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Confused about netbooks, tablets, eReaders, etc. ... which should I buy?
So, I have a laptop (HP Lenovo Thinkpad). It was issued to me by my college and I want to reserve it strictly for schoolwork purposes, especially because I have some very large and sensitive programs on there like SPSS and ArcGIS. To save space on the laptop, I was thinking of buying some smaller electronic thing that I could have for my own personal use (movies, music, games, etc). Here's what I'm looking for...
* The ability to read e-books
* The ability to support iTunes ... I already have an iPod with my music on it so I would prefer to keep my iTunes library. (Does that limit my options to just Mac stuff?)
* I don't really understand the difference between apps and conventional software... I have CDs and DVDs that I would like to be able to use, so if it has an optical drive that would be good, but are there ways to get around that and still use CDs?
If what I have in mind is too expensive, I might just stick to my laptop and hope that nothing bad happens to it. I also don't know what the pros and cons are of Androids vs. iOS or whatever else is out there, though I've tried researching it...
Haha sorry if this is a really loaded question... hopefully someone out there is already an expert on all this stuff and can help me easily!
I have iTunes on my laptop right now, which has Windows 7 on it. I think you can still have iTunes on Windows, but I don't think you can have iTunes on the Amazon Kindle Fire, right? That and Windows two different things, aren't they? Haha like I said, I'm confused :/
These are all good answers so far! Thanks, everybody. I can't tell the differences among a lot of these small touchscreen devices, and to be honest I didn't even know that Mac and iOS were not the same things, so what I am really asking is which "device" is best for me, I think.
I have a question: if Windows 8 is just nearing release, does that mean that the new tablets that have it will be expensive?
5 Answers
- 9 years ago
Linux and Android operating system devices (like Kindle family) cannot use iTunes.
PCs can only use OS X apps by a clumsy hack called "hackintosh". iTunes, QuickTime, and Safari are available in both Mac and Windows versions, so no hack is needed.
Apple computers (in the traditional sense of a Macintosh) can use either Windows or Mac OS.
Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch use iOS, not Windows, not Mac OS. All iOS devices can use iTunes and many other apps that come in both Mac and iOS versions, but it is always a separate version. Many Mac apps do not come in iOS versions. Rumor has it that Microsoft is finally working on an iOS version for Office. Every month they delay sends more people to buy Pages for 10 bucks.
This question is a bit broad, like asking "Should I buy a bicycle, a moped, a Harley, an electric car, or a diesel pickup truck?" All of them will get you to the supermarket.
If you need to use GarageBand, Photo Booth or other Mac-only apps, you should really consider a Mac. Also, some pro hardware features are typically missing from 99% of PCs, such as Firewire and Thunderbolt. If you don't know what those are, it's probably because you have never done professional work on a computer. These advanced hardware features on a MacBook Pro or iMac can save a lot of time doing video editing or music development. Time is money, so that's why some of us don't bat an eye at paying a few hundred bucks more for a MacBook Pro compared with a Dell. USB is much too slow (in real life use) for professional work.
Not sure why you need to "use CDs" or use DVDs. That's the main reason to use iTunes. It eliminates the need to carry a stack of optical discs around with your notebook. I have a couple hundred DVD movies, but I haven't bought any in the past five years. It's so 1990s. If you must have an optical drive, I'm sure you can use an out-board one and keep it at home. Chances are you will find you will forget you even have it after a year. Remember when all the PC geeks thought Apple was nuts to drop floppy diskette drive from all their computers? Well, where are those floppies now? Garage sales for ten cents each.... and no one is buying.
- 9 years ago
My suggestion is that you get a tablet but wait a month or so on that purchase. Microsoft Windows 8 is nearing release, and it tablets running the new OS will replace iPad as #1 tablet. Don't buy anything now, but after it's out, look into a Windows tablet. To answer your other questions, no iTunes does not necessarily limit you to "mac stuff." iTunes music can be put into many other music stores, with Windows you might like Zune. Unlimited music for a low price with a Zune Pass is about the best offer out there (its a lot like Rhapsody but I like it better). Any tablet and any OS is capable of reading eBooks, so don't worry about that. Just download Kindle software and any device becomes an eReader. The difference between apps and software is pretty much nonexistant, apps are software but software generally refers to programs that are more intensive than small games and the like. If you get the two mixed up its really not a big deal. An optical drive in a tablet isn't going to be easy to find, but if you can get a tablet running either WIndows 7 (out now) or Windows 8 (out very soon) which has a USB port you can buy an inexpensive USB optical drive for it. Less portable, but you can rip the files and store them on the tablet illuminating the need for an optical drive to take with you. Android is my preference over iOS, I like Honeycomb's UI better than anything else (except Windows 8, I have the Consumer Beta and used to have the Developer beta).
So here's what you should do.
1. Wait until Windows 8 releases
2. Find the tablet you like best (A nearby Microsoft store can surely help you with this) and make sure it has at least one USB port
3. Buy a cheap USB optical drive from Best Buy
- Anonymous9 years ago
Quality Control shop
http://www.freewebstore.org/qualitycontrolshop
110% for android...more performance and half of the price of the iPad!
I can sugest you two choices ..... new android 4.0 tablets now available. Those tablet are the "iPad killers"!
- Cube U9GT2 (16GB) ~249$
- ONDA vi40 Elite (16GB) ~289$
Both the Onda VI40 Android 4.0 IPS Capacitive tablet PC and the Cube U9T2 ICS have very similar specifications and features. First is the 9.7" Capacitive multi-touch IPS screen.
Onda made its name way back in 2008 when it released a 4.3" touch screen mp4 player that please called an iPod Touch wannabe or alternative. This model did well, but the marketing and product development of the company went astray.
This is why I was both suprised and happy to be reviewing first 9.7" Android 4.0 tablet PC by Onda, the VI40 Elite Edition Tablet PC. Boasting 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 capacitive multi-touch IPS display it seems to be 5-point touch. It adopts the fastest yet 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A10 processor with Mali-400 GPU (graphics processor).
The onda VI40 Elite tablet also packs dual cameras, a 1.3 Mega Pixel front-facing camera and a 5.0M pixel rear-facing camera. More the VI40 supports 2160p Super HD video playback.
It has a 6500mAh battery giving you around 4.5 to 5 hours of internet surfing time.
The Cube U9GT2 also has a 9.7" IPS screen but with a more responsive 10-point multi touch screen. The processor is not as fast but will do the job clocking in at 1.2GHz on a Rockchip RK2918 CPU.
In addition to a better screen, the Cube Android 4.0 Tablet also has 16gb of built-in memory compared to Onda's 8gb. The Cube tablet also has larger 8000mah battery for 6 hours of internet surfing or "10 hours music, 4 hours video, 5 hours wifi."
The Cube doesn't have a 5mp camera but it does have dual 2 mega pixel cameras for quality photos and video from front and back.
The Onda VI40 Elite may prove to rule supreme as today's android tablet forum enthusiasts like the cheapest deal, even if the battery only gets an hour less usage from a full charge.
Both have microSD card slots so one could buy a memory card to make up for the 8gb of memory the Onda so dearly misses.
Last thought, the Apple iPad 2 should be wetting its pants now. Both of these tablets are more powerful and have just as responsive capacitive screens. Not to mention extra goodies like dual cameras and open source Ice Cream Sandwich. Yum!
Full specificatons, reviews and buy links here:
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- 9 years ago
i've also been looking for a good laptop, etc. i found that netbooks aren't that great...at almost anything. but the HP pavilion dm1z is a step above netbooks, and should fit your needs.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/pro...
ps: this is what i might get as a laptop going into high school next year
