The "Apple Inc." Thread iPad Mini

[Fiery Winds]

I can't stand Outlook.  . Those tablets look cool though and you're right, those features definitely makes it a better all-in-one device.

[kirksnosehair]

Well, Outlook's our corporate standard here.  The other thing is, these tablets have similar SPECS to the iPad, but they cost about $200 less, plus they can join our corporate domain, access file shares on servers, printers, etc.  Frankly, I find them vastly superior to the iPad in just about every conceivable way.  The only place that Apple is ahead right now is with apps and I suspect that will change in time.

[Fiery Winds]

Yeah, the last place I worked use Outlook, but it was optional.  It was all routed through Google Apps, so we had the option of using web-based (Gmail) or Outlook. 

I still have my iPad 3, the "new" one before they introduced the "new"-er iPad with the Lightning connection, and I still love it.  I had owned two other Android tablets prior; the Motorola Xoom and the Galaxy Tab 10.1".  Both weren't bad, but my #1 priority in a tablet is smoothness (scrolling) and responsiveness to touch (latency, processing), and Android hadn't reached the same level as Apple at that time, so I switched and haven't looked back.

[kirksnosehair]

Actually right now my favorite computing device is my Lenovo ThinkPad UltraBook convertable.


Laptop Mode:



Tablet Mode:



Hands-Free-Table-Top-Mode:





Nice device.  Core i5 CPU, 4GB memory, 512GB Solid State drive......just gotta get used to Windows 8....not quite there yet.

[Fiery Winds]

That's a nice piece of hardware!   

I haven't upgraded to Windows 8 yet, which says a lot, considering I got Vista on release day ( ) and a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for hosting a "Windows 7 Launch Party".    I know there are tweaks you can do to make it look more like 7, but I don't really feel like spending money to re-install windows and configure a system that is no better than what already works. 

[kirksnosehair]

Yeah, believe me, I don't really want to go down this Windows 8 road, given that I have been extremely impressed with and happy with Windows 7 since it came out, but......I run an I.T. Department at a company with 150 employees and I have no choice but to live on the "bleeding edge" as they say. 


My main production laptop (what I am posting this from right now, in fact) is a Lenovo ThinkPad W510 with Windows 7 Pro.  It's got 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD and it's blazing fast 


I have no real NEED to these other devices, but I have to kind of force myself to use them a bit so that when the time comes I can support them.

[kirksnosehair]

Meanwhile, through all of this, we're sticking with iPhones as our mobile phone/email platform because unlikely the Blackberry, they require no middleware (e.g. they're cheaper to operate despite costing more to acquire)

[Cable]

So no talk about iOS 7? It has been a couple of weeks since reveal...



https://www.apple.com/ios/ios7/#videos

[YtseCullen]

I'm using it as my daily driver and loving it so far, even with the few bugs on the beta version it's smooth as hell, just installing beta 2 on my phone as we speak!

[kári]

I didn't know you were a developer.

[YtseCullen]

Just started recently

[tjanuranus]

Just started recently

nice! Looking for a job in Chicago? I'm hiring for one lol

[Kotowboy]

At some point - all Apple products will just become " iDevice " .

They'll all just come with the same iOS and you will just choose your 'shape.'

Desktop - Laptop - Tablet , Pod or Smartphone.

[Chino]

At some point - all Apple products will just become " iDevice " .

They'll all just come with the same iOS and you will just choose your 'shape.'

Desktop - Laptop - Tablet , Pod or Smartphone.

That's how it should be. They're almost there. Microsoft is pulling it off pretty well.

[YtseCullen]

Just started recently

nice! Looking for a job in Chicago? I'm hiring for one lol

Haha if it was possible for me to move I would, just not feasible at the moment!

[BlobVanDam]

Just started recently

So is that your job rather than as a personal hobby?

[kirksnosehair]

At some point - all Apple products will just become " iDevice " .

They'll all just come with the same iOS and you will just choose your 'shape.'

Desktop - Laptop - Tablet , Pod or Smartphone.

That's how it should be. They're almost there. Microsoft is pulling it off imitating what Apple does pretty well.

FTFY

[Chino]

At some point - all Apple products will just become " iDevice " .

They'll all just come with the same iOS and you will just choose your 'shape.'

Desktop - Laptop - Tablet , Pod or Smartphone.

That's how it should be. They're almost there. Microsoft is pulling it off imitating what Apple does pretty well.

FTFY

The OS on the macs and their notebooks is far from the OS on Apple's handheld and tablet devices. Microsofts variance between devices is much smaller and more streamlined.

[cramx3]

Maybe so, but I wouldn't say Microsoft is pulling it off since the are now back peddling with their metro UI. I actually love windows 8 but only on my touch screen laptop, hell no to my desktop.

[Chino]

Maybe so, but I wouldn't say Microsoft is pulling it off since the are now back peddling with their metro UI. I actually love windows 8 but only on my touch screen laptop, hell no to my desktop.

They didn't really back pedal from what I read. They've brought back the start button. It has the same functionality as the old start button, but with the new UI. I think it was a cool move.

[cramx3]

Yes you are right but the user will have the option to boot to standard windows instead of metro.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Question for all you Mac junkies:

Should I buy a new computer during tax-free weekend?

My current computer is five years old and can't hold a charge! It can't install a lot of new software (TurboTax for example) and has less than 100GB of space left. I've already had to get it repaired once at the Apple Store, which cost $300!

What's holding me back is that my current computer still gives me everything I really need. If I get a new computer, there won't be a single unique thing I use it for that I couldn't use my current computer for.

What say you?

[theseoafs]

My current computer is five years old and can't hold a charge! It can't install a lot of new software (TurboTax for example) and has less than 100GB of space left....

What's holding me back is that my current computer still gives me everything I really need. If I get a new computer, there won't be a single unique thing I use it for that I couldn't use my current computer for.

... Definitely seems to me like a new computer would be able to do things your old computer can't.

[kári]

Question for all you Mac junkies:

Should I buy a new computer during tax-free weekend?

My current computer is five years old and can't hold a charge! It can't install a lot of new software (TurboTax for example) and has less than 100GB of space left. I've already had to get it repaired once at the Apple Store, which cost $300!

What's holding me back is that my current computer still gives me everything I really need. If I get a new computer, there won't be a single unique thing I use it for that I couldn't use my current computer for.

What say you?

Sounds like it can wait 'till next year, right? Space you can solve by buying an external hard drive. I guess the not holding charge thing is annoying but you seem to be ok with it so... If you really want a new one, just get one. But if you still get by fine I guess you could wait.

[Phoenix87x]

Question for all you Mac junkies:

Should I buy a new computer during tax-free weekend?

My current computer is five years old and can't hold a charge! It can't install a lot of new software (TurboTax for example) and has less than 100GB of space left. I've already had to get it repaired once at the Apple Store, which cost $300!

What's holding me back is that my current computer still gives me everything I really need. If I get a new computer, there won't be a single unique thing I use it for that I couldn't use my current computer for.

What say you?

That's funny that your computer is 5 years old, because I'm in the exact same situation with my 5 year old white Macbook. It does everything I need it to do for the most part, except for its 2 gb's of ram are starting to really show their age and my 120 gb hard drive is almost completely filled up. I'm down to 3 gb's of space which is very annoying.

So yesterday, I ordered a brand new 2013 Macbook Air 11 inch with 8 gb's of Ram and 512 gb's of flash storage and the new Haswell processor which does 12 hours of battery life in the 13 inches and around 9 hours in the 11 inches. Sure it was expensive, but I know it will last me all the way through grad school and probably quite a while after that as well, so I'm happy.

So ultimately I would say it would be worth looking into the current line of Macbook airs and pros and if you were to see anything that you like and that was in your price range then to treat yourself.

P.S. If you are in school then you can get the educational discount upfront and then during Tax time you can write the new computer off as an "educational expense" and get the money back under the American opportunity tax credit for students so that's something to consider too. 

[Full Speed]

I wonder when they'll add Haswell to the MBPr models. I have a 13 inch 2010 Macbook Air that I might replace with a 13 inch MBPr once they get updated.

[Phoenix87x]

Well, it was Christmas in August today:



Just picked up a new Macbook Air for school this year.

Went with 8 gb's of ram, I7 Haswell, 512 gb SSD hardrive and the 11.6 inch, and so far I'm loving this thing. Definately blows my 2009 white macbook out of the water.

[kári]

How do you find the 11" screen? I don't think I could ever get anything done on that.

[Phoenix87x]

How do you find the 11" screen? I don't think I could ever get anything done on that.

That's exactly how I felt too.

I was pretty much dead set on getting the 13 inch, but when I went to the Apple store to check it out, I decided to goof around with the 11 inch for the hell of it. I played with both of them for a while, going back and forth between the two, and ended up falling in love with the 11 inch.

Ultimately, before I got my hands on it, the 11 inch seemed too small, but after using it all day yesterday, It feels perfect.

[jingle.boy]

Ultimately, before I got my hands on it, the 11 inch seemed too small, but after using it all day yesterday, It feels perfect.

This is so sig-worthy.

[Phoenix87x]

[Dimitrius]

How much did that set you back?

[Phoenix87x]

With the student discount, the computer itself came to around $1400, but after tax, the total cost was just shy of $1500 dollars. But what was nice is that for students they give a free $100 apple giftcard, which was very appreciated.

Here's the breakdown

[Chino]

$1500 for an 11" display 

[Phoenix87x]

$1500 for an 11" display 

One thing to keep in mind is that I maxed out the specs. You can get a baseline model for $949 if it suits your needs.

But, the beauty of it all is that when tax season you can write it off as an "educational" expense and by using the American Opportunity tax credit for college students, you can re-coup the entire cost. Just something to consider.