Apolitical I hope: Anyone Use a Tablet as Their Only Computer?

[Saab2000]

I’m the satisfied owner of a 5-year old or so MacBook Air. It continues to serve, and well. But I also use, and this is being typed on an iPad, tablets.

I’m pretty impressed with the current generation iPad Pro and am thinking of making one my primary device and no longer carrying my laptop with me on trips, which are all the time.

The current large iPad isn’t all that much bigger than my ancient iPad 2 (seriously ancient....) and work iPad and today I checkout the keyboard protective case and was positively impressed.

This might be the thing for me going forward. We use an iPad heavily in my work and I’m actually adapting to it as a primary device, related to my telephone. Anyone else do the same? Is this evolution? I still like to type with my 10 fingers but this is all typed on a glass screen. It sort of works.

The detachable keyboard makes the iPad way better and iOS needs to get better, but I think Steve Jobs’ vision of the iPad is actually close. Star Trek may yet happen!

Thoughts?

[xjoex]

I have the November 2018 iPad 12.9 pro with the new pencil and keyboard case. I bring it on my work trips, it is sooo much easier to use in a plane or conference room. I can do 90% of what I want on it. But I have a 15" macbook pro I use for my main machine and actually use the 12.9 ipad as an external monitor during the day.

But when I need to code or make a presentation I just find keyboard and mouse and the bigger screen more efficient for me.

It is close to a replacement, but not a replacement yet. If I didn't work from home it would be my only computer in the home.

Cheers,
-Joe

[j44ke]

I tried really hard to use just an iPad, but I can just do things like editing way faster and more accurately on a laptop. The iPad isn't accurate enough, either with its touch-locating of the cursor or its selecting of text to copy or move. Plus the spellcheck just seems so hyperactive, and even if I give up and just keep typing away, there are some pretty seriously bad/dangerous spell corrections that do not get corrected or are caused by sticky corrections. So really in terms of speed and accuracy, MacBook all the way. And if I was doing Photoshop all day long, I would need a big monitor.

[deano]

Break out of the apple orchard, gang. :) Seriously, I actually can't be bothered to be loyal or disloyal to one OS or another, so take my kidding with salt.

To the point though, I'm getting up and running and typing this on my new Surface Pro (I got the last generation, the 5, because I'm a cheapskate), which came in the mail this very day. It's awesome and I can fully see this thing being a laptop replacement. The keyboard cover rules, and is fine in my lap or on a desk no problem. The pen is wicked cool. For years, I was using a cheap chromebook that someone gave me because my old cheap chromebook that I had before that looked so pitiful.... it finally died and I went with this thing because I was tired of having a device that could only look at the internet or use web based apps. What a pain. People make noise about the Surface rivaling macbooks. So far, I like it a lot.... easy to carry, easy to type on, quite versatile, and working great. The propensity to run real live software on it as well as opposed to what's in the app ecosystem or has a browser-based app. I am impressed. I have big plans for it.

[TMB]

I’m the satisfied owner of a 5-year old or so MacBook Air. It continues to serve, and well. But I also use, and this is being typed on an iPad, tablets.

I’m pretty impressed with the current generation iPad Pro and am thinking of making one my primary device and no longer carrying my laptop with me on trips, which are all the time.

The current large iPad isn’t all that much bigger than my ancient iPad 2 (seriously ancient....) and work iPad and today I checkout the keyboard protective case and was positively impressed.

This might be the thing for me going forward. We use an iPad heavily in my work and I’m actually adapting to it as a primary device, related to my telephone. Anyone else do the same? Is this evolution? I still like to type with my 10 fingers but this is all typed on a glass screen. It sort of works.

The detachable keyboard makes the iPad way better and iOS needs to get better, but I think Steve Jobs’ vision of the iPad is actually close. Star Trek may yet happen!

Thoughts?

I use the 10.5” iPad Pro as my only machine. I rarely use the Smart Keyboard as I have found that I really like the Apple Magic keyboard better. There is a product called Canopy Keyboard Cover which fits the Magic Keyboard and props the iPad up to a work position.

The combination allows me to use the iPad when I want and if I wish I can use the keyboard which takes up no room at all.

If I could justify it I would get the 11” iPad as. Really like the USB-C and the ability to plug in peripherals.

[rwsaunders]

I recently wrestled between buying a new MacBook Air or a 12.9” iPad Pro and I went the iPad route with keyboard, pen and cellular option as I’m often away from WiFi when I’m travelling to sites. Notability is one of my most frequently used apps...document reviews, edits, signatures and notes all with the pen...can’t do that on a laptop. So far, so good and I love the weight, ease of use and the screen. When working from home, I still use my iMac though. Tough to beat a large screen, mouse and speed but I don’t see myself buying a new laptop in the future as the tablet works well for me.

[TMB]

I recently wrestled between buying a new MacBook Air or a 12.9” iPad Pro and I went the iPad route with keyboard, pen and cellular option as I’m often away from WiFi when I’m travelling to sites. Notability is one of my most frequently used apps...document reviews, edits, signatures and notes all with the pen...can’t do that on a laptop. So far, so good and I love the weight, ease of use and the screen. When working from home, I still use my iMac though. Tough to beat a large screen, mouse and speed but I don’t see myself buying a new laptop in the future as the tablet works well for me.

^this

Including Notability. Can’t believe they don’t charge for it.q

[joosttx]

I tried really hard to use just an iPad, but I can just do things like editing way faster and more accurately on a laptop. The iPad isn't accurate enough, either with its touch-locating of the cursor or its selecting of text to copy or move. Plus the spellcheck just seems so hyperactive, and even if I give up and just keep typing away, there are some pretty seriously bad/dangerous spell corrections that do not get corrected or are caused by sticky corrections. So really in terms of speed and accuracy, MacBook all the way. And if I was doing Photoshop all day long, I would need a big monitor.

I had the same experince. Recently I bought a new macbook pro and love it. I actually use more than my ipad now.

[Matthew Strongin]

Break out of the apple orchard, gang. :) Seriously, I actually can't be bothered to be loyal or disloyal to one OS or another, so take my kidding with salt.

To the point though, I'm getting up and running and typing this on my new Surface Pro (I got the last generation, the 5, because I'm a cheapskate), which came in the mail this very day. It's awesome and I can fully see this thing being a laptop replacement. The keyboard cover rules, and is fine in my lap or on a desk no problem. The pen is wicked cool. For years, I was using a cheap chromebook that someone gave me because my old cheap chromebook that I had before that looked so pitiful.... it finally died and I went with this thing because I was tired of having a device that could only look at the internet or use web based apps. What a pain. People make noise about the Surface rivaling macbooks. So far, I like it a lot.... easy to carry, easy to type on, quite versatile, and working great. The propensity to run real live software on it as well as opposed to what's in the app ecosystem or has a browser-based app. I am impressed. I have big plans for it.

There's something to this. My wife only uses an iPad at home and recently purchased some Surface Pros for her business. The Surface Pro seems like it could finally be the machine that lets her fully move away from a traditional computer.

I've seen many people at my work think they can go solely to their iPad, but what usually happens is that they take up a ton of space in meetings with their phones, iPads, and laptops all out at once. My MBPro is light enough that I don't see the advantage of an iPad over the laptop for business use. For personal use, as more and more of what I do moves away from traditional software and as apps get better and more powerful, I could see using an iPad.

[sk_tle]

Well I know you hoped to keep it apolitical but to me it is all about freedom. Ipads are closed, proprietary tools. I simply can't use them for that very reason.

[Tom]

Surface Pro at home with a docking station for screen, etc. I use a wireless keyboard and mouse at the desk but carry it all over untethered. It has plenty of capacity and functionality for anything I do but what I do with that is pretty basic. I carry a traditional laptop for work but that form factor is archaic because I use a docking station at home and a hub at the office (the company bought the 2 holer and you need a minimum of 3 USB interfaces to function) so a tablet would be perfect.

[Saab2000]

Well I know you hoped to keep it apolitical but to me it is all about freedom. Ipads are closed, proprietary tools. I simply can't use them for that very reason.

It was mostly a play on words and a reference to the thread about US politics, which is very polarized at the moment.

If I go with a tablet it's almost certainly going to be an Apple product. I respect the others but basically I'm loyal to what has worked for me for so long and that's generally Apple. The fact is that with the travel I do I'm going to carry a device anyway and I'm wondering if I can get away from bringing my laptop, which is a bit burdensome.

I don't do a ton of "work" like others mention. For my work the applications are just to use and I don't do any editing or anything like that. The iPad allows us to replace all our navigation documents and we also have every single manual the company provides in electronic form. I literally have probably 20 books in the iPad. It is super convenient. Then I like to have something with me on layovers as a web browser and TV, etc. I'm thinking for my usage an iPad will do the trick.

I'm open minded on a Surface but I don't really see how it would be better than an iPad for me and I'm pretty used to Apple's ecosystem at this point. I can't really see getting an Android device. I had a phone once with that OS and never warmed to it.

[dgaddis]

I had one of the original Surfaces, like the cheapest one they made, got it as a gift. It was okay, and I liked that it had a real keyboard (it was small, but the buttons actually moved when you pressed them) and it was super light and easily portable. But over time it just got slower, and slower, and slower, and slower, and eventually unbearably slow, like 10mins to boot up and be functional. I quit using it. All I ever did with it was browse the web, I used it to get into my Google docs to access my wheel building spreadsheet. It lasted for a little over a year I guess.

I have an iPad I bought for the shop to use as a checkout register. Now that the shop is closed it's at home, but I never use it. Why bother, anything I would want it for at home I can do on my iPhone which is easier to handle. The iPad was always awkward to hold and type on to me, at least if I'm sitting on the couch. At the shop I had a cheap bluetooth keyboard to use with it.

I don't really use a computer at home much, I'm in front of one all day at work. So whatever little bit of web or social media browsing I want to do, my phone works just fine. And if I'm going to use a computer, I want a real computer, with a full size keyboard and a mouse. A laptop + bluetooth mouse if fine, but I want a bigger laptop so I've got a good keyboard.

For my job a tablet is out of the question. I'm in CAD & 3D CAD software all day, I need a big screen and a mouse, and a powerful machine.

[Matthew Strongin]

If your primary use cases are:

- Viewing documents
- Reading books
- Light web usage
- Light email usage
- TV/Video streaming

Then I'd say an iPad is probably darn close to perfect. They start to show their limitations when needing to use more robust applications for email, spreadsheets, document/graphic editing, specialty programs, etc. It's not that the iPad can't do those things, but the form factor (including add on keyboards) is just less useable than a proper keyboard, trackpad, mouse, etc.

From my limited exposure to my wife's Surface, I'd say it sits between the world of tablet and laptop, which is what makes it a good device for those who don't truly need the power of a professional computer, but also need more than what an iPad offers. I'm pretty locked into the Apple ecosystem, but I'll admit that Microsoft has some pretty nice devices out there right now. But, again, for your needs the new iPad Pro may give you everything you need in an ultra portable package.

[Saab2000]

If your primary use cases are:

- Viewing documents
- Reading books
- Light web usage
- Light email usage
- TV/Video streaming

Then I'd say an iPad is probably darn close to perfect. They start to show their limitations when needing to use more robust applications for email, spreadsheets, document/graphic editing, specialty programs, etc. It's not that the iPad can't do those things, but the form factor (including add on keyboards) is just less useable than a proper keyboard, trackpad, mouse, etc.

From my limited exposure to my wife's Surface, I'd say it sits between the world of tablet and laptop, which is what makes it a good device for those who don't truly need the power of a professional computer, but also need more than what an iPad offers. I'm pretty locked into the Apple ecosystem, but I'll admit that Microsoft has some pretty nice devices out there right now. But, again, for your needs the new iPad Pro may give you everything you need in an ultra portable package.

This is how I see it as well. The main thing is the physical keyboard and yesterday I went to the Apple store and the keyboard cover they're marketing with the iPad Pro seems pretty usable. I'm probably going this direction, in the larger size. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the price. It's a premium product but with a premium price as well.

[sk_tle]

This is how I see it as well. The main thing is the physical keyboard and yesterday I went to the Apple store and the keyboard cover they're marketing with the iPad Pro seems pretty usable. I'm probably going this direction, in the larger size. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the price. It's a premium product but with a premium price as well.

I never had the newer pro version in hand but can't a regular non pro ipad do the 5 aforementionned things comfortably already ? Or would you be missing in the screen estate department ? Can't an ipad stream its screen on any TV the few times a year you would need a larger screen usiing airplay or something akin to a google chromecast ?

[Lionel]

This is how I see it as well. The main thing is the physical keyboard and yesterday I went to the Apple store and the keyboard cover they're marketing with the iPad Pro seems pretty usable. I'm probably going this direction, in the larger size. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the price. It's a premium product but with a premium price as well.

No shit. I bought an iPad Pro to my wife for Christmas and this thing was almost half the price of a campy EPS group :)

[Scott G.]

Just now evaluating the Ipad to run some maintenance software,
the Ipad mostly works, but some interface elements don't work or are displayed oddly.

The gestures on the ipad are interesting, but give no onscreen cue to their availability or use.
The original Macs were very good about showing controls, and keeping the control design language
consistent. Ipads not so much.

So on to Windows or Chrome tablets.

[sk_tle]

The main issue with ipads and any device running ios in general is that you are stuck with the safari engine for anything web related, even if you are using chrome or firefox. It may break on some websites that haven't been tested on anything else but windows computers. But this is only really true on a very small subset of websites/servers, typically web access/console on industrial thingies.

[Saab2000]

I never had the newer pro version in hand but can't a regular non pro ipad do the 5 aforementionned things comfortably already ? Or would you be missing in the screen estate department ? Can't an ipad stream its screen on any TV the few times a year you would need a larger screen usiing airplay or something akin to a google chromecast ?

Yes, an older device would work fine but I do like the new form factor in the iPad Pro, with much less wasted real estate. It's more compact than before but with an even bigger screen. As to running Safari, that doesn't bother me. It's maybe not perfect, but I not knowledgeable enough to know what's better on other browsers.

It's likely to be an iPad for me. For travel it's great and since I travel for a living it's likely to be the direction I go. If I still miss the laptop, well, I still have my MacBook Air.

No shit. I bought an iPad Pro to my wife for Christmas and this thing was almost half the price of a campy EPS group :)

I love how the price of bike stuff is how we measure the cost of everything else!