In need of advice: laptop vs ipad for tabletop gaming!

[frankthedm]

I'd say laptop, unless Ipads come with USB, VGA and HDMI connections.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have an iPod Touch, an iPad2, an iMac, and a MacBook Pro. I have used all for gaming.

When we're playing 4Ed, the iMac usually gets used by whomever has forgotten their character, so they can access DDI.

I have found that the iPod & iPad actually do enough for me to use for gaming in general, though. I don't have any special apps: I do my PCs, NPCs and even adventure & campaign write ups in the Notes app that comes with them. Sometimes, I'll access an online resource, like a SRD.

Were I shopping for a device specifically for gaming, though, I'd probably still buy a laptop. Some of what I do would be easier or neater or more flexible on a laptop, no question. For instance, I can type a hell of a lot faster on a standard keyboard than I can on a virtual one.* And then, of course, there are all the things laptops can do that tablets can't quite.

But the iPod & iPad do enough that I really haven't needed a fully functioning computer, for reasons stated above. The iPod, partly despite its small size, partly because of it, ate away at my use of the laptop at the table. In fact, dating back to my use of a Palm Tungsten PDA, I haven't had a paper character sheet, and most of my campaign design notes were taken on that device. And honestly, I haven't used the laptop for gaming at all since I got the iPad.










* I can still type faster on a virtual keyboard than most people can, using a touch-typing technique, but without the proper physical feedback**, my fingers drift ever so slightly, leading to fun with AutoCorrect...

** why did Apple programmers waste lines of code putting virtual guide blisters on the virtual keyboard's "F" and "J" keys?

 

[Hand of Evil]

I use my iPAD for most of my gaming, figure I will update to an iPAD3 soon but have been testing some of the tablets at work and got to say, there are some good ones out there and Window 8 is not that bad (once I found the minus key). So, why will I go iPAD again, mostly because I already invested $ in apps and learned how to use them in my games.

Note on Tablets running Windows 8 - expansion slots are the key and a docking station.

Note on Apps - tons of them out there, look around and see what other people are using and read "current reviews" but mostly simple is better for interface and what it provides, some look cool but just a pain to use.

My advice; get the most for what you are willing to spend but get something you know you will use.

 

[delericho]

My advice; get the most for what you are willing to spend but get something you know you will use.

That's good advice. The people in my groups who have used laptops/iPads/iPhones got the devices in question for other reasons, and merely applied them to gaming. As far as I know, nobody in my game group bought one specifically for gaming use.

 

[Remus Lupin]

I've been using Hero Lab at the table on my laptop for a long time and I've found it very useful. In particular, having the program do a great deal of the math behind the scenes has been a big advantage at the table and makes things go a bit more quickly.

The other big advantage at the table, particularly playing Pathfinder, has been a) the easy online access to the PFSRD, meaning I don't necessarily need the massive tome that is that Core Rulebook, and b) PDFs of any resources that I might need.

Now, it turns out that, as they've finally come out with a version of Hero Lab for the iPad, it's actually much easier for me to use my iPad at the table at this point than my laptop, and I'll probably end up phasing out my laptop for that purpose once they've got most of the bugs worked out of HL, and it's got full functionality at the table. Although, I agree that for DMing the laptop may continue to be better. It remains to be seen, but I'm looking forward to the point when I can rely exclusively on the tablet at the table.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Three players in my 4E group use tablets for their character sheets--two on Android devices and myself on an iPad. The Android users love their virtual character sheet apps ("K-Sheets") but the layout for the one that I have ("i4e") is not appealing and I end up using printed character sheets instead.

I find that Evernote and Google Drive are great for easy access to gaming notes and documents and sharing between your tablet and your computer. (And for sharing with others.)

 

[Janx]

As a player, I've switched to using a spreadsheet. My Ipad1 works WAY NICER than my laptop for this.

It's lighter than a laptop.
Numbers (an Apple app) runs my spreadsheet
I've got d20srd.org for the rules, or PDFs

The laptop worked functionally, but took up more space. Picking up the ipad is as casual as picking up a rulebook. Using my iPad was like finally achieving the goal of using a computer to play D&D.

On the whole topic of what $600 gets you, I think there's some misconception.
Using a laptop to play D&D is NOT high-end performance computing. It's about as lightweight as your gramma sending email or doing her taxes. A low-end computer will suffice because you aren't using it for super duper graphics (showing off a JPG of a dragon is NOT strenuous for a computer, rendering a first person shooter at 60+ frames per second is).

So, you can solve this problem with a cheap laptop for $300. But the iPad (or other tablet) will be lighter and more inviting to use.

The iPad has Pages and Numbers for it's Word and Excel equivalents. And of course the web browser, which won't run everything on the net, but most general content sites will work (like d20srd.org).

You also could do Remote Desktop to a real PC. Which means your iPad acts as the screen, mouse and keyboard of a real computer somewhere in your house. Thus, you get the benefit of a lighter weight, and the availability of that one special app that you can only run in Windows.

 

[Tobold]

I have a lot of roleplaying apps on my iPad, but I'm not actually using it during my sessions. But I can assure you that there are tons of apps out for handling and sorting game notes, for tracking initiative, for electronic character sheets, to roll virtual dice, and to read PDF files of rulebooks or adventures. While DDI isn't working directly, there are Compendium apps with which you have full access to the DDI Compendium to look up everything 4E. I'm using Evernote to write my own adventures, and an index card app for notes on NPCs.

Overall I'd say there are a LOT of roleplaying apps available, and they are usually free or dirt cheap compared to PC software.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I'd say laptop, unless Ipads come with USB, VGA and HDMI connections.

Just wanted to grab this and point out that there are VGA and HDMI adapters for the iPad. I regularly use my iPad and the 'Battle Maps' app with the TV that we use for our game surface.

-rg

 

[Radiating Gnome]

In my experience, the iPad is a better, more natural experience at the game table. It feels a lot more like a print resource -- I can lay it down, flip through it, etc. I don't DM with a screen, and have gotten used to not having anything between myself and the players (I'm also short). The laptop screen feels a lot like a DM screen. I like that effect even less when the players have laptops up as well. iPads and other tablets don't have those problems.

The downside of the iPad is the lack of direct access to the Wizards tools -- character builder, especially. You can access your characters through a handful of character sheet apps -- compendium apps, etc. But to actually build characters you're going to need a computer -- but you don't need that at the table.

There are a ton of other apps -- I'm a huge fan of Evernote, for example, for all kinds of notes, etc.

Our group has switched to the playtest, and the thing I miss most about 4th edition is the digital tools. I know it's not reasonable to expect that there would be digital tools while the ruleset is in such flux, but it's a drag. Especially now that we have become so used to/dependent upon those tools.

Bottom line, I'd recommend the iPad because it will make the biggest change to the way you access and consume content -- but just don't expect that you'll be able to use just -- you're still going to need your desktop for character building, etc.

-rg