Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Has anyone tried living only with your iPad?

Status
Not open for further replies.
seong

seong

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 11, 2010
1,031
28
I was starting to wonder if anyone has been able to live only with your iPad.
At first, I was one of those people who doubted the possibility of using iPad as your only 'computer' (depends on what you use on it), but after selling my Macbook Pro, I bought the Apple Wireless Keyboard and I've been doing good for past three days.
I'm just curious as to how many people have tried living only with their iPad. It seems like a possibilitiy to me. Although, I have to mention that after moving back to my home country, I stopped making motion effects, editing on FCP 7, creating Keynote presentation, etc.
 
seong said:
Just wondering if anyone does it.
Well, let me ask you one thing. If so many people suggest using search, then there should only be one thread about a each topic, correct? I wonder why there are more than one or two :D Thanks for the links though.
Click to expand...

He's gotta drive himself crazy, policing all the threads and looking out for duplicates. I can't believe people have that much time on their hands. These forums are nothing but a big mountain of pure redundancy, FFS. I'm surprised that after six years he's still not accustomed.

Anyway! Now that I'm done venting, yes, I think one can do just fine with only an iPad. I can't say so from personal experience, but my mother is a fine example of this. All she does is surf the web, email, and Facebook, so it suits her well. I, myself, turn on my Mac only when I need to sync new data to my iPhone or iPad.
 
Yup. iPad is now my computer. If I need ANYTHING on my desktop, I use splashtop to access it from my iPad and even print from it. So, goodbye desktop!
 
My grandmother only has two things: an iPad and an iPhone. She's told me countless times (because I'm the tech kid in the family) how much she loves just using her iPad, and mow much easier it is for her than a full computer.

I can't go with just an iPad though. I can do fine with just one for a while, but I need a full computer OS to satisfy my needs.
 
It all depends on what one needs.

If you work and need a computer for working with software that does accounting, CAD, ETC, you can NOT make do with a iPad.

If you just need an Internet appliance to do the web and answer email, the iPad may suit you fine.

For me it takes two desktops (office and home), a laptop for the field and an iPad for the Lazy Boy!:p

No way an iPad would come close to do it for me!:rolleyes:

----------
Munchkinsdad said:
Yup. iPad is now my computer. If I need ANYTHING on my desktop, I use splashtop to access it from my iPad and even print from it. So, goodbye desktop!
Click to expand...

What do you do for a living?:confused:
 
Caliber26 said:
He's gotta drive himself crazy, policing all the threads and looking out for duplicates. I can't believe people have that much time on their hands. These forums are nothing but a big mountain of pure redundancy, FFS. I'm surprised that after six years he's still not accustomed.

Anyway! Now that I'm done venting, yes, I think one can do just fine with only an iPad. I can't say so from personal experience, but my mother is a fine example of this. All she does is surf the web, email, and Facebook, so it suits her well. I, myself, turn on my Mac only when I need to sync new data to my iPhone or iPad.
Click to expand...

I KNOW. Exactly my point. There are just too many people like this on the forum, unfortunately.
Yea, it could be said better. I figured that most people has been buying desktops/laptops for those simple uses.

----------
Munchkinsdad said:
Yup. iPad is now my computer. If I need ANYTHING on my desktop, I use splashtop to access it from my iPad and even print from it. So, goodbye desktop!
Click to expand...

THIS. Splashtop is just purely awesome! I used Splashtop with my iPad before I sold my Macbook Pro, and boy, it was a joy.
Once I get my Mac Mini, I'd love to use it once again :D
 
I did it... I had to sync to my family's computer though (a computer that I barely ever used. It was for emergencies, really)

To be honest, it kinda sucked.
-Pages gets extremely wonky with tables (how I primarily take notes in class)
-animations make everything slow. On a normal computer I could do things way faster
-you can't do any big tasks. For example, when I switched my note taking service from Springpad to Evernote. You'll run into problems, and the annoyingness of not having multiple windows open at once to transfer all your information to and fro.
-you still need to sync it to a computer...
-there are random limitations. Like the fact that you can't add new groups in the address book.
-no physical keyboard. And even if you do buy a wireless one, you still have to carry it somehow. And pairing it with the iPad is a tedious process. It's not quick or simple.
-no file system, and the Dropbox app is horrible

That's just what I remember... If you have very little needs, then maybe you'd be fine. But I really don't know if I'd take that risk.
 
fhall1 said:
Sorry...but using Splashtop to access your desktop remotely doesn't really count as using your iPad as your "only" computer.
Click to expand...

True that.

----------
Yumunum said:
I did it... I had to sync to my family's computer though (a computer that I barely ever used. It was for emergencies, really)

To be honest, it kinda sucked.
-Pages gets extremely wonky with tables (how I primarily take notes in class)
-animations make everything slow. On a normal computer I could do things way faster
-you can't do any big tasks. For example, when I switched my note taking service from Springpad to Evernote. You'll run into problems, and the annoyingness of not having multiple windows open at once to transfer all your information to and fro.
-you still need to sync it to a computer...
-there are random limitations. Like the fact that you can't add new groups in the address book.
-no physical keyboard. And even if you do buy a wireless one, you still have to carry it somehow. And pairing it with the iPad is a tedious process. It's not quick or simple.
-no file system, and the Dropbox app is horrible

That's just what I remember... If you have very little needs, then maybe you'd be fine. But I really don't know if I'd take that risk.
Click to expand...

I agree with all of your points, except two.
I thought having to sync with a computer is SO 2010 since the introduction of iOS 5 lol.
As stated in my OP, I bought a new Apple Wireless Keyboard, and man, it was just as easy as eating an apple pie (not cooking it, haha.) All I had to do was;
1. Take the keyboard out of Apple's simple white box.
2. Turn it on.
3. Select the keyboard from bluetooth on my iPad, and tap on it.
4. Type the four digit code on the keyboard that my iPad shows me on-screen.
5. DONE!
After this, all you have to do is, turn your keyboard on, and your iPad automatically connects to your keyboard! Easy peasy :D
 
I'm going to try and work with the new iPad 3 when it comes out independent of a desktop to see if this will work for me. I'm retired, so my needs are small and I like the portability of a tablet but did not want a full fledge notebook to mess with. Will be interesting. All I wish for is Apple to supply use with a USB port on the iPad 3, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. ;)
 
Munchkinsdad said:
I... Um...what the heck do I do??:eek:
Click to expand...

AHAHAHAHA, your signature explains this 100% :D

----------
SR45 said:
I'm going to try and work with the new iPad 3 when it comes out independent of a desktop to see if this will work for me. I'm retired, so my needs are small and I like the portability of a tablet but did not want a full fledge notebook to mess with. Will be interesting. All I wish for is Apple to supply use with a USB port on the iPad 3, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, the thing is, I did not have to plug my iPad to a computer when setting it up at the Apple Store. However, I DID have to sync my iPad for all the musics, movies, and podcasts (plus Jailbreaking for tweaks.)
Personally, I think iPad 3 is a good time for Apple to allow SD Cards + USB ports on it, although I bet Apple wont allow users to watch movies/TVs off from it, because they can obviously can money out of selling higher capacity iPads.
 
Numerous threads already exist, please use one of the links provided by Miles
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back