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iPad Use iPad Air as replacement for laptop?
- Thread starter Retired Cat
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My 0.02 cents
I had to jump in here when I read this. I think people that are not understanding how useful Windows 8 is for bridging the gap between tablets and laptops. Obviously this is much more true for Windows desktop users vs. OSX (Mac) desktop users.
Before anybody screams "Windows troll" I want to say my wife and I both use iPhones, she has an iPad 3 (32gb, 3G) and I have a Mini (32gb, 3G). We love these devices and will likely always use/upgrade them, especially the phones.
But what if you could tap an icon on your iPad and drop into a FULLY functional OSX desktop? One with all compatabilities that a Mac has regardeing apps and devices. You'd still have you iPad, and all its apps and portability, battery life, etc., but when you needed more you attach a mouse and keyboard (wired or BT) maybe a 20" monitor, and you now have a full blown PC. What if you could also attach a slim keyboard cover with a trackpad for portable PC compatability?
What if the above device came with 96GB of onboard storage, battery life of 8-10 hours and cost about $430 dollars?
Well as a Windows laptop (currently Lenovo Core i3) I now have this setup. I recently purchased an Asus T100 Transformer tablet/laptop with Win8 Pro. I paid $379 for the 64gb model, and added a 64gb SD card. After the OS and recovery partitions are accounted for I have about 96gb free. Now this tablet uses the newest Baytrail Quad core SoC and is a really surprisingly fast setup. There are numerous YouTube reviews of its capabilities and AnandTech has a great review of it. It's easily as fast (for what I do) as my Lenovo.
Now Windows has nowhere near the amount of Metro/Tablet apps as iOS does, but for what I use my iPad for it mostly has what I need. Web browser (now full Chrome with extensions), Flipboard, a Reddit reader, Kindle app, Music, Netflix, Photo sharing/viewing, simple games, etc.
But when in laptop mode I can drop into the desktop, run full office, burn DVD's, jailbreak our phones (lol), print, file, use USB devices, rip DVD's with Handbrake, etc, etc. I can even run Civ IV and Simcity 3000 perfectly.
So the "schizophrenic" Windows 8 suddenly makes great sense in my use cases, with this device. I have a tablet that does the couch slouching, browsing and playtime, and the full desktop x86 compatability in a 2.4lb, 8 hour device. And this is only going to get better, 64bit, 4gb RAM systems are coming next year for this low power Intel family. Seriously check out some of the video reviews on Youtube for the Asus T100 - it's an impressive piece of tech for short money. It's not Apple quality, but it's not priced like it either.
I think if most iPad/Mac fans were honest they would LOVE this sort of flexibility with their iPads and/or MacBook Airs. I know my iPad mini and my Lenovo are both getting far less use these days...YMMV.
I had to jump in here when I read this. I think people that are not understanding how useful Windows 8 is for bridging the gap between tablets and laptops. Obviously this is much more true for Windows desktop users vs. OSX (Mac) desktop users.
Before anybody screams "Windows troll" I want to say my wife and I both use iPhones, she has an iPad 3 (32gb, 3G) and I have a Mini (32gb, 3G). We love these devices and will likely always use/upgrade them, especially the phones.
But what if you could tap an icon on your iPad and drop into a FULLY functional OSX desktop? One with all compatabilities that a Mac has regardeing apps and devices. You'd still have you iPad, and all its apps and portability, battery life, etc., but when you needed more you attach a mouse and keyboard (wired or BT) maybe a 20" monitor, and you now have a full blown PC. What if you could also attach a slim keyboard cover with a trackpad for portable PC compatability?
What if the above device came with 96GB of onboard storage, battery life of 8-10 hours and cost about $430 dollars?
Well as a Windows laptop (currently Lenovo Core i3) I now have this setup. I recently purchased an Asus T100 Transformer tablet/laptop with Win8 Pro. I paid $379 for the 64gb model, and added a 64gb SD card. After the OS and recovery partitions are accounted for I have about 96gb free. Now this tablet uses the newest Baytrail Quad core SoC and is a really surprisingly fast setup. There are numerous YouTube reviews of its capabilities and AnandTech has a great review of it. It's easily as fast (for what I do) as my Lenovo.
Now Windows has nowhere near the amount of Metro/Tablet apps as iOS does, but for what I use my iPad for it mostly has what I need. Web browser (now full Chrome with extensions), Flipboard, a Reddit reader, Kindle app, Music, Netflix, Photo sharing/viewing, simple games, etc.
But when in laptop mode I can drop into the desktop, run full office, burn DVD's, jailbreak our phones (lol), print, file, use USB devices, rip DVD's with Handbrake, etc, etc. I can even run Civ IV and Simcity 3000 perfectly.
So the "schizophrenic" Windows 8 suddenly makes great sense in my use cases, with this device. I have a tablet that does the couch slouching, browsing and playtime, and the full desktop x86 compatability in a 2.4lb, 8 hour device. And this is only going to get better, 64bit, 4gb RAM systems are coming next year for this low power Intel family. Seriously check out some of the video reviews on Youtube for the Asus T100 - it's an impressive piece of tech for short money. It's not Apple quality, but it's not priced like it either.
I think if most iPad/Mac fans were honest they would LOVE this sort of flexibility with their iPads and/or MacBook Airs. I know my iPad mini and my Lenovo are both getting far less use these days...YMMV.
I've never tried to download cvs files to my iPad, but I do it with other types of files all the time. I've downloaded zip files, rar files, exe files... All you need is an app installed on your iPad that handles that file type. You hit a download link in Safari, and once the file downloads, an "open in..." dialogue shows up, letting you pick which app you want to use to open the file. Apps like GoodReader and FileBrowser handle pretty much any file type, and for cvs files, I'm sure you can pass it to Numbers.
Here is my issue...if I just have an ipad, how would I store all my photos? I have 7 years of photos in iphoto on my mac. Thousands of pics. I need a computer to store them. Until iPads have 500 gb drives, I need a computer. Otherwise I would be fine with only an ipad....
The same with music, movies, etc. Although you could get a NAS (basically a network attached hard drive) that run iTunes....
I use my ipad 95% of the time. I have my sony laptop that sits there until I need it. Basically for typing something long or filling out forms which Is annoying on an ipad.
Useless is a harsh word but I understand what people mean. I have found as others have that I can and do use my iPad for about 80% - 85% of my "computing" needs. But, and its a big but: When I need my laptop I need it! There are games I still play and for document creation and/or havy typing Id prefer the laptop even though I do love typing on the ipad. It feels so high-tech
Printing is also a little dodgy with the iPad unless you get the right app and printer to make it happen.
Of course, file management is simply not happening without the cloud and that gets annoying after a while.
Good Idea, But...
I think using an ipad as your primary device is a good idea. The only issue is that it can be limiting. If anything, I would keep your current computer as a backup and not completely get rid of it.
Overall, the iPad is the best tablet out there - it's light, durable and productive. Good luck with your decision!
I think using an ipad as your primary device is a good idea. The only issue is that it can be limiting. If anything, I would keep your current computer as a backup and not completely get rid of it.
Overall, the iPad is the best tablet out there - it's light, durable and productive. Good luck with your decision!
When you use the website do you use a keyboard with the iPad? Feel free to PM me if you want.
Attaching docs to email...
If people REALLY want a way around the inability to attach any file to an email then it is out there, just in a different way.
If you use Dropbox, Google Drive, etc then it's VERY easy to go into the appropriate app, get a link to the file, and paste the (anonymous) link into the email.
Of course, this isn't the same as attaching the file but this is a solution that works. Works for CSV, PDF, etc. Google Drive even offers the ability to have files available offline should you need that.
So, point of fact, there is a way to share files via email when they aren't audio or video.
If people REALLY want a way around the inability to attach any file to an email then it is out there, just in a different way.
If you use Dropbox, Google Drive, etc then it's VERY easy to go into the appropriate app, get a link to the file, and paste the (anonymous) link into the email.
Of course, this isn't the same as attaching the file but this is a solution that works. Works for CSV, PDF, etc. Google Drive even offers the ability to have files available offline should you need that.
So, point of fact, there is a way to share files via email when they aren't audio or video.
If people REALLY want a way around the inability to attach any file to an email then it is out there, just in a different way.
If you use Dropbox, Google Drive, etc then it's VERY easy to go into the appropriate app, get a link to the file, and paste the (anonymous) link into the email.
Of course, this isn't the same as attaching the file but this is a solution that works. Works for CSV, PDF, etc. Google Drive even offers the ability to have files available offline should you need that.
So, point of fact, there is a way to share files via email when they aren't audio or video.
Sorry, but Apple has dropped the ball on this one big time. Reminds me of when they released the iPhone without copy and paste. This is a very simple function that despite sand boxing they should have fixed by now. I should be able to send files to a common storage area and give mail access. It's not rocket science.
I love Apple. But this one stinks.
agree entirely. no copy and paste is a big reason why there's an android phone in my pocket right now. i know they've implemented it by now, but then again i'm used to droid os and i'm very happy with it.
no copy and paste was absurd then and the file management on iOS is absurd now.
Granted it's not great out of the box on droid either, but it's A - way easier to "fix" and B - not as bad starting off.
I still hold out hope. The way they've implemented text selection and copy and paste in iOS is very elegant and useful. I find manipulating text on my iPad a lot easier than my Nexus. They should build a common file area where apps are allowed to put files and grab files. Like a Send File To option, and call it the Document Library. Then let Mail insert a video, a picture, or a file from the Document Library.
Any smart developers out there that can comment on why something like this would be a problem?
I wouldn't completely move everything to the cloud as the only copy. Having the pictures of your kids, important financial documents entrusted to another company who could go belly up with your data, anytime, is extremely scary. I have no qualms using the cloud for its convenience as long as I am in possession of my valuable property on something under my control (hard drives, paper etc.)
You and me both. I'm a child of the 80's. I have GBs of PST files. Yeah, sure, Google and Gmail archive everything, but I need to have a local copy. Apparently we are dinosaurs. Kids today think the cloud is all that. Until they loose their files and have no backup. They'll learn.
You and me both. I'm a child of the 80's. I have GBs of PST files. Yeah, sure, Google and Gmail archive everything, but I need to have a local copy. Apparently we are dinosaurs. Kids today think the cloud is all that. Until they loose their files and have no backup. They'll learn.
the cloud is great until it comes down...then it's a fog
i agree the future is the cloud...but while everybody else is moving that way, i'm installing synology boxes at home and at work
...
I've stuck to using blackboard on my iMac as a result of past attempts with previous iPads. It was not just the keyboard on the iPad itself, it was the way the mobile Blackboard app displayed threads/posts etc.
Thank you for the PM offer. I hope things continue to work for you with your iPad and all the apps. I've given up getting an iPad Air and also had to stop school - so no more Blackboard for now.
I've stuck to using blackboard on my iMac as a result of past attempts with previous iPads. It was not just the keyboard on the iPad itself, it was the way the mobile Blackboard app displayed threads/posts etc.
Thank you for the PM offer. I hope things continue to work for you with your iPad and all the apps. I've given up getting an iPad Air and also had to stop school - so no more Blackboard for now.
This makes a lot of sense and you have to wonder why something similar hasn't been implemented yet. For as much as Tim Cook touts using his iPad, doesn't he ever run into a situation where he needs to attach multiple files to an email?
I wouldn't do that, either. Just so you know, as long as you have the desktop client running then you do have a copy. Also, as I said, with Google Drive you also have the option of offline availability of your data, so in that case you could have your data in 3 different locations (iPad, laptop/desktop, cloud) or more.
So using such services doesn't mean you give up physical ownership of your files. I'd be more concerned with the security of the data within the files than the availability of the data.
Doesn't matter if it's the cloud, an external drive, whatever. If there's only one copy of something then it's not backed up. I think some people mistake using something external as being a backup. It can be part of a backup solution, sure, but its up to the individual to ensure data redundancy.
I also gather a lot of people just like to complain. Nothing is perfect, so I understand complaining...I just don't see the point of continuous complaining about a problem, especially one that no longer exists, and then still complaining about a problem even when there is a work-around that can be used until a better or "proper" fix comes about. I guess I'd rather just focus on the positive.
Agreed. While the iPad is a nice device, for me, it could never replace my laptop or desktop computer.
I hardly used my MacBook Pro when I had an iPad 2, I sold that while I waited for the Air so went back to using the MacBook Pro, I've barley touched it since getting the Air.
It isn't really a laptop anymore seen as though the battery expanded last week and was pushing up on my trackpad so I have to buy a new battery I get most stuff done on the iPad though.
It isn't really a laptop anymore seen as though the battery expanded last week and was pushing up on my trackpad so I have to buy a new battery
I get most stuff done on the iPad though.
You and me both. I'm a child of the 80's. I have GBs of PST files. Yeah, sure, Google and Gmail archive everything, but I need to have a local copy. Apparently we are dinosaurs. Kids today think the cloud is all that. Until they loose their files and have no backup. They'll learn.
Fully agree here. The cloud is hip and can be convenient but screw that being my only copy of anything truly important. Heck, there are some files I won't even place on any cloud due to their content for whatever reason. Pics too.