I'm considering buying an iPad to replace my current laptop. Hoping that someone reads this section of the forum, what's people's experience been like with them so far?
Any good? Good for work or more of a leisure toy?
Very cool, very easy to use, feels like big iPhone so if you've got one you'll like it.
Rubbish when you're on the train trying to use it in bright sunlight though.
Errrr....buy an anti-glare screen cover?
I really want one of these - not just for showing people my travel snaps 
- but I reckon it could transform the experience when pitching to a group of two or three people...
Rather than rely solely on yet another PP slide and your general eloquence
why not present that really key slide or two by handing across an iPad?
Anyone tried that?
Hmmm...whilst I am sure the iPad is very funky and all that, I'm not sure it's any different when pitching to a small group of people to just presenting stuff on a normal laptop?
I certainly would never do a big PP presentation to a group of two or three anyway!!!!
Disclosure: I don't have an iPad, but do have an iPhone. My experience with it suggests that it is great fun to use, but I'm not sure it's as good a business tool as a Blackberry IMO (but that's a whole different debate!).
Paul, it's the idea that you can pass it around and handle it easily, whereas a laptop will just be turned around. I don't know, it's probably too gimmicky but you could say, here, swipe through these three slides and compare the outcomes (using finger/holding interface in other hand). How long before flatscreens work well for touch...
Anyway I'm off the point 
I think to answer steve9, it's not a replacement in my view, just an adjunct. It's just not quite 'business' enough, even with a plug-in keyboard. But then I've only ever played with it, not actually bought one and tried to use it regularly for business.
Ah, but aren't we treading into some dangerous realms here. Surely it's a bit like politics, if your client also turns out to be an Apple fan you're sorted, but if they're a PC fan you're out the door...
:D
Had an iPad from the first weekend they sold in the US...
I love it, but wouldn't recommend replacing a laptop with one (and I am a serious Apple fanboy...). Mine travels with me with a Macbook Pro and an iPhone 4... Change your view on how you might replace showing slides, etc. Considering it that way would seriously undervalue the things it is great at... Keynote is nice, but it isn't better than its desktop app.
The apps make it suitable for us in a way that you wouldn't use a laptop. Reading books, for example (can't believe the sunlight on any train would be a problem!) - I already have around 30 books on there. The great thing about the iPad vs a book is highlighting and bookmarking passages of text - you can go back to your notes, bookmarks, etc., at the press of a button, without carrying a pile of books in your bag. Small thing, but really valuable. No-one reads books on an iPhone or a laptop...
Apps like Roambi (amazing dashboarding tool) are better than easily-available desktop versions. FileMaker Go is better than the desktop (for casual users).
It is a better way to check your calendar than booting up your laptop, with instant-on...
All-in-all, it isn't for everyone. For me, it is perfect in between the laptop and phone. Love reading on it, while listening to music, on transatlantic trips (and literally almost all the other travellers in BA's First Lounges have one - pretty rapid penetration - and are using them in preference to laptops). Love the photo manipulation apps, games like Scrabble...
'Business tool'? Depends on your business...
I love my iPad, I don't think it'sa replacement for a laptop or a computer, the keyboard is awkward, no flash, and not Google friendly, small size...though the novelty does impress small groups.
That said, I use it at home all the time, nice to have next to the bed, and the grandchildren love all the apps.
but for patients in hospitals and especially the children at CysticFibrosis.com iPads are a godsend.
This is a quote from a recent letter I received from a mom:
Alyssa spends 1 hour every day doing vest treatments and breathing treatments, the iPad has made those treatment times more bearable. Alyssa and I download special apps on a regular basis. We play checkers, draw pictures, practice letter writing and watch Disney videos. Recently we found an application where we can create our own zoo…we pick out the animals, design the walkways and fences, collect money from visitors and continue to grow the zoo like a business. The learning functions are literally limitless.
We also have the iBook app on the iPad that allows us to choose books that are stored on the iPad and we read them. Some of the older books are available for free. We have downloaded the original Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh. We also have Toy Story 3, which reads the book to Alyssa and let’s her be interactive with the story. I’d love to someday see a book application that is about Cystic Fibrosis and that could be customized with the names and people that Alyssa knows. The possibilities for this new type of computer are bound only by our imaginations.
Today we can pick out new books or game applications before every doctor’s appointment, which means that waiting in the exam room won’t be so difficult. At our last clinic visit, Alyssa had to do Pulmonary Function Testing and bloodwork. The iPad helped take away the anxiety and made the visit go much quicker.
I really can’t say enough about how this item of technology has helped Alyssa’s life. Life with CF is full of waiting, doctors, treatments and hospital stays…all of which will be made just a little easier with our new iPad.
Jeanne Barnett
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