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What do you use your iPad for?

J

justaregularjoe

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 28, 2008
345
1
This is different than the "Buyer's Remorse?" and "Where's Flash?" threads, I want to hear the positive aspects of how and how much and when people are using the iPad.

Bonus points comparing life before iPad (Macbooks, iMacs, PCs :eek:) to now.

Brownie points for sweet iPad setup pics.

Lastly, I want to know if there is a good way to edit freestanding text documents (ie not email) on iPad and share them with your desktop computer.

That's all. Post away; I won't be back until about 9:00 tomorrow.
 
ohaithar

ohaithar

macrumors 6502a
Jul 29, 2010
664
0
Elk Grove Village, IL, USA
Hmmm......I use it for the internets (All 57 of them), view my high res pics of my gf when she's away so I'm not lonely, watch some movies @ night, after those movies, read the bible from ibook and ask for forgiveness for what I have seen.
 
L

LiloThePleo

macrumors 6502
Aug 8, 2010
341
1
I'll post a serious answer just because I'm sure you are going to get plenty more posts like those above :rolleyes:

Before my iPad I would predominantly use my pc desktop for everything that I needed to do on a computer. If I really needed or wanted to do something other than at my desk I'd drag out my enormous old 15 inch clunker of an acer laptop that would last two hours max on it's battery if I did anything more than type with word or browse simple webpages :p Any long term use would also involve a fight with the cable and a mouse and getting that sorted before starting what I wanted to do. God forbid i even had to wait for it to boot up! I also used to have a TV in my bedroom for watching movies when the Telly in the lounge was in use.

These days I still use my desktop for the heavy stuff I need to do but day to day activities like browsing this forum and other favorite websites, playing a short game or two, watching movies, checking email, some of my uni work and so on and so forth are all done on my iPad. Not to mention this wonderful small device replaced a stack of textbooks and reading books although I still have physical copies of many of them that I bought before the iPad. I also love waking up in the morning and being able to check the news and weather before I even start my day :)
 
ChristianVirtual

ChristianVirtual

macrumors 601
May 10, 2010
4,122
282
日本
As I live in Tokyo commuting is quite a time-consuming task. But lucky enough I can sit down in a bus from the first to the last station of the line. That gives me plenty of time to read some book on KINDLE or iBooks. I decide on short notice in the morning what I want to read. So I don't have to carry lots of books with me. The second advantage is that more and more periodicals are available for iPad. For me living in a foreign country that keeps my linked to home a little bit. That already justify the iPad for me.

Another aspect is: I'm too often move my household and I got sick to pack and unpack all the books I have physically, those little devils are too heavy. So I live in the dream that I can virtualize my library over the time. Ok, it's not paper but much lighter.

At work I use the iPad for my own meeting minutes or other planning activities. If a meeting gets boaring but not avoidable I can also quick look in MacRumors what's up. Nobody knows the difference :rolleyes:

The instant power up is really nice as I can quick open the iPad when needed. Living in Japan means less space (for many), so the virtual keyboard on the screen is handy compared to the physical keyboard on MBP or MBA.

Of course live would continue without iPad but is more convenient with.

For music I still use my IP4 or iPod touch on long flights, the iPad stay for readable content in my case. Somehow that gives me the confidence when i forgot to charge one device that I can at least enjoy the media from the other device.
 
M

Maziar

macrumors 6502
May 22, 2010
387
4
Before I bought my iPad, I did everything with my pc, but some of them were boring. Forexample I can't sit on a chair looking at the monitor for a long time to read a book or a PDF files. However when I bought my iPad, I use my pc for gaming and Photoshop mainly and do almost all of my web-surfing with the iPad,read books and PDF files with iBooks on it and the best thing is watching videos. HD vids look fantastic on it's screen and I can easily watch the movies from my desktop with "Airvideo" which works excellent. Also I use iteleport to quickly connect to my desktop. Also there are some great apps for note taking like ever note, and of course some great and funny games like angry birds, broken sword...... Etc.
Overall I love it, it's a great device and enjoyable to use.
 
S

scottsdomain

macrumors member
May 30, 2008
51
2
I use mine for:

Beejive (google chat, face book chat, etc)
Web surfing (like this!)
Remote for my Mac mini (VNC)
Email
Games (plant vs zambies -- my wife hooked me!)

I was just thinking about this as well!
 
R

R1PPER

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2008
360
62
As ive just started playing starcraft 2...i spend time watching the husky and HDstacraft channels on youtube. Streaming movies from my imac downstairs to the bedroom. following blogs with pulse, watching eastenders on the iplayer, buying tom ford aftershave on ebay....the list is pretty endless...no regrets.
 
colmaclean

colmaclean

macrumors 68000
Jan 6, 2004
1,709
403
Berlin
It's replaced my MBP as my living room surf machine. Never use the laptop much now. I have a Mac Mini which I can VNC to if I need some "hardcore" tasks like downloading a file or printing.

One thing I don't miss is my MBP cooking my lap. :)
 
M

Maziar

macrumors 6502
May 22, 2010
387
4
I use filer to download files on iPad, it's great. Definitely try it. It even let's you play 1080p movies(mp4 and mov)
 
GoCubsGo

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,742
155
It replaced my net book. I surf the web, watch movies, play games, read books, and of course get my email.
 
pagansoul

pagansoul

macrumors 65816
Aug 10, 2006
1,040
43
Earth
I have given my Kindle to my mother as I do all my reading on the iPad now.

I take it to work and it sits next to my HP PC for those times when the system is running slow. I load work pdf/Power Point files and send (our collection of Cheat Sheets) via email to ReaddleDocs. I have taken it to meeting for notes.

Have you ever tried reading ilounge's 'The iPad Buyers' Guide' in ReaddleDocs? The links work and all. Great for looking at what the 3rd party developers are cooking up and how they rate.

I watch NETFLIX in bed as opposed to my desk now.

I play more games now. I have an old XBOX and a PSP that I don't use at all.

I actually use the slide show for my family photos on my desk at work. Also I go on all those sites I can't use my work PC for, like ebay.

I take it shopping to check prices. At the mall when I sit to rest. I also do this on my phone. In the car for driving instructions.
 

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J

justaregularjoe

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 28, 2008
345
1
Wow. At the risk of sounding like I just fell out of a commercial, I had no idea the iPad could do all of that.

Netflix? Kindle? Badass.

Streaming video from another computer? Dream come true.
 
steviem

steviem

macrumors 68020
May 26, 2006
2,218
4
New York, Baby!
jessica. said:
It replaced my net book. I surf the web, watch movies, play games, read books, and of course get my email.
Click to expand...

Same, when I first saw netbooks I thought that it could never replace my desktop, but it would be a nice device to complement my desktop. The iPad, using a mobile OS works a lot better, it is like an extension to my desktop, the form factor promotes reading ebooks for me.
 
J

JonMPLS

macrumors 68000
May 23, 2010
1,682
253
MN
If you travel much for business/pleasure, the iPad is the ultimate travel accessory. iBooks (or Kindle if iBooks does not have the book I want) is great, with an occasional video or game for variety.

At home I have also taken to using the iPad for reading. Also, for web browsing I prefer the iPad to my MacBook Pro.

For me, the iPad has dropped my data usage on my iPhone to almost nothing. When I head out for lunch, I take my iPad to catch up on the news.

I am too used to keeping my hands on a keyboard to be fond of typing long responses on the iPad. When traveling I pack the Apple wireless keyboard. When home I use my MacBook.

Regarding the question on documents back and forth--this is an area that could use some improvement.
 
J

justaregularjoe

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 28, 2008
345
1
JonMPLS said:
...
Regarding the question on documents back and forth--this is an area that could use some improvement.
Click to expand...


You mean to say there is nothing ATM, or it is just sub par. I am looking for anything really. I want to be able to take and store class notes (ie type them on the iPad) then print them (maybe) for later.
 
BlackMax

BlackMax

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2007
901
0
North Carolina
I use my iPad everyday. It fits into my schedule and "on the go" lifestyle perfectly. Much more convenient than carrying around a regular notebook.

Checking personal email, work email, surfing the web wherever I am at, reading books via the iPad Kindle App and iBooks, taking notes in meetings and then emailing them to myself using Penultimate, watching the occasional movie or TV show with NetFlix or Hulu+, online gaming such as "Words with Friends" or "Chess with Friends", checking up on my favorite sports team using "SportsTap" and the list goes on and on... Each week I find something new I can do from my iPad.

Many of these I can also do on my iPhone 4, but I find the experience on my iPad is much better and the larger size of the iPad as compared to the iPhone is not an issue for me so I end up taking my iPad with me most places I go.

The one thing I wish the iPad had is native texting... I realize I can text with applications such as Textie, but I still wish texting was built-in and native.
 
M

mrathee

macrumors 6502
Jul 8, 2010
404
0
ohaithar said:
Hmmm......I use it for the internets (All 57 of them), view my high res pics of my gf when she's away so I'm not lonely, watch some movies @ night, after those movies, read the bible from ibook and ask for forgiveness for what I have seen.
Click to expand...

hahahaha
 
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