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[Ottofar]

I can't see any advantage to owning a tablet instead of a laptop besides the fact that you don't need a flat surface to use a tablet, and even then you'd have trouble touch-typing on one without a Bluetooth keyboard or a docking station. Neither am I aware of any tablet being capable of running industry-standard graphics stuff like Photoshop or AutoCAD, which is missing out on a really good practical application for them.

One does not need a flat surface. They are called Laptops for a reason.

Unless they're really big, but yeah.

[SalmonGod]

I recently got an Acer Iconia W500.  It's similar to Asus' EEE Transformer, but a little more powerful and runs Win 7.

I was in the market to replace my old PMP.  All I wanted was a usb host for hooking up a portable hard drive, enough processing power to run nice videos and not pause noticeably between songs on a playlist, and a decent screen.  There was absolutely nothing out there that fit these criteria.  A tablet was the closest thing.

So now I've got a device that I might browse the web on a little bit when I'm somewhere with wi-fi that isn't my desk.  It does all my media easily.  I'll probably do some artwork on it.  It is powerful enough to run art applications, including Photoshop and possibly even ZBrush, so long as you're not pushing dozens of layers or millions of polygons at it.  It's good for sketching, basically.

The only reason I didn't go for a netbook or laptop:  I didn't think I could get away with having one on my desk at work, which is where I'll mostly be using it to listen to music 4-6 hours a day.  I wanted something that I could easily whip out of my bag to do simple things on quickly in a large variety of situations, the most important of which is the potential to show off my art portfolio.

So it has its place... but anybody who thinks it's going to replace anything is crazy.  I can see how casual users would opt to get a tablet/'netvertible' or the like instead of a pc if all they plan to do is listen to music, watch videos, and do a little browsing/word processing... which admittedly is a lot of people.

[sneakey pete]

Tablet PC's? i'd say ipads are tablet phones honestly

Mate of mine has an EEE slate, which is basically a laptop minus keyboard and with a touchscreen. Runs a proper x86 CPU and the like so it can actually run all the engineering programs that we need to run (i'd like to see you do FEA in html5), its quite a nice piece of machinery

[SalmonGod]

I have a friend with an eee slate.  It's what I wish I could have afforded.

[i2amroy]

I can't see any advantage to owning a tablet instead of a laptop besides the fact that you don't need a flat surface to use a tablet, and even then you'd have trouble touch-typing on one without a Bluetooth keyboard or a docking station. Neither am I aware of any tablet being capable of running industry-standard graphics stuff like Photoshop or AutoCAD, which is missing out on a really good practical application for them.

One does not need a flat surface. They are called Laptops for a reason.
Unless they're really big, but yeah.

Or if they are a mac with huge heat requirements while doing anything strenuous. Apple calls their laptops "notebooks" for a reason.
Note: I'm not hating on macs here, I am a mac lover myself and am typing this on my macbook pro.

As for the tablet idea, I think that as more and more things become digitized and moved to the cloud instead of on the actual devices that things like iPads and other tablets will get an even larger boost in popularity. I mean you can already see similar trends in laptops like the macbook air where they are removing features in favor of a lighter computer that depends more on the cloud. Following this trend to a logical conclusion brings us to the tablet. I do think that there will need to possibly be some changes to the typing systems on tablets before they actually succeed in replacing computers.

[Jake]

One does not need a flat surface. They are called Laptops for a reason.

Unless they're really big, but yeah.

Actually, that's really not a good idea unless it's a fanless model. They need a flat and fairly hard surface to keep the fan intake unobstructed, and blocking it up will do bad things to performance and component life. And your sperm count, allegedly, at least if it gets hot enough.

[Aklyon]

Putting the amount of heat a heavily taxed laptop puts out on High Performance mode near that area can't be a good thing anyway, whether or not the above is true.

[Blargityblarg]

Putting the amount of heat a heavily taxed laptop puts out on High Performance mode near that area can't be a good thing anyway, whether or not the above is true.

Christ, I have my laptop propped up on coasters for better airflow and you could still fry an egg on the bastard.

[freeformschooler]

I have a laptop pad thing that's hard and works as an external fan if you plug it into the thing. EVEN THEN you could fry an egg on it while playing games on high performance.

Though I figured out it's basically just my graphics card that gets too hot. I can set it to lower settings and notice a huge heat difference.

[Jake]

@the last two posters: This would be an excellent time to invest in some lint-free cloths, a can of compressed air and an anti-static wrist strap. Computers need to have the fans and the interior of the casing cleaned regularly, at least once or twice a year, and laptops are no exception.

They're also an absolute stone-cold bitch to disassemble, which is why I wish rectal cancer on whoever thought up the concept of the desktop-replacement laptop.

[freeformschooler]

@the last two posters: This would be an excellent time to invest in some lint-free cloths, a can of compressed air and an anti-static wrist strap. Computers need to have the fans and the interior of the casing cleaned regularly, at least once or twice a year, and laptops are no exception.

They're also an absolute stone-cold bitch to disassemble, which is why I wish rectal cancer on whoever thought up the concept of the desktop-replacement laptop.

The problem is that this is a brand new laptop, only weeks old, so I am pretty sure the fan is not all dusty and everything.

But yeah, they are difficult to disassemble. I've found that depends on the laptop model, though.

As for the topic on hand, I would say tablets will probably, with current technology, not be able to replace laptops and desktops that have massive amounts of power for productive, professional and gaming usage. But for other things? Well, maybe.

[hawkeye_de]

Yeah, I see it the same way as most posters here: Tablet PCs might be a nice addition or suitable for people, who usually do not work with PCs a lot.

When I look at some of my friends, I see some 'dangers' with those devices, nevertheless: They spend a considerable amount of time in downloading and trying out hundreds of apps, without really have a need for them / those apps do not provide any value. So, they waste their time. But sure, that is everybody's own decision how to spend his spare time...

[Aklyon]

Well, if they have a tablet, and you have a tablet (I don't, but nvm that), then if they're downloading a lot of things and not using them, then that makes it easier for you to know which ones are a waste of time if they let you see their tablet.

[hawkeye_de]

Well, if they have a tablet, and you have a tablet (I don't, but nvm that), then if they're downloading a lot of things and not using them, then that makes it easier for you to know which ones are a waste of time if they let you see their tablet.

That's true with one exception: He's an iPad 2 and I would buy an Android-based one (please nobody starts an Apple<->Android war ) but I have simply no need for a tablet pc

[Aklyon]

Well, you know what kind of app is more useful, then, at least iPadwise.