Ipad 4 or Surface pro

Coolharmony2

Member
Jul 6, 2012
162
0
76
Hello,

I am hesitating between Ipad 4 and surface pro for use on the road or at home.

I have already a desktop pc Windows 7 at home.

Is it a bad idea to buy a ipad if i have Windows 7 at home ?

I want to take beautiful picture and video.

I don't want to pay $1000 and more for a second computer.

I don't know about the space disk to take.

between 16 gb and 128 gb.

Do you have some advices for me.

What is the LTE option on the Ipad ?

I can buy a iPhone but i don't talk longtime at phone and i have already a old phone cell.

Thank-you !
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
I am hesitating between Ipad 4 and surface pro for use on the road or at home.
I have already a desktop pc Windows 7 at home.
Is it a bad idea to buy a ipad if i have Windows 7 at home ?
-Having a Windows machine at home makes no difference whether you buy an Android tablet, an iPad, an W8RT tablet, etc.

I want to take beautiful picture and video.
-Don't buy a tablet for taking pictures.

I don't want to pay $1000 and more for a second computer.
-Ok. Thats pretty much what a Surface Pro is though, an ultrabook without a keyboard with a poor battery life.

I don't know about the space disk to take.
between 16 gb and 128 gb.
-Go for more than 16GB, even on the iPad4. Retina apps are larger than nonRetina apps and you'll consume 16GBs very quickly. Don't think the Surface Pro comes in a 16Gb config option.

Do you have some advices for me.
-What do you intend to do with the device?

What is the LTE option on the Ipad ?
-AT&T or Verizon.

I can buy a iPhone but i don't talk longtime at phone and i have already a old phone cell.
-Your choice in phones isn't relevant to what tablet you're looking to purchase.
 

Coolharmony2

Member
Jul 6, 2012
162
0
76
I want use Internet, Email, listening music and Watch video.

Don't forget i have already a principal computer for all others tasks

maybe more i dont't know.

Is it possible to use Word, Excel and Adobe reader on a Ipad ?

The quality picture for the camera is it better on the Ipad than the Surface pro ?

Is 128 gb space disk is too big for my principal use ?

Could 32 gb or 64 gb be a better choice ?

Is it more comfortable on the Ipad than the IPhone for the Internet ?

IPhone 5 is it better for picture camera than the Ipad ?
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
I want use Internet, Email, listening music and Watch video.
-Any modern tablets will handle those tasks fine. iPad 4 has about 3-4x the battery life of the Surface Pro though.

Is it possible to use Word, Excel and Adobe reader on a Ipad ?
-There are plenty of PDF reader apps, and Adobe does make their own Reader app for both platforms.

The quality picture for the camera is it better on the Ipad than the Surface pro ?
-You'll like an idiot and an inconsiderate prick taking pictures with a tablet. Seriously, don't. Just don't.

Is 128 gb space disk is too big for my principal use ?
Could 32 gb or 64 gb be a better choice ?
-This depends entirely on what you're going to do. 32GB should be the minimum for an iPad 4 though. And the Surface Pro starts at 64GBs, but does have an SDXC slot. The iPads do not have upgradeable storage.

Is it more comfortable on the Ipad than the IPhone for the Internet?
-Shrug, I'd say the iPad is more comfortable to hold than the Surface Pro since its lighter. But, the Surface Pro has a full browser without any restrictions. You'll just be setting the Pro on a table, its a bit thick and heavy to leisurely browse with 1 hand.

IPhone 5 is it better for picture camera than the Ipad ?
- Yes. Not only a better camera, but its easier to hold and get good pictures, and stores easily in your pocket. Less cumbersome to carry around.
 

Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
23,720
1,502
136
A Surface RT tablet sounds like a better fit for you than the Pro.

RT comes with Office, everything is fairly easy to use in tablet mode, it gets much better battery life, and it's half the price. Plus you can still do multitasking even in the modern/metro interface, like having side-by-side windows (something the Note tablets do as well, but I think works better in RT). Very useful if you like to browse or work on documents and watch videos at the same time. You cannot do that with the iPad.

Pro is what you get if you are deciding between an ultrabook and a tablet - it's pretty much in the middle of the two in terms of advantages and disadvantages. If you need desktop apps the Pro is the only real option. A lot of users are saying wait for the Haswell version of Pro, but that isn't out for a few months at the very least as far as I know, and the Pro is an acceptable option right now so long as you don't need more than 4-5 hours of battery life.

The iPad is a good choice if you are fine with apps from the app store and don't need Office. There are substitutes for Office on the iPad, but Microsoft doesn't make Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc) for the iPad yet. The iPad is perfectly fine for media consumption, and it makes a good travel device.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
A Surface RT tablet sounds like a better fit for you than the Pro.

RT comes with Office, everything is fairly easy to use in tablet mode, it gets much better battery life, and it's half the price. Plus you can still do multitasking even in the modern/metro interface, like having side-by-side windows (something the Note tablets do as well, but I think works better in RT). Very useful if you like to browse or work on documents and watch videos at the same time. You cannot do that with the iPad.

Look at the Asus and Dell WinRT variants if you want to go that route too, they cost less and go on sale more often while having identical specs.
 

Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
23,720
1,502
136
Look at the Asus and Dell WinRT variants if you want to go that route too, they cost less and go on sale more often while having identical specs.

True, forgot to mention that.

The Asus VivoTab and SmartTab (RT and Windows 8) tablets I like in particular for the price.

I still like the Surface RT the best because of it's Magnesium casing - it's incredibly sturdy, though the screen will break if you drop it the wrong way just like any other device - but the cheaper tablets do a decent enough job as well.
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
24
81
I'd say buy a iPad and get a cheap Windows 8 laptop if you need a newer laptop. You could get both for less than a Surface Pro with keyboard.

The iPad will provide a much better tablet experience, it's lighter, has many more apps optimized for the tablet, and much longer battery life.

The cheap laptop will likely be just as powerful as the Surface Pro and the standard clamshell design will rest on your laptop much better.

I like the idea of Windows 8 tablets. I just don't think we have the right processors for it yet. Ivy Bridge isn't battery efficient and Atom is still too weak.
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
ipad is awesome and battery life and lte make it very portable. id pass on surface pro. if youre gonna go that route id just get an ultrabook. id just buy both an ipad and a regular laptop but maybe wait a week on the laptop and see what haswell is like
 

Coolharmony2

Member
Jul 6, 2012
162
0
76
Hi,

It will be my first tablet.

I don't want to pay a price too high.

Maybe around $500 or $700

Is it possible for less than 500 ?

I have already a desktop pc bouth during the last year.

I dont want a Laptop.

Just a tablet for a basic use.

Internet, Email, music, video, games, music and picture

I don't think for office Word and Excel.

Is it really better to get a retina screen for the Ipad ?

for my basic use, how much GB could be good and for a good price ?

is Windows 8 RT good with the surface ?

What do you think about the ipad mini unless the retina screen ?

i can get more GB for a better price with the Ipad mini.

is it important to wait the next generation ? For example Ipad 5 or Ipad mini 2 ?

Thank-you !
 

Coolharmony2

Member
Jul 6, 2012
162
0
76
Hi,

It will be my first tablet.

I don't want to pay a price too high.

Maybe around $500 or $700

Is it possible for less than 500 ?

I have already a desktop pc bouth during the last year.

I dont want a Laptop.

Just a tablet for a basic use.

Internet, Email, music, video, games, music and picture

I don't think for office Word and Excel.

Is it really better to get a retina screen for the Ipad ?

for my basic use, how much GB could be good and for a good price ?

is Windows 8 RT good with the surface ?

What do you think about the ipad mini unless the retina screen ?

i can get more GB for a better price with the Ipad mini.

is it important to wait the next generation ? For example Ipad 5 or Ipad mini 2 ?

Thank-you !


for how many year can i keep a Ipad for my basic use ?

3 years, 5 years ?
 
Last edited:

BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,365
16
0
If you want a Surface Pro, wait Intel's next generation Haswell CPU. Right now the Surface Pro has horrible battery life.

You could get a Nexus 7 to tide you over til then. You can never have too many electronic devices.
 

Ventanni

Golden Member
Jul 25, 2011
1,432
142
106
Having used both, I can say you'd be happy with either.

iPad4 Pros:
-Amazing, well calibrated high resolution screen.
-Great battery life.
-Proven app support and ecosystem

iPad4 Cons:
-Not a whole lot.

Surface Pro Pro's:
-Excellent UI experience. Windows 8 is actually a very quality experience to use on a tablet.
-Good screen.
-Top performance. The iPad4 is fast, but you can't beat Ivy Bridge performance.
-Ability to run any Windows app you want.

Surface Pro Cons:
-Poor battery life in comparison (like 4-5 hours vs 10-12 hours). You'd want to wait for Haswell for the battery life to be more comparable to the iPad, which has a proven track record for amazing battery life.
-Relatively new app ecosystem. Will improve over time, but the Apple/iTunes ecosystem is much more mature.
-Heavier than the iPad4.

Surface RT thoughts:

I really liked the Surface RT actually. It's no iPad, but I can see Microsoft improving this significantly in the next generation. It also helps that I really liked the Windows 8 UI, but if you don't, then the experience is ruined. Windows 8 is very smooth and easy to use as a tablet OS, although I wouldn't say the same for a keyboard/mouse PC. Microsoft carries over a lot of the focus it had with its Windows 7.5/8 operating systems, and that's UI smoothness. Everything is graphically accelerated, and the tiles can be animated. And, although the screen is not very high resolution (higher than the iPad 2), it is calibrated well and looks nice.

It does compete with the iPad in the same price range though, and product for product, I'd say the iPad is much better. Apple just has more experience in this department, and has had more time to respond to customer feedback with its design. Microsoft really needs to design the next Surface with better battery life, more performance, and a better screen. Both have excellent build quality imho.

For what it sounds like you want to do, the iPad4 would be your best bet. Great performance, amazing screen, top notch battery life. For content consumption (music, movies, videos, etc), those are pretty much the most important factors. Apple has a proven track record here, so I'd go with the iPad4. You won't be disappointed.
 

Rottie

Diamond Member
Feb 10, 2002
4,795
2
81
Surface Pro is for you because you already have Windows 7 desktop at home and easy to sync between two machines. You have some apps on your Windows 7 desktop can be used on Surface Pro. 128GB is better for adding more future apps.
My iPad 2 is great for me and can sync with my Macbook's app flawlessly. For picture and video taking I use my iPhone to work with iPad and my MBP perfectly. I gave up my Windows PC already (No I still have Dell Netbook and Desktop waiting to sell.)