It was hard to imagine a few years ago that we would ever have this discussion.  However now with the Xoom and IPAD it seems laptops have become less desirable.  Gartner noted recently that laptops may not be meeting the social-networking demands of users.  However I think it is more to do with the coolness factor.  People want to be seen with the latest gadget.  Yet the IPAD and Xoom have these features that beat out the laptops hands down:

• Lighter– Even when you consider the macbook air, or the thinnest and smallest sony pc laptops, it is still quite a bit lighter than a pc.
• Instant On– This is a huge time saver.  PC laptops must wait for windows to boot.  Similar in a Mac world.  However the IPAD and Xoom are on almost instantly.  Addicted facebook or twitter users can get their fix fast without waiting the standard boot cycle.  Also the apps load faster.
• Battery Life is better — A pc may be able to last a couple hours.  IPAD and Xoom can go much longer.
• 3G/4G access built in — At least half of the IPAD models have the built in ATT connectivity card so you can have access anywhere.  Not all laptops come standard with an ATT card or Verizon card.  And the rates are more expensive on the PC side.
• There are no Viruses or OS issues to deal with — No matter what laptop you have, you are still dealing with maintaining an OS.  Apple successfully App-etized the OS on the Iphone and Ipad.  Certainly more App-etizing than dealing with reloading an OS.
• There is no App store for the laptops.  I think the App store is probably the biggest driver to these tablets.  It is so easy to install an app.  They are all tested and verified to work, etc.
• Touch Screen is faster than the mouse– Yes, the keyboard on a laptop is more convenient than the touchpad keyboard or even the add-on keyboard to the ipad.  But, it is the mouse which is the most important tool on the device.  You use it more than the keyboard.  And it is just plain easier to use when you can touch the screen.  Windows Tablet pc’s never got the hang of touch screen.  It barely worked.

Laptops won’t die just yet.  There are so many things a laptop still can do that a tablet can not.  Laptops are still the business tool, with full featured word processing apps, remote capabilities and more.  Plus the storage space is far greater and apps can be more robust.  Certainly having the external connectors such as USB, CD Rom and even a VGA port are hard to live without for most business people.  However there is no question that the tablet market has put a dent in the laptop market and laptop developers are sent scrambling to create more of a tablet experience on a laptop.

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Posted in Hardware by Chris Cardillo No Comments Yet