[cwilson]

I have a Macbook Pro, I just don't like lugging it around on trips when it's overkill (the sucker is 5 - 6 pounds easily).

A netbook? I hope that's a joke. Why would I want a cheaply built, underpowered (I'll bet the iPad out performs most netbooks), mini laptop that doesn't run OSX or iPhone OS (as in I can't stand Windows or any linux distro)?

At risk of sounding like a fanboy I'm going to quote Steve Jobs himself: "We don’t know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk,"

[megaduck]

I've been using a Dell Mini 9 as my primary development machine for over a year now. There's more than enough power to fire up emacs, chrome, and a jvm (we're a JRuby shop). I love the amazing portability, and the ergonomics are adequate.

'Piece of Junk' is in the eyes of the beholder. In my experience, a $300 netbook has been the most productive machine I've ever owned.

edit: Sorry about the dupes, for some reason my phone freaked out and sent this three times. Fixed now.

[elblanco]

I bought my netbook as a toy and now use it almost everywhere for almost all of the things I used to do on a full system. I don't even bring along my much more powerful laptop to most places anymore. It's without a doubt the best consumer electronics purchase I've made in the last 5 years.

I also know that in a pinch, I can plug in a monitor and a usb keyboard and use it like a full machine (just with no 3d, and a slower processor). But for 95% of what I need (and I need some pretty processor intensive tasks, like photo editing, audio editing, etc.) it works "good enough". And it's unbeatable value for the dollar.

[pxlpshr]

It might be the most productive machine to you because it limits your distractions, but in a head-to-head I'm about 99.9% positive I'm far more productive on my Mac Pro w/ dual monitors because I don't waste my day consuming media. And, I'll put my money where my mouth is. :)

[tommorris]

Depends on how you define 'underpowered'.

The iPad is underpowered in that it can't run Vim or emacs. If you are a developer, being able to run a text editor is the baseline for a device.

Why would you want a cheaply built laptop? So when your bag gets stolen or dropped or whatever, you lose a $200 netbook rather than a $500 iPad or a $1000 laptop.

As for not running OS X? Google 'hackintosh'.

[cwilson]

I actually mentioned in a reply above that the iPad will never be a good machine for development.

Honestly, life is too short, I'm not going to sacrifice quality because of a fear that at any moment my bag may be stolen. It's also pretty easy to not, you know, leave your bag sitting somewhere in public? A $300 difference is worth it because of the upgrade in quality and less frustration.

Again, this all comes down to your personality and lifestyle. Steve Jobs did not get up on stage and say the iPad is a laptop replacement. It's a device meant to replace SOME, not all, of your daily activities (heck maybe they are not even daily, maybe it's your weekend only device or something). If you don't see it fitting into your life, don't buy one. That doesn't mean it doesn't work for someone other then you though!

[Psyonic]

There are quite a few netbooks that are more powerful than the iPad, and cheaper to boot. Intel Atom stuff can actually output 1080p video... imagine that? And actually, if you buy the right one, its not all that hard to set one up as a hackintosh either.

[rimantas]

Who cares how powerful iPad is as long as it is fast? And it is fast. And, for the hudnreth time: iPad comes with IPS screen.

[Psyonic]

Sure, that's fine, but he was the one claiming the iPad was more powerful in the first place. I was debunking his claim. If it doesn't matter, why bother claiming it at all? And yes, IPS is nice.