Netbook or iPad.. hmm?

[Deleted member 4644]

I am thinking of getting a Netbook for $200 at frys with a 450N Atom cpu.

I would use it to stream/play audio via a USB audio card at home (setup next to my main, so it doesnt get lag/jitter when using the main for cpu heavy tasks).

I sorta don't need the netbook however, as I have a laptop which could be used for that as well. The laptop does get INSANELY hot however, so I sorta don't want to use it for 12 hrs of audio streaming a day.

I could get a slightly cheaper lenovo q100 6"x6" nettop for audio (pros, no fan, slightly cheaper).

I also want an iPad for mail/calendar Exchange sync and browsing in bed.. or would the nettop be fine for this? I am obsessed with the idea of the iPad as a email/calendar system for me.

Between the three systems, iPad, nettop, netbook, what sounds the most useful/reasonable?

 

[amdhunter]

Since I got my iPad, I rarely touch my notebook anymore. It's just so damned convenient. (Even though it's been returned to Apple because it freezes when I play HTML5 video.)

 

[mshan]

iPad.

 

[sourceninja]

I find my ipad to be something I used for 3 days, and put in my notebook bag and there it has sat.

If I can't do it on my phone, I typically need my notebook. My ipad was a waste.

 

[Bateluer]

This is a serious question? Odds are, you can use your phone to stream music or pick up a sub 200 dollar nettop for that. Calendar, etc, all easily done from the phone. Smaller, cheaper, easier to use.

There's almost no reason at all to buy an iPad, except to advertise that you have money to burn and no fiscal sensibility.

 

[Deleted member 4644]

anyone else?

 

[Knavish]

The ipad is a really flashy web browser / apple app store / media appliance. I don't think I'd enjoy typing emails on it, though.

 

[McWatt]

The advantage the iPad holds is in portability. It's a bit lighter and thinner than a netbook. Keep in mind that it's also much less durable, though. A netbook you can toss into a backpack and ignore. An iPad, as essentially a more fragile iPhone/iPod Touch, can probably get a crack in its always-exposed screen from a 1 foot drop onto a hard surface (as I've witnessed with an iPhone). Netbooks are significantly more rugged thanks to the use of plastics, which look cheaper but offer much better toughness than the brittle glass in the iPad.

Battery life, assuming your netbook is akin to an EEE 1005HA, will bet he same between the two devices.

The Windows software environment is immense and filled with programs to do just about anything. That's not at all the case with the Apple app store, where 90% of apps are simply there to replace lost functionality due to mobile Safari's inability to load a lot of useful web content well or at all. Of course there's no app to replace mobile Safari, because every app must meet Apple's approval.

OS usability is much better on the netbook. You'll have unlimited multitasking in an elegant and flexible environment. If you like Expose on OSX, install switcher on your Windows netbook and you have a better version of it. Or install Linux. Or dual boot. Spend $20 and buy some RAM to put into the netbook to bring it up to 2 gigs.

Your browser on a netbook is 5-10x faster than an iPad, depending on which browser you choose. It can also load up any website, regardless of content. You can toggle flash with a key press, or install adblock/flashblock/noscript/whatever and whitelist what you choose. HTML5 will render much more quickly and properly on current, frequently updated web browsers than on mobile Safari.

Netbooks also have a keyboard. Being able to type without obscuring half of the screen is a major deal. So is being able to touch type with 100% accuracy.

Netbooks are much cheaper than an iPad.

You can directly connect a netbook to your TV, to a printer, to a mouse, and to pretty much every peripheral in existence.

You begin your post stating the one thing you'd like your new device to do - stream audio to your speakers. The iPad won't. The netbook will. Plus, everything the iPad does, the netbook does better. Usually much, much better. And it can do much more.

An iPad is a way to make a statement, like a designer purse or a bubblegum pink VW bug, but it's not in the same league as a netbook when it comes to usefulness.

 

[MJinZ]

A Netbook is like cheap ass Econocar, like a Yaris, Aveo or Rio.

An iPad is like a Segway or Scooter. It'll try to get you there. But Good Luck.

 

[theeedude]

Netbook, or wait for Android tablets. Right now there is not really competition in low power tablets like there is in netbooks. Come summer/fall, there is going to be a slew of ARM based tablets coming out. Tablet market is going to get commoditized down to $200-$300 pricepoint, so if you spend $600 on iPad now, you should be OK with seeing more capable (Flash support, USB/HDMI...etc) devices costing much less than what you paid in a few months.

 

[Rottie]

Get a NetBook and an iPhone

 

[gophins72]

netbook is ~$200, ipad is $600 for the cheapest model
i'd go for an ipad if the prices were the same

 

[TheStu]

netbook is ~$200, ipad is $600 for the cheapest model
i'd go for an ipad if the prices were the same

iPad is $499 for the cheapest

16GB - $499 (wifi only), $629 (wifi+3g)
32GB - $599 (wifi only), $729 (wifi+3g)
64GB - $699 (wifi only), $829 (wifi+3g)

 

[dud]

I love my netbook, best purchase I ever made. If you choose the netbook route get a good one not necessarily a cheap one.

I don't own an iPad but from my limited experience I would avoid for cost/performace reasons.

 

[Paperlantern]

iPad is $499 for the cheapest

16GB - $499 (wifi only), $629 (wifi+3g)
32GB - $599 (wifi only), $729 (wifi+3g)
64GB - $699 (wifi only), $829 (wifi+3g)

Jeeezus, WHY BOTHER! Those prices are insane! 64GB wifi for $700! Add 3G for $130 MORE? AND $30 a month for unlimited? Hey, just bend right on over! You can get a fully functional MACBOOK for only $170 more than that! With 10X the processing power, 10x the functionality, and 4x the (actual) storage space. But honestly, why bother, just pay the same, get a Full fledged notebook AND netbook. You'll never need anything mobile-wise again. Or buy just the netbook for $500 less, or just the notebook for $300 less.

Makes me sick.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The iPad is a toy.

The world's greatest, most interesting, and most locked down digital toy.

Take a look online for the difficulty people have with its VGA adaptor to show you how useless it is doing regular Notebook tasks.

Unless you have money to burn (aka enough to get the netbook and an iPad), just get a Netbook and hackintosh it.

 

[finbarqs]

ipad belongs in it's own category... It cannot replace netbooks, but it sure is a helluva lot more convenient to browse online. It's also faster than a netbook! Because typical netbooks run WinXP, the ipad runs iphone OS, which is WAY faster than Win XP! Imagine, you wanna go online while your standing waiting in line... Ipad beats netbook in ergonomics in tight spaces!

But maybe wait t'il some android slates... But I've a feeling they'll only be second to apple's creation of an incredible device that is VERY polished!

 

[MJinZ]

The iPad is a toy.

The world's greatest, most interesting, and most locked down digital toy.

Take a look online for the difficulty people have with its VGA adaptor to show you how useless it is doing regular Notebook tasks.

Unless you have money to burn (aka enough to get the netbook and an iPad), just get a Netbook and hackintosh it.

How interesting is it waiting for a flash-less website to load while your arms get weary? :hmm: