New iPhone in lieu of laptop?

[Aglifter]

Essentially, I putter on forums, shop, read emails, and use spreadsheets on my laptop.

Now, my old laptop still works fine - so I could still use it for managing my music. (I have a rather large CD collection, which I've just started converting to lossless files. )

[Rod]

I've had an iPhone for quite a few years now and I'd say it's good in an emergency for surfing and such but you pretty much need a pad or laptop to really be effective. I'm not an IT guy and I didn't even sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night so YMMV.

[Aglifter]

Oh, I wouldn't replace a laptop w my current iPhone - but the new one has a better chip and more storage than my laptop...

I might give it a shot, and see how it goes. It'd be nice not to lug my laptop in everyday, although I have no intention on backing up over the "cloud" so that might be an issue...

[MarkD]

Just my humble opinion of course.

Your iPhone (or other smartphone) has the same relationship to a laptop as your pistol does to your rifle. If you KNOW you're getting into a gun fight, you bring a rifle. If you want something handy in case you need to shoot something, you carry a pistol. Likewise, if you KNOW you need to use a computer, you bring a computer. If you think you may need to check e-mail or do a quick web search, the phone on your belt will serve the purpose.

The performance gap between laptops and desktops has narrowed considerably in the last few years, to the point where my most recent computer purchase (a couple months ago) was a laptop. Yeah, phones are a whole lot more capable now too, but their portability means trade-offs in ergonomics.

[Greg]

Just my humble opinion of course.

Your iPhone (or other smartphone) has the same relationship to a laptop as your pistol does to your rifle. If you KNOW you're getting into a gun fight, you bring a rifle. If you want something handy in case you need to shoot something, you carry a pistol. Likewise, if you KNOW you need to use a computer, you bring a computer. If you think you may need to check e-mail or do a quick web search, the phone on your belt will serve the purpose.

The performance gap between laptops and desktops has narrowed considerably in the last few years, to the point where my most recent computer purchase (a couple months ago) was a laptop. Yeah, phones are a whole lot more capable now too, but their portability means trade-offs in ergonomics.

Pretty much.

You could do it, it would work. I find myself using my phone (16GB Nexus 4) for most things I used to do on my own computer. Always having it with you counts for a lot. But there are ergonomic compromises. While the screen is excellent, very high res (higher ppi than any iPhone, iirc), etc 4.7" is still small. For a lot of things you have to hold it right up to your face, really.

If you have a very large music collection and want to keep as much of it with you as possible, get a model with an SD card slot.

[Aglifter]

I was planning on getting a display and keyboard for the office - I can give it a shot.

As little as I do w a computer, I'm a bit annoyed it can't fit on my keychain and replace my keys.

[Greg]

As little as I do w a computer, I'm a bit annoyed it can't fit on my keychain and replace my keys.

Ah, but it can. It's a fine idea and you're not the only one who's had it.

There are any number of very small, keychain sized computers that look like a USB thumb drive. The popular term is pc-on-a-stick, or android stick (as they tend to be ARM devices running Android).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-on-a-stick

Right now people are still working out all the things you can do with one.

http://blog.laptopmag.com/android-mini-pc
http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/06/ae-b ... n-a-stick/

There are already a decent number of hobbyist-type models available, like:

http://www.tgdaily.com/hardware-feature ... s-in-at-62

Dell will soon be joining the party, they will likely try to differentiate themselves with a more polished, enterprise-friendly product that will require less DIY:

http://hothardware.com/News/Dells-Proje ... t-Quarter/