I found the Blackberry very straight forward. You could be reading your mail, click a link and read the web page and return to your mail without having to close the web page and return to the home screen. The I phone does not have a back button which I find so frustrating. My son has an Android and I find it more comfortable to use. It does have a back button. I like the screen better, seems clearer/sharper than Iphone. Iphone brags about their retina display. Sons, Samsung is brighter and colors seem better. Iphone is a data hog. You must remember to constantly close programs or they continue to run. There is no 'xing' off anything. You have to leave a page by returning to the home screen. There are so many things I dislike about the Iphone I won't bother taking the time to list. My guess is, if Iphone is your first smart phone, you'll love it because it's all you know. I also think it is appealing to younger people because of the Apple status symbol. Blackberrys were more 'business' orientated. They operated more like a computer. You could work from multiple screens and pages. Can't do that with the Iphone. Snidely, I've been following Blackberry over the past year hoping the company would come out with a new phone. I thought it was going under. I hoped Microsoft might buy them out. Now it seems they will release their new phone in the next few weeks. The tech reviews were very good. Blackberry will not have a physical keyboard but the testers report loving how well their new touch keypads work. The reports loved the ability to have multiple windows working at once without losing your place. I know many professional people who gave up on Blackberry and upgraded to Iphones. Not one of them thinks Iphone is better than their old phones. Many state they might switch back and are waiting for the release. If I can't get a Blackberry, I'd get an Android. I think its a better phone. Jane

Charge it whenever you want, but there's no need to recharge when it is still at a high capacity, like 70%. In fact, Apple recommends that you let an iPad get low enough to turn itself off (near zero charge) at least once a month. Don't overthink this: no matter what you do, you'll still get about the same hours total use out of the battery.

I've had an 11" MacBook Air for five years. DH decided he wanted to upgrade from his iPad to my Mac (when we travel blogging on the iPad is a challenge). I like the MacBook so much that I decided to replace the 11" with a 12" ( the 11" is no longer available). The 12" weighs slightly less than the 11" and has retina display. The overall size is thinner and perhaps a little smaller (the screen, however, is the same size, I believe). We're partial to the smaller ones because they easily fit into our luggage and also work well for us at home. We were PC users and reluctant to switch to Apple but our kids convinced us and, hate to say it, but they were right. Fewer problems and user friendly. No experience with Quicken.

Dedtired- how do you like your new iPad so far? The 10.5" is intriguing but I wonder if it's more than I need so I was curious what you thought. I like the keyboard/cover too. I know how you feel about the mental exhaustion - this week I've been researching cell phones but when I discovered that Verizon will give me $200 additional off an iPad I figured I'd upgrade that too and give my 9.7" to my DDIL. She's pregnant with her first and may find the iPad handier than her big Macbook. As I mentioned in my other thread my son gave me an iWatch a month ago that's still in the box. So I envision moving into my local Apple store while I take their classes - luckily I have 2 Apple stores within 8 miles so I can spread my ignorance around a little. lol