Laptop's days numbered?

naasrd

Looking through the Apple store I noticed the MacBook Air & Pro both going for 1149 euro, not bad in itself, but considering in just a few weeks you'll be able to pick yourself up an iPad & iPhone 4 for around the same price are the MacBooks days numbered if they stay at that price?

eeloe

You'll never fully replace a laptop

Zapho

eeloe wrote: »

You'll never fully replace a laptop

Those certainly are sweet prices! But I agree with eeloe. If you plan to do more than just access content - you know, do some work or that - you'll still need a laptop.

KTRIC

The iPad is not a laptop replacement.

Deep Thought

Numbered..........No

You cant do anything other than internet stuff on either.

Where can I write documents, do project plans or presentations ?

Certainly not on iPhone or iPad

vinnycoyne

Szondi wrote: »

Numbered..........No

You cant do anything other than internet stuff on either.

Where can I write documents, do project plans or presentations ?

Certainly not on iPhone or iPad

Yes you can. Pages, Numbers, Keynote to name just the basics.

I'm not saying that iPad will replace laptops anytime soon (you can't code on it, for one), but it's a lot more than just a fancy web browser.

mathepac

Szondi wrote: »

... Where can I write documents, do project plans or presentations ? ...

Eh on the iPad using (for example) iWork for iPad. Pages, Numbers, Keynote for iPad are currently priced at about $US10 each in the iPad AppStore. No Irish pricing yet.

syklops

naasrd wrote: »

Looking through the Apple store I noticed the MacBook Air & Pro both going for 1149 euro, not bad in itself, but considering in just a few weeks you'll be able to pick yourself up an iPad & iPhone 4 for around the same price are the MacBooks days numbered if they stay at that price?

Im pretty sure the same was said when netbooks first came out. Laptop prices fell, and people were saying 'Tis the end of the laptop, shure why would you want to cart around a laptop when your netbook does all you want'.

And once the hype wound down, people continued buying laptops.

Deep Thought

mathepac wrote: »

Eh on the iPad using (for example) iWork for iPad. Pages, Numbers, Keynote for iPad are currently priced at about $US10 each in the iPad AppStore. No Irish pricing yet.

Have you used them?

Shockinlgy hard to use (on iphone), actually got rid of it all as was a disaster

Give me a Laptop anyday.....Love my Macbook and with iPhone killer system

Inquitus

mathepac wrote: »

Eh on the iPad using (for example) iWork for iPad. Pages, Numbers, Keynote for iPad are currently priced at about $US10 each in the iPad AppStore. No Irish pricing yet.

Numbers and Keynote are almost utterly useless on the iPad, it would take you an hour to do what you could do in 5 minutes on a laptop.

Pages isn't so bad as you can type reasonably effectively on the iPad and you could always just dump your thoughts unformatted, and format it later on a laptop.

The iPad is a million miles away from replacing a laptop for day to day work tasks.

whiterebel

Szondi wrote: »

Have you used them?

Shockinlgy hard to use (on iphone), actually got rid of it all as was a disaster

Give me a Laptop anyday.....Love my Macbook and with iPhone killer system

Supposed to be iPad only. Apple are supposedly looking at making iPhone versions.

naasrd

For me the laptop is now redundant. I just used it for surfing and email. What writing I need do I do on my iMac. Loved my iBook when I got it, the same way I loved my first big clunky Mac way back in 1992!

banquo

The iWork suite is actually brilliantly thought out on the ipad. again, if you're doing long essays for college or long reports for work a laptop would be better for it. but if those things will only be 1% of the time you're using it then i'd say go with an iPad. Unbelievably good for 99% of tasks.

Sad Professor

I think a lot of people probably don't make full use of their laptop. i.e. it is a secondary machine and they use it just to check email, do some casual web browsing, etc. For those people, an iPad would indeed make their laptop redundant. But obviously not everyone uses their laptop like this. Many people use a laptop as their primary computer.

However, we are definitely seeing a shift in how people do their computing. With tablets and smart-phones, I don't think most people need two computers anymore. But the laptop isn't going anywhere. In fact, I think it's probably the traditional desktop whose consumer days are numbered. Laptops are cheap and powerful enough now that they can pretty much replace the desktop. If you need more screen space you can hook up an external monitor while still being portable.

Apple saw the writing on the wall for the desktop quite some years ago and have been pushing the iMac (and Mac mini) in the direction of home entertainment. Their idea is to get the iMac out of the office and into the living room.

justsomebloke

With things like Microsoft's Office web apps and Google set to heavily push all apps to the internet (their chrome OS is going to be basically just a browser) there will be little need for the majority of people to have laptops or netbook in the next while. No doubt people will have "laptop" cradles for slates soon enough to give you the feel of a laptop when needed.

dougs09

there is definetely a shift in the way home users are changing.

once laptops dropped down to a good affordable level, and wirelsss internet has pretty much taken over as a standard, people are no longer needing to have the computer constantly connected to a phone line, hence why now we're using laptops to sit on our sofa and casually browse the net while interacting more with family etc.

but i don't think that the desktop has completely died on its arse, a lot of people who love there gaming, and i mean proper gaming like the likes of crysis, games that need high spec powered machines, desktops will still be pretty much top of the range for this, high powered laptops can indeed run them also, but you want to play games like this on a proper big kick ass LCD screen.

I have 2 computers, my main one, my media centre, i use it for my movies, internet etc, all running through my tv, then i use the laptop for messing about online down stairs in living room, although more and more i'm considering getting an iPad to do this, its a lot smaller and the battery is a lot better then what my laptop offers.

Connavar

I honestly can't see the tablet having this much of an effect.

Desktops/Laptops will still be used as programs are needing more and more power(games, photoshop etc which I can't see becoming web apps in the foreseeable future). They are also a long way off being efficient enough to take over in the business place

The idea of the keyboard addon is interesting however if you look at it that way it becomes more about the OS and as we have seen, most people/business show no signs of moving away from windows yet.

I think in order for this to really open up apple would have to open their code base and allow more private use of programs(ie development for certain companies).

milltown

naasrd wrote: »

Looking through the Apple store I noticed the MacBook Air & Pro both going for 1149 euro

I just looked and there still seems to be a €300 premium for the mac air over the bottom end macbook pro. Am I missing something? I hope I am 'cos the air is one damn sexy piece of kit. The single USB port might still be a deal breaker though.

Sad Professor

milltown wrote: »

I just looked and there still seems to be a €300 premium for the mac air over the bottom end macbook pro. Am I missing something? .

The Air is on the refurb store for 1149.

milltown

Sad Professor wrote: »

The Air is on the refurb store for 1149.

Really?
I'm not being smart but anytime I check, the refurb store is empty of Apple products. No end of ipod docks and headphones, but not a single computer, laptop or ipod.

http://store.apple.com/ie/browse/home/specialdeals?mco=MTM3NDc5OTc

Or is there some secret handshake, not divulged to Windows users, that grants access to an Aladdin's cave of cut-price Apple goodies.

Sad Professor

The refurb store gets updated around midnight, so it goes blank for a while. Check back in 10/15 minutes.

johnk123

This has to be one of the most popular and interesting debates currently going on at present and for good reason.

I have to agree with those who say the iWork experience on the iPad is very good. Very useable I find anyway.

I'm looking forward to maybe leaving my laptop at home the odd day when i head into lectures etc when I start in september and bring the iPad as its replacement. Should be able to manage notes, email etc. Then i'll see just how much i miss/not miss the laptop for a day.

I do think that the iPad is much, much more than a "big iPod touch" as some people are labeling it.

naasrd

johnk123 wrote: »

I do think that the iPad is much, much more than a "big iPod touch" as some people are labeling it.

I think it's about time we started calling the iPod touch a mini iPad.

banquo

I don't get the argument that the iPad is bad because ''it's just a big iPhone''. The iPhone was the first computer you could use with one hand.

Run_to_da_hills

None of these PDA's will replace a laptop.

I much prefere to work off a laptop rather than a postage stamp.

naasrd

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

None of these PDA's will replace a laptop.

I much prefere to work off a laptop rather than a postage stamp.

Nah, you're wrong, my laptop was for surfing and email and has been utterly replaced by my iPad. It's of no use to me what so ever now, infact it looks so 20th century now.