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Can iPad do what I need it to do? Or, To Buy or Not to Buy, That Is The Question

S

SpiceGrrl

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 3, 2010
70
1
Los Angeles
Hi all, new user here, appreciating this forum very much. I am a longtime PC laptop user who is on the verge of going Mac later this week. I spend 90% of my computer time in my home office so I don't really need a laptop. Plus I really like a fast processor and a big screen, therefore I'm thinking iMac, with an iPad as my portable device to do work while away from home. My "work" consists of responding to emails, reading and editing simple documents (regular word docs with no pictures or special formatting), reading/posting on social networking websites, and doing internet research using Google and LinkedIn. All my data and emails will be in the cloud as I am about to become a Mobile Me user. I never need to load data in to my computer via disk, so the lack of a disk drive is fine with me. Nor do I give a crap about the lack of support for Flash.

BUT--a lot of friends are saying "you can't do real work on the iPad." So I have to figure this out. Hoping you will help. Can the iPad do the following?

* Retrieve a Word doc from my iDisk, let me edit it in Pages, and upload it back to the iDisk? Recent iWorks update says YES but your opinion is valued.

* Send an email with an attachment pulled from my iDisk?

* Read a Word doc when it comes to me as an email attachment?

* Participate actively in social networking sites (e.g. FB, LinkedIn and word press blogs)?

* Create a simple Pages doc and save it as a Word doc to my iDisk?

Any clues MOST appreciated. Thank you for your time. :)
 
Can the iPad do the following?

* Retrieve a Word doc from my iDisk, let me edit it in Pages, and upload it back to the iDisk? Recent iWorks update says YES but your opinion is valued.

Yes.

* Send an email with an attachment pulled from my iDisk?

Yes.

* Read a Word doc when it comes to me as an email attachment?

Yes.

* Participate actively in social networking sites (e.g. FB, LinkedIn and word press blogs)?

Yes.

* Create a simple Pages doc and save it as a Word doc to my iDisk?

Yes.


I use the iPad daily for work and although I don't use iDisk I use Dropbox and instead of iWork I use DocsToGo. I'm able to do all of the things above without any issues and all the files I use are on Dropbox cloud storage.

As far as the iPad not being able to do real work on it I would say that while I wouldn't want to be creating complex excel files or long research papers on it I'm sure it could handle those things. With that said it does work great for updating excel spreadsheets and for editing word documents.
 
I've never personally used Pages. But, from everything I've read, it doesn't handle syncing with cloud storage anywhere near as good as, say, Docs To Go. Like the poster above, I also store docs on Dropbox. With Docs To Go, I can access my Dropbox files in the app itself and make edits. Once I leave the doc, the app asks me if I want to sync. I press yes and the docs are synced on my Dropbox and across all the computers where I've installed Dropbox. Works great.
 
Wow, I have never heard of Docs to Go and it sounds like something I should check out. But I thought Mobile Me was supposed to handle all that. How is Docs to Go different from Mobile Me and why would a non-Mac product work better than a Mac product with Mac devices? :confused:
 
i belive docs2go is cheaper that iwork for ipad

and dropbox is free as opposed to mobile me!

but for the most streamline optimised user experience mobile me would be best
 
SpiceGrrl said:
Wow, I have never heard of Docs to Go and it sounds like something I should check out. But I thought Mobile Me was supposed to handle all that. How is Docs to Go different from Mobile Me and why would a non-Mac product work better than a Mac product with Mac devices? :confused:
Click to expand...

Docs to Go is a competitor to Pages (and Numbers and Keynote), not MobileMe. The big difference is Docs to Go works with alternative cloud based storage systems such as DropBox

I've got Docs to go and Pages and much prefer pages. Unless you want to use a cloud service that Pages doesn't support (such as DropBox), then I would recommend Pages every time: Docs to go feels like a bigger version of Docs to Go on the iPhone, whereas Pages was written from the ground up to take advantage of the functionality of the iPad
Personally, I use Pages all the time and use SharePoint as the cloud storage via webDAV but it works just fine with iDisk
 
^^^ This. I much prefer the iWork suite to Docs2GO (have both on my iPad), and also use iDisk as my cloud storage - the interaction between the two is excellent.

Before the iWork update, was a D2G/ Dropbox user, but much prefer using Pages and iDisk now as I have a mobileme account and appreciate the streamlined approach of just using one service for my iPad, iPhone and MacBook pro.

Sounds like the iPad will be ideal for you - my MacBook Pro stays at home now when I travel for work and I do all of the things you list plus more quite happily on my iPad. Only addition I made was a bluetooth keyboard for when I need to do some really heavy document editing.

Hope you enjoy!
 
DannyBres said:
i belive docs2go is cheaper that iwork for ipad

and dropbox is free as opposed to mobile me!
Click to expand...

MobileMe does much more than Dropbox though. It syncs mail, calendar, task etc. on the go. And it might work with iWorks..com better, I'm not sure.
Dropbox should be best compared only to iDisk. Since a new version of Pages etc. has support for importing to Microsoft Office format I guess what the OP want to do, she could.
 
...not that this hasn't been addressed in the last 3 or 4 posts but...

"I've never personally used Pages. But, from everything I've read, it doesn't handle syncing with cloud storage anywhere near as good as, say, Docs To Go. Like the poster above, I also store docs on Dropbox. With Docs To Go, I can access my Dropbox files in the app itself and make edits. Once I leave the doc, the app asks me if I want to sync. I press yes and the docs are synced on my Dropbox and across all the computers where I've installed Dropbox. Works great."


Not to take away from Dropbox...it's an excellent app...however, the recent update to the iWork sweet has made cloud transfer and document management a breeze! Pages is an excellent, intuitive program that works like a gem on the iPad. I've still got uses for Dropbox, but the update has eliminated most of my needs for the app.

These days, I rarely any of our regular workstations for ANY kind of word processing, including invoicing. (We run a business and the brains are all Mac:))...I've set up a couple of generic invoices on the iPad, and several contracts in the iSuite...the ease of emailing direct, storing to the cloud, etc. Makes the iPad invaluable for us. I'm hoping to do ALL of our inventory management, scheduling, invoicing, and payables/receivables on the iPad by the end of the year...they are so convenient! Those who spew the drivel that the iPad is consumption, not creation....they've never used nor owned one. You figure out quickly how the "Create" when you make the purchase!

Waste no more time! Grab it and Enjoy:)

J
 
@OP

You seen to have already figured it out, just looking for a bit of confirmation, the iMac/iPad combo will be perfect for you, you will be extremely Happy, add an Jailbroken iPhone to the mix and all your wildest dream will come true LOL ok no I ma exaggerating but yes, it will do all you want. I do every day for my work, I do have a MBP but 80% of my daily work I'll do it on my iPad.
 
Thanks everyone, this has been extremely valuable. You have confirmed that this is the right way to go. I needed confirmation because obviously I am spending a lot of dough here, but perhaps more relevantly, I have been bitterly disappointed by (PC) technology so many times that I am just deeply nervous and skeptical that any computer product is really as good as it seems. This time I wanted to look before I leap, and you guys helped a LOT with the looking part. Now for the leap. I buy my stuff on Friday. Very grateful. Thank you.:D
 
You're going to love that combo, SpiceGrrl!

My situation is very similar to yours (work from a home office, similar work needs/requirements). I switched to an iMac 3 years ago and added an iPad last May for portable computing/internet and the combo has been absolutely perfect for my needs. Both products exceeded my lofty expectations, in fact. Enjoy!
 
Spicegirl:

Everyone else has already addressed your questions, so no need for me to go into that here...

What I will say, as you're coming over new from PC-land - give yourself a couple weeks to get used to things on the Apple side. OSX does some thing quite differently than you're probably used to from the Windows World. My first 2 weeks of OSX were a frustrating experience - "Why is this here? How do I get this thing to work? How do I change XYZ?" Luckily I had a friend who had been on Mac for a while to talk me through it. After 2 weeks, I grew to really like it, and now I love it!

Just saying, don't get too frustrated or discouraged. Once you get over the hump of the learning curve, you'll find the "Apple Way" MUCH nicer than what you came from and won't ever want to go back.
 
On the topic of switching to Mac, if you have an Apple store nearby, definitely take advantage of their free moving to Mac and other seminars. They are very helpful. Find a schedule on the Apple website.

And now a question to you Doc2Go and Pages users, which is more compatible with MS Office? I need to round trip documents on Word and the "inTact" technology and supposed improved interface on D2Go almost has me buying...
 
Come on guys, don't scare her, you make it sound like is the hardest thing to do :D:D:D:D:D:D

Yeah Spicegrrl you will have to break some (bad) habits coming from PC but nothing really that it will turn your world around, everything is there, everything works and everything plays nice with everything else :cool:
 
Coming from a PC world, mac's are frustrating. You can definately get use to it, but I am never to far away from windows... too much stuff you MIGHT have to give up to go to a Mac environment. I dont know your situation or uses for your computers so I cannot say if you computin life will change a lot.
 
dgree03 said:
too much stuff you MIGHT have to give up to go to a Mac environment.
Click to expand...

WHAT???? :eek::eek::eek:

Give me an example of what did you give up?

Note: I am not a fanboy for the record, I used BSD way before OS X was even a product, been a NT and UNIX user for years, and now OS X.
 
dgree03 said:
Coming from a PC world, mac's are frustrating. You can definately get use to it, but I am never to far away from windows... too much stuff you MIGHT have to give up to go to a Mac environment. I dont know your situation or uses for your computers so I cannot say if you computin life will change a lot.
Click to expand...

There is nothing that I can't do on my Mac faster and easier than on a Windows PC. I think you are talking crap and looking for a reaction.

As for the OP, many of the complainers that you find regarding what the iPad does not or can not do is because they bought it and decided that it should do these things anyway even if they were never advertised as such. For what the iPad was advertised for, it performs these tasks flawlessly. I used Keynote just today and found that it handled my presentation rather well. For the needs you stated above, the iPad will more than meet your needs.
 
dgree03 said:
Coming from a PC world, mac's are frustrating. You can definately get use to it, but I am never to far away from windows... too much stuff you MIGHT have to give up to go to a Mac environment. I dont know your situation or uses for your computers so I cannot say if you computin life will change a lot.
Click to expand...

A word from PC fellow to OP: think about Windows Defender automatically updated itself when you need to rush your work out and the transition will be much more pleasant. :)
 
maturola said:
WHAT???? :eek::eek::eek:

Give me an example of what did you give up?

Note: I am not a fanboy for the record, I used BSD way before OS X was even a product, been a NT and UNIX user for years, and now OS X.
Click to expand...

sapporobaby said:
There is nothing that I can't do on my Mac faster and easier than on a Windows PC. I think you are talking crap and looking for a reaction.

As for the OP, many of the complainers that you find regarding what the iPad does not or can not do is because they bought it and decided that it should do these things anyway even if they were never advertised as such. For what the iPad was advertised for, it performs these tasks flawlessly. I used Keynote just today and found that it handled my presentation rather well. For the needs you stated above, the iPad will more than meet your needs.
Click to expand...

Office suite on mac is pure crap...(2011 seems to be leaps better)
If you game, Macs arent that great(Civ V for example)
File extension compatiablity.. formatted mac drives have trouble in windows and vice versa(NTFS-3g solves this for me tho)
Software library in general is lacking on Mac
Limited connectivity options unless you use third party tools
Finder < Window Explorer

Macs are good for stablity, less chance of virus and malware. I wouldnt say it is more intiative than Windows(esp not windows 7.) Mac hardware is the best in business.. but lack in day and date spec.
 
dgree03 said:
Office suite on mac is pure crap...(2011 seems to be leaps better)
If you game, Macs arent that great(Civ V for example)
File extension compatiablity.. formatted mac drives have trouble in windows and vice versa(NTFS-3g solves this for me tho)
Software library in general is lacking on Mac
Limited connectivity options unless you use third party tools
Finder < Window Explorer

Macs are good for stablity, less chance of virus and malware. I wouldnt say it is more intiative than Windows(esp not windows 7.) Mac hardware is the best in business.. but lack in day and date spec.
Click to expand...

I am not going to go into all this Mac vs PC stuff, but I can tell you that the only valid point you got right was gaming, and that is a well known fact if you want gaming get a windows machine, everything else is more a product of your own Microsoft dependency that anything else.
 
maturola said:
I am not going to go into all this Mac vs PC stuff, but I can tell you that the only valid point you got right was gaming, and that is a well known fact if you want gaming get a windows machine, everything else is more a product of your own Microsoft dependency that anything else.
Click to expand...

Exactly, which is why i said this

"I dont know your situation or uses for your computers so I cannot say if you computin life will change a lot. "

For ME Mac had alot of short comings I needed work around for..
 
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