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Can you use the iPad as a tablet PC? Can you load software like Microsoft Office on it? Please advise. I am still looking for a laptop and was thinking about getting a Macbook or Macbookpro, but if the ipad can be used as a tablet pc and accept software, then I may reconsider. I just thought that it was a glorified iphone. Please let me know.
It is not, as some may claim, a glorified iPhone. That statement is like saying a full-size laptop is a glorified netbook, because they run the same OS. There are similarities, but one is definitely more powerful and flexible than the other, and their uses are not interchangeable.
Although Office is not available for it, an Office-compatible, functionally equivalent suite of apps is (iWork, consisting of Pages [compare to Word], Numbers [Excel], and Keynote [Powerpoint]. Each is able to be purchased separately and costs $10. All can open, edit and save files in Office formats.). If you already have a usable computer (like I do - I have a MacBook from 2007 that's clunky but gets the job done), the iPad will take 90% of your work (note-taking, web browsing + reading, email, etc.) while your old computer can handle that additional 10% (flash video, class-issued software, printing). If you don't like software keyboards, you can use a bluetooth regular keyboard. If you prefer stylus input, you can buy a capacative stylus fairly cheaply and use stylus input software from the App Store. In addition, the iPad will be getting a free major OS upgrade in the fall, which may give it additional power (printing has been tossed around as a possibility).
An iPad is NOT an acceptable solution as a stand-alone computer at this time. If you don't have access to a regular computer to do that extra 10%, I don't recommend it. However, if you're in my situation (functional computer, not wanting to spend a lot of money on a new tablet), it is a cost-effective alternative to purchasing a whole tablet. I have zero complaints so far.
Sorry for not responding faster, I kinda stopped looking in this thread when it got deep into discussion of the individual quirks of that tablet everyone got.