I use my iPad all the time in my day to day life, several times a day. In the morning I flip through my Flipboard and catch up email and news while I eat breakfast and sip coffee. I take it with me to class and look through PDF's while the instructor is presenting. For example, I go on Wikipedia and I look at related material as I learn about it. (And yes in a particularly boring class I go to reddit, here, or play a game). In office I like to hook my headphones to it and listen to music. When I work on a problem set I always open the PDF on my iPad-- no need to print. When I go to a talk I always take it with me in case it is boring. While I eat dinner I also browse the internet, with the iPad next to my plate. Finally, I also read all my books on it now.

All these things could be done with a laptop I suppose, but the iPad is so simple to take out from the bag and just start using it right away. It occupies very little space and is much lighter. In fact, I actually don't use my laptop anymore... I use my desktop in office or home, or iPad everywhere else.