Syncing iPad without MacBook...

[AshUK]

OK guys, here's my question (which hopefully isn't a stupid one )

My GF is on a ship in the US, with her MacBook and new iPad. I will be flying out to join her in mid December, and won't be home until mid March.

She has decided to get me an iPad for Xmas, as she's delighted with hers, and I've liked one for a while. My question is this : Is there any way I can sync my new iPad without having to take my MacBook with me? I would happily get MobileMe if I knew it would do what I wanted, but it's also the pictures and music I would like to sync. Alternatively, is there a way I can somehow take an external hard drive and temporarily put my files on her MB and sync it that way?

Cheers

Ash

 

[SimonBS]

Hi,

I'm not sure what you want exactly but if you just want some music, photos and maybe a few documents to try out your new iPad when you visit your girlfriend, you could try out Dropbox. There's a Dropbox application for the iPad and from it you can listen to music, watch photos and documents. I don't remember if you can save it to your harddrive but you can try out the device and make a complete sync when you get home.

Will that do the job? Else I'm afraid that there are no way to sync it without a Macbook. Of course you could bring an external harddrive, throw the files onto your girlfriends Macbook and synchronize it. But that might mess a bit with your girlfriends iTunes library (you know how Apple likes to do things - they work, but they only work for YOU)

I hope you will be happy with your iPad - I'm certainly happy with mine, and I hope you will have a great time visiting your girlfriend.

 

[AshUK]

Thanks for that Simon...

i already have the Dropbox,so I think that is a good starting point... Failing that I may have to take it with me just in case...

Ash

 

[poloponies]

I'm also a little confused with what you're asking. If what you intend to do is set it up initially with your MacBook then you're basically associated with that MacBook for sync purposes. However, if you want to later add media content then just check the box for "Manually manage music and videos" on iTunes when you set up the iPad (it's on the "main page" for your iPad when it's plugged in). Then you can drag-and-drop books, movies or music from your girlfriend's computer - just don't sync because it will erase your iPad.

 

[AshUK]

I can see I've posted a bit of a confusing thread here, I'll try and confirm what I'm trying to achieve.

I work at sea on cruise ships, as does my GF. She's currently away at sea, and I will be joining the same ship in December. I currently have an iPhone4 and MacBook synced, and she is buying me a iPad for Xmas. I won't get the iPad until I head across to the US next month.

I want to leave my MacBook at home and still use my iPad while I'm away, but would like to have my emails, bookmarks, and if possible pictures on it. Music isn't a biggie, but would be nice. Obviously when I get home in March I can do a proper job of syncing it, but in the meantime is there anything I can do? As far as I understand, I need to initially sync it to iTunes to get it going (so to speak), won't this add all of her music, emails, etc or can I then delete them and just manually create my own? Alternatively, is there a way I can pair up my iPhone with it and do it that way?

I hope this makes a little more sense...

Thanks

Ash

 

[Night Spring]

I want to leave my MacBook at home and still use my iPad while I'm away, but would like to have my emails, bookmarks, and if possible pictures on it. Music isn't a biggie, but would be nice. Obviously when I get home in March I can do a proper job of syncing it, but in the meantime is there anything I can do? As far as I understand, I need to initially sync it to iTunes to get it going (so to speak), won't this add all of her music, emails, etc or can I then delete them and just manually create my own? Alternatively, is there a way I can pair up my iPhone with it and do it that way?

iPads need to be activated when you use them for the first time, you can do that through your GF's computer. During activation you will be given options for syncing various things to your iPad, just say no to all. You can then set your iPad to "manually manage music and videos" then drag some music onto it. email accounts can be set up directly on your iPad, just make sure you have all the info you need -- mail server, userid, password, etc. Bookmarks can be synced through MobileMe if you have it, if not, there are a number of free online bookmard storage services that you can look into. I believe Google has one, for example.

Finally, no there's no way to hook up an iPhone and iPad. Some apps let you sync data over the cloud between an iPhone and iPad -- for example, both Kindle and iBooks apps let you start reading a book on one device, then pick it up on the other device and it'll turn the page to where you were on the first device. But that's about the extent of "hoooking up" you can do between two iDevices.