Having an Alienware 15r4, which is VERY heavy, I got tired of carrying it around and had the opportunity to get the iPad Pro 12.9 at a discounted price.
Since the summer of 2023, I hardly use the laptop except for some games and specific tasks in Excel.
The tablet is truly amazing. I also bought a wireless keyboard (Mx keys mini) and a mouse, and I am very satisfied.
Do you want to use it while lying on the couch? It's perfect. And I was worried it might be heavy, but it's okay... unless you want to hold it for hours, which hasn't happened to me.
Do you want to use it for office work? Just connect a mouse-keyboard and a Hitachi hub base, and it's perfect.
The screen is quite large, although I have never had anything smaller than 15 inches. I quickly got used to it. The brightness is very good. The resolution and colors are excellent. There is a little bit of bloom when viewing white on a black background, like subtitles, but it doesn't bother me because I rarely use it in such a dark environment.
The speakers are perfect, and the sound is loud with plenty of bass. Much better than most laptops.
With the Apple Pencil 2, I can do some graphic work for social media and create posts on Curve (Vectornator) much faster and easier, almost as good as I was with Inkscape since it is the most similar program I found in terms of philosophy.
For office use: As for file management, both the Files app and the Documents app cover my needs. I can transfer everything through clouds, and I don't need a hard drive. I can instantly access photos from my phone for emails, scan documents with the camera, convert everything to PDF, and easily edit anything I want.
Recently, I also got a 27-inch monitor and use it with Stage Manager, which is amazing. Having the 12.9-inch iPad below it takes multitasking to another level.
For gaming, I can play anything I want on vacation using PS5 remote play and a controller. As long as you have a good internet connection. Even if you don't, there are many games like Divinity Sin 2, Company of Heroes, XCOM 2, and many others from every genre that have great graphics.
Now, for the negatives:
- Sometimes, there are difficulties with Excel, and you need to use Windows.
- For some reason, some websites open in PC mode instead of tablet mode due to the large screen, which makes them appear zoomed in or makes it difficult to perform drag and drop actions, etc.
- The mouse has this TERRIBLE trackball for the cursor. However, you get used to it. The worst part is its movement. Especially when you connect it to an external display, it feels sluggish. It's not that bad, but compared to the instant response it has on Windows, you always feel like something is missing. For some reason, its settings are very different.
If they replace it with a normal arrow and make it more responsive and Windows-like, it would be perfect.
Soon, I will also get a Mac to use it as an extended screen. It will be worth the money.
Is it worth the approximately €1700 it cost? Luckily, I got it cheaper because I probably wouldn't have paid that much and wouldn't have known what I was missing. This tablet is a work of art and a multitool with such versatility that you won't find anywhere else. It works perfectly for me, great in some aspects, and with a little patience and workarounds in some areas. I haven't encountered any dead ends... you can even use torrents through the browser.
Overall, I highly recommend it.
