I just got my iPad mini today, and it has totally been worth the buy. I've never owned an iPad, and the experience is awesome. One question though - has anyone tried pages/numbers/keynote on the mini?
ive tried pages and keynote and both of them work great. Pages i use for taking notes or writing papers (mainly using apple bluetooth keyboard) and i use keynote for going through lecture slides of my classes. don't really use keynote much for creating any powerpoints, but it seems like it would be easy enough. both programs work well, good mobile versions of the apps from mac
Did you get the 16gb and what did you pay if you did? Even sweeter if you got it for $299 new. Never owning an ipad until this past winter has me wondering why I never took the plunge sooner.
I never tried those apps. Apps that are free I can live with for my needs with using the ipad.
I just got my iPad mini today, and it has totally been worth the buy. I've never owned an iPad, and the experience is awesome. One question though - has anyone tried pages/numbers/keynote on the mini?
Can't speak for the Mini (yet!), but iWork is great on the full sized iPad and on the Mac. Is this your first Apple product, or just your first iPad?
If you have any questions, there's lots of smart people here who'll be happy to help
First iPad, I also own a 2012 MacBook. I use Microsoft Office (easiest for school), is it possible to convert pages to Microsoft Word so that i could work on something on my iPad, and then transfer it to my macbook using iCloud?
I've only done this on Pages, but I'll be honest about the experience: it all depends on formatting. If it's a paper with text and a simply formatted photo between a paragraph now and then, it generally works fine. If you've got a lot of fancy formatting (columns, text boxes, text wrapping around images), you might end up with a bit of a mess. Still, I've converted many basic Pages documents without a problem.
You've got other options, too. Microsoft has some web apps bundled with Hotmail/Outlook that 'sort of' work with iPad, although I wouldn't want to use them for much more than jotting down a tiny note. You could also always export the document as a PDF once your finished, so it'll stay the same across different devices.
Interesting, thanks! I might try out Pages to see how it works, because it'd be nice to work on papers without carrying my Mac around. Do you have any other app recommendations? Preferably productivity apps, because that's a big reason why I got the mini. Although i have some games/social apps, but who doesn't?
Hmm... Evernote is great, especially if you're already using it on Mac, and if you need that sort of app. I dabble at writing, and I use it to jot things down when inspiration strikes. No matter what device I'm on, my notebook is always there.
Something like SkyDrive or Dropbox is a must. It'll let you keep files in sync across your Mac and iPad, beyond what iCloud already does. You can sync literally anything under the sun. You'll wonder how you lived without it
The rest will sort of depend on your interests and what you want to do. Dig around, do searches for whatever interests you, and you'll stumble on some gems. And when it comes to the less productive side of things, there are the 'classic' games, like Cut the Rope, Where's My Water, Angry Birds, and so on, but I also like more in-depth experiences.
If you like RPGs, there's Infinity Blade, a slough of Final Fantasy titles (not cheap, but console quality stuff), and lately I've been enjoying Ridiculous Fishing. Letterpress is a good one, too, if you like word games. And if you're into comic books, even an occasional reader, Comixology is an awesome app!
Awesome stuff! I do have Evernote and Dropbox on my Mac, so I'll definitely put those on my mini. I'll have to check out the RPGs, because I get bored of Angry Birds and Temple Run. I have to be careful though, because I decided on getting the 16GB version. Forking over an extra $100 would have been painful, aha. Seems like apps aren't huge though.
Some of the games can get rather large, but it's much worse on my Retina iPad. I had a first gen iPad and I never had more than 30GB of stuff on it, most of which was never used, but I can hardly find enough free space to install a tiny app on my 64GB Retina iPad!
The iPad mini is pretty sweet.
That's a surprise! Mine isn't sweet, but then again, I've only licked it. I would've imagined that if I took a bite, it would taste bitter.
mini will be perfect once it gets retina.
Interesting, thanks! I might try out Pages to see how it works, because it'd be nice to work on papers without carrying my Mac around. Do you have any other app recommendations? Preferably productivity apps, because that's a big reason why I got the mini. Although i have some games/social apps, but who doesn't?
Pages, Numbers and Keynote are excellent. The .doc(x) ans xls(x) conversions are pretty good, typically lacking some fonts. But basic to mid level docs and spreadsheets convert easily. iCloud is awesome for your storage and syncing as well (free for those first 5 GB). As mentioned, Dropbox rocks...as does Evernote and GoodReader. I also use CloudOn often when I need more specific MS Office compatibility. It's an excellent service
Box and Google drive are also ubiquitous with most productivity and creative apps to keep in sync with your computer. iAnnotate PDF comes in handy as does Printer Pro and Notes Plus/Notability. I love em both! Square to take folks' money with. Mint to keep track of that paper, and that should about cover your 'productivity' . There are even invoicing templates for 'Numbers'!
Enjoy your iPad. They're awesome!
J
I was in Radioshack and finally made the jump back to having an iPad.
I love it! I still use the MBP though. They complement each other well.
Interesting, thanks! I might try out Pages to see how it works, because it'd be nice to work on papers without carrying my Mac around. Do you have any other app recommendations? Preferably productivity apps, because that's a big reason why I got the mini. Although i have some games/social apps, but who doesn't?
Definitely agree. I use this for general browsing, and light school stuff. My MacBook will be for the more intense schoolwork as well my baseball research/blogging.