You're on the road and you have to edit a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. Or you're sitting in class and want to take notes. Will the iPad get the job done, or do you need the full PC application access of a netbook?

iPad: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are fairly good applications on the iPad--though you have to pay $10 each for them. Unfortunately, the iPad offers no local storage, so moving documents around is a real pain. Basically you have to e-mail them to yourself and open them from the Mail program or from your favorite Web mail client, and then e-mail them back when you're done (you can mail documents from within the iWork apps). Many features within Excel and Word (such as macros and drop-down boxes) won't work properly, either. The on-screen keyboard is good enough for hunting and pecking, but taking lengthy notes or writing long papers or articles is a chore: You can't really touch-type on the new keyboard. A number of iPad-compatible productivity apps are available, and things like Evernote work great; but if you want to get any real work done, this is not the device for it. Though you can sync with Exchange, the Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps are missing features that business users rely on.

Netbook: As much as we dislike most netbooks' keyboards, they're infinitely more usable than the iPad's on-screen keyboard. Because netbooks let you run full-blown versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, you can do everything you need to do for business or school on one of these devices. Sure, the limited screen resolution is a drag at times, but that's a problem with the iPad, too (especially with spreadsheets).

Advantage: Netbook. It's not even close on this measure: Netbooks have the clear advantage. The iPad needs a better keyboard or text-entry method, better spreadsheet support, and local storage--not to mention built-in, system-wide network printing. Customized apps like Evernote are great productivity tools, but if you want to do real work you'll want a netbook.