Is Ipad the way to go when frequent traveler?

[Woofiee]

Android and Google all the way for me.  I'm typing this on a Chromebook which is a great, cheap, laptop.  Instant on and a proper keyboard for <£150.  It's almost disposable.

 

It's a different interaction model - I'll do 90-95% reading, browsing, research, photo work and mail, and then perhaps the rest is for intense writing. Instant on, tap, tap, tap...done.

 

THIS kind of posting doesn't require I buy something with a keyboard permanently attached. I like that I can pop the iPad open anywhere and it's almost invisible; it blends in and I don't need to clear a table to use it. When I need to really write a lot, I still have a wireless keyboard in the travel bag - but I don't need the extra .5kg hanging around when it's not needed. 

 

Your milage may vary, but that's why I chose it instead of a laptop. I won't go back any time soon. 

[Sarse500]

It's a different interaction model - I'll do 90-95% reading, browsing, research, photo work and mail, and then perhaps the rest is for intense writing. Instant on, tap, tap, tap...done.

 

THIS kind of posting doesn't require I buy something with a keyboard permanently attached. I like that I can pop the iPad open anywhere and it's almost invisible; it blends in and I don't need to clear a table to use it. When I need to really write a lot, I still have a wireless keyboard in the travel bag - but I don't need the extra .5kg hanging around when it's not needed. 

 

Your milage may vary, but that's why I chose it instead of a laptop. I won't go back any time soon. 

 

I do reading, browsing, research and email  on my Chromebook which balances very neatly on my lap.  I can't get anywhere near the efficiency using a tablet.  On sites like this a CTRL-Cick a number of threads at once and digest them at my leisure. Not possible to do quickly on a tablet.

 

Add in the price and I'd take a Chromebook anyday.

 

I do have a couple of tablet, but they are used for bedside browsing and movies only.

[Woofiee]

So different stroke for different folks. 

[DaffyDuck]

Not possible to do quickly on a tablet.

 

Odd, I'm able to open a large number of additional windows/tabs and threads on my iPad for later reading, or for specific links, I load them into my reading list for offline browsing.

[Sarse500]

Odd, I'm able to open a large number of additional windows/tabs and threads on my iPad for later reading, or for specific links, I load them into my reading list for offline browsing.

 

I did say (and you quoted!) not quickly.  It is possible to hold a link then select "open in new tab".  Nowhere as quick as CTRL-Click.

[DaffyDuck]

Oh dear, losing a while 1-2 seconds - the horror.

[DaffyDuck]

So different stroke for different folks.

Remember, there's still people insisting on using buttons and keys on mobile phones.

 

Different [key]strokes, for different folks.

[Woofiee]

I did say (and you quoted!) not quickly.  It is possible to hold a link then select "open in new tab".  Nowhere as quick as CTRL-Click.

 

As you see fit to play the "my experience is more valid than your experience"-game, how many tabs can you click open quickly whilst standing in line at the airport,  balancing an open laptop while dragging bags behind you? 

 

I can also attach a keyboard and CMD-T for a new tab, or CMD-click and get the same. 

 

Jesus - give it a rest. This isn't a dick-measuring contest.. 

[DaffyDuck]

Jesus - give it a rest. This isn't a dick-measuring contest.. 

 

 

.... or a 'click-measuring contest' ;-)

[Luv2Phuket]

Android and Google all the way for me.  I'm typing this on a Chromebook which is a great, cheap, laptop.  Instant on and a proper keyboard for <£150.  It's almost disposable.

 

This is what I opted to do.

 

Because my job is Word/pdf intensive, I take an external hard drive with, essentially, all of my current and past files on it.  I can simply plug it into my cheap little Chromebook and voila!  I am good to go.

 

Cost me less than $200, so, if it gets lost, stolen or broken, I'm not too upset.  

[Woofiee]

Again, we're back to a laptop and a hard disk hanging off of it? 

Pfft. Whatever. 

[Luv2Phuket]

Again, we're back to a laptop and a hard disk hanging off of it? 

 

Pfft. Whatever. 

 

To each his own....

 

I am an attorney and work almost exclusively with Word, Excel and pdf files.  For a guy with a paperless office, I'm admittedly pretty tech illiterate, but the $199 laptop I bring (along with an external hard drive containing every document from my office, and forms & case files going back about 10 years) works great for what I need.  If I need to crank out a quick pleading, email something to a client or send forms to another attorney, I have them all at my fingertips.

 

The inability to access my files from an external drive via a USB port was the biggest thing that dissuaded me from getting an iPad.  I considered getting a Microsoft Surface (which has USB port(s)), but, for me personally, a tablet didn't seem to make economic sense.

 

I have no need to load movies on a tablet to watch on the plane (great VOD system on Cathay in biz class); don't need a tablet to take photos (got a camera and an iPhone that do that) and don't tote around a tablet to access the Net, email, etc. while out and about in Thailand (iPhone does that).  In fact, I think the only time that I would use a tablet would be while I was in my "loom" so the inconvenience of the laptop and external drive is minimized.

 

That said, when I was trying to rub one out to some Asian porn while in bed in China (good use of the VPN!), a tablet would have been MUCH more functional than that laptop!  555

[DaffyDuck]

To each his own....

 

I am an attorney and work almost exclusively with Word, Excel and pdf files.  For a guy with a paperless office, I'm admittedly pretty tech illiterate, but the $199 laptop I bring (along with an external hard drive containing every document from my office, and forms & case files going back about 10 years) works great for what I need.  If I need to crank out a quick pleading, email something to a client or send forms to another attorney, I have them all at my fingertips.

 

 

 

Similar to a couple of lawyer clients of mine, who do everything that you just explained on their iPad, and keep all their documents stored in iCloud.

 

Everything is always accessible to them at all times.

 

Nevertheless, if your method works for you, that's great - and you make a valid point that at $199 this combination is hard to beat in terms of price. Chromebook's are kinda convenient in that respect and since their manufacturers don't have to make a profit on them, the prices are convenient. Sadly, they won't be around forever (similarly to the old netbooks)

[geezerrb]

OMG I am a dinosaur!

I am a dinosaur, I spend 8 hours a day at work "on line/screen" I have a phone most would class as antiquated and I cannot use most of the options other than as a phone/camera and I have to admit I do not think I want to learn more. My colleagues at work live for their phones and apps, their lives seem to revolve around "facebook". Much as many complain about the girls in LOS and their phone addiction. It is obviously the way of the future at this moment but I still prefer the "unprepared" encounters in bars and clubs where I may exchange my Thai number but not much else until back in "loom" and none of that's digital unless it is my real hand.

[Luv2Phuket]

Similar to a couple of lawyer clients of mine, who do everything that you just explained on their iPad, and keep all their documents stored in iCloud.

 

Everything is always accessible to them at all times.

 

Nevertheless, if your method works for you, that's great - and you make a valid point that at $199 this combination is hard to beat in terms of price. Chromebook's are kinda convenient in that respect and since their manufacturers don't have to make a profit on them, the prices are convenient. Sadly, they won't be around forever (similarly to the old netbooks)

 

Yeah - I need to move to a Cloud based system -- it would be MUCH easier and more convenient....and greatly reduce the crap I travel with.

 

Hopefully this is all just being hauled with me for shits and giggles, as my goal is to have to do as little work as possible!

[DaffyDuck]

Yeah - I need to move to a Cloud based system -- it would be MUCH easier and more convenient....and greatly reduce the crap I travel with.

 

Hopefully this is all just being hauled with me for shits and giggles, as my goal is to have to do as little work as possible!

 

 

Might be worth looking into the iPad / iCloud configuration, then - yes, more expensive in terms of $$$, but ultimately extremely thin footprint, and very much out of the way. Just worth considering.

 

I found the other cloud configurations just being too much in the way - while there are options like DropBox, Microsoft's CloudDrive, and GoogleDrive, the actual integration and eventual use of them always feels more cumbersome than it should be.

[Piece Corp]

I bought an iPad Pro last week. 36,900 baht, keyboard and stylus were not yet available. Had been using an iPad 1 so it was a much needed upgrade that I couldn't justify without the larger display, and I'm holding it in one hand. Perhaps the most impressive thing is it's a few grams lighter than my iPad 1 (although that had 3G support).

[DaffyDuck]

You got it without cellular modem?

[Piece Corp]

You got it without cellular modem?

That's all they had at Siam Paragon, but they had gold.

[Matt000]

I always stick to my iPad when travelling for pleasure, great all rounder for entertainment and surfing the web.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Woofiee]

To each his own....

 

This is the point I was trying to make repeatedly. For some, a laptop is preferable. For others, a tablet.. it all depends on where and how you use it.  I'm a web developer and normally I'd be glued to a big screen somewhere, but on vacation it's not at all what I need. 

 

Actually, it's in gold too. I've come to really like the gold - everything else is either boring blacks/grey or sterile white/silver

[Woofiee]

I found the other cloud configurations just being too much in the way - while there are options like DropBox, Microsoft's CloudDrive, and GoogleDrive, the actual integration and eventual use of them always feels more cumbersome than it should be.

 

Since Condoleeza Rice joined the Dropbox group, I've dumped it and gone entirely iCloud - 50GB of immediate storage, backed-up, for less than €1 a month. It does my photos, music and backups, and I still have tens of gigs available. If I need to share I can always send people a web link to iCloud.com, but no more Google or Dropbox looking into my content. That's worth €12/yr.

[DaffyDuck]

That's all they had at Siam Paragon, but they had gold.

I'll assume you are using the hotspot feature on your iPhone to achieve internet access?

[DaffyDuck]

Actually, it's in gold too. I've come to really like the gold - everything else is either boring blacks/grey or sterile white/silver

Space Grey for me, all the way - mostly because it's the only configuration where the bezel is Black, instead of white. I feel that a black screen looks best, as all the additional elements (i.e. Sensors) can't be seen on the black bezel).

 

Apple would be smart to offer the black bezel as an option with the other colors, but of course, they won't. Because that'd be smart.

[misteregg]

iPad mini. Don't bother with the Bluetooth keyboard. Put all your movies into iCloud.

iPad has a much smaller and lighter charging lead as well,