Originally Posted by
wco81
I've taken my iPad around in my messenger bag, which I was going to take for other things besides the iPad.
De gustibus, and all that. I don't feel the need to carry around anything beyond my mobile all day when doing things out and about.
Mini would be better but iPad is still better than my MacBook Pro and probably also noticeably better than a MacBook Air, because I'm walking for miles with that bag slung over my shoulder on my trip.
XPS 10 or Asus Transformer are both within 1/10th of a pound of the weight of the current full-size iPad, if you leave the keyboard in your room. Surface Pro is still significantly lighter than even the 11" MacBook Air, and no heavier than the 13" air even once the better keyboard is added.
The biggest/heaviest convertible devices I'm aware of will be about 2lbs heavier than an iPad on their own, or marginally heavier than the MBA 13".
I don't get the appeal of carrying around ANY of the above all day; if I'm walking that much, it means I'm on vacation and likely want to get away from the machines -- but you'd certainly want to stick with the lower-powered devices, and leave the keyboard at your hotel. Meanwhile, your weight during airport connections is 3lbs heavier, plus another device to deal with in security (and the hotel safe) by bringing both a laptop and tablet rather than a converged device. Ditto all the software-management advantages.
But hey, as everyone says, there's no accounting for taste, and the initial crop of higher-end converged devices have a price premium (the ones converging up from the bottom with a keyboard dock don't; many of them are cheaper than the iPad.)
For my use, as I've already said, a converged device that's more laptop than tablet would be ideal, and when the Haswell-generation devices shake out and come down in price a bit I am planning to replace my current travel machine with one. That won't be the path for everyone; a lot more people will do fine with the converged-up rather than needing the converged-down devices, and are probably better served saving the money.
