and please stop having the last word cox you look like a stalker"""

    I'm not "having the last word", I'm exercising my right to reply when someone says something is a "fact" but doesn't back it up with a good example :)

    If you want to have an opinion, then fair enough, but you kept stating your opinions as "fact"... Hell, you've just done it again! ;)

    Are you sure it's not *you* trying to have the last word each time, belatedly jumping in here after each reply to shout "IT'S A FACT!!!"? ;)

    You used your (rather poor) example to try and justify your "fact" that the iPhone is horrendously expensive and a "rip off", when the only reason you had your phone so cheap is that you threatened to leave Vodafone, while anyone else going for a *standard* contract with Vodafone would have to pay £99 for a Desire HD on an 18 month contract... cheaper than an iPhone, yes, but not as much as you made out was normal. Plus as mentioned the SIM free prices of high end smartphones aren't that different.
    neo_wales wrote: »
    Keep it polite lads, this thread has done really well considering a similar title would have resulted in WW3 by now normaly;) A couple of normal Apple supporters are on 'holiday' but I dread their return as this thread will go straight down the pan :(

    I'm not sure if Apple's no .1 fan is on "holiday" permanently or not. I kind of miss it, sort of, as threads can be rather amusing when it's him on one side & certain others who are the polar opposite on the other side.

    Still, I think some people here are as bad as him, but from the other direction.
  • AxeVictimAxeVictim Posts: 3,029
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    Bet the OP wished he never asked :D
    Oh just get the ipad 2 if you dont like it sell it (doubt you will) it will still be worth £400 unlike any notepad.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,345
    Forum Member
    alanwarwic wrote: »
    I thought it had to distort movies in order to fill the web useful 4/3 screen?

    I thought every display ever made with an aspect ratio different from the source material either had to distort it, or have black bars on the sides or top/bottom :)
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    Big_Ted wrote: »
    And what does this prove or disprove ?


    An iPad is not a laptop so comparing is a waste of time. You need to compare iPads with other tablets.

    Its like comparing a laptop with a dvd player and tv Combo, they are for different things. A laptop is your main computer or a desktop is, a tablet is for different uses such as an mp3 player is for different purposes than a media player, similar but different.....

    Indeed. People have already gone over this point various times in this thread.

    They are for different uses.

    A netbook is great for browsing, or for Officey stuff. Mrs D uses one for her Open Uni studying.

    But the iPad beats a netbook for gaming & media...

    Specs aren't directly comparable, either, given that an iPad has a flash drive for storage, and doesn't have a bloated OS hogging resources like Windows. I think the only reason that XP's life got extended was because Vista on a netbook would be a horrendous experience & MS didn't want to lose out to Linux?

    It all depends on what you want out of it. For some people, a netbook would be great and an iPad crap, for other people, it's the opposite.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,345
    Forum Member
    fifilapew wrote: »
    One major bonus of the iPad over a laptop/ notebook is the wide viewing angle of the screen. I can watch a film with 2 or 3 other people and the picture quality is not distorted as it is on a laptop when you are not directly in front of it.

    I think you are comparing an Apple product with a netbook which has a cheap TN screen. You'll find that once you move out of the bargain bucket netbook area, there are plenty of laptops with screens which beat the iPad both in resolution and overall quality, and still cost less (it doesn't cost much to find something with a decent screen with a resolution higher than the iPad's abysmal 1024x768 :p)
  • pocatellopocatello Posts: 8,813
    Forum Member
    Pencil wrote: »
    Cheapest iPad 2 (purchased from Apple)

    Price: £429 (estimated)
    Height: 24cm
    Width: 18.5cm
    Depth: 8.8mm
    Weight: 601g
    Processor: 1GHz Dual-Core A5 CPU
    RAM: 512MB ?
    Storage: 16GB
    OS: Apple iOS 4.3
    Screen: LED multi-touch, 9.7 inch
    Resolution: 1024x768
    Back Camera: 720p HD, still camera with 5x dital zoom
    Battery life: 10 hours
    USB ports: None
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology


    Cheapest Netbook (purchased from Argos)

    Price: £179.99
    Height: 26cm
    Width: 18cm
    Depth: 19cm
    Weight: 1200g
    Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455
    RAM: 1GB
    Storage: 160GB
    OS: Microsoft Windows XP
    Screen: LED, 10 inch
    Resolution: 1024x600
    Back Camera: 0.3mpx and video
    Battery life: 7 hours
    USB ports: 3
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology

    iPad-priced laptop (purchased from Argos)

    Price: £399
    Height: 3.8cm
    Width: 38cm
    Depth: 25cm
    Weight: 2400g
    Processor: 2.26GHz Intel Core i3 350M.
    RAM: 4GB
    Storage: 320GB
    OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Premium
    Screen: LED multi-touch, 15.6 inch
    Resolution: 1366 x 768
    Back Camera: 0.3mpx with video
    Battery life: 5 hours
    USB ports: 2
    Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR Technology
    Extras: DVD+RW/DVD-RW(read/write),

    Cheap laptop is better than nothing, no doubt.

    Using a cheap laptop is no joy though.

    Contruction is poor, experience is poor, it is better than nothing, and for the tasks required, it can be "good enough".

    But you can't spec win by posting stuff like that, you are entirely missing the point ...and missing why apple is running away in this catagory while others who think like you are putting out fail products while scratching their head at why they are not competitive. The delivered experience is something differnet, the ipad is responsive, and nice to use, it is appliance like, and does what it needs to do. A laptop is..a portable computer, with all the compromises required to hit the price, and make it portable. A good laptop costs far more. And even then, using a laptop is far different than a tablet, you really need to justify that extra functionality these days. Anyone that has actually owned a laptop, even a higher end slim ultra portable knows that there is theory, and there is practice. Long ago most of us bought laptops, even expensive ultraportables even, and found out in most situations it is literally too much trouble to whip that thing out, let alone carry it around. I had nice sony and lenovo series slim models, and even those were only useful under specific conditions.

    And that was when I was dealing with an ultraportable. A full size laptop? Let alone a cheap poorly constructed one? I wouldn't bother, that kind of junk stays at home.
  • jonnyinscotlandjonnyinscotland Posts: 999
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    I think this shows that it is not all about the spec.

    OP, any further forward in your decision?

    Also, I came across a thread started by BOOTHY2905 which I found rather amusing. :D
  • BOOTHY2905BOOTHY2905 Posts: 1,974
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    I think this shows that it is not all about the spec.

    OP, any further forward in your decision?

    Also, I came across a thread started by BOOTHY2905 which I found rather amusing. :D

    Yeah that is hilarious. Not sure what's worse the fact that you trolled through my post history just to put me down or the fact that while you were doing it I was having a life.

    I got a faulty product and didn't know what part of the product was faulty. Got it replaced and now used to the phone and it's great. I mean god, it's not like every iphone has worked straight out of the box is it now!!:p
  • fifilapewfifilapew Posts: 4,390
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    PrinceGaz wrote: »
    I think you are comparing an Apple product with a netbook which has a cheap TN screen. You'll find that once you move out of the bargain bucket netbook area, there are plenty of laptops with screens which beat the iPad both in resolution and overall quality, and still cost less (it doesn't cost much to find something with a decent screen with a resolution higher than the iPad's abysmal 1024x768 :p)

    You would have to spend an awful lot to get a laptop with a screen that doesn't go dark and distorted when viewed from the side.

    The OP was asking for a comparison of iPad v net book.

    The resolution on the iPad is far from abysmal. It looks absolutely great from where I'm sitting, but then I use my eyes to judge not stats.
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