Ipad or Netbook; Which Should You Choose?

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So you’re ready to add some mobility to your computing environment, are you? And are you thinking that those Apple iPads look very sexy to you? Like many others, you may be confused about whether to purchase either an iPad or a netbook PC to give your computing environment some mobility. Here are my thoughts (opinions) on that decision.

I think the iPad is limited in its functionality compared to a netbook because, even though it was designed to be Apple’s answer to the netbook PC, it seems to be an overgrown iPhone with limitations on what you can do with it. Sure, it’s pretty sexy to be able to flip the slate from portrait to landscape mode and to move around in an application by swishing with your finger, but it seems to me that its limited compared to the full functionality of a netbook with Windows.

An advantage for the netbook is it’s price…around $300US and going down versus the iPad at around $500US for the basic version. It’ll cost you around $1,000US to get most of the features you’d want.

One advantage iPad has is an almost full page-size display for the built in ebook reader. Well, if you’re in the market for an ebook reader device; there are other options here as well. There are several free ebook reader software downloads available for the netbook, that have all the latest features you could ever want such as bookmarking, highlighting, one even allows you to draw graphic diagrams in your copy of the ebook. Okay…perhaps you’re saying you’d rather read a book on the larger screen of the iPad?

To that point, let me say that I am proof that your eyes and brain will adjust to whatever size screen and text is available if the content of the book is interesting and you’re motivated to read it. I once read Tolkien’s “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy (three large books) on a Compaq iPAQ pocketPC!! I’m talking about a very very small display on that bad boy; but I quickly became accustomed to how much text was on the screen and smoothly scrolling as I read the more than 1,000 pages. I loved the books and could hardly put my iPAQ down, so to speak. Okay…I drifted a little bit on you there, but wanted to make that point…the screen size really doesn’t matter that much.

I suppose you’ve surmised by now that I’m choosing the netbook over the iPad. But just in case you’re thinking I’m just another Windows PC bigot; a recent International Data Corp report states that sales of netbooks and notebooks will far surpass those of the iPad, and all the future “iPad look-alike” tablet devices, well into 2011, even after the iPad has been widely available. Evidently, I’m not alone in my opinion.

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About the Author:
Paul Lubic is a seasoned IT guy who’s used computers at home for many years. He uses his blog site to pass on lots of valuable information that you can use in your home computing endeavors. Check back often to see what he’s up to at Paul’s Home Computing Blog at http://www.paulshomecomputingblog.wordpress.com . Remember, home computing is a blast…keep it productive and enjoyable. Paul E. Lubic, Jr. paulshomecomputing@yahoo.com
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