IPad Upgrade Dilemma

I can not live without my IPad. So I thought I would update it to the new IOS 5 version yesterday. It only took about 20 hours. It started at 2 PM in the afternoon. I had already updated ITunes to the newest version in anticipation of this event. My laptop is almost six years old, and grinds everything out really slowly anyway. That is one of the main reasons I wanted the new version to avoid ever having to hook my IPad up to the computer again and save everything in the cloud. Midway through, ITunes said it did not recognize my equipment, could not either update or restore it, and it had lost everything that was on it- which included all my art work. By then, it was too late to go to an Apple Store... but I would not give up until I could figure it out. I downloaded ITunes on to my husband's laptop, and at least got it to the factory settings- and nothing more! It looked awful - I was devastated.... but I knew I had backed up everything and there must be a way to find it. Steve Jobs would not do that to us! When I hooked the IPad back to my laptop, it finally figured out it needed to be restored... and from 9PM to sometime early in the morning, it put almost everything back. I am surprised I slept so well last night, but I know I was plain exhausted with anxiety and apprehension. I was afraid to check it in the morning, but it did it's job. My IPhone also could benefit from the upgrade, but I'm really afraid to do it. Maybe next time I'll plan on it earlier on the weekend instead of a Sunday night.

I love my Apple products, but I hate all the technical stuff-
I don't ever want to use that laptop again