New iPad-2 user, productivity questions...

[Psychmike]

I've got both the iPad and the MBA 11" and I agree that the MBA 11" footprint is not much bigger than the iPad's. But, have you tried using Gmail contacts and calendar? Syncs perfectly among my two Macs, iPad and iPhone. Also give Docs To Go a shot. With that app, I can access all of my docs via Dropbox, make whatever edits I need to make, and sync with the cloud. All of the changes are automatically reflected via Dropbox across all of my machines. Works perfectly. The only real complaint I have is that the word processing and spreadsheet features aren't as robust as Microsoft Office. If they were, it could be a complete laptop replacement for my uses.

Thanks so much for the tips. Perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I'm still leery about moving everything to the cloud. There have been a handful of times it's been hard for me to access WiFi or a 3G signal. I want to know that the information I want is with me and the iPad's file system seems to leave a few things to be desired. Nevertheless, my colleague uses DropBox and has never had problems. Maybe I should give it a shot.

As for Google, I do have some confidential data and I'm again leery about using something where terms and conditions may change. At work, we use Outlook so ideally I would find something that syncs well with that.

Thanks again for the info!

 

[Macshroomer]

Ok, so I installed Splashtop, $5, can't get it to work if the home machine display goes to sleep or the computer it self goes to sleep. No settings in prefs, after reading all the ratings on it, seems like it is mostly like a "TV" remote for your iPad to run your home machines, utterly useless when truly remote.

So I bought LogMeIn Ignition, installed the plug in on my home machine, set up login online. All seemed to go well, but no matter what I do, I can not get it to log in. I get the message, "Login Failed, Please check your login credentials".

I even deleted the main machine on the online site and re-did it, no dice, I can't even use it via Internet login. The support forums on the LogMeIn site are pretty much dead, no info being purged, pathetic.

So far, this is the single biggest junk show in my 24 years of using Macs, I am getting pretty fed up with this.

 

[whyhellojoe]

hi op, i think MacBook Air would be the way to go but i do understand where you're coming from having been in such a pinch like you.

i sold my iPad a while back in anticipation of the iPad 2 so i havent tried this method per say but it should theoretically work. you'll need to jailbreak your iPad, get iFile (not the iFiles from the app store). with this in place, you have a traditional file system in place. download a web browser app called iCab. once your wife finishes her document/resume editing in pages, browse to the Page's documents storage folder and copy the document to put in iCab's download/upload folder. go into iCab and you should be able to see and upload the Page's document to the browser of your choice

 

[Macshroomer]

There is SO much about the iPad that makes us want to stay with it, but I can't even get a remote app to work at this point. For instance, when you go to use LogMeIn, you get this really cute cartoon of how to do it with NO details on how to enter in information for the home machine, etc.......I mean....are you kidding me?

My wife, a scientist, is on the couch working away efficiently on my Macbook Pro while I have been trying to get this to work for the past three hours. She is also not really interested in any of the online reading for the most part, would rather read the printed version of The American Journal of Physical Anthropology, lol!

This is so frustrating because for my line of work, I have to have this device to a point since it is the future roadmap of media content. But it has to pull its weight to *some* degree, not all of us are gamers or Facebook addicts, we actually have minds and lives to live....

 

[PatrickCocoa]

Get the Mac Book Air

I have an iPad, a MacBook, two iMacs, and an iPod Touch. I mention that to show I have some exposure to these platforms.

Get the Mac Book Air. You are trying to do laptop things. Get a laptop.

The iPad is great, it's not designed to do what you want to do. Your workflow (and the workflow of the external world) is file based. iPad's operating system does not have the concept of a file system. It does have files for each application, so some people are able to shoehorn their file-centric process into the iPad. But that's usually a series of workarounds - some people can do it successfully, but some can't.

 

[tigres]

Ok, so I installed Splashtop, $5, can't get it to work if the home machine display goes to sleep or the computer it self goes to sleep. No settings in prefs, after reading all the ratings on it, seems like it is mostly like a "TV" remote for your iPad to run your home machines, utterly useless when truly remote.

So I bought LogMeIn Ignition, installed the plug in on my home machine, set up login online. All seemed to go well, but no matter what I do, I can not get it to log in. I get the message, "Login Failed, Please check your login credentials".

I even deleted the main machine on the online site and re-did it, no dice, I can't even use it via Internet login. The support forums on the LogMeIn site are pretty much dead, no info being purged, pathetic.

So far, this is the single biggest junk show in my 24 years of using Macs, I am getting pretty fed up with this.

If you have NO password on the Mac, Logmein won't login. Put a password on the Mac and try again. I hope this helps, if it is indeed your issue.

 

[Macshroomer]

If you have NO password on the Mac, Logmein won't login. Put a password on the Mac and try again. I hope this helps, if it is indeed your issue.

You mean the Mac admin PW, right?

Edit, I got it connected now, it was admin like I wondered. Now...how do I get it to wake up the computer from sleep? Not sure where the setting is for wake up from LAN?

 

[omni]

Just make your life easier and don't let the Mac go to sleep. Just let the screen darken.

 

[Macshroomer]

Just make your life easier and don't let the Mac go to sleep. Just let the screen darken.

Can't that when on the road for weeks if not months, need it to sleep for power reasons. Besides, the screen going to sleep does the same thing.

 

[thelookingglass]

Can't that when on the road for weeks if not months, need it to sleep for power reasons. Besides, the screen going to sleep does the same thing.

I remember looking into this and I thought I recall reading that you have to have a wired connection to your computer and perhaps a computer that's capable of waking from sleep remotely. There is some help for this on the logmein site.

If you're going away, why don't you just put it on timed sleep? My iMac is set to sleep from 4-7am every night.