Yeah, as has been stated, they are two completely different products.
I got an iPad because it was slightly less expensive than the laptop I was looking at and it does *almost* everything I would want my laptop to do anyway. I like the portability - I can use it on the bus, or walking which I can't with a laptop. I don't have a huge library of music or movies so don't need massive amounts of storage space, and I have used it for over an hour at a time as an eReader no problems.
But If you want to be able to EVERYTHING you can on a laptop, get a laptop. What I have found though (selling laptops) is that a lot of people think they need a laptop when they don't and will never use it to it's full potential.
You have to think about what you NEED and what you WANT.
chiefie: @MiguelWrang, as a web developer, I fail to see why so important of Flash at all as a website... It is unfriendly and inaccessible... Any website that could be Flash-based, should have HTML alternative. All the Flashy stuff out there on the web are largely Flash-games... beside Flash is so susceptive to crash!
as another web dev, i completely agree. the only sites ive had issues with on my ipad is dominospizza, pizza hut, and cpanel (it renders a mobile version when browsed to from my ipad). everything else has just worked. people are starting to move away from flash (ive had clients ask me to redo their flash websites because of performance issues and to support iphones/ipads). anything you can do with flash you can do with html/html5, jquery, css.
and on topic: if you dont have a computer, get a laptop, ipad is cool (i love mine), but i use my macbook pro more and could live without my ipad (wouldnt want to, but could) but couldnt without my macbook. if you like macs over pcs, you can get a pretty cheap macbook (dse had a 13" for about $1600 last week i think), but i found the 13" screen to small, 15" is just right.
I decided to go for an iPad for the following reasons:
1. I just wanted something that was easy to consume content on. 2. I already have a desktop PC, plus a HTPC, and a work notebook. 3. I had a netbook for some time, but didn't find it convenient to use. Reasons: - I could not see the keyboard when using it in a dark lounge at night when watching TV. The iPad on screen keyboard is lit. - The keyboard keys were too small to use effectively. Would use my desktop for extended typing. I don't use the iPad for extended typing so its touch screen keyboard suits my needs. - The screen was too small to navigate around effectively. Sure my iPad screen resolution is exactly the same, but it does allow you to easily fit a webpage to the size of the screen, and is easier to zoom in and out of. The netbook on the other hand required the use of a mouse and/or keyboard to navigate around the page. - Boot times are much quicker on the iPad - Battery life is considerably longer on the iPad. I can keep it in 'standby' mode for days. My netbook would die after a few hours/a day, meaning I was more inclined to shut it down and reboot when needing it. - It is a convenient form factor.
I don't want the bulkiness of a full sized laptop, as any serious "computer stuff" I do is done on my desktop.
There are few flash based websites that I access, so this is not a great issue for me (again the desktop fills the gap). The only one I wish was not flash (or an iPhone/iPad app was available for) is the Lotto website. I like purchasing my tickets online for convenience.
Also - I came across a free iPad app yesterday which allows you to play DiVX video natively on your iPad. This is very convenient, eliminating the need to convert files first and fighting with the lip sync issues I've been.
Hopefully this helps you. But as others have said, if you don't already have a PC, then that should be your first priority as an iPad will not replace that.
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