I am getting sucked into the Ipad. And trust me, I am not a tech guy by any stretch. My hp laptop is nearly eight years old. Never had an Ipod and I hate my blackberry.

So when are e-books and the Internet coming out for the Atari 2600? Or is it time to upgrade?

Mars wrote:
The trouble with the Ipad is that it is not a full fledged computer so its fine for the basics (browsing and email, etc) but not good if you want to do much productivity type work.

For reasearch, papers are normally typed up using Latex.  This is not supported by the Ipad and you can't go install such things on it.  I'm trying to figure out what I should buy for travelling and the Ipad is just a bit too limited.

I have had an iPad for awhile...and couldn't imagine typing a full research paper on it. There are external keyboards (bluetooth) for them and some are built into a case (clamcase, zaggmate, etc) to turn it into a basic netbook, but I still couldn't imagine it. There are more productivity apps coming out for it every day. Even though I can't imagine it, others can and do --> http://www.copyblogger.com/ipad-writing-apps/

For all you corporate types, there's nothing better than the Citrix Receiver app that allows you to access a virtualized desktop pc on your corporate network from your iPad anywhere in the world (you'll need the Citrix XenDektop software to do it though). Citrix has made it available on the android based devices now too. Nothing like being able to jump on your work network and do a few quick things from the local free wifi network such as McDonalds, Panera Bread, etc  

Dunno if this has been brought up:

Apparently (my wife just told me) you can download a Kindle App for the Ipad which allows you to access / buy books out of the Kindle store and read them on your Ipad.

Cincher!  I was still stuck on the Ipad for the ability to surf the internet, but iBooks kinda sucks in terms of selection.

Now I know with an Ipad + Kindle Store I can grab over 50 of the oldschool Battletech novels, read my Dragon Magazine PDFs, and a ton of other stuff I think Apple might get some of my money.

Oh, and since it came up:  Citrix is bleh.  As a developer, please stop trying to feed me that crap (not you specifically, just saying its not for everybody - email and ppt sure.  Past that, feh, I'll keep my thick client).

bbarsh wrote:Wife got me an iPad for anniversary! This thing is flat out awesome. And now I can actually check out the forum during the day.

Sent from bill's cool new iPad.  ( just had to add that)

Bill, let us know the plus/minuses. I'm thinking about an Ipad for checking email when I'm out and not having to lug around the laptop everywhere. Specifically, internet use, reading pdfs, listening to music/watching dvds, etc. I've heard you can't work on documents which is a big minus for me (I like to jot down inspiration as it comes to me).

Mike B.

I can only comment about my Nook Color.

So far, it has worked tolerably well.  

One book turned out to have technical problems.  Barnes and Noble deleted it for me and gave me a refund.

I like the ability of my Nook Color to connect to the internet.  It has an expanding list of applications and can be programmed to take applications that fit other tablets.

It is backlighted...unlike the Kindle...and can thus be read in the dark.

It also has good battery life.

I would wait on an Ipad or tablet.  The prices right now are stupid.  Price point should be in the $300 range for these tablet things; in all reality they are underpowered computers with very little flexibility and overpowered readers (like the kindle).

Pretty expensive items for surfing, a few nifty apps and E-mail.  Again just my 2 cents

Blackmoor wrote:I would wait on an Ipad or tablet.  The prices right now are stupid.  Price point should be in the $300 range for these tablet things; in all reality they are underpowered computers with very little flexibility and overpowered readers (like the kindle).

Pretty expensive items for surfing, a few nifty apps and E-mail.  Again just my 2 cents

Thanks.. There are (locally to me) tablets at around £100, whereas the iPad is way more than that and out of my budget unfortunately.

FormCritic wrote:I did not purchase my Nook Color...and no way would I have paid anything over $75 for it.  Mine was a gift that my wife won as a prize at work.

The Kindle has been dropping in price for some time.  Every time they send me an email trying to sell the newest version I reply:

"This is a $50 product.  Please contact me when you have a better grasp of reality.  The best Kindle is worth $50 (in fact, you ought to give me one for free) and all electronic books are worth $0.99.  When you are serious about doing business I will purchase your product.  Please let me know when you figure it out."

Is the kindle a $50 product? I don't think so, but I received mine as a gift and was appalled at how expensive it was. But I now have 900 incredible stories, novels and collections on it and almost all of them were free, and I haven't filled this 1/3 up yet.  

The most amazing thing are all the books and stories I never realized existed, and the most helpful is that the kindle can read them aloud.

Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, incredible writers, all free.  The list of books and stories I've found just keeps going. I also love history, philosophy, poetry, none of it 20th century, and there is just tons of it available, all free.

Aeschylus, the norse sagas, Thomas Aquinas, Archimedes, Ariosto, Aristophanes,  Aristotle, Arnold, Aurelius, Barring-Gould, Beckford, Berkeley... probably the nook can do the same thing and has the same collection, I don't know, but so far having this kindle is absolutely priceless to me. I have no idea where I could keep or organize the 900+ books I've acquired, and the ability to instantly jump to the book, then the page I'm looking for is simply astounding. I love print books but I love this kindle just as much, only the kindle I can put in my pocket, while my library of books would take me a couple of days to pack in a truck.