I need help with my IPad.

[stevedoz]

Hi. Not sure if this will help. I got a 32 ipad 4 for Christmas and its my first apple device.
I, like you, have been used to a different way of doing things.
Now I find its brilliant.
Swapping between apps.
I did a firmware update on my printer and it now does AirPrint
I don't use iTunes st all. I synch all my files, pics etc via iCloud, so easy and quick
My ipad is much faster on the net than any of my pcs or laptops
I've had no slowdowns, stutters or crashes since new unlike my phone and pcs etc.
I find pages GarageBand my astronomy app etc. to be brilliant.
I can tether the ipad to use my phones 3G data in uk so easily , no extra cost
I don't find I need USB due to the cloud but I did buy the lightning camera connection kit. This is not for a camera but is for connecting my digital piano. Like every thing else works really easily.
Some google stuff in my view is better but I just use those anyway like chrome, gmail and maps etc. all free of course.

I'm really not saying these things to gloat but in the hope that you can see that many things can be done but maybe in a different way.
I hope you find your frustrations going away,

Best wishes
Steve

 

[hpulmer]

Hi talon,

Many thanks for your welcome. Yes, I can see that I have to see the ipad through Ipad-tinted glasses and not PC-tinted glasses! But even so, it is really exasperating when the simplest tasks are thwarted, even tasks that it claims to do like downloading pictures via the connection kit. I am referring to the apparent need to jump through a ton of hoops like modifying the file name of every single photo to a name that it will accept of exactly 8 characters usually with a letter or two at the beginning and the rest in numbers! After doing this, one has to copy the files onto an sd card in a folder previously named DCIM and insert the sd card into the photo connection kit! What a load of hassle for something the IPad is intended to do.

Yes, I must try to do it that way... in fact we already are, but it is a lot of money for a very basic INTERNET browser, which is presumably its main purpose.

I have not found iTunes very user friendly and could do with some advice about what to do with it. For photos, it is terrible because you cannot even delete any of the photos when they arrive on the ipad. Again I could do with some help here too. It is another thing it is supposed to do but with more hoops to jump through (I have a canon Pixma WiFi printer but it is not on the list. Why on earth not? No trouble using anything else to access the printer! Yes, we were going to buy one of those, but as we can't seem to even manage to get .doc files onto the ipad or transfer things out or connect to a printer, we thought "what's the point?"

What I should have done is point out what we really need it for. Maybe we were too ambitious.

1) something my wife can surf the Internet on on her lap with one eye on the television.
2) something to view our photos on (photos) from a variety of sources including from a Galaxy S3 -- also a few video clips
3) a platform for flight planning (light aircraft) and en route navigation linked to built-in GPS
4) an MP3 player
5) a reader for a variety of PDFs, Kindle books etc
6) a replacement computer ONLY WHEN TRAVELING for
a- typing shortish texts and saving them on a ??? card??? to give to someone to print or save
b- accessing bank, aviation weather, filing flight plans
c- contacting our son via Skype
d- basic copying and pasting between different docs
e -occasionally using simple excel type spreadsheets

So you can see, we are perhaps not completely off the mark for what we want, but it is the awful transfer problems that really upset anything we try to do.

Many thanks again for your interest and hopefully for your tips that you or others can give.

John

Dear John,
My iPad actually does all the above EXCEPT 3 as I do not fly light aircrafts.
From your posts it seems like you are actually very PC centred - maybe it would be a better idea to get yourself a Windows-Laptop?
Just in case you want to get rid of your iPad-I could use it very well ;-)

☠ stay safe ☠ stay legal ☠

 

[evohicks]

Wow, a lot of money spent to be so dissatisfied. However, I have to agree that trying to get the iPad to comform to PC ways of thinking would result in a lot of frustration. Took me a long time to get to grips with it, although my ageing mother took to it straight away, and it's why I ended up joining the forum. There are recent threads posted about transferring photos, using a combination of iPad and PC, use the search facility to find your topic. Persevere!! You'll find it was time and energy well spent!

Well said and as lots of people have said, this is no PC. But as I said in my earlier post, the ipad is not for everyone, it's hard to think that you made a wrong choice but we all make them, my advice is just give it time, if you still don't like it then the market is open for these things, it will sell.

 

[Nakedbabytoes]

Ugh, I am so glad the iPad is NOT a PC/Windows device.

I find them endlessly frustrating and utterly impossible to get to do anything I want with decent speed. I suppose I would feel the same way if I found situations reversed, as the OP has.

Can you return them? Sell them on ebay/Craigslist? Give them to a family member? Find a needy family that would love to use it for a Special Needs child? You device might even be tax deductible if you donate it.
My autistic son was lucky enough to recieve a first generation iPad that way and it really has done him a huge world of good with the apps you can get and study/self monitoring skills offered in the App Store. They really are easy to use, which is why you can find a young child whizzing around on one yet you never see that on a PC.

Don't make something work that doesn't. Not everybody loves Apple.

 

[AQ_OC]

If you happen to have a netgear wireless router (Netgear Genie), then any printer on your main PC can be made into an AirPrinter. I can even print PDFs from my iPad because I have software on my PC that lets me print to PDF files. You may want to check with your router manufacturer to see if they have similar software. You don't need a special printer if your router provides this function. Also, it may be better to upgrade your router than to upgrade a printer, if you want to print from an iPad. That depends, of course.

 

[johnda]

Let's break them down a single task at a time.
...

Talon,

Thank you so much. This has been a great help and encouragement. I have just ordered a bluetooth keyboard. Kindle is now on the ipad and working fine...
but for the moment I am still struggling a bit to communicate easily between the ipad, the pc, and the Galaxy S3. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the printer.

You seem to know about flying. Are you a pilot? The App I will be using is Skydemon, an absolutely fabulous app that provides charts for the whole of Europe and the USA, updated every 2 weeks and with enroute weather and NOTAMS automatically downloaded and presented on the chart, automatic log and even automatic filing of flight plans + 101 other things.

Thanks once again, and if you have any brainwaves for the communication problem, do let me know!

Cheers

John

 

[johnda]

If you happen to have a netgear wireless router (Netgear Genie), then any printer on your main PC can be made into an AirPrinter. I can even print PDFs from my iPad because I have software on my PC that lets me print to PDF files. You may want to check with your router manufacturer to see if they have similar software. You don't need a special printer if your router provides this function. Also, it may be better to upgrade your router than to upgrade a printer, if you want to print from an iPad. That depends, of course.

Many thanks. I'll look into it. The printer and 2 PCs share our home network via a "SKY" router (the same as the UK "SKY Television"

 

[johnda]

Well said and as lots of people have said, this is no PC. But as I said in my earlier post, the ipad is not for everyone, it's hard to think that you made a wrong choice but we all make them, my advice is just give it time, if you still don't like it then the market is open for these things, it will sell.

We will give it a good try and will attempt to appreciate it for what it is, rather than a PC!

 

[johnda]

I can give you a few suggestions for apps now we have a clear idea where you are going.

Skype works very well for both video and voice calls. It will also link to a BlueTooth earpiece so you can use it hands free. I use the Jabra EasyGo for this.
Pages is your word processor option. It costs $10 and is file compatible with MS Word. Files can be transferred to you PC by file sharing, or simply emailing them to yourself.

Numbers similarly is file compatible with Excel. Another $10. There are free offerings out there too.

MotionX GPS HD is a great app for route planning. I use it for off road driving. I see no reason why it wouldn't be as useful in a flight scenario. Perhaps one of the best features is the ability to record your track. Again, you can export your tracks to your PC for archiving. There is a handy distance tool which you can superimpose on the map. You could calculate each leg of your flight plan etc.

Most sharing of notes etc is best accomplished by email. The iPad is intended to be a mobile device, which may explain in part why it's physical connections leave something to be desired.

Whether you view things as solutions or workarounds, there is usually a way of achieving a desired outcome, but you have to leave the PC file-centric viewpoint behind. The iPad is a different beast.

thanks for the encouragement Kevin! We're getting there gradually!

 

[skimonkey]

Johnda--I see you're still with us!

Glad to see you decided to stay and learn a little more of your iPad.

 

[talon90]

Talon,

Thank you so much. This has been a great help and encouragement. I have just ordered a bluetooth keyboard. Kindle is now on the ipad and working fine...
but for the moment I am still struggling a bit to communicate easily between the ipad, the pc, and the Galaxy S3. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the printer.

You seem to know about flying. Are you a pilot? The App I will be using is Skydemon, an absolutely fabulous app that provides charts for the whole of Europe and the USA, updated every 2 weeks and with enroute weather and NOTAMS automatically downloaded and presented on the chart, automatic log and even automatic filing of flight plans + 101 other things.

Thanks once again, and if you have any brainwaves for the communication problem, do let me know!

Cheers

John

Hi John,

Glad you are still with us! We'll get you comfortable with the iPad and I'm sure you will not regret your purchase once you do.

Well, former pilot for the United States Navy. I flew an A4 Skyhawk. I dabbled a bit with General Aviation before I went in and when I got out so I speak the language and still get behind the controls on occasion. Tell me a little bit more specifically about what you are trying to accomplish with communications between the PC, Samsung and the iPad and I'll see if I (or we) can get you on the right the radial.

Regards,
Paul

 

[johnda]

Johnda--I see you're still with us!

Glad to see you decided to stay and learn a little more of your iPad.

Indeed! a love-hate relaytionship can develop into love... who knows

 

[johnda]

Hi John,

Glad you are still with us! We'll get you comfortable with the iPad and I'm sure you will not regret your purchase once you do.

Hi Paul,
Thanks.

Well, former pilot for the United States Navy. I flew an A4 Skyhawk. I dabbled a bit with General Aviation before I went in and when I got out so I speak the language and still get behind the controls on occasion.

Oh my! Quite an aeroplane! I imagine you can't wean yourself from flying completely... it's in the blood, isn't it! Just out of curiosity, have a look at skydemon and download the free (very limited) skydemon light (limited to UK airspace and flight planning but you get the feel for it):
SkyDemon Light
and let me know what you think.

Tell me a little bit more specifically about what you are trying to accomplish with communications between the PC, Samsung and the iPad and I'll see if I (or we) can get you on the right the radial.

Well, we are in the process of buying an aeroplane and hope to travel quite a bit in the UK where we live, France (only 15 minutes away) and other relatively nearby destinations and will be travelling with the ipad and 2 android phones (an "Ace" and an "S3). These will be our only electronic equipment when we are away from our PCs at home. We will have a lot of administrative stuff to deal with near Marseille for family reasons and so word processing, faxing, copying etc may be needed... but anyway, when we are out and about we would want to communicate easily and simply between an android and the iphone, preferably without horrendous costs of roaming data charges. Back home, it is a question of linking all three (ie +pc) and the printer. it is still a bit beyond me why such a superficially simple thing can be so complicated (PS, I too am a keen photographer but after the SLR, I have discovered the incredible comfort and indeed quality of the 8 megapixel S3, and on our trips, may well only take the phone with us -- but would like to use the ipad to see and/or manipulate the photos)

Kind regards

John

 

[stevedoz]

On a side note if you are happy to I would love to know more about what plane you are buying and what sort of flying you are intending. As someone who loves aviation and would have loved to get a ppl (or even an nppl) but could never afford it I would be really interested.
Keep plugging away....
Steve

 

[johnda]

On a side note if you are happy to I would love to know more about what plane you are buying and what sort of flying you are intending. As someone who loves aviation and would have loved to get a ppl (or even an nppl) but could never afford it I would be really interested.
Keep plugging away....
Steve

Hi Steve,

We are hoping to buy one of the Robin DR400 series -- the real thing -- wood and fabric, stick not yoke, a real pilot's aeroplane that you fly not one that flies you!