Is the tablet really all that..?

I've seen a big boom of iPads ever since it came out but I started to see a couple of users here with em and what not. Is it really that great or can I still be old school with my laptop? Granted..I need to sell my Sony Vaio since it's outdated by technology by four years already. I feel like it's just an iPad is an oversized iPhone 4 which I have. x.x

Prove me wrong or is there a decent tablet that is with the iPad but costs less? I don't know what my next purchase should be gaming laptop, or something just for photography. Thanks for the advice!

iPad is just as overrated as the iPhone. Pretty worthless.

I do have a B&N Nook Color that I rooted into an Android tablet - it's nice for showing photos on quickly. But it is a ton cheaper, and I got it for $50 off list price, and I use it mostly for e-book reading anyway so the photos are just an added bonus.

I think all the other tablets that are larger are overpriced.

Numenorean wrote in post #12858531
iPad is just as overrated as the iPhone. Pretty worthless.

I do have a B&N Nook Color that I rooted into an Android tablet - it's nice for showing photos on quickly. But it is a ton cheaper, and I got it for $50 off list price, and I use it mostly for e-book reading anyway so the photos are just an added bonus.

I think all the other tablets that are larger are overpriced.

I just saw Angry Birds on the B&N Nook Color images...urge to get. What do you mean by you rooted it into an Android Tablet? I like the idea of it showing images but I see no other purpose for it as well.

Vixen89 wrote in post #12858566
I just saw Angry Birds on the B&N Nook Color images...urge to get. What do you mean by you rooted it into an Android Tablet? I like the idea of it showing images but I see no other purpose for it as well.

There is a way to hack the Nook Color from just a simple e-reader into a fully functional Android tablet. Google it.

For doing actual work I'd much prefer a laptop over a tablet. If all you want to do is surf the net, email,etc, than a tablet is great. I had a MacBook and an iMac. I did all my heavy work on the iMac and really just used the MacBook for the above mentioned light usage. I recently gave the MacBook to a family member and replaced it with an iPad and don't miss the laptop in the least.

Ansel could never have done Half Dome without his iPad....

I've got a 64gb IPad2, we've also got two 13 inch Airbooks. The IPad is fine for reviewing photos in the field, it provides a good resolution/sized screen - much better than trying to review photos using the LCD on the back of the camera. It's a lot easier to carry than either of the Macbook Airs. The Air's work fine for running CS5 and doing quick edits. The IPad works well for consuming net content like mail and browsing or watching a movie on a plane, music, reading a book. I think trying to edit a photograph on it would be a major PIA, I've read people do it - they must have more patience than I do.

I have 2 ipads and 2 iphones 2 labtops and a desktop computer. The ipads are not a laptop replacement. They are good for playing some games, surfing the internet with some restrictions (not having flash) reading books, email, doing presentations, writing shorter reports and showing off your photos, as far as storage of raw photos and processing you need a laptop or a desktop. Now would I give up my Ipads, NO I love them but I travel a lot and love the long battery life on my trips. I have flown more than 90,000 miles this year and over 100,000 last year and it was great having the Ipad with me. As far as a replacement it is not. I still carry my laptop with me especially when I know that I am going to be doing a lot of photography work. I also need my laptop to do some of my banking work for my business as the Ipad cannot do that either.

I was given an iPad (lucky me I guess) and I thought it would be useful to show photos. Seems it is not useful for this as it does not show the photos in the order I want them. You really shopuld be able to do this plus change the order and photo list easily.


I prefer e-ink to read books. Ipad does not like avi either so I am not too impressed with the video capability.

Ok for causual web browsing, web based email is frustrating.

Like the map.

Still the price was right for mine. Would not have been too happy to have to pay for it. Would like to use it for photos but really the order thing is a deal breaker.

Lots of different photo display apps. The standard one that comes with the ipad I will agree is not that good. I use the smug mug app so it corresponds to my smug mug account

For what it is iPad is over-hyped and over-priced, but the tablet market is here to stay and grow...

This can get into real nasty debate. However I love my iPads'. In my studio I have one hooked up to a 55" LED TV and have my ipad2 recieving a jpg file while raw is written to my Mac. So people see the image realtime on the screen through the iPad. I also use it in the field to view photos when doing portrait shots. Yes i have the iPad screen calibrated with my Spyder Studio 3 calibrator. All works well.

I agree that the iPad is an oversized iPhone. That's why I love it. There are plenty of other alternatives out there though that are probably just as good and are better. It all depends on what you are looking for in a gadget and how you are going to use it.

I really wanted the Xoom and since there are cr2 apps out there, it make me want it more to store photos while I'm on vacation and I do not want to bring my laptop. And then theres the battery life for movies on an airplane where I will use it a lot but still not worth the price.

I ended up deciding to bring my laptop while I go on vacation and then use my ipod touch for videos, as much as it sucks on a small screen, and then upgrade my laptop to a thin laptop with 10 hour battery life. Right now, Toshiba and ASUS have a 9+ hour battery life laptop around 1" and ASUS has another one with around 8 hours that is 19mm thin.

I got an iPad for my birthday. It was the Gen1 and was purchased when Apple dropped the prices by $100. I use it for reading all of my magazines (reduce paper clutter/waste) and I've been using it as a portfolio and posing 'cheat book'. It comes in handy when I'm travelling, and it's nice for a few other things. That said, as much as I love my iPad, I still think it's overpriced. If they were in the $200-250 range for the 16GB WiFi version (and perhaps had a MicroSD slot), they would be reasonable. I find it to be a great convenience, but I can (and did) function just fine without it.