It’s a question often asked by people who are ditching their old computers: should I buy an iPad instead of another laptop or desktop? But more importantly, is the Apple iPad truly enough for your daily computing needs? Well, the answer depends on what you intend to do with the tablet.
In many ways, the iPad can readily stand in for your traditional computer. It can hook you up to Facebook and social networks; it lets you play games of every genre and with relatively cheaper price tags; and, it allows viewing of web pages. The iPad can do all these while being much lighter and more comfortable than a laptop.
iPads even offer some level of productivity, assuming you bought a useable Bluetooth keyboard to pair it with and apps that can fill in for your desktop’s word processor and spreadsheet program. To top it off, Apple’s tablet has a great battery life and its user interface is simple and intuitive. So, yes, the iPad is more than qualified to replace a standard computer for the basics.
Where iPads fails as an alternative to the PC is in the traditional features. The iPad has no terabyte storage for storing large multimedia files; it has very limited compatibility with file formats; you can’t burn CDs and DVDs; and, you can’t mount a thumb drive with it. And while it’s sufficiently fast for many App Store games, the iPad is still far from being able to run hardcore games like Crysis and Diablo 3.
Simply put, if you need a computer for the reading stuff on the Web, checking your Inbox, and playing the casual Angry Birds and Candy Crush, then the Apple iPad is more than fit for the job. On the other hand, you may want to stick with a desktop or laptop when it comes to hardcore gaming and workplaces that call for special software.