Well -- the new Macbook Air IMHO took a lot of wind out of the sails of such an idea. If I got an Air that I can leave the power cable at home because it will legitimately go all day... why would I even consider such a goofball setup?
What's wrong with vim on an iPad? Unless you mean you tried it with the screen keyboard. That's just madness. vim works fantastically well with the Apple wireless keyboard and Prompt (Panic ssh app).