Laptop or iPad

[Blairvadach]

Hi folks
My laptop (MacBook)is on its last legs and thinking of purchasing a new one…a new MacBook is far too costly but I could get an iPad…. Or should I just buy a laptop at a similar price as an iPad?
Thanks

[martin hooper]

It depends on what you want to do. If it's research on the internet with online family trees then an ipad is good. I use mine a lot for that. But if you have a local copy of your tree on a program like Family Tree Maker or Roots Magic than you need to check if it works on an ipad.

Martin

[Blairvadach]

Hi Martin
I don’t have any program/apps for my trees. I am in the process of writing them up by generations. 2 4 8 16 etc.
So I would need the iPad to be able to continue this!
Thanks

[RJ_Paton]

As Martin says it very much depends on what you want or intend to do on the machine. As you mention "writing up" the information you may find the onscreen keyboard of the iPad awkward to use. A separate keyboard can be added but it all adds to the overall cost.

[mckha489]

What about the Apple Air laptop? Cheaper than the MacBook. But very versatile.  The cheapest one with the M1 chip would be fine. It’s not MUCH more expensive than the iPad with 256gbs. 

You wouldn’t want to switch to a cheaper laptop that was Microsoft after using a Mac I wouldn’t think. (I certainly wouldn’t).

I run an Air and an IPad.  I can use the  iPad for research  etc, but I much prefer the Air if I have to type anything long, (like writing up my research).

[Blairvadach]

Thanks for your advice mckha489.

I will definitely look into the air model.
The MacBook I have is a solid machine. The problem is it runs a bit slow and the major issue is that it “greys out” and I need to force it to quit and then restart it. I have taken it to Apple but they can’t fix the problem!!!

[mckha489]

There are refurbished MacBooks available too

https://www.backmarket.co.uk/en-gb

[Biggles50]

We have just bought a Macbook Air, it was cheaper than a iPad Pro with the same storage capacity.

Far more useful for our needs as it can have the full version of software like Roots Magic and Family Tree Maker rather than cut down Apps.

Plus it is easier to type on a proper keyboard than on an iPad sceen

[Annbee]

I'm an apple mac user for going on 35 years now. I agree with mckha489, get the cheaper and latest model air book rather than an ipad. You can always use/work with external hard drives if you need extra storage capacity.

I only half recommend looking at second hand/reconditioned models. As long as the seller is reputable and you're prepared for the machine to become redundant a lot earlier than if a newer model, then maybe. My main reservation is that laptops do have more falling accidents than a desktop and so you don't quite know how they've been treated. I've had two desktops (of the towers type) bought reconditioned and they were great - but they were made to be workhorses and weren't as fallible as laptops.

This article might help understand longevity and updates etc.

https://www.macworld.com/article/673939/this-is-how-long-macs-and-macbooks-last.html