Bit the bullet.. Now a few questions

[temiller]

Hey all,

I recently bit the bullet and bought an iPad 1. I was going to get an iPad 2, but I got an incredible deal on the 1, and for what I need it for, the 1 will do just fine.

I'm a student, so I have documents floating around everywhere. One of the main reasons I bought the iPad was so I could work on my papers at my mac, then edit/work on them on my iPad while I'm on the go.

On my MBP, i use iWork '09 and MS Office 2011. I use iWork when i'm working on individual papers, and MS office when I'm working on group projects.

I know when iCloud comes out of beta, my documents will automatically sync between all of my iOS devices. Now, until that happens, I need another option.

So my question is, is there a way to have my homework folder automatically sync with my iPad so I can edit papers, and start new papers, then have it sync back to my MBP?

Thanks in advance.

 

[palpatine]

Hey all,

I recently bit the bullet and bought an iPad 1. I was going to get an iPad 2, but I got an incredible deal on the 1, and for what I need it for, the 1 will do just fine.

I'm a student, so I have documents floating around everywhere. One of the main reasons I bought the iPad was so I could work on my papers at my mac, then edit/work on them on my iPad while I'm on the go.

On my MBP, i use iWork '09 and MS Office 2011. I use iWork when i'm working on individual papers, and MS office when I'm working on group projects.

I know when iCloud comes out of beta, my documents will automatically sync between all of my iOS devices. Now, until that happens, I need another option.

So my question is, is there a way to have my homework folder automatically sync with my iPad so I can edit papers, and start new papers, then have it sync back to my MBP?

Thanks in advance.

this is the big question, isn't it. the short answer (as far as i know) is no.

however, if you are willing to do your work in text format (that is how i do my work), and save the formatting (bold, italics, etc.) for the final stages, then you have many fabulous options. personally, i use elements (text editor) on the ipad and sync that with scrivener (word processor--kind of) in osx. eventually, the final product might end up in word, but most of it is created in text format. my thinking is that i can spend a few minutes putting in bold and italics later (alternatively, you could use markup, but some people have an aversion to that). it is a small trade-off for being able to sync like this.

the cool thing is that programs like elements sync seamlessly with dropbox, so there is no more work for me. i just write.

anyhow, i write for a living (researcher / graduate student in the humanities) and i highly recommend scrivener (osx). it is infinitely better than pages or word for the writing process.

 

[temiller]

I was afraid that was going to be the answer, but that was partially my reason to buy one, so I'll pretend as I didn't see that answer.

I generally like to do light formatting as I write, then after I finish I'll go through and do final formatting as I proof read.

I'll check out Scrivener and Elements when my ipad comes in. I've been looking around for options, but its tough to see what options I have without an iPad in front of me. I'm a Marketing major with a minor in RPW (Rhetoric and professional writing), so my papers seem to be at an all time high.

 

[McGiord]

Why you want to write on an iPad instead of the MBP?

 

[temiller]

I don't necessarily want to write papers on my iPad, but more or less edit papers I am already working on/adding on to papers.

I was taking my MBP to work with me, and using it on my lunch break. It was tough to use while I was eating. I feel an iPad would simplify things a little bit. Also, if I'm laying in bed, on the recliner, etc. its not always convient to have my MBP. As much as I love it, the iPad seems like a logical solution.

 

[palpatine]

I don't necessarily want to write papers on my iPad, but more or less edit papers I am already working on/adding on to papers.

I was taking my MBP to work with me, and using it on my lunch break. It was tough to use while I was eating. I feel an iPad would simplify things a little bit. Also, if I'm laying in bed, on the recliner, etc. its not always convient to have my MBP. As much as I love it, the iPad seems like a logical solution.

Well, if you are into light formatting, then the iPad is for you! I have pretty much given up the backpack and all I carry to campus anymore is my man purse (iPad + Apple Wireless Keyboard + Incase Origami case). I have digitized all of my reading materials, so the iPad is my go-to device for reading as well.

I used to do all of my work on the MBP, but now I have switched to the iPad. I never liked working in Word (horrible linear thinking that is really not ideal for anything but the final stage of a project), so it was a welcome change.

Scrivener is hands down one of the best pieces of software I have ever used. It truly is tailor-made for writing. You can download a free trial version for your MBP. I love the Elements interface, it is a true joy to work with, and it syncs beautifully with Scrivener. I am probably the most productive I have ever been this year, and I am enjoying it as well.

By the way, it is really nice to not have to worry about sitting next to outlets anymore


*If you want to know more, see some of the threads I have started (click my name -> statistics).

 

[shandyman]

So my question is, is there a way to have my homework folder automatically sync with my iPad so I can edit papers, and start new papers, then have it sync back to my MBP?

Thanks in advance.

dropbox should be useful here, have the documents in your dropbox folder on the MBP, then you can back and forth with the same document pretty much. SHould work until docs in the cloud is public

 

[palpatine]

dropbox should be useful here, have the documents in your dropbox folder on the MBP, then you can back and forth with the same document pretty much. SHould work until docs in the cloud is public

I'm afraid the problem doesn't lie so much with dropbox as it does with Pages. Pages does not sync with Dropbox, so he'd have to work pretty hard to move stuff in and out of it every day.

Elements (and many other apps like SimpleNote or PlainText) sync somewhere, so it is an effortless and seamless process. I prefer Elements myself (it syncs to a folder in Dropbox), but just about anything works nowadays. They generally lack support for rich text (you can use markup to get around this minor problem), but if you are concerned about portability (do you want to read this stuff ten years down the road?) then .txt is the way to go.

Evernote is probably the champion of seamless syncing. It even has (annoying) support for rich text. But, on both iOS and OSX it has failed to save notes properly (crashing or just not saving). No matter how good it is at syncing, when it doesn't save, there is nothing to sync. I have tried to work on this with support in two countries, but to no avail. I am a premium member, and highly recommend the service as a virtual junk drawer, but I strongly urge people not to rely on it for any content creation.