My kids want iPads, but I don't see any advantage to have them over a laptop computer. They seem limited on what they can do compared to a laptop. Anyone was technical experience explain the advantages, if any, of an iPad over a standard computer?

I am a high school student and I have used my iPad to do all my school work. Many people do not know this but you can get many computer programs on an iPad. Her is list of apps that can turn an iPad into a Mac like tablet. I have most off these apps except a few I haven't got but will get. For both lists of apps I would suggest you look them up.

Bento (Mac program)
Dragon Dictation (Mac program)
Evernote (Mac program)
GarageBand (Mac Prpgram)
GoodReader (Mac program)
FaceTime (Mac Program)
iMovie (Mac program)
Instapaper (Mac program)
Keynote (Mac version of PowerPoint if you are not familiar with Apple)
Numbers (Mac version of Excel)
Omnifocus (Mac program)
Omnigraffle (Mac program)
Omnigraphsketcher (Mac program)
Omnioutliner (Mac Program)
Pages (Mac version of word) Great app if you plan to write a lot get a bluetooth wireless keyboard.
Papers (Mac program)
QuickoOfice (Mac program)
Sketchbook Pro (Windows program)
SpaceTime (Mac program)
Things (Mac program)

Now lets talk about some amazing apps that lets you do stuff on an iPad where on a laptop you can not do or can not do as good as an iPad can. Also some amazing apps. Some of th are good education apps too.

All of wikipedia (get wikipedia while you have no Internet connection)
Dropmind (powerful mind mapping app
IBooks Or kindle (it's way better to read books on an iPad than a laptop)'
Mathination (Make math calculations easy)
Netflix (iPad way better to watch movies in than a portable DVD player or laptop)
Pcalc (Amazing calculator)
Scrabble (you can't play games like this on an laptop)
Skyfire (App that let's you play flash videos)
Solar system ( see the solar system like you have never seen it before)
Elements (Can not wait to use this app in chemistry)
Wolfram Alpha (yes there is a website for this but you need to check this must have app out it gives you calculations, graphs, and reference anything you could imagine for example I could find the exact force of gravity right where I stand and I could also find the average 17 year old boy weight )

First and foremost you must consider the iPad's strength which is it's ultra light-weight design, long battery life and of course it's greatest asset the iOS. The iOS, the iPad's operating system, is a very responsive, fast and resource efficient OS allowing the iPad to run PC-like interface on such low-powered (compared to laptops) components. Next are the apps, the iPad's apps allows you to do almost anything on the iPad, including, but not limited, to PC-like applications such as excel, powerpoint presentation, word documents; An entertainment value since it plays a lot of games, movies and music; As an educational value, the iPad has apps from dictionaries to encyclopedias to it's huge amount of library ebooks, most of which are real. Software costs should also be taken into consideration, most apps are priced at around $4.99 vs the average computer app which costs at $29, hence you can have about 6 iPad applications for every application you install on a PC.

On the laptop's defense, you can do some technical stuff like installing specific, foreign or outdated software or hardware issues like a USB drive. Other than those I would definitely recommend buying an iPad especially if you're considering a netbook. The iPad would beat most netbooks any day and would give much better user satisfaction.

Bottom Line: If you're just going to use the device on common everyday task, like browsing, office, word, excel and even some gaming go for an iPad 2. If you just can't let go of that rare software or you need to use specific hardware or you simply need that too much extra performance go for a laptop.

Personally I'd go for an iPad 2 instead of a netbook, but between iPad 2 and a laptop/notebook computer. It's down to the user's needs.

There is a long list of things an iPad can do that a laptop is not designed to do. For example, the iPad has a gyroscope and accelerometer, so it can take advantage of software designed to detect the iPad's position in space (i.e. it knows when you move it). The iPad 3G has an A-GPS, so it can be used as a GPS. Etc.

But if you are mainly getting it for your kids,the three things you may want to consider are: (1) the apps for an iPad are much less expensive than for a laptop, so instead of paying $20-50 for games, you'll be paying $1-$5 for most games (2) the iPad can do most of the common tasks a laptop would be used for, including browsing the web, reading email, using a word processor or spreadsheet, etc. and (3) it is easier to "lock down" and iPad via the parental controls.

basicly , an ipad is like an hotel, and a portable laptop like a tent; now the hotel does have more luxery, it does louk fancier, but there are some things you can't do.. a tent may not look as fancy, but everything that's out there is possible.. any program you want you can instal...
but, for gaming i'd go for the ipad, like your kid probably.. for shear education, laptop.

Hi, I'm new and just posted a reply in the "Why is an Ipad better than a laptop and what is the advantages of an Ipad" thread.
I discuss interface considerations through a brief look at the evolution of how we interact with a personal computer.

ipad/why-ipad-better-than-laptop-and-what-the-advantages-ipad-t104410.html#p604604

But your thread is more recent and more meaty
Great