Posted on 12/06/2011 7:02:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
My Mom got an early present, an Ipad. I set it up for her.
I’ll stick with my laptop.
:: if its integrated into a larger primary computer system ala the pads used in Star Trek. ::
Only that on Star Trek, they didn’t call it “The Cloud”.
My friend I mentioned is a web site designer and graphic artist. ;-)
I have a Toshiba entry level laptop I bought recently for under $400. It only came with 3Gb RAM so I upped it to 8Gb. I use it for my DVD video work and to play games. I use my Dell Inspiron at 4Gb RAM for all my other work and web surfing. I don’t see why one of these lower-end laptops wouldn’t work for you based on what you’ve written.
I just bought my wife a nice Toshiba laptop, with Windows 7 installed, from Best Buy...
for $260
With prices like that, laptops are NOT going away anytime soon.
Neat! It’s a ghost writer!
It's just a matter of how comfortable people become to connecting them to keyboards and large monitors.
What really happens is this:
Imagine that someone would say that a farmer should replace his truck with a motorcycle because so many city kids ride motorcycles. He'd be laughed at. Same here. Power users - or really any users who do work on their computers - are using notebooks and desktops. It's not just because of keyboard and a larger screen; you can attach those to the tablet as well. Primarily it's because of two things: performance and software.
Business needs are so closely tied to specific pieces of software that it's hard to even change the OS from Windows to Mac or Linux. Need AutoCAD? Use Windows. Need SolidWorks? Use Windows. Need MS Office (unclouded version)? Use Windows or Mac. Your business requires IE for SharePoint integration? Use Windows. Tablets aren't even in the running here, simply because their software is far more primitive compared to PC versions.
Performance is another issue. Some would say that it's plenty fast for what they are doing. That's fine, it only means that they aren't doing anything important. Try to edit a 100-page MS Word document with illustrations, on a tablet or a smartphone. You'd hurl that smartphone into the wall within minutes.
Smartphones open new markets for software vendors. That is true. People who never played with entry-level software now can do that on their phones. But this new market doesn't affect the established market of business systems and software, even if some people are present in both spaces. You can't do business computing on a smartphone - unless you are a PHB so high up that your computer needs are limited to finding out what the weather is.
I have four notebooks and five desktops (I think) at home. I have no smartphones. I have one tablet (Galaxy Tab) that I got to use for free; I'm reading e-books on it in bed. I'd never pay money for it just to do that. Nothing else on that tablet is of any value to me. My cell phone can only make and receive calls; it has no SMS or Web capabilities, and I like it that way. As you can see, I'm not suffering from lack of computers, I work with them all day long. I don't need another one in my pocket.
I haven't done my research yet, but the main thing I'll need is a lot of RAM and a screen with good color that I can calibrate. Thank you for your suggestions. I appreciate it.
Hey, I was only talking about my own needs. I wasn't saying everyone else could live with only an iPad. :-)
Honestly, I can't stand the touch pad ( I think thats what its called ) and can not use it for Photoshop.
Am curious what you think about ACD PhotoCanvas for restoration of images? Heard about it on a forum and the author said it was far easier and faster than Photoshop.
I trade futures so have a desktop in my office with 4 huge screens. Have a laptop that I used to carry with me everywhere. Since I got my ipad about 14 mnths ago haven’t touched the laptop. Throw the ipad in my purse and off I go. Love it.
Go on Ebay.
There are usually over 27,000 Laptops for sale there.
Don't bid high, If you get outbid, pick another as there will be another available in less than an hour.
Haven’t used ACD PhotoCanvas.
Just a Photoshop guy ...
I will not change from my laptop like my parents won’t change from their desktop. They have trouble seeing the laptop screen and I have trouble trying to read a dinky screen. We also have no problem not being “ON” and connected to the world at every moment of our lives. My phone is just a phone nothing else, it’s all I need. Same with music disks, no mp3 for me, I have no need to carry my entire music collection everywhere I go.
I don’t like the idea of my information being in a ‘cloud’ either, but was thinking more along the lines of a central home computing system instead.
The thing is this: I have a newer laptop with a Core i7 processor, that has much more horsepower than any tablet on the market. I can crunch and edit large photos/video for at least an hour on the battery, while it’s powering a USB hard drive. You just can’t get that performance out of a tablet.
I’m nearly 18,000 words into writing a book. I wouldn’t want to do this on a pad or a phone, and I often set up to write a bit in restaurants or public places. The laptop is the vehicle of choice.
HP has a laptop with a touchscreen. I bought one a few years ago for college note taking. I have moved on.
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