How good is the iPad as a business tool?

[Thunderbird8]

I am thinking of not replacing my laptop next year (I have a desktop too) but going for an iPad instead. Here are my main uses:

1. Internet browsing / accessing online services (e.g. posting to job boards)
2. Email including receiving (mostly) Word attachments
3. Opening and editing Word attachments, saving as PDF
4. Accessing and saving files to/on Mobile Me
5. Leisure stuff too, music, photos etc.

Any opinions on ease of use for business-related activities would be useful.

 

[hotwire132002]

I am thinking of not replacing my laptop next year (I have a desktop too) but going for an iPad instead. Here are my main uses:

1. Internet browsing / accessing online services (e.g. posting to job boards)
2. Email including receiving (mostly) Word attachments
3. Opening and editing Word attachments, saving as PDF
4. Accessing and saving files to/on Mobile Me
5. Leisure stuff too, music, photos etc.

Any opinions on ease of use for business-related activities would be useful.

The iPad is perfect for what you're looking to do. I bought an iPad in April, intending to use it primarily for app testing (I'm a developer), but it ended up replacing my MacBook Pro -- which I used to take everywhere, though I really only used it for email and web browsing.

The iPad handles word attachments just fine, and you can edit/save as PDF if you spend $10 on Pages. It handles Music, photos, etc really well, too.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on is the MobileMe file access. I haven't personally used it, but assuming you're just accessing word files, photos, videos, etc, I can't see any issues...

Hope this helps

 

[Thunderbird8]

Thanks, what I would want to do on Mobile Me would be to either receive a file as an attachment and upload it to MM, creating a new folder for it.

What I would also like to do is fetch a file from Mobile me and then send it to someone as an attachment.

 

[bentrider]

1. Internet browsing / accessing online services (e.g. posting to job boards)
2. Email including receiving (mostly) Word attachments
3. Opening and editing Word attachments, saving as PDF
4. Accessing and saving files to/on Mobile Me
5. Leisure stuff too, music, photos etc.

I run a small business (cycling web site and a freelance writer) and I ditched my Macbook for the iPad. I'll comment in order.

1 - By far my favorite web browsing device. Don't miss Flash at all. Haven't found a message board yet that it hasn't worked on.

2 - Emailing used to not be great but with the iOS 4.2 update and the unified inbox, I love it now. Just as good as my desktop.

3 - I uses Pages on my desktop and my iPad for writing and creating PDF's. Very simple and itnuitive.

4 - Saving to MobileMe is good. Not great but good enough. I can't say it's ever slowed me down or anything but a true file management system would be better. GoodReader helps a bit but isn't perfect either.

5 - Great music player, eBook reader, photo browser, etc... It's an Apple!

 

[George Knighton]

I am thinking of not replacing my laptop next year (I have a desktop too) but going for an iPad instead. Here are my main uses:

1. Internet browsing / accessing online services (e.g. posting to job boards)
2. Email including receiving (mostly) Word attachments
3. Opening and editing Word attachments, saving as PDF
4. Accessing and saving files to/on Mobile Me
5. Leisure stuff too, music, photos etc.

Any opinions on ease of use for business-related activities would be useful.

I use my iPad for what you have described, and it does well, with a few caveats.

It's not good for heavy content creation. If you're only having to type a few paragraphs at a time, it will do just fine. But if you're running the risk of having to type 20 or 30 pages of a document, it will not necessarily be fun. I've had to do this a few times in an emergency, and I got used to the limitations, but there are just a few things that aren't totally intuitive, and I think that you should consider the iPad as something that you're going to want to limit your typing to items that are smaller in size.

Accepting that limitation, it does wonderfully well. It's very easy and intuitive to use, starts up instantly and has an evidently invincible battery life.

MobileME is 100% compatible with every service.

Video on the go is great. Netflix and iTunes will work fine. Remember how tiny the speaker is, however, and do not expect the highest fidelity sound. Accepting that, it's awesome.



I find myself using my iPad more than I use my MacBook Pro, if that tells you anything.

 

[Thunderbird8]

Does the BBC iplayer work on it?

 

[George Knighton]

Thanks, what I would want to do on Mobile Me would be to either receive a file as an attachment and upload it to MM, creating a new folder for it.

What I would also like to do is fetch a file from Mobile me and then send it to someone as an attachment.

That's not going to be a problem.

There are a couple of free Apple applications in the App Store, iDisk and Gallery, that are designed to manipulate your MobileME files more easily, and downloading, forwarding and uploading files is a piece of cake...the only limitation being the speed of your own WiFi or the AT&T array you are on at the time you do it.

 

[Thunderbird8]

Just seen a few more replies come in, thanks.

Basically I will use my Mac pro for the majority of 'heavy' work, the ipad will be more of an 'away from home' device.

Also something to keep my the bedside to check my emails if I oversleep!!

 

[George Knighton]

Does the BBC iplayer work on it?

BBC have a version that is optimised for the iPad.

 

[gh0001]

1. Internet browsing / accessing online services (e.g. posting to job boards)
excellent

2. Email including receiving (mostly) Word attachments
excellent, especially with the 4.2 iOS unified inbox

3. Opening and editing Word attachments, saving as PDF
good, a computer still does it much better

4. Accessing and saving files to/on Mobile Me
never tried

5. Leisure stuff too, music, photos etc.
excellent!