For many years, the laptop served as the de facto anchor for techies on the go. Then the tablet came along.
These days, it's possible to use a tablet as the main portable squeeze, since it (usually) delivers incredible battery life and apps that can do just about anything (within reason). In a column today, CNET's Marguerite Reardon addresses the question, "Could I really ditch my laptop for an iPad?" And that got us thinking more about the subject.
Does the ever-increasing functionality of the tablet make you second-guess bringing a laptop along? It did for me at one of the most important tech events of the year.
When visiting Consumer Electronics Show in January, I declined to bring a laptop and instead just brought my iPad. I figured the move would probably blow up in my face at some point, but surprisingly, everything went well. It also meant a lighter load when walking miles on the show floor.
The supporting cast included a 32GB iPad 2, Logitech Bluetooth iPad keyboard case, and the iPad's SD card reader attachment. I wrote stories like normal, processed and attached photos, and used a remote desktop app to connect back to my home computer for heavy-duty tasks. The tablet conquered all of the pedestrian activities, as the Bluetooth keyboard proved itself a valuable weapon.
For me, the only thing a tablet needs now falls upon a more powerful processor for video rendering. As it stands, you still need a quad-core or greater laptop to render video files quickly in a mobile situation.
So, how about you? Do you use a tablet as your primary player, or do you still find comfort in the clamshell of a laptop? Vote in our poll and sound off in the comments.