Who Can Explain I-Pads And "Tablets" To me ??

[billt]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not very computer literate. And I'm the last guy to pay attention to what's the latest and greatest in regards to anything electronical. Are these things like a laptop and a cell phone combined? What can they do that a laptop can't? And visa versa. Can they work like a Kindle? All I know about them is you can download books on them. Are they good for anything else?

I've got an old Toshiba laptop that has Windows Vista in it, and is a complete dog with fleas. So I was thinking of replacing it. (After Christmas when all of the big after Christmas sales kick in). Can a tablet do everything a laptop can do? Anything you guys put on the table will be an improvement to what I know now........ Which is a grand total of nothing.

[tombogan03884]

On Cyber Monday buy a Kindle Fire.
Fairly easy to figure out.
I've had mine for about 4 years.
I run videos about 16 hours a day and do e mail, and everything else.
It has about 10 hours of music, a couple hours of video, 200 books, and it still runs as good or better than my year old laptop.
I got the Kindle for $40 added a 32 MB SD card , and a case, total was around $75.
Well worth the money.

[Timothy]

I have a laptop and because I use iPhones I also bought an iPad. 

The iPad can do most of what the laptop can do with limitations like it’s a pain in the ass  to do spreadsheets if you’re used to Microsoft products.  It also works like all apple products so the technology inert other half don’t need hours of training to use it!  Pricier than the kindle but does more.  You can also download apps to read books just like kindle.

There are apps for EVERYTHING!  Including ballistics, fishing lunar calanders, golf course yardages gps, mapping, etc...  Tye new ones have stylus pens for artsy fartsy crapola.

I’m guessing other tablet brands work similarly!

[Rastus]

Vista....ouch.  What a total piece of junk software.  We had a couple of computers with that....was happy to get rid of it.

Depends on what you do Bill.  Tom's right and Timothy is right.

I don't know if Kindle does email or not...Tom can answer that one.

I have an HP laptop with a screen that folds 180 degrees so it acts like a tablet or a computer..depending on what I want.  It weight 3 lbs which is a drawback to the lighter "pads".  So get one that does all the things you need and has a screen size you like.  The only other thing I wonder about is the ability to prevent tracking, spyware, etc....but I suppose everything is subject to that to some degree.

[Timothy]

One thing about tablets.  I can take one into anywhere that I have cell service and Bluetooth that hotspot into the tablet!  Again, mine is an Apple product.  I’m guessing other cell providers are similar.  I can do this with my laptop as well but it’s a 19” unit.  A tad big to haul about.

When I’m out, I NEVER use open WiFi for anything.  I get deep discounts on unlimited data cell service due to veteran’s status so this works for me!

Rastus, there are anti-virus programs available for everything these days.  Apple IOS is pretty secure in and of itself but it can still be hacked.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Hell, I have some concern about my frigging Pace maker getting hacked.
It's got a little wireless modem that reports every day.

I don't know any thing about Apple, or Ipad have to take Tim's word on it.
The Kindle is Android, It was all I used for a couple years, but you can't read magazines on it for crap, the screen is to small for that.
You either get microscopic print or only part of the page.
The only reason I bought this laptop is because a couple survey sites I use are not mobile friendly, otherwise everything is on the Kindle.
 

[TAB]

I tried them for company use.  While they had advantages  over even a large phone, they in no way replaced a laptop.  Even with a mouse and a kb attached.  None on them had the power needes to run even the most basic of design software.  I also ran into compatibility issuses with tablet to pc office software.  I also vould not use them with most printers, i would have to email something to a direct connect( epsion connect dor example) then they wpuld send it thry the printer.  Even the mobile printers didnt like them most of the time.  It was actually  cheaper to issuse a guy a laptop then it was a tablet.

[billt]

I have never used any Apple products. My current phone, and the one before it are both Motorola, (Android). I had no idea Kindle's were that inexpensive, ($75.00). I know I-Pads can get costly. It's like anything else, the more stuff they have, the more they cost.

[alfsauve]

A tablet is a touchscreen computer, typically with no external devices like keyboard or mouse.   (Those could be added via Bluetooth if desired, in most cases.)

iPad is Apple's tablet product.

I have an iPad 2 about 7+ years old.  Miss Kitty bought it to stay current with technology, since she was a media specialist/librarian.  She played with it for a month, before she got them at work, then gave it to me.  Only problem is the stupid thing is so old it won't run the latest opsys and hence the latest apps.  I can't run MeWe nor will upgrade the browsers.   I do run FB, IG, eMail and Kindle reader on it.  Maybe next year I'll upgrade and just use the old iPad as a security camera monitor.

[Timothy]

We had app issues with an old IPad as well.  Not enuf gittyupango!

Still have it but it’s retired.