Few iPad Questions for Uni Usage

[InfernoUk]

Hey guys, im in the UK and looking at getting an ipad at the end of this month on launch.

Wondered a few things before buying since its a pretty high price over here.

I Currently have a gaming pc i use for games obviously and also typing up notes and writing essays, i have a netbook for taking to lectures and creating presentations (its running osx) and was thinking of getting an iPad to replace the netbook.

My concern is that if im using the iPad with a PC, will pages and keynote files sync and run in office? otherwise ill need to use the netbook for this i guess since it can run office and would render the iPad useless since i cant work on the files when at home. Another thing was if im working with others and need to give them a copy of the presentation off the ipad would i then need to sync to my home pc then email it or something since i cant put it on a flash drive or anything else. Seems there are a lot of limitations to it over a OS running system but i do want one over my netbook just need to know if it can step up to the tasks the netbook was used for.

 

[Gib]

My concern is that if im using the iPad with a PC, will pages and keynote files sync and run in office? otherwise ill need to use the netbook for this i guess since it can run office and would render the iPad useless since i cant work on the files when at home. Another thing was if im working with others and need to give them a copy of the presentation off the ipad would i then need to sync to my home pc then email it or something since i cant put it on a flash drive or anything else. Seems there are a lot of limitations to it over a OS running system but i do want one over my netbook just need to know if it can step up to the tasks the netbook was used for.

With the Pages app, you can export as a .doc .pdf or .pages document. These can be emailed to whoever you want using the built in mail app. Unfortunately the Numbers and Keynote apps cannot export into the native .xls or .ppt formats. Again, they can be exported as .pdf or iWork files, but that is fairly limited.

There are a few other word processing apps on the market, but I have not tried them. Reviews aren't that great for most of them, and the popular iPhone apps have not released a iPad version yet.

Also, there are plenty of good note taking apps on the market as well, so it is mostly user preference as far as interface/options you would be looking for if you wanted to take notes during lectures. I have installed a few of them, and will give them a test once my summer semester starts next week...

 

[InfernoUk]

so its fine for solo work and group work on word documents but you will need a laptop or whatever to constrct a group presentation or share any other files as they are different file types ?

 

[wgary]

so its fine for solo work and group work on word documents but you will need a laptop or whatever to constrct a group presentation or share any other files as they are different file types ?

The major problem is sharing spreadsheets to someone using Excel. You can email:
* your Keynote files as Keynote, PowerPoint, or PDF.
* your Pages files as Pages, Word, or PDF.
* your Numbers files as Numbers or PDF, not Excel, which is the issue. However, if you have Numbers on your Mac, you can convert it to an Excel files.

(Note that if you use iWork.com to share documents, your group members can download in whichever of these formats they prefer.)

So you should be good as long as you don't need spreadsheet support. Also, avoid overly elaborate layouts which can translate with varying levels of fidelity.

The real solution is to get your whole group working on iPads, then no issue at all!

 

[InfernoUk]

thanks i wont be using excel so thats all good, lol not every student can afford ipads with the UK pricing so ill be the only one probably.

Thanks for the help though so i can do word docs and power points and email them to others just fine ? as this is my only issue i thought i would have