Ipad as computer replacement?

[oberkc]

A good analogy for an iPad and laptop is owning a scooter and a car. For a lot of what most people do day-to-day, a scooter will work fine, but it will always lack the power and versatility of a car.

Seconded. Nice analogy.

 

[kids4ever]

Be careful of the camera connection. I have one for my iPad 3 . It's typical Apple junk. It will only open pictures no files. On top of that the SD connector will only open pictures that have not been modified in any way. Not even just transferred. Apple was afraid they may miss a nickel of your money. Another thing I noticed the USB connection would only work with my small drives I get a too much power warning.
Be warned the iPad is basically a toy it's by no means a laptop replacement.

 

[thewitt]

Be careful of the camera connection. I have one for my iPad 3 . It's typical Apple junk. It will only open pictures no files. On top of that the SD connector will only open pictures that have not been modified in any way. Not even just transferred. Apple was afraid they may miss a nickel of your money. Another thing I noticed the USB connection would only work with my small drives I get a too much power warning.
Be warned the iPad is basically a toy it's by no means a laptop replacement.

No one ever said that the camera connection kit did anything except allow you to transfer images taken from a camera into your photo app on the device.

That's all Apple ever advertised it as doing, and no surprise that's exactly what it doe.

It's not a general purpose SD card or USB interface, and has never pretended to be.

If this makes the iPad a toy for you, by all means switch to a more professional tablet. The iPad at not be the right device for you.

 

[Gabriel1]

Be careful of the camera connection. I have one for my iPad 3 . It's typical Apple junk. It will only open pictures no files.

Ok, I'll preface my comment here by saying that I've never used the CCK as I have wireless solutions but your complaint that the CCK will only open pictures (which may or may not be correct) and therefore it is junk seems to miss an important point, it is called the Camera Connection Kit......isn't the clue in the name? Claiming that it is junk because it "does what it says on the tin" seems a somewhat flawed argument......

The Archangel

 

[Beryl]

I now use a desktop, an iPad, and an iPhone. My 2 laptops are in corners collecting dust. I pull them out once/month to do OS and antivirus updates. My iPad is such a laptop replacement that I now need a 7" tablet.

 

[boobaloo]

I agree with that whole heartedly! After a year of trying to do anything useful with my iPad2, I've given up and have decided to sell it. Not sure if I'll bother with eBay or what. I just finished resetting it to factory defaults. The camera connection gives me the message "This Device Not Supported by iPad"....Well, "Apple Not Supported By This Human". I'm done with Apple's non-compatabilities with the rest of the world.

 

[danieljackson09]

Hi,

My vote for iPad. Portable, comfortable and its just great. For education purposes, iPad is much greater than the others two. i use iPad only

 

[Pharlap]

First answer would be ease of use

I dont miss sitting in bed with a laptop and waiting to boot then connecting to network , checking battery every ten minutes ,slowly dozing off then the laptop crashes to the floor ,laugh it did happen and not the first.
Read ipad in bed and the worst you can do is also doze off while reading and the damn thing decides to wake you up constantl by slowly leaning forward and crashing straight across the bridge of your nose (they should supply a soft bumper with the damn thing.
You can do almost anything with this as it has been designed for all us lazy buggers who couldn't be bothered with all the other wanna be suppliers of android and surface
I will put my hand up and say their interfaces are about 2-3years behind Ipad
So if you want to be successful just get out and buy one but don't get sucked into updating every new unit release

P.S. i still fix desktop and laptops for fun as i could not make a loving out of fixings ipads .software is key to reliability and KISS

 

[Fn1889m]

Thanks a ton

Is there a way to synch with an external hard drive using the wi fi ...Not the connection to Internet but just home wifi ?

What choice / checks / selection process did you go thru with the keyboard ?

I know this is an old thread, but it still seems relevant, so:

I have not figured out how to access a hard drive except through Dropbox. I have not had the need.

On the other hand, I finally bought the Apple bluetooth keyboard. I wish I had bought it first. I went through two or three after market (Logitech) keyboards, and they were all too much trouble. But I find the Apple bluetooth keyboard to be integrated enough, and have keys that are large enough, that it actually does make typing easier, and the shortcut commands work. I still only use it when I am at the office. So my recommendation is, if you are trying to bootstrap your iPad into a laptop, get the Apple keyboard. Don't settle for any substitutes. Apple is just too good at product integration.

After using the iPad for 9 months, I still think it is a good laptop substitute, but I still rely on my desktop to finish most documents to final. But I did create a spread sheet on Numbers for my checking account and used it to do my taxes on Turbotax with a schedule C. I am getting rid of Quicken on the PC.

Second, since my original post, all the local courts now have public wireless, so I can access all all my files from the courtroom via Dropbox. That is a major improvement. (As an aside, some of the courts have interesting filters for certain words in their wireless connection, based on my informal survey. But someone else will have to bring the 1st Amendment law suit for that one. ;-)

So, in general, I think it works better as a laptop substitute than when this thread started.

 

[s2mikey]

I think more and more people will try to replace their other systems with tablets but there almost always ends up being that one thing you can't do. Or that one game that you still play. The idea is very appealing as you save a lot of space and clutter getting rid of PCs and laptops all through the house. If there was some way to have a USB port on the iPad which you could plug an external hard drive into and then manipulate the files, it'd be a lot closer.

 

[boobaloo]

So, I guess DROPBOX is the key. Well then, I'll give that a try and maybe be back loving my iPad.

 

[willerz2]

For recreational purposes, the iPad would be a feasible replacement. But if you're going for computing and such, it's far below the standards. The iPad as a companion to a laptop/desktop, sure. An iPad to replace, not the best of ideas.

 

[berberry]

For recreational purposes, the iPad would be a feasible replacement. But if you're going for computing and such, it's far below the standards. The iPad as a companion to a laptop/desktop, sure. An iPad to replace, not the best of ideas.

That's certainly true if you do actual work on your computer, but not everyone does. For some folks, the PC or Mac is just for fun, and when that's the case an iPad might indeed make a fine replacement device.

But I really agree with you about using the tablet as a desktop or notebook companion. That advice should be good for almost everybody. If you've already got a desktop, why replace it?

In fact, it's quite easy to use the desktop through the iPad with remote software available in the App Store. I believe there are a number of options; I use SplashTop. Programs like it will allow you to control a desktop system from an iPad. I use it to access a Windows Vista desktop, of all things, and the touch controls work quite well although they're a little clunky. A new feature that was introduced just a few days ago in ST (and no doubt is also being introduced in other, similar apps) allows you to control a Windows 8 desktop using Windows own native gestures. As far as I'm concerned, that feature alone makes the iPad a better Windows Surface Pro than the Windows Surface Pro!

 

[berberry]

Sorry, meant to say one more thing about people who might be able to get by with only an iPad but no desktop system. I meant to point out that even some business people I know almost never use their notebooks for anything more than what they could probably do with their phones. They may be doing work, but if it's mainly centered on moving files around, sending and receiving emails, teleconferencing and such, then converting - at least almost entirely- to an iPad might even enhance the experience of doing the work and help them get more done.

Just depends on the person, I guess.

 

[milkmilklemonade]

Reading this thread - I think people are using the iPad wrong...they're bringing computer habits and trying to turn the iPad into a laptop. It's NOT a laptop - and you have to adjust to it.

Where the iPad excels and surpasses a laptop is with it's uniqueness and apps. If you haven't found a good stylus and tried some of the handwriting apps (ie, Goodnotes) - definitely do so.

Use the zoomed in box view to write - it's very smooth and works well. It's a much better experience than typing, and I've used it for equations and diagrams in anatomy and chem classes.

You could also import PDFs and write/highlight directly on them.

Also - the iPad handles background apps very well. I use to run an audio recorder app in the background while I was taking notes with the stylus, and at the end of the day export the .mp3 and .pdf of my notes and email them to myself, so I could study on my phone and desktop if needed.

The iPad is a unique device and has it's own pluses. It's not a laptop with a file system, but there are work arounds for many of the reasons one would be needed.