<p>Reader Clint Grosse, like many people, faces the "laptop or iPad" decision. He writes:I want to purchase either a 13-inch MacBook or iPad soon. I would only use either when traveling and would primarily need it to check email every day or two, write a document occasionally (I don't know how that might be done using an iPad, since Word doesn't appear to be an option) and, sometimes, be able to go to an online auction site. Also, I might want to occasionally listen to a CD and watch a DVD. And flash/thumb drives? Without USB ports, they're not an option for iPads are they?</p><p>As you'd expect, you can do everything you desire with a laptop (okay, you'll also need an external CD/DVD player if you want anything other than the old non-retina 13-inch MacBook Pro that Apple still sells, as Apple's other laptops no longer include such media players). Let's now run down your list in regard to the iPad.</p><p>Email: No problem. You can configure the iPad with all the email accounts you have. Any iPad can connect to the Internet over Wi-Fi. Pay an extra $130 and you can have an iPad that additionally supports cellular data. In the U.S. iPad cellular plans are offered by AT&amp;T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.</p><p>Write documents: While it's true that there currently isn't a native Microsoft Office suite for the iPad, you can open and create Word-compatible documents on the iPad using Apple's $10 Pages app (Pages and other iWork and iLife apps are free with the purchase of new iOS devices and Macs). If you need every single feature offered in Word, you won't find it in Pages, but for general purpose word processing it's a more than adequate substitute.</p><p><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2102060/ipad-or-laptop-which-is-right-for-you.html">Keep reading...</a></p>