Laptops or Tablets?

Should I get a MacBook or an iPad? I've got a (older) PC desktop that I can use for more advanced things like video editing, etc., and I don't care about PC gaming or using it out of the house. It's mostly just for browsing the web/posting in forums/Skype/iMessage around the house from the comfort of my couch so I'm not a shut-in in my room and can browse in the same room as my roommate. Which do you think is the better buy? My concerns for tablets are the onscreen keyboard (and I don't really want to buy a keyboard attachment), the lack of a disc drive to watch DVDs/Blu-Rays, and that you're not looking at things "traditionally". With the MacBook, I feel like I would really only be using the browser and disc drive, so the rest would be a waste. Thoughts?

EDIT: I also have an iPhone, which I feel already does some of what a Tablet could accomplish for me, albeit a bit less comfortably.

I have had both a Nexus 7 and the newest iPad for a few days before I took them back to get a refund. During my time with them the only good use I found for them was watching videos/reading comics when on the shitter. Might just be because of my life style where I have easy access to my desktop at all times that I found no use for it, but I was not able to find any real value in a tablet.

Make sure you can access the places you regularly go online on a mobile browser first. If you're satisfied then you won't be losing much from not having a full browser and the iPad will be a good choice. For me I went with an Air because I would be too limited in what I want to do on a tablet.

Get a lenovo yoga and get both!

Macbooks are pretty good for browsing. Macs (Imo) have better out of the box software, so I like editing stuff on them more than I do on a Windows computer. I'm personally not the biggest fan of watching movies on Macbooks but it certainly isn't terrible.  As for tablets I'm actually ordering my very first tablet tomorrow, so I can't really say anything on them.

Laptop. Tablets are overrated.

BUT, depending on the type of person that you are, a tablet might be a better alternative, especially if you're into apps.

My iPad is great for watching movies on planes, playing portable games and browsing the web when I'm too lazy to get out of bed. My laptop is better at literally everything else. Analysts saying that tablets are going to kill the laptop market are idiots.

@TooWalrus: Why? It's not like you used the thing to wipe your ass or to clean out the toilet bowl with.

I say go with the laptop, although I'm not sure you need to spend so much on a MacBook based on your not needing it for much more than browsing the internet. But I don't have a tablet, so take my comment with a grain of salt, I guess.

I think the best combination is a desktop and a tablet. I have a laptop right now, but I find they die relatively fast (2-3 years) so the next time out I'm going to get a desktop. Everything I need my laptop for a tablet could do just as well (email, videos, browsing the web).

PS: I'm convinced no one actually needs a laptop for school unless they travel a lot or are in a course that requires one. Do your serious work at home or at the computer lab.

@endaround said:

Get a lenovo yoga and get both!

This wouldn't be a bad choice. It's one of the few combo Win 8 laptops that actually work well.

I guess this mostly boils down to "do you need more battery life or more functionality"?

I can easily see a laptop not lasting anymore than an hour and a half on battery after just a few month's use. I've never owned a tablet but I'd bet that they last longer; however, you can simply do more with a tried-and-true reasonable 15 inch laptop. To me, that massive gain in functionality that comes with a laptop would sell it to me way better than anything a tablet can do. Anything a tablet can do, a good laptop can do and far, far better. Simple games? Word documents? Internet? Powerpoint? Movies? Netflix? Anything else you can think of? A laptop can do it better. It will just heat up a whole lot more and have far less battery life.

If you are using it for what you describe, basically just simple online use, videos and other crap around the house then a tablet is perfect. If you think you would use it for any kind of productivity such as programming or writting papers or whatever you would do, then go for an air.

@believer258: Yeah, I'd like long battery life, so if Tablets have that, it's a plus. Tablets also tend to be cheaper. Those are two main reasons that I'm not already decided on a MacBook Air or something.

I guess it depends on your needs. I just need something where I can watch videos, read my email, and surf the web. Tablets are perfect just for that.

If I spent more time on a bus/train and away from a power outlet I would go tablet but a laptop to me just offers more.

Tablets are largely content consuming devices. If you even think that you'll need to do any writing, video/audio editing, or anything along those lines, I would recommend getting a laptop instead of a tablet.

I know a friend in college who didn't bring a laptop or desktop to the dorms. All he has is a computer monitor, xbox and ipad that has a keyboard attachment and he's able to do pretty much everything a laptop can. Ontop of that tablets are going to be less expensive than laptops depending on what kind you get.

Why not wait for a Surface Pro to be released in January? They have specs like ultrabooks and are said to be priced accordingly. If you have one iOS device there is no need for an iPad because it's just another big iOS device. The Surface Pro will have the biggest "app marketplace" of all - legacy programs and apps, plus a sweet stand and keyboard. It's like the perfect hybrid of tablet and laptop... god I cannot wait for mine :P

If you aren't needing to do anything g heavy duty on the portable device, I would suggest a tablet. As far as not having a disk drive, there are plenty of ways to stream movies off of your desktop or just DL them onto the tablet if you want.

I have a pretty powerful desktop, and a laptop that is pushing 3 years old. Recently I have been away from home often and found myself missing having a device that did very basic Internet well, so I traded in my iPod and DS:lite for a 32gb Nexus 7. Loving it so far. It does all of my light Internet in really well, and if I need to watch something Netflix and hulu do the trick for me. And Andriod has VLC, in beta, I can drop most video files on here and they work fine.

For the keyboard, I just replaced the stock keyboard with SwiftKey and that works great. Plus if you really need real keyboard you can get a bluetooth one and I have seem ones that are integrated into cases.

For me, getting g a $250 tablet for light Internet usage was better the same buying a $800+ laptop. Plus it doubles as a book/mag reader, so that's cool.

It depends on what you want and a bit on what you have already. Tablets expand on the capabilities of smartphones, i.e. they're good for browsing e-mail, internet (tricky since the browser may not display everything correctly), entertainment, small-scale productivity, and plenty of other functions and applications, but it's all quite small-scale. Even with high-end ones like the iPad, tablets still don't replace the fuller capabilities of a laptop. You can get actual work done, run much more complex applications, etc. It just comes down to what your needs are.

@Wrighteous86 said:

Should I get a MacBook or an iPad? I've got a (older) PC desktop that I can use for more advanced things like video editing, etc., and I don't care about PC gaming or using it out of the house. It's mostly just for browsing the web/posting in forums/Skype/iMessage around the house from the comfort of my couch so I'm not a shut-in in my room and can browse in the same room as my roommate. Which do you think is the better buy? My concerns for tablets are the onscreen keyboard (and I don't really want to buy a keyboard attachment), the lack of a disc drive to watch DVDs/Blu-Rays, and that you're not looking at things "traditionally". With the MacBook, I feel like I would really only be using the browser and disc drive, so the rest would be a waste. Thoughts?

EDIT: I also have an iPhone, which I feel already does some of what a Tablet could accomplish for me, albeit a bit less comfortably.

If it's just for browsing the internet and posting photos then a tablet is fine. I wouldn't really like watching video on it but some people like it. I'm not sure I would want to do much writing or real type-heavy work on it but it should be fine for casual work. So if it is just for casual work and browsing/posting photos I would look to get a tablet. If you want to do more type-heavy work or at least leave that option open I would look to get a laptop.

LAPTOP!

Unless just using the tablet for minor things, I'd say get the laptop.

I use both. I use my MacBook Pro pretty much as a 'desktop' computer. It stays on my desk 98% of the time, with a mouse and speakers and all that. Every now and then I'll take it somewhere, but for the most part it's my 'main' computer (I hate actual desktop computers...). I also use a Kindle Fire HD (7" 16gb) as my tablet. It's my main mobile media device (Facebooking in my recliner while watching TV, etc.) and I enjoy it.

I don't think you have to choose. They both have a different purpose and work together nicely.

I think a lot of people seem to be missing the point of this post--the OP states that he doesn't care about doing typical 'desktop' stuff with his new purchase, because he already has a desktop for that. In my humble opinion, anyone seeking to own a desktop and a laptop at the same time is seriously wasting either their money or their time--a laptop is a small desktop, and is only slightly more portable. I have a 17" laptop that I'm looking to sell, and it does desktop-type apps and games not quite as well as my desktop. My roommate has a 15" that does basically nothing--my Nexus 7 runs faster than it on almost every angle.

When people talk about 'apps' like they're discussing some sort of discolored rash on their person, they're really lamenting a whole new way of distributing software. In the recent past, about 90% of all computer users' time is just sitting in the browser, while flash and javascript and etc. do things to make that experience more rich and futuristic. Now we have a world of smaller, handheld computers called tablets, and the experience is much more streamlined than it used to be. It's not just one browser clunking away at instructions from a thousand different sites; it's a thousand different sites yearning to make the best experience they can to fit your tablet. Sure, sometimes it doesn't work (Giant Bomb isn't nearly as streamlined as Wikipedia, for example), but, hey, there's totally a fanmade Giant Bomb app <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=harris.GiantBomb> that might get all that content to your eyes way faster if you try it.

The tablet experience is almost purely one of relaxing and taking in the internet - if you get a tablet you'll start finding yourself doing things that previously seemed just a touch too cumbersome. Sharing a funny image by just handing someone a book-sized device is way easier than grabbing your entire laptop and shifting it, hoping the cord doesn't take out your drink. Taking reading material to bed is a much better proposition when you can set it down without requiring two hands or a torso crunch. That's to say nothing of the amount of quick-access apps that only exist on iOS or the Play store that take advantage of GPS, accelerometers, and dual touch for some quick fun or neat aggregation.

In short: if you're used to the mouse-and-keyboard experience and have the opportunity, you'd be missing out not to at least dabble in the mobile space. It's a totally different experience with its own limitations and freedoms, and a surprising amount of overlap where it counts. Choose to have more options.

i have a decent desktop that i use for games, 3DS max and photoshop. as well as watching media. i did have a laptop that i used as a compliment to that. but since i got an ipad i have not even switched my laptop on. just is no need.

if it was going to be my main PC then i would have a laptop for sure.

but as a compliment to a desktop a tablet is perfectly good enough.

My brain read that as 'Laptops or Twinkies'. Weird.

Laptops by a mile. Fuck tablets.

acquiring an ipad soon. woo!

truthfully i couldn't care less, it's just more technology to jerk to.