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Mac

Should I buy a MacBook or iPad

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Whether you’re a road warrior or often find yourself leaving on a jet plane in the name of your career, you likely have an arsenal of gadgets you bring along in your carry-on luggage. But is that laptop really necessary, or could you save both space and weight by swapping it out for a tablet? It truly depends on the nature of your job.

A good rule of thumb is that if your job has you producing a large amount of content, you’re better off sticking with your trusty MacBook. However, if it’s more likely you’re just consuming content, then an iPad will certainly be sufficient.

Should there be any possibility you’ll be doing a lot of typing, having a MacBook will definitely make life easier. The touchscreen keyboard on the iPad is not conducive to working on larger documents or lengthier emails, despite the fact that the suite of iWork programs is available as a series of well-equipped iPad apps. Of course, you can also bring along a portable Bluetooth keyboard or use a case with one built in, but they still don’t compare to having a proper computer for document creation and editing.

A MacBook is also a better choice than an iPad if you’re delivering a Keynote presentation and aren’t entirely sure you can connect to the projector you’re using via Bluetooth. While the Keynote and Keynote Remote apps on iPad are great, that stunning presentation you spent hours on won’t be doing you any favors unless you can show it off.

You’ll be glad you have your MacBook handy in a variety of other situations as well. If there’s a chance you’ll be given information via a disc or thumb drive to review, you won’t have to figure out how to get it via email or the cloud instead. If you’re in one of the many hotels worldwide that still provide Wi-Fi only in the lobby and leave you limited by an Ethernet cord in your room, you’ll be glad for your MacBook. Furthermore, it’s a great charging station for your peripheral devices, reducing the number of cords you’ll have to pack and the need to search out enough plugs.

All that being said, there is definitely a lot of merit in taking an iPad along on your next business trip instead. Not only will it allow you to pack a smaller bag and save your back from the added weight, but it’s extremely portable and boasts a number of useful features.

If you’re mainly reading – emails, reports, blogs, you name it – then an iPad is ideal. It’s also more than sufficient for accessing your email, keeping your social media accounts up to date and tweaking a few documents via iWork. With the right app, it can allow you to go paperless, signing and emailing contracts right on it with the use of a stylus. You can also upload photographs with a simple camera adapter kit, and do a little more typing with one of the aforementioned options to bring a keyboard.

The iPad is a great option for anyone concerned with battery life and the possibility of not having anywhere to plug their MacBook in. So long as you have 3G or Wi-Fi, you’ll always be able to get online. And it’s ideal for situations where you have a limited amount of elbow room, like on an airplane or in a crowded press conference.

If you’re unsure of the situations you may find yourself in while traveling for business, taking your MacBook along is certainly a safer bet. It gives you the most options for completing your work, viewing files and connecting to the Internet. However, if you know exactly what you’re heading into and prefer to be extremely mobile, your iPad should certainly cover most of the bases for you.

iPad

Apple may be testing larger iPad

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Smartphones, tablets, and now even phablets – there is no denying that mobile computing devices are hot items that have changed the way we work, socialize and share information.

Manufacturers are constantly working on creating newer, better devices that offer more features in a variety of different sizes. We have the iPhone 4s, the bigger iPhone 5, a wide range of Android phone sizes, especially from companies like Samsung, tablets like the iPad, iPad Mini and Galaxy Tab and even phone-tablet crossover “phablets” like the Galaxy Note.

With the emphasis on having a device that is both incredibly high-tech and still very portable, is there room in the market for larger devices? In years past the emphasis was on creating smaller and smaller cell phones, but now the opposite seems to be true.

In that regard, it is rumored that in addition to various iPhone sizes, the iPad and the new iPad Mini, Apple may be testing an even larger, 13-inch iPad. Could the super sized tablet be a reality? And is there a market for it?

According to reliable sources at the Wall Street Journal, a 12.9-inch prototype iPad is being tested by Apple at the moment. But before any Apple fans who’d favor the larger tablet get too excited, it’s important to keep in mind that the computing giant tests many different prototype devices before a select few make it into production and are launched to the public.

It is believed that, if chosen to be put into the marketplace, the “mega iPad” will feature retina display and in-cell touch technology, making it thinner and lighter. That would balance the larger overall size nicely. But despite the technology to make it lighter and thinner, would a big iPad be hard to handle? The current model is 9.7 inches, with the Mini at 7.9 inches.

Perhaps a “mega iPad” could be seen as a tablet-laptop hybrid, similar to the Lenovo Yoga. Apple CEO Tim Cooks believes that consumers are after, and even expect, larger screens, bucking that trend from the early 2000s for smaller and smaller devices. Having larger, yet portable, technology could provide the public with the proper photo color, white balance, reflectivity, brightness, longevity of display and battery life they’re after, according to Cook.

For Apple, a third size of tablet would be another step in the right direction towards competing with companies like Samsung, their main rivals. If the “mega iPad” is released to the public, it could be as soon as late Fall 2013, after the new iPhone 5s, the rumored iPhone “light” and possibly the Apple phablet device.

Only time will tell if Tim Cook and Apple decide to release the 12.9-inch iPad. In addition, only more time will determine if a bigger iPad will be as popular as the original, or anything else Apple has released in the last few years. While the iPad Mini has been fairly popular, there will still critics who questioned whether there was any point to it. It’s likely there will be those who question the usefulness of a bigger version as well.