Touch Pad or Laptop?

[Mugz]

I'm not up to speed on any of the new technology these days...

This is for the wife for X-mas...

I see the HP touchpads are reasonably priced at about $300.
ipads seems to be upwards of $700. What's the $400 difference?
Capability wise they seem to be the same 16 or 32.
Basically she uses the computer for MyFace, searching the internet, shopping, checking email and picture storage. I figured a Touchpad type doohicky would suffice. She won't be doing any gaming, creating spreadsheets or using any software that requires a large amount of Memory or storage.....put it that way.

Laptops are pricey but if someone can convince me they are a better bang for my buck, I'll consider this avenue as well.

Also...I'm confused about wiFi....do I call Comcast and have them set me up (I imagine so). What will that cost?
Will a touchpad work though wifi or are these used via cell phone signals, etc, etc....I'm clueless. In other words, do I have to buy through AT&T and have that cost added to my cell bill?

[JohnR]

HP Touchpads are being phased out - 2 weeks ago they blew through about 400,000 at 99 & 140 each. There may be a few more next month at the same proce then they will be gone.

Have heard the Galaxy Tab is nice but unless yo luck into a $99 Touchpad,get an iPad. They are great if you want a big / capable Ipod .

Unless you actually need to work - then a laptop still fits the bill.

All of the above should work with the WiFi in your house - assuming you do. If you don't, any 13 year old relative that you tryst can set it up for you

Originally Posted by Mugz

I'm not up to speed on any of the new technology these days...

This is for the wife for X-mas...

I see the HP touchpads are reasonably priced at about $300.
ipads seems to be upwards of $700. What's the $400 difference?
Capability wise they seem to be the same 16 or 32.
Basically she uses the computer for MyFace, searching the internet, shopping, checking email and picture storage. I figured a Touchpad type doohicky would suffice. She won't be doing any gaming, creating spreadsheets or using any software that requires a large amount of Memory or storage.....put it that way.

Laptops are pricey but if someone can convince me they are a better bang for my buck, I'll consider this avenue as well.

Also...I'm confused about wiFi....do I call Comcast and have them set me up (I imagine so). What will that cost?
Will a touchpad work though wifi or are these used via cell phone signals, etc, etc....I'm clueless. In other words, do I have to buy through AT&T and have that cost added to my cell bill?

[The Dad Fisherman]

If she joing the Cult of Apple...you may also want to buy her some Birkenstocks and Patchouli Oil........and go ahead and throw her razor away....she won't need it anymore.

actually JohnR is pretty spot on w/ his reply

[Mugz]

I saw some HP Touchpads on Fleabay for $280...brand new.
I just figure for what she uses it for, a touchpad would be ideal.
Is it bad that they will be obsolete now?

Where would I look for these so called $99 touchpads?

John,

If I'm going to spend $800 on an ipad, I would just opt for a laptop I guess.

[JimT]

I would seriously consider the 16Gb ipad2. I have used both the ipads and the touchpads. I do computer security and we have to evaluate them for security purposes.

In other words that means free reign to use and abuse them for free. If you have any experience with an iphone or an ipod, picture that on a bigger scale.

For everything you said she is going to do with it, the ipad fits the bill. For photo storage, I suggest paying $25 per year to photobucket and let them worry about backing up and storing your pictures (unlimited amounts).

I am no apple fan boy, but in terms of easiness (I have 3 kids 10, 8, 2) apple wins in my opinion.

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by Mugz

I saw some HP Touchpads on Fleabay for $280...brand new.

Likely they are the ones that got picked up for $99 and then are put on eBay for $280.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by JimT

I am no apple fan boy, but in terms of easiness (I have 3 kids 10, 8, 2) apple wins in my opinion.

Welcome aboard!

Yes, the iPad make everyone look smart... They really are that intuitive.

Unless you have thousands of songs and hundreds of movies, the cheaper WiFi iPad2 is the way to go.

[striperman36]

ipad's on ebay are pretty reasonable.

[MrHunters]

I got this android pad
Newegg.com - ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (TF101-A1) Tablet NVIDIA Tegra 2 10.1" Wide SVGA 1GB DDR2 Memory 16GB Flash HDD NVIDIA ULP GeForce

same hardware as the samsung galaxy, bigger 16:9 screen in comparison to 4:3 IPAD. A touch heavier but that doesnt bother me.
Oh...
AND it has FLASH!!!

Love it! Camera sucks though.
You can buy a keyboard dock which doubles as extra battery. And you then have the equivalent to a netbook for the most part.

[Mugz]

Been doing a lot of reading on these products the last few days...
I've pretty much picked a laptop but these touch pad thingys are interesting....been reading reviews and write ups. I'm going to have to go to Best Buy (or whereever) and experience these myself. I am leaving the door open on my decision as I won't be buying anything for a little while.

[MrHunters]

Best Buy carries the transformer.