iPad or Netbook

[Adonama]

+1 on Diving Log.
I use it to read from my D4, although I find that somehow important in Suunto's dive manager and then importing to Diving Log is quicker.
Diving Log also works great with the iPhone app "Divelog".
On the diving site I quickly log on my iPhone and make some notes about the dive, weather etc, and when I get home I synch with Diving Log and load the data from my D4 which then overwrites just the date/time, water temp, depth and profile in the log.

 

[Gombessa]

I know Apple is coming out with a "digital picture transfer" add-on device to let the ipad serve that vacation photo-dump function.

However, given that the device is much more likely to be storage-limited than the typical netbook, unless you're light on media with the device and heavily-invested in iphoto integration, I don't think that would be the ideal usage for an ipad.

I recently made the same purchasing decision and went with an HP Mini netbook. For about $350, you get a 250gb hard drive, built-in media card reader, 3 USB slots, an ethernet jack (important when traveling to places without wifi), a physical keyboard, 10-hour 6-cell battery, and the ability to run full applications with a real Windows 7 install.

Sure, it's not as sexy as an ipad, and I imagine I'll jump on the bandwagon and pick up v2.0 when it's released, but for pure utility, especially the travelling diver/photographer/videographer, the netbook just seems much, much more useful.

 

[thanksforallthefish]

We just bought a samsung netbook for my wife to take on her trip to North America instead of the hulking big laptop we own ... it has an Atom processor and a quoted 12 hours of battery life

Have not tested this as it went to North America two days after purchase.

We added extra ram to give it 2 gig and it runs photoshop quite well ... have not tried doing any heavy duty work, just eliminating backscatter and adjusting levels etc.

We also use Diving Log 5.0 ... a very good piece of software and i doubt you would ever get better user support from anyone anywhere!

 

[k374]

iPad doesn't serve any purpose for me...some key features are missing:

no local storage or access to the filesystem
no flash
no USB port
no media card reader
no windows media support
no multitasking (can't have a download running while I browse something else..how lame is that!)

it's useless, I can understand these limitations in a smartphone like the iPhone but in something that is marketed as a lightweight computing device its inexcusable. Just wait for the HP Slate or the Notion Ink Adam coming out in June which will have all these features and more.

HP preps its would-be iPad killer, the Slate - Yahoo! News

Notion Ink Adam hands-on - SlashGear

I have a Asus 1000HA netbook right now that I absolutely LOVE!!! The new Asus seashell 1008HA model is only 1" thin using a clever design, costs $400 (less than the iPad), has an LED display and does much more, not to mention weighs only 2.5 lbs.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-eee-pc-1008ha/4505-3121_7-33661568.html

 

[Puffer Fish]

Oddly, there are a fair number of low power dual core processors out there...mine gets 8 hours. But the full blown light weight notebook with something around an 11 inch screen will have the same operating time (usually around 12 hours). They just cost a bit more.

But at around $400, the weight and operating time are almost identical. Operating speed is very different.

Little cayman weight restrictions? I take it their plane?



That looks like a great computer. I like THinkPads - expensive, but solid devices. The maroon color was not my first choice, but it's growing on me




Isn't the purpose of the Atom to be more energy efficient? How much battery power can you get from a full 64 bit processor?

On a side note I purchased the Diving Log 5.0 - scuba logbook software for diver - dive log, scuba log. It seems like a great utility and it will import the logs from many dive computers (including my atom2.0). What I really like about it is the data file is an .mdb (MS Access) which means I can straight copy it to a backup device. It has all the other fun features of a good dive log, including online backup. Anyhow just wanted to throw that out there for those interested.

 

[furby076]

I decided to go with Diving Log which was capable of logging from both of my computers. I have never used it to download from the Cobra though so I'm not sure about that part.

As a person who works in the IT field, specifically infastructure/system design/implementation, what really made me happy about Diving Log is the way it stores the data. If the guy stops supporting dive log and the software itself is no longer useful then I can export the data to numerous formats (including SQL). That right there is golden...data is everything!

iPad doesn't serve any purpose for me...some key features are missing:

no local storage or access to the filesystem
no flash
no USB port
no media card reader
no windows media support
no multitasking (can't have a download running while I browse something else..how lame is that!)
[/url]

I am no shil for Apple products (I own none) but there are some flaws with your statement:
It does have local storage...not much, 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB - though you are correct about the file system
No Flash - Yea I agree this is retardedly dumb on Lord Jobs part
No USB - You can get an adapter...for the 29.95$ price or get a third party one
No Media Reader - Same as the USB
No Windows Media Support - It's not windows so big deal? Apple has their own media players which are great
No Multitasking - iPod and iPad will be getting multi-tasking in the fall

I have a Asus 1000HA netbook right now that I absolutely LOVE!!! The new Asus seashell 1008HA model is only 1" thin using a clever design, costs $400 (less than the iPad), has an LED display and does much more, not to mention weighs only 2.5 lbs.

Asus Eee PC 1008HA Laptop reviews - CNET Reviews

Yea so far I am liking my choice. Now just gotta install Oregon Trail III so I can have some fun while sitting at an airport

 

[a22shady]

HP Slate will be better then Both and Is coming out very soon

 

[k374]

I am no shil for Apple products (I own none) but there are some flaws with your statement:
It does have local storage...not much, 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB - though you are correct about the file system
No Flash - Yea I agree this is retardedly dumb on Lord Jobs part
No USB - You can get an adapter...for the 29.95$ price or get a third party one
No Media Reader - Same as the USB
No Windows Media Support - It's not windows so big deal? Apple has their own media players which are great
No Multitasking - iPod and iPad will be getting multi-tasking in the fall

I meant local storage that is freely accessible, I know there is local storage but unless you jailbreak the device (which I had done on my iPhone for a while before updating to the new 3.x firmware) you can't access it freely. Right now besides songs, pictures and a few other bits and pieces there is not much else you can do with that storage and it all has to be accessed through iTunes or the apps.

About the USB and Media readers, well, it doesn't come built into the iPad..that was my statement, almost all other netbooks and tablets on the market have a built in USB port at a minimum.

It may be an Apple product but the ability to install other codecs is important, you need to have an open pluggable system. There are indeed places which use Windows Media.

Multitasking is coming out in the fall with the new 4.0 OS, it's not currently available, there is a difference!

 

[Gombessa]

Multitasking is coming out in the fall with the new 4.0 OS, it's not currently available, there is a difference!

Not to mention that the multitasking supported is an innovative, but apparently limited version that's more like task-switching coupled with discrete allowable background processes. For instance, it's unclear to me whether you could have a generic, app-specific process like a photoshop filter complete in the background using the "task completion" service, or allow video streaming in the background (since it doesn't seem to fall under an enumerated service) while you switch to IM/e-mail.

 

[ScubaShep]

I have an EEE PC that I throw in a Maxpedition Fatboy Versipack and carry it everywhere. IMHO the iPad is just an over sized iPhone (I have an iPhone). You can store and edit pictures while your out and about, hit WiFi spots. I keep all my photo's on a 1TB at home, but when I need to dump the SD card I have the net book. My only suggestion would got New Egg and get a gig of ram for it. Hope this helps....