I've used my iPad "3" on the boat a few times over the last couple of
months and have found it to be perfectly suitable for "computing needs,"
so long as you are in a cabin or outdoors under good shade. As with most
devices of this type, the color screen simply washes out to invisibility
in sunlight.

That being said, the device is a nice, small, very light "computer" to
have on board, especially when in a case like this one:

http://www.zagg.com/accessories/zagg...-keyboard-case

It works with wi-fi when available, or on the same networks as any
"smart" cell phone.

The screen is very bright and usable "indoors," and the Zagg keyboard is
easy to use, even for someone with clunky fingers like mine. On the
boat, I mostly use the device to find venues and services at the various
places we visit…museums, restaurants, et cetera. But it also works as a
media server, and movies on its display are very "watchable." The sound
output, though, is not that powerful, so you either have to use earbuds
or plug into an external speaker.

Most of the apps available for the iPhone are also available for the
iPad, usually in versions scaled for the latter's larger screen. There
are quite a few apps available for boaters…one of my favorites is "Knots
3D," which, as the name implies, presents good animations for tying all
manner of…knots. There are also navigation apps, weather apps, fishing
apps, just what you'd expect. My guess is that there are about 100
boating-related apps.

Obviously, a decent laptop computer is more utilitarian than an iPad,
but...for simple convenience, portability, et cetera, I like the iPad
better than the laptop I used to use.