The iPad does loads of stuff that the Kindle doesn't. In fact the Kindle is a reading device primarily and does that brilliantly and…pretty much exclusively. The iPad is way more versatile but it isn't a laptop by any stretch of the imagination. On the subject of laptops… on the face of it the Apple range seems epensive but… when you factor in the idea of a full operating system as opposed to Windows cut-down version, and ypu examine the large and impressive bundle of software…add to that the lack of virus attacks on the Apple platforms and the Mac has it in spades. Cheap means that you add software, virus protection etc. Not really cheap at all.