IPad2 and IMac

[Jolu]

It is about time for an upgrade on the computer front here. I have been really considering an IMac for the desktop and going with an IPad2 to replace the laptop. I know the IPad is about half the screen size of the laptop I have now. I still have to wear readers when on the laptop.
We have always had PCs but the Macs appear to be way ahead of PCs right now. I know the Macs cost more. From what I read and hear from others you get more with the Mac. There would be a learning curve for us going from PC to Mac.
I would continue to use the aircard with the Cradlepoint router for the internet.
I welcome your thoughts and any suggestions you have on this subject.
Joe

[bob n pam]

I have the same questions, Joe. Thanks for asking.

[Waynem]

Hi Joe,
I'm running both. Well, Earlene has full control of the iPad and she lets me use it when we are at the laundry mat, or she is cooking. Then she lets me use it when administration items need to be done.

I have always been a PC user, cut my teeth on a VIC-20, Commodore-64, IBM-8088, then into the full line of windows programs from way back in '94. I retired from NASA as an IT Security Specialist, with forensic analysis my game. I taught a few "adult education" classes for a local junior college.

I just wanted to give some background.

In 2007 I bought my wife an iMac 24 as a retirement gift. Unfortunately for her I occupy it most of the time. I still have a PC Laptop, but my next laptop will be a MAC. You will find the transition from PC to MAC very easy. Just a few GUI changes that you have to overcome, but it is really an easy transition. Although I have an anti-virus program for the MAC, you can do a search for viruses for MAC and find out that there presently are none. I just like the peace of mind. Comes from the PC days when that type of program was mandatory, and still is.

The iPad also is another slight learning curve, but the iPad and MAC integrate really well. The main thing to remember is that the iPad is NOT a computer as we know it. It has certain limitations. Many of the limitations can be gotten around with applications being written for the iPad. If you are going to use the iPad in a mobile configuration, you may want to get the one that has 3G built in, besides the WiFi. You then have the best of both worlds and can use the iPad in GPS mode going down the highway. If it faults to "Edge" (old technology before 3G) it takes a while for GPS to catch up, but 3G works well. DW uses it to make sure Ms. TomTom is doing her job, and believe me many time we rely on the iPad GPS.

Applications on both system are a cinch to install and uninstall. Clicking on a .dmg file installs it, and dragging it to trash uninstalls it. The newest release of the MAC OS, Lion, cost $29.99 to upgrade. A far lot less than a Windows upgrade. Apps for the iPad from from free, and $0.99 to $19.99 for most. There are programs built in that allow you to sync the MAC and iPad for calendars, mail, and some others I just don't remember right now.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me or ask here. I'll post an answer if I know it, and if I don't, I'll find out.

p.s., my virus program is actually Norton's Internet Security Suite and it does a lot more than just protect against viruses. It is a full firewall.

[brenkco]

Joe & Lucy,
This is a topic I could write pages on but I'll try to be brief. I use PC's running Win7 and Microsoft Server at my small business. At home, we use Mac's, iPad, iPhones and Apple TV. The reason simply stated is that the hardware and operating system are built by the same company thus they work together seamlessly. The task becomes the focus, not the machine. Macs are more expensive and the reason for it is two fold, they still include excellent service and use a higher grade of components. The Apple store experience from, sales to service to support is what we used to have at most retail outlets that all but disappeared, a refreshing change.

The UI between the 2 operating systems jumps back and forth with each release. Win7 IMO, finally became much more Mac like. It's a real winner. I just upgraded to Lion, another step forward. If you are at all close to a Mac store, one of the greatest values if you purchase a new machine, is that for $99 per year, they will give you a one on one, one hour class per week using your new machine. DW and my mother made use of this hands on training and found it very helpful. I have attended classes and got a lot out of them on an advanced level.

Just a word about replacing a laptop with a iPad. IMO, the iPad is a great 'consumption' device. I use it to read, surf the web, check email, etc. It's also a good to watch a movie, use as a GPS device or play music. It's just ok to type a short reply to an email or make some quick notes. For example, I saw your post on my iPad but when I wanted to reply, I want my keyboard so I pulled out my MacBook laptop to respond. You might consider a MacBook Pro with a separate monitor. You can buy a nice 22-24" monitor for a few hundred rather than Apples for $1,000. That way you have the portability of the laptop but when home, you can use the large screen.

I provide 'tech support' for the family and since I now have them all using Mac's, I'm out (thankfully) of work. Regarding security, Mac's are not more secure than PC's, they just are less vulnerable. My advice is PC's for business, Macs for home. You won't have any trouble making a switch.

Hope that helps, Let us know what you decide!

Ken

[Jolu]

Thanks guys for your input on the Mac subject. Good information and a help. I guess one of my concerns was the transition from PC to Mac. Looks like it may not be all that painful.
Waynem and brenkco you both made some really good points to consider. I think I will go to the Apple store in Colorado Springs for a hands on look see.
I still have that question if I really want an Ipad vs a laptop.
It looks like I may become a Mac user sometime soon.
Again, Thanks for the great info.
Joe

[Waynem]

Also, take a look at the MAC Mini. I have an old Sonny flat screen monitor that was being used as a paper weight. I didn't want to string Ethernet wire from my computer room at the sticks and bricks to the family room television, but I did want to use Netflix and Hulu for streaming, plus the National Chanel's that stream their productions. The MAC Mini sits in the family room and I use it to stream movies. I'm on DSL and there are no interruptions when streaming. If you have a monitor sitting around, the MAC Mini could be used on-the-road as a primary computer. Be careful if streaming movies and your on-the-road provider has limits for downloads. It can eat up minutes fast when streaming. I'm still partial to laptops for travel, or the iPad as described before. As Ken stated, the integration between Apple products is extremely good.

I guess I have the best of both worlds. When we travel I have the Toshiba, Windows 7 laptop the iPad, and I take the MAC Mini along with wireless keyboard and track pad just in case. Last time out I didn't even use it. Any of the three are easy integration to the television with the proper connectors. I have watch Internet TV from the laptop, iPad and MAC Mini but I limit myself on the laptop and MAC mini when on the road. The iPad is 1st generation and the ISP through AT&T at that time was "unlimited" connectivity. I'm hanging on to that one. I can watch as many streaming movies that I'd like to watch - unlimited.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

I'm going to address the "learning curve" in going from a PC to a Mac and the price and the life expectancy of both. All of the below reflects my opinion, and you know how that goes--everybody has an opinion.

I use both a PC and a Mac at home and at work, and in my opinion, Macs are extremely intuitive and easy to use, whereas PCs have a slightly more difficult learning curve--not a terrible challenge, but still more of a challenge than a Mac offers. I've taught both Mac classes and PC classes to high school students, and they seem to prefer working on the Macs. One big plus for Macs/Apples is that they are virtually virus resistant. If your Mac or iPad locks up, just restart it and the problem fixes itself 99 times out of a 100. Not so with a PC.

As I said, I use both--own both, too--but still prefer the Mac over my PC. I'm a computer hoarder, and one of the Macs I am still using is my old G4 Titanium notebook which I purchased used in 2002. It has never, ever needed a repair, and it's a work horse for graphics and word-processing. If we hadn't gone fulltime in April, I'd also probably still be packing around my Mac Classic which I bought in early 1980. It had a tiny black and white screen and wasn't pretty to look at, but it was still working fine when I donated it to my grandkids to use as a word processor.

Macs cost more initially, but that difference might be made up if you have a Mac that never needs a repair. I bought a Dell desktop model and a Mac Powebook in 2007; the Dell crashed permanently in 2009, but the Mac Powerbook is still trucking along (as is that old Mac G4 Titanium).

Once you make up your mind about which direction you'll go, Mac or PC, don't look back. You'll be happy with a new system no matter what it is!Carolyn

[DQDick]

I've had Mac's for both my business and my home since the first Mac came out. I actually had an Apple IIC before that. My wife has always been a PC person and everything that has been said on this post has been true in our household and business. My wife's computer and the store's cash register system (PC based) are continually troublesome. Trouble with the Mac's are rare. We have dumped many PCs that just wouldn't work anymore, but our old Macs have been donated to the school system and are still in use in the elementary school. We are just about to go Rving 3/4 time and just bought a new IMac for the 5th wheel. In our case we use our Iphones in place of an ipad.

Dick

[Waynem]

Hey Joe,
If you do get a MAC, the new software, "Lion" has a program that is called "Facetime." Just think, you could talk to us one-on-one using facebook and see how good looking we are. It works better than Skype or other programs doing the same thing. If other family members have one it is the best thing since the "talk" of "video telephones." And, if you have the new iPad2, it has Facetime. You could stand outside your Montana and show anyone with Facetime a real time view of what you are seeing with forward and rear facing cameras built in. Just great for seeing the grand-kids and other family members.

Want to see if the RV is level. For the iPad (and maybe iPhone) download the App "RV Companion." There is a by directional level in that program that tells you how many inches to raise the RV, front, back, and both sides.

Have we convinced you yet?

Edited: p.s., the iPad is a great device. I would not say that it is a "laptop replacement" but an enhancement of new technology that lets you do things in an easier fashion. I'm not sure if the newer technology allows for hooking up an external hard drive. I believe the capability is hidden somewhere and Apple needs to bring it out. They do have the capability to place things on SD Cards using a purchased $29 adapter. The iPad has limitations on external file structures. That is, if you plug in an SD Card it is looking for a specific folder and nothing else. So if you place everything you may want to transfer into that SD Card folder, you "may" be able to transfer it to other devices. In order to print, presently, you need to use a wireless capability. There is not direct hook-up for printing. So consider that the iPad is not really a full blown personal computer. It has limitations. Most of those limitations can be worked around. Example: Our iPad will not open "Flash" videos. Well, there is an APP called Cloud Browse that if you paste the link into Cloud Browse it will open the Flash video and display it. It takes a few more steps but it is doable. Every day there are new APPS coming out that make the work-around more acceptable.

The iPad is a good device, and I recommend anyone that is in to that type of technology to go ahead and get one. Just do the research, as you are doing, to make sure that it will suite your needs. The iPad is a great complement to the iMac. Heck, you don't even have to take your iMac on the road with you, just run Remote Helper and operate it from the iPad when you are on the road. You can set the iMac up to re-start if there is a power failure at the stick house. I'm sure us MAC users could go on-and-on-and-on about features and operations, and probably there are compatible programs for the Windows operating systems. I'm slowly weaning myself off Windows, but most likely will always have a Windows PC, albeit an old one.

Good luck

[Jolu]

Uncle! Uncle! I give. All of you have made some excellent selling points. I like the idea of perhaps having a lot less problems to deal with and the quality. I tend to hang onto my computers as long as possible. I have a collection of PCs dating back to the mid 80's. There must be 10 of them. And oh yes all those boat anchor monitors. Printers and more printers. Every WiFi adapter known to man. I just realized I am a technology hoarder. Maybe Apple can help me.

The information you have provided here on the subject should be helpful to other members thinking about a new computer. We appreciate your help and knowledge.

The best thing for me to do now is to go to the Apple Store in the Springs and have a hands on experience with each model.

Thanks again for your input. We can always count on MOC for very helpful information.

Joe

[bob n pam]

Boy, I certainly thank all of you for the great information. I'm definitely getting a Mac, and soon!! Thanks again.