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Post by robmac on Mar 9, 2014 10:10:42 GMT
I'm thinking about buying an 32GB IPAD Air. My son has the Samsung Galaxy which is quite impressive and a lot cheaper, but a lot of reviews say the IPAD is head and shoulders above.
We want it for Mobile internet, films, music, pictures and Skype.
Any opinions please?
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Post by gaz on Mar 9, 2014 12:12:11 GMT
my daughter cracked the screen on her galaxy gonna be a small fortune to fix....if it had been an apple it would have been cheaper
my sis was in the same two minds so her husband read all the bumf on them and they decided apple and shall we say john is very very careful with money if the apple is more expensive it must have been worth it in the long run knowing my brother in laws thinking...oh i ve heard get the larger gig cos youll always wish ya did seemingly
i dont use them so i cant tell ya nowt more than the above sorry
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Post by Pollik on Mar 9, 2014 15:24:26 GMT
Educate me.
I have laptop running Win 7 which copes with all my real work...it has a proper keyboard, plays decent video games like Call of Duty...it has a 600Gb hard drive. Battery life is poor, so this my plugged in machine.
I have a Galaxy S3 phone running Android, with a 64Gb SDHC card. Battery lasts all day. I use this for casual checking up of emails and FB,but I don't use much to send messages.
I have used a Nexus and found it uninspiring.
I have thought about a tablet as a way to display sheet music (I have lots and lots on my laptop)on a music stand while playing. At the moment, that is the only real advantage I can see for a tablet and I haven't convinced myself that this is a good enough reason to have a third device.
So...what am I missing about pads/tablets? I would mention that I touch type...on screen keyboards feel like a bit step backwards for me.
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Post by Etienne Le Croq on Mar 9, 2014 16:45:10 GMT
I have an ipad2 at the moment and thinking to upgrade to an air in the summer.Its an excellent tablet and I rarely use my laptop anymore, as every time you turn it on it does a windows update.What a waste of life waiting! The iPad works instantly as soon as it's switched on.The only thing I'd advise is to go for min 32gig.
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Post by robmac on Mar 9, 2014 16:59:31 GMT
Educate me. I have laptop running Win 7 which copes with all my real work...it has a proper keyboard, plays decent video games like Call of Duty...it has a 600Gb hard drive. Battery life is poor, so this my plugged in machine. I have a Galaxy S3 phone running Android, with a 64Gb SDHC card. Battery lasts all day. I use this for casual checking up of emails and FB,but I don't use much to send messages. I have used a Nexus and found it uninspiring. I have thought about a tablet as a way to display sheet music (I have lots and lots on my laptop)on a music stand while playing. At the moment, that is the only real advantage I can see for a tablet and I haven't convinced myself that this is a good enough reason to have a third device. So...what am I missing about pads/tablets? I would mention that I touch type...on screen keyboards feel like a bit step backwards for me. I too have the Galaxy s3 'phone Polly, but cannot get on with it for using the internet. I don't like having to scroll left and right to read and my eyes ain't what they used to be. I would also use a keyboard with the IPAD when in the van rather than the touchscreen, as I have been used to keyboards since I was 16 and just find them easier! I have an Asus notebook in the van, which is OK, but the picture quality for films is much better on the IPAD as is the capacity to load. I am told that the sound system is pretty impressive too. Apart from that, we also want to use Skype to talk to and see the grandkids whilst away on holidays . |
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Post by Mikehanky on Mar 9, 2014 18:50:24 GMT
we use Samsung3 for internet in van then tether to Samsung tablet 7inch works well but have been looking at ipad air great bit ok kit go for it .I am fiting invert next so can use lap top in van with mifi dongle thingy as buy unlocked one so can use in france spain in winter next year
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Post by billieblue on Mar 9, 2014 19:37:32 GMT
Hi Rob iPad comes with FaceTime so no need to skype although maybe that's just apple to Apple .....I love my iPad but the one I've got does have limitations cos no sim. Am too thinking of upgrading!
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Post by robmac on Mar 9, 2014 20:24:37 GMT
Hi Rob iPad comes with FaceTime so no need to skype although maybe that's just apple to Apple .....I love my iPad but the one I've got does have limitations cos no sim. Am too thinking of upgrading! Actually Carol, you are right, just asked Julie and she said that the grandkids use Facetime. |
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Post by Rubbertramp on Mar 9, 2014 20:56:34 GMT
Ditch the idea that you need the latest. Use bog standard phone for communication, laptop for internet, digital camera for photos and buy second hand where possible. Use them until they break or wear out, you won't then be contributing so much to the exploitation of the Lithium miners in the Congo and other places that the mobile/Iphone/Ipad pushers rely on as they try to convince you to buy the latest "must have". Sorry but you asked for opinions! bloodinthemobile.org/ |
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Post by robmac on Mar 9, 2014 21:03:22 GMT
Ditch the idea that you need the latest. Use bog standard phone for communication, laptop for internet, digital camera for photos and buy second hand where possible. Use them until they break or wear out, you won't then be contributing so much to the exploitation of the Lithium miners in the Congo and other places that the mobile/Iphone/Ipad pushers rely on as they try to convince you to buy the latest "must have". Sorry but you asked for opinions! bloodinthemobile.org/Sounds like Nokia are the biggest culprits Mark! But many laptops, digital camera's etc. use lithium batteries, or are made in sweat shops in the east. Where do you draw the line? |
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Post by Rubbertramp on Mar 9, 2014 21:15:39 GMT
Ditch the idea that you need the latest. Use bog standard phone for communication, laptop for internet, digital camera for photos and buy second hand where possible. Use them until they break or wear out, you won't then be contributing so much to the exploitation of the Lithium miners in the Congo and other places that the mobile/Iphone/Ipad pushers rely on as they try to convince you to buy the latest "must have". Sorry but you asked for opinions! bloodinthemobile.org/Sounds like Nokia are the biggest culprits Mark! But many laptops, digital camera's etc. use lithium batteries, or are made in sweat shops in the east. Where do you draw the line? I refer the right honourable gentleman to the first two lines of the above quote  |
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Post by robmac on Mar 9, 2014 21:18:18 GMT
Sounds like Nokia are the biggest culprits Mark! But many laptops, digital camera's etc. use lithium batteries, or are made in sweat shops in the east. Where do you draw the line? I refer the right honourable gentleman to the first two lines of the above quote But I haint got a laptop and I don't trust second hand 'lectricals! |
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Post by Firefox on Mar 9, 2014 22:01:19 GMT
Don't buy anything with i or Apple in the name. Costs twice as much as other stuff and wont talk to anything else in the IT world. I had another big problem this week trying to get boss's iphone bluetooth to work with car. I gave up in the end, and the Honda technician spent an hour and came to the same conclusion as me. It just "don't" work. His Android phone and my Sony Erikson both paired and worked perfectly straight off. He said he deals with i stuff all the time and has huge issues with it much of the time. Plus it has built in redundancy and forces you to use i tunes. In a word "Beware," it has cult value only, and is NOT value for money.
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Post by robmac on Mar 9, 2014 22:11:09 GMT
Don't buy anything with i or Apple in the name. Costs twice as much as other stuff and wont talk to anything else in the IT world. Had another big problem this week trying to get boss's iphone bluetooth to work with car. I gave up in the end, and the Honda technician spent an hour and came to the same conclusion as me. It just "don't" work. His Android phone and my Sony Erikson both paired and worked perfectly straight off. He said he deals with i stuff all the time and has huge issues with it much of the time. Plus it has built in redundancy and forces you to use i tunes. In a word beware, it has cult value only and is NOT value for money. Which do you recommend Vernon? The reviews for the IPAd seem excellent. I'm a bit forced really, in that the grandkids have Ipads and Julie wants to be able to Facetime them when we are away. I have a notepad but it would be terrible for Internet and wouldn't be able to Facetime, but it's on it's last legs really so I need to replace it with something. Is there a laptop on which I can use another similar product to talk to them? (ie. video link) |
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Post by Firefox on Mar 10, 2014 0:39:05 GMT
I don't have a recommendation in particular, as I don't have a tablet, so can't really speak from personal experience there, but Apple stuff does talk to other Apple stuff OK as far as I know, so that may be your deciding factor if other people have it in your family and it is easy to connect via facetime. Just be aware of the possible limitations.
Another example, I tried a standard format SD card from a camera in an Apple machine last spring. Faulty recognition of the card - it said data was inaccessible. Tried it in Windows 7 and XP, no problems.
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Post by onion on Mar 10, 2014 1:56:45 GMT
Hi robmac I've got an iPad use it all the time in the van never go without it , it's on a Vodafone sim & I get a realy good sig coverage ,also good up the highlands I'm a train driver & we have vod because of the good coverage up here Ching Ching
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Post by Is it spring yet, dormouse? on Mar 10, 2014 6:56:31 GMT
Wot I would ideally like: 1. A device at home that does everything, including WORK Stuff (!) i.e. docs, spreadsheets, presentations etc. I have an old Apple desktop that sort of does a decent job, but it is about 8 or 9 years old and is getting a bit long in the tooth (like me!  ). I have to admit I prefer using Apple machines much more than PCs with rotten old Windows  2. Another portable device that does all of the above, including making phone calls and sending texts. I guess I could have just one device for everything, BUT - does this ideal machine actually exist yet?! The only extra thing you might need is a mobile phone purely for calls and texts like Rubbertramp says, and then only needed because it is small and slips in your pocket unlike the bigger devices. Like Rob, my eyesight is getting worse so I like a BIG screen for working on at home. When away in the van not so important, but I HATE using a mobile phone for browsing the web as screen way too small! |
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Post by Is it spring yet, dormouse? on Mar 10, 2014 6:58:08 GMT
So... where are these all-in-one portable machines then, or am I expecting too much from technology?  |
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Post by Pollik on Mar 11, 2014 12:04:04 GMT
does this ideal machine actually exist yet?! No. Any more questions? |
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Post by Pollik on Mar 11, 2014 12:11:38 GMT
Nothing here has convinced me about tablets.
I tend to agree with Vernon...I won't touch Apple.
Things have moved on, though. 15 years ago, laptops were terrible. Under powered for real work, battery life often less than 30 minutes. Useless.
Now, I don't have a desktop any more. I don't need one because my laptop does everything I need it to (almost), and I am quite heavy user...in both senses.
It is only a matter of time, I think, before laptops bite the dust, but I am not ready to ditch mine, yet.
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Post by Firefox on Mar 11, 2014 15:03:13 GMT
A tablet would be OK for me other than the fact I do a lot of text and prefer a proper keyboard. A tablet is just a notebook without a keyboard or vice versa!
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Post by billieblue on Mar 11, 2014 16:30:22 GMT
Easy to attach a wireless keyboard...
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Post by Etienne Le Croq on Mar 12, 2014 6:57:59 GMT
The touch keyboard is quite large on the iPad ,unless one has fat stubby fingers .
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Post by Oldish Hippy on Mar 12, 2014 7:32:43 GMT
A tablet would be OK for me other than the fact I do a lot of text and prefer a proper keyboard. A tablet is just a notebook without a keyboard or vice versa! acer iconia a1810 is larger than 7 inch screen and has hdmi out as well so can tether and link to large screen if screen isnt big enough i got one and i do like it haven,t got the keyboard case yet |
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Post by Mikehanky on Mar 12, 2014 8:28:18 GMT
(rofl)computers are like lady they all come in difrent shape and size with dif action on there key boar (rofl)d ,but hay all great fun .  |
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Post by Is it spring yet, dormouse? on Mar 12, 2014 10:26:30 GMT
Hmm. Laptop it is then. So, which laptop would any of you advise as an upgrade? Bearing in mind that my Toshiba satellite is around 8 or 9 years old now - it was top-of-the range at the time - I do need to upgrade to a more wireless-friendly setup. I can only connect to the net using a dongle with this machine, although to be fair it never leaves the house and is permanently plugged into the router so I don't need to use a dongle. It would be nice to get a laptop that is more easily set up for today's wireless technology, plus whatever ports and sockets you might need. Everyone these days seems to be moving towards the "cloud" for storage, which is fine and dandy, but I'm a belt and braces girl. I like a bit of old fashioned physical device backup as I don't completely trust technology! Don't need the latest, whizziest overpowered/infinite/faster-than-sh*t-off-a-shovel storage machine. Maybe something 2 or 3 years old will do the job for what I actually need. I do like Toshiba, but not having bought a PC for a while I don't know if they're still as good or robust as they used to be (is anything?!). I suppose I would like to know what the "corporates" are buying, as I've always found that's a good gauge of quality (depending on the organisation of course!). I know it's a stoopid question really - everyone has their own favourites and ideas on what's best, but I'd still appreciate thoughts on this? My old laptop is still running Win XP which is obsolete (end of this month, I think?), so I'm going to have to do something, I've just been dragging my feet and been reluctant to spend money (and I don't really have much to spare anyway!). Plus, if I'm going to have to go through the hassle of installing various bits of software to get up and running the way I like, it would be preferable on a more up-to-date machine so I can continue using the old Tosh for work stuff until the new one is set up properly. God, I HATE doing computer upgrades! It's so bloody time-consuming and I got bored rigid with that side of technology years ago! |
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Post by robmac on Mar 12, 2014 10:40:06 GMT
My last laptop was a Toshiba Marie. Had it for years and although not mega quick, it did it's job, and as I say, lasted a long time. The Asus Notepad has only lasted about 18 months and already battery life is seriously depleted and the thing powers itself off at the most inconvenient of times.
We have decided to go with the Ipad Air now that a friend has demo'd it for us. Very impressive machine and it does everything we want it to do.
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Post by Firefox on Mar 12, 2014 11:52:52 GMT
I have ASUS EEEPC notepad at the moment. Had it for over two years. Battery life has gone down, but still about 4-5 hours. Occasional white screen of death, but that hasn't happened recently. It's a very good mobile machine; nearly always get a signal on the wifi or on Three. Over two years of daily computing so far for £230 - less than 30p a day and still going. I wouldn't recommend it for any power uses though, but great for internet and some minor graphics work and word processing, pdfs, and music etc.
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Post by Mini on Mar 12, 2014 11:58:59 GMT
I've got an iPad and Martin has a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (android) - the 10.1". I do love my iPad to bits but don't have a logical reason for that. My honest opinion is that neither is necessarily better - they both do exactly the same job, to the same high standard, on different operating systems. Therefore the Samsung should logically have the edge because it costs less to buy and you can pick one up on sale, unlike anything 'Apple' because of the status symbol issue. We haven't had either of them long enough to know which is more reliable or durable but after nearly 18 months, we haven't had a problem with either, touch wood. You can use Skype with any tablet but Facetime is Apple to Apple only.
I love that my iPad has a sim (Samba sim on the 3 network) but we've got a little 3 mifi unit, also now swapped for a Samba sim, so Martin can use that with his tablet. Either way, we still have to rely on getting a decent mobile signal, so it doesn't hurt to have a phone with a different provider - mine's O2 and Martin's is Vodafone, so we're rarely completely cut off. The 3 network has been the most reliable of the ones we have, so we're sticking with 3 on Samba... free data for 'watching' ads online.
Having said all that, I'm sitting here typing on my laptop because I really can't stand touch screen typing - drives me nuts! I get on better if I use a stylus but keep thinking I should get a bluetooth keyboard. On the whole, I agree with Rubbertramp... I still prefer a proper tool for each job but have grown used to the convenience of a 'one stop shop'. Ultimately, the huge advantage of an iPad or tablet for camping is battery life and, as Ellisboy said, the fact that it takes seconds to boot up from being completely off.
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Post by Mini on Mar 12, 2014 12:41:34 GMT
Ooh just noticed that the conversation has moved on a fair bit since Rob's original question. As for corporate choices, when I was a network manager I always bought Dell and I must say they seemed to last forever. We kept them in use in the office for 3 to 4 years and then sold them on really cheap to staff. I've known desktops and laptops still in regular use at 8 years old. Your Toshiba has had a fair run too Marie but I don't think the build quality is the same for new kit these days... far less robust, so I wouldn't expect anything to last quite as long. Happy shopping!
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Polly
). I have to admit I prefer using Apple machines much more than PCs with rotten old Windows 
Hi we nearly always freecamp - old age pension gives loads of leisure time but too little money to pay camp site fees. 
The van has solar panel, large water tank So we are pretty self sufficient. Jon
