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iPad vs Laptop

JB

JB

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I use a desktop for work in my office. When I travel I use a laptop. I also bring an iPad with me, but for a long while it has really been more of a media device to watch on the plane, etc.

In the last few months I have been doing a lot more photo editing on it as more apps have been getting better and better. LumaFusion is really now a capable video editor as well.

With that said I’m starting to wonder if just for travel, I could get by with just the tablet. I have a keyboard for emails, but it does seem to be missing something.

Curious for those that do a lot of day to day on their tablet are there certain apps or tools that have made it better or more functional?
 
I have a surface pro and use that a lot, I figure it gives me the best of both worlds, you can run the same apps as your laptop but have the small design and ability to remove the keyboard to make it a tablet


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JB said:
I use a desktop for work in my office. When I travel I use a laptop. I also bring an iPad with me, but for a long while it has really been more of a media device to watch on the plane, etc.

In the last few months I have been doing a lot more photo editing on it as more apps have been getting better and better. LumaFusion is really now a capable video editor as well.

With that said I’m starting to wonder if just for travel, I could get by with just the tablet. I have a keyboard for emails, but it does seem to be missing something.

Curious for those that do a lot of day to day on their tablet are there certain apps or tools that have made it better or more functional?
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JB, check out MacStories.net, this guy does super in depth stuff on the iPad and how he does pretty much everything. Shortcuts are also awesome once you figure them out, also ios13 will be a major upgrade for the iPads overall functionality and multitasking

For most things i need on Mac I’ll actually just remote in using Screens app.

I still would overall prefer a laptop, but iPad has come a long way as a replacement.
 
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clarkgriswold said:
JB, check out MacStories.net, this guy does super in depth stuff on the iPad and how he does pretty much everything. Shortcuts are also awesome once you figure them out, also ios13 will be a major upgrade for the iPads overall functionality and multitasking

For most things i need on Mac I’ll actually just remote in using Screens app.

I still would overall prefer a laptop, but iPad has come a long way as a replacement.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I agree on OS because I still can’t run FCPX, but it’s getting there just for travel. Less weight would be pretty great when you are in 5 cities in 7 days
 
iPad for me is mostly an internet surfing device. I also use it to house my music and scores when I’m running a drum line rehearsal instead of using actual paper. That’s about it. Everything else is done on my MacBook Pro.


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iPad alone cannot handle what I need it to for work for what I do for a lot of reasons so have to use a laptop.

However since I went something for taking notes and being more organized I'm looking at an iPad pro.

Was hoping to just get a surface pro and get rid of my laptop but work limits our options and the only 2 in 1 option is some HP.

So ordering the iPad pro and pencil this week.
 
As an ex IT guy, the iPad wouldn't work for work. Since I no longer am tied down to a job, I have a different point of view. I also use the PC for everything at home, but I have started to use the iPad for travel. But it is used mainly for email, internet and reading.
 
For my “personal” machine I’ve switched to an iPad Pro. Does anything I need, and I can remote in to my desktop if I need to. I do most of my photo editing on here too, I just enjoy the experience more. I’ve even used it to do a bunch of analytics work on remote environments.
 
I added a wireless bluetooth mouse to the ipad which created a far more similar laptop feel. In the end, however, the keyboards for the ipads were so tightly packed and the screen so small; i couldn't code on it very well and went back to the laptop (in both cases I was using citrix to get to my "virtual" desktop, so the hardware specs really didn't matter.
 
Surface Pro for almost everything except audio books. I use my old Kindle for that - long battery life, I only have to charge it about once a week, and if I fall asleep listening to the book it stops at the end of the chapter so I don't lose my place.
 
Bryndom said:
I added a wireless bluetooth mouse to the ipad which created a far more similar laptop feel. In the end, however, the keyboards for the ipads were so tightly packed and the screen so small; i couldn't code on it very well and went back to the laptop (in both cases I was using citrix to get to my "virtual" desktop, so the hardware specs really didn't matter.
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I think the addition of full mouse support in ‘iPad OS’ will make the iPad a much more viable laptop replacement, but it won’t fix screen size.
 
A tablet certainly makes sense for that purpose. I personally like the iPad better than my laptop and you can now get the keyboard that attaches to the iPad, so its much easier to type and do things like email on.
I honestly think that the laptop I currently own will be my last laptop and when its time to replace it, I simply will replace it with an iPad. For someone who only uses a computer to surf the web, check Facebook and do a little online banking; theres really no reason to choose a laptop over an iPad.
 
I have a first gen ipad that I use for watching movies on planes when there isn't a big screen. Other than that I see no need for a mobile OS tablet. Nothing I do uses iOS or Android well, where as EVERYTHING I do can be handled between OSX and windows (though I absolutely loathe the latter.)

I would consider a surface pro for travel if it weren't for my hatred of windows.
 
dazeedmonds said:
I think the addition of full mouse support in ‘iPad OS’ will make the iPad a much more viable laptop replacement, but it won’t fix screen size.
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I’ve been running the beta and the new browser is a game changer for this device. But yeah, it’s an 11” screen. Limits what I can do on it.Still, I enjoy using it more than my laptop for most tasks. And for the other tasks, I honestly prefer sitting at the big screen of the iMac.
 
I could never get a tablet into my consistent use case.

If traveling and want to travel light I just use my phone. If I need to a computer I bring my laptop. The tablet just didnt fit.
 
mpeterson said:
I’ve been running the beta and the new browser is a game changer for this device. But yeah, it’s an 11” screen. Limits what I can do on it.Still, I enjoy using it more than my laptop for most tasks. And for the other tasks, I honestly prefer sitting at the big screen of the iMac.
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I’ve got an itch for an iMac....and a line on one for a steal. I just can’t bring myself to drop the coin.
 
I own both but laptop is my go to for most things


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I'm a professional UX/UI designer and I do photography as my hobby. I heavily use sketch, illustrator, photoshop, XD, and lightroom. I found that the iPad slows me down and I generally use it for just common browsing/surfing. I use a MacBook Pro to handle what I need to do (home and at work). I have an illustrator at work that uses an iPad Pro for illustrations with the pen tool which acts like his digital sketchbook.

Basically, I find iPads to be useless but my kids craves it, which I let them play on it in moderation (but generally rare occasions)
 
dazeedmonds said:
I’ve got an itch for an iMac....and a line on one for a steal. I just can’t bring myself to drop the coin.
Click to expand...
The cost of the machine isn’t so bad when you look at monitors of comparable quality, but it’s a decent outlay of cash for sure. The 5K iMac and iPad Pro are probably two of my favorite devices I’ve owned in terms of just being great to use.
 
I made it through my first trip with just the iPad. There were a few things that I couldn’t do, but not many.
 
I'm in IT so I have some specific needs. I do travel regularly for work, in-country almost weekly, across a border a time or two per month. I carry my iPad pro and computer. For taking notes in meetings, one note on the iPad is amazing!!! I have the apple pencil, I use it just like a notepad, but it syncs to my computer and I can translate writing to type when I highlight the text in the computer later and convert. This makes all my notes searchable.

Still though,.. when I'm working on an issue and I have 3 or 4 server Remote Desktop sessions open at once nothing replaces a Laptop.

The Microsoft RDP app, and Office 365 iPad Apps which has access to all my laptop documents through Google Drive backup and sync and the Cell subscription make the iPad very handy when I'm away.

Whiskey
 
I use both an iPad and MBP13 for travel. With the keyboard case, I can get along fine with the iPad. I prefer the laptop when I have a lot of writing/editing or crunching data. Excel and Numbers for iPad are the clumsy for the kinds of things I need to do, but they can get the job mostly done in a pinch. Love the lighter weight and battery life of the iPad. Most of my work travel is quick hit in and out. For personal travel, I do not take the iPad or laptop. When I can, I want to spend as little time on devices as possible
 
I use an iPad for 75% of my work and a 15” MacBook Pro (i9 6 core processor, 2tb drove and 32 Gb of memory) for the stuff that cannot run on my iPad. I also prefer office 365 on the laptop over the iPad.
 
While I don't have to travel for work (thus don't HAVE to work on the road), since I've added the Apple keyboard to my iPad Pro, I don't travel with the laptop anymore. It's very nice to have the ability to do what I need on a smaller device.
 
mtcowdog;n8880140 said:
I use both an iPad and MBP13 for travel. With the keyboard case, I can get along fine with the iPad. I prefer the laptop when I have a lot of writing/editing or crunching data. Excel and Numbers for iPad are the clumsy for the kinds of things I need to do, but they can get the job mostly done in a pinch. Love the lighter weight and battery life of the iPad. Most of my work travel is quick hit in and out. For personal travel, I do not take the iPad or laptop. When I can, I want to spend as little time on devices as possible
Click to expand...

This is about where I am - I do a lot of research, reading, web browsing, and administrative work with the iPad. But when I’m doing anything that involves moving a lot of text around, I’m usually going with the laptop. However, I’m finding that I really just prefer writing code or long documents on a big screen to juggle reference material and what I’m working on. I’m looking forward to the second screen functionality coming in macOS/iPadOS to give me a bit more to work with on the road.
 
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