Does anyone take their laptop out on the road with them so they don't miss any work? Or has anyone switched to an I Pad? Plus I would like to hear from the I pad users if they like them and if its worth the investment.

I just got a net book from Verizon. It has a built in card - and it also hooks up to hot spots. The net book was $39 with a two year contract and the air time - 5G is $50 a month. It has stupid insurance - another 6 bucks a month but I can run it over with a car and they replace it for a service fee. It has been awesome to update occupancy reports while in front of the house or forward offers ect - and not have to try and remember what needs done when I get back to my home office. May not be the best deal out there but it took very little thought and it has worked out great.

I am not so certain an IPAD can do all of the work related tasks you would need it to do. IPADS are cool, but in my mind it is just a "personal entertainment unit"..not certain they can connect to all of the provider sites.I would like to have one, but it would not be for work purposes.

You can use your smartphone to pick up orders on the road.
I think the small netbooks are more functional and easier to use overall than the crop of iPads and the like. They sit upright, you can put them on your center console or armrest in the car for easy use.
Wife has a 10" Asus netbook thats she uses to surf and shop with and it's been reliable and easy to use. Cheap too. Bought on Amazon. Good battery life also.
I sort of like the 13" sized laptops for portable use and have every size notebook except one of them. The 13" ones cost too much it seems compared to other sizes though.
There's so many choices out there that it boils down to personal preference.

See if Google is still accepting applications for the cr-48 laptop. I got one for free about a month ago and love it. It comes with 2 free years of internet with Verizon.

Between an ipad and a laptop go with the laptop. The ipad will not be able to do 1/2 of what you need it for. Depending on what phone you use you can tether your laptop to it. Even for free if you know what you're doing

I have an Ipad that I use on the road for checking and responding to email, accepting orders, mapping locations, etc. I can access and do searches on Paragon using the Beta version for other browers.

Biggest thing with the Ipad, it cannot upload photos to any site that requires a flash plugin. I can check and respond to messages in Equator and RES.net, but cannot upload photos. Wish I could, then I could get occupancy checks done sooner. Most AM companies use some type of flash plugin to upload photos.

It cannot log in to EML or similar site as they are IE dependent.

Otherwise, I love it, no boot up time. I have the wi-fi hotspot option on my Verizon phone for $20/month and use that when I need it.

And I can kill time waiting for clients to show up playing Scrabble and Angry Birds.

Yeah, I want one for entertainment reasons...think they are great. But, no USB plug in, right? I may sit on the sidelines a bit, see if some of those types of things get addressed with competitors...and see if the prices come down. These are pretty cool devices, great display also. But, I just do not see it being more than a device for entertainment..

hp slate is suppose to be much better than the ipad... ipad doesn't have hdmi, no front camera, no adobe flash player...Also, you can't get in to any mindbrix bpo sites.... that kills me right there.... I still prefer laptops... check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xX-B2wG1e4

Thanks for the feedback. I do accept orders with my BB but sometimes there is a delay in the email. Also I want to be able to be a click monkey as I'm driving down the road. Just kidding.

Hey BPoBill, did your wife receive the netbook? I just did the application and wonders how long it takes.

Why did you mention a wife? I'm not married. I filled out the application and got it in the mail about 2 weeks later. No phone calls, emails, or anything. Ups just showed up with the package.

Im an ipad guy, but as some people noted, you cannot do everything you need to do BPO related as you can a standard laptop.

However, it does have a lot of other cool functions. I actually started making youtube videos reviewing Ipad apps for Realtors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui1mz87jvyw

Very nice!

Have you tried jailbeaking your ipad?? http://www.pcworld.com/article/199834/how_to_jailbreak_your_ipad_plus_8_things_to_do_with_it.html

If you use your Ipad for business stuff and have business stuff on there, I wouldnt do it. I have had several Jailbroken Iphones and am all about the Jailbreak.

However, right now the jailbreak for the Ipad is a tethered one. In other words, if your Ipad loses power or gets turned off, you have to go thru the jailbreak process again and risk losing your business stuff.

Not only that, you cannot update your Ipad if its jailbroken withouth losing your info on it and starting over.

I had jailbroke mine the first day I got it, and 2 weeks later restored it and left it as is. Cydia wasnt worth losing all my business stuff on it again.

RES.net now has an app for the Iphone and Ipad to access the site with. I'm going to try it out this evening. Now, if we could only get Equator onboard, I'd be in pretty good shape.

Quick update: the apps requires the professional subscription. Darn!!!! I refuse to pay over $700 year for 3-4 properties a year on that site. Oh well.

I though this will helpfull for some of the iPaddies

http://kwconnect.kw.com/connect/user/GetCourse.do?memberId=1902

i have used the Logmein app, and it does work great. I tried the iAnnotate PDF reader app, but after spending some time on it, I felt it was too difficult to use, and found Goodreader. Much more user friendly.