The frustrations of iPad.

[Opus]

In general terms I enjoy (and of course find very useful) the iPad but the great frustration is its incompatibility with items on the PC, such as Outlook Calendar, Contacts and Tasks. Now I find that trying to get PDF files onto the iPad is also eqully frustrating. Apparently you are supposed to be able to do this via iTunes but that seems purely orientated to media items and those programs which do profess to do the pdf bit seem purely orientated towards books. Manufacturers really do need their heads banging together. If anyone has any simple and effective suggestions I will be happy to respond with flowers, chocolates or what ever.

 

[hpulmer]

In general terms I enjoy (and of course find very useful) the iPad but the great frustration is its incompatibility with items on the PC, such as Outlook Calendar, Contacts and Tasks. Now I find that trying to get PDF files onto the iPad is also eqully frustrating. Apparently you are supposed to be able to do this via iTunes but that seems purely orientated to media items and those programs which do profess to do the pdf bit seem purely orientated towards books. Manufacturers really do need their heads banging together. If anyone has any simple and effective suggestions I will be happy to respond with flowers, chocolates or what ever.

The simple and effective suggestion is to use an Exchange Server. I do, and I do have contacts, Tasks, Calender and email synchronised OTA.
PDF s can be easily interchanged by using an online (cloud) storage as i.e. Dropbox or Boxnet, or as simple as emailing them. Having a PDF reader App (i.e. The Adobe Reader) on the iPad will give you even the possibility to edit, save, forward etc. the document....

So, compatibility (as though I have to admit it is still limited in certain ways) can be achieved to a certain level, the question is how much you are willing to invest (timewise in researching what you need to do/have)...

Hope this helps, Henning

☠ stay safe ☠ stay legal ☠

 

[moe0000001]

The simple and effective suggestion is to use an Exchange Server. I do, and I do have contacts, Tasks, Calender and email synchronised OTA.
PDF s can be easily interchanged by using an online (cloud) storage as i.e. Dropbox or Boxnet, or as simple as emailing them. Having a PDF reader App (i.e. The Adobe Reader) on the iPad will give you even the possibility to edit, save, forward etc. the document....

So, compatibility (as though I have to admit it is still limited in certain ways) can be achieved to a certain level, the question is how much you are willing to invest (timewise in researching what you need to do/have)...

Hope this helps, Henning

☠ stay safe ☠ stay legal ☠

Well said. I usually just email PDFs. Way faster than clouding then downloading.
Let me ask you though how do you get a personal exchange account. I have an exchange through my employer and I was under the impression it's a corporate solution thing.

 

[hpulmer]

You could set up your personal exchange server, but that would not fit in here.
As far as I know several email-provider offer an exchange server for hosting your emails.
As I do not use outlook privately,,,

 

[johnodd4]

Actually getting pdf files onto a ipad is easy very easy but you need a macintosh and a copy of calibre for mac it makes pdf's into ibooks and you can use the ibook reader as a pdf viewer on your ipad as well as iphone but i have no clue if theres a windows version search calibre in google and see if there is one for windows there might be

 

[AQ_OC]

Use gmail and google for contacts, calender, tasks and everything flows to your iDevices & Android smoothly. A couple of cloud accounts and of course mails, makes things easy. Dropping a PDF into a folder on your PC and then opening the dropbox app on your device is quite simple.

Folks....wires are so 2000. Wireless is the way of the world. Better to fully embrace it than to live with frustration and stress. I try never to connect any of my devices to a PC with a wire.

 

[moe0000001]

Folks....wires are so 2000.

I know right? Good old days

 

[Opus]

moe*1 thanks for your helpful comments. Looking again at setting up MS Exchange Server it still only offers Calendar, Contacts and Mail. Can't see how it does Tasks as well, yet you say you are able to sync all four this way. Please would you comment further.

 

[jpatienza]

Send your pdf files to your email. Then open the received email on your ipad and save it. But of course, you should have a n adobe pdf app installed in you ipad.

 

[jpatienza]

Im looking for an IPad but I am not sure what to get. What are they good for? Are there any small enough to fit in your back pocket?

Buy a samsung galaxy note. Its not big, and its not small.

 

[gedansky]

Buy a samsung galaxy note. Its not big, and its not small.

Wish I could say I disagree, but, I think that most Android tablets are way too small and might as well be oversized phones anyway. If you don't actually want to carry a tablet, but would like a small, notepad sized product, this eliminates the need for both a phone and a tablet.

BUT, please, don't put it into your back pocket. To borrow a line from a friend who rides motor cycles, who said, "there are ONLY two kinds of riders, been down, and goin' down," there are only two kinds of back pocket smartphone carriers, "already broke one, and going to break one." It's just a matter of time.

 

[Opus]

Thanks, everyone, for your contributions. Ultimately, after some digging around, I have found a program which will sync Calendar, Contacts and Tasks directly (via Wi-Fi) between the PC and iPad. That program is DejaOffice, which has a 14 day free trial. So far as I can see it is working fine in general terms. A downside is that Pocket Informant can't access it. DejaOffice does fit one of my main criteria which is that I didn't want personal/financial information sitting in a remote location.

Many thanks again everyone for your helpful contributions.

 

[Opus]

gedansky wrote, 'here are ONLY two kinds of riders, been down, and goin' down,'. Sorry, no. In that case there is a third category, 'Staying up'. I rode motorcycles and did advanced training for a number of years and the prime reason people 'go down' or get into crashes is by their own lack of observation and antisipation. So the presumption that getting into some sort of crash is an inevitability, is erronious.

 

[moe0000001]

Sorry, no. In that case there is a third category, 'Staying up'. I rode motorcycles and did advanced training for a number of years and the prime reason people 'go down' or get into crashes is by their own lack of observation and antisipation. So the presumption that getting into some sort of crash is an inevitability, is erronious.

I only have been riding for a couple years but I'd have to agree with Gedansky. I haven't met a single rider who hadn't had a form of an accident, from flipping upside down at 80 miles an hour to forgetting the kickstand and dropping the bike. Making mistakes is how you learn. My dad told me to worry about drivers who NEVER had accidents 10-fold my worry about the ones who had accidents
To address your exchange question, yes exchange IS capable of syncing tasks as well. On your iPad or smart phone it gives you the option from settings.
From a pc, as I remember, you have to select the active task database. What's your OS and I'll try and give you the steps of setting it up.
Cheers

 

[gedansky]

I would have to agree with me too. But, even if you don't like my metaphor, I have been using PDA's since 1996 and smartphones since 2000, and 100% of the people I have met who carry their smartphone or PDA in their back pocket, have sat on it, or shifted wrong, and broken the screen. If you get a Samsung Note, be prepared to wear looser fitting pants and carry it in, or wear a jacket.