Archive for September 18th, 2011

There’s been a trend towards small, light laptops which have more limited functions and are called Netbooks implying that you will use the web for storing documents and for much of your work. The iPads (both original and iPad2) can be used as excellent substitutes with a couple of caveats.

First, typing on the the ipad is less than satisfying. The “keyboard” is simply a portion of the screen that is displaying an image of a keyboard. There is no real feedback when “hitting the keys.” However, you can by an iPad case which has a built-in regular keyboard. With that you’ve got a pretty interesting device. Below is an image of a case from Targus (about $99).

Second, which iPad2 to get? They basically come in two varieties: wifi and 3g or just wifi. If you’re a student using it just within a university setting you can probably get away without the 3g. However, there are times when you will really appreciate it. For example, you’re in the car a realize you need to get/send an email. You may have no wifi nearby but you’ll probably have access to 3g. It adds to the price but its probably worth it.

Third, and last, is memory size. I purchased the 64-gig version which costs $829 in the wifi-3g version. The least memory is the 16gig version. In my opinion, for most people the 32gig wifi-3g version should be adequate.

Note there are tablets other than the iPad but you’re much more likely to find apps that fit your need with the iPad.