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iPad iPad Pro 12.9 as laptop replacement, file management and storage

S

Synergie

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 15, 2011
771
210
Halifax, Canada
I finally figured out the best way to use this as an actual laptop replacement to the point I rarely even open my MBP anymore. We picked up (hubby and I) a WD My Passport Wireless Pro 4 TB drive. It uses WiFi either on its own when no network is present or as NAS. It's super easy to set up too. At home we leave it plugged in. When out, it has a 10 hour battery which can also as an added bonus charge your phone or iPad! It also has built in SD and USB slots to transfer files easily. And I mean it's easy. You have option that it can automatically transfer the files when the SD or USB stick are plugged in, or you can do it manually with the button on the drive.

We are both now using An app called File Browser which puts everything in on one place. ICloud files, Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox etc plus it works with NAS and standalone wireless storage devices. You can copy paste move etc between ALL different types of storage.

All apps have share option and FB comes up in the apps list. So you can save directly to File Browser to any location including the My Passport drive. File management solved! I have been testing this now for a week and it's working awesome! The drive is small enough to fit in a large pocket and Starbucks is no issue. 4 TB wireless portable storage is no joke!

https://www.wdc.com/products/portable-storage/my-passport-wireless-pro.html#WDBSMT0040BBK-NESN

https://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser/

Just wanted to share because I remember a lot of people on here complaining about reliable and easy way to manage files on iPad as being a reason it could never be their laptop replacement.
 
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I have the File Browser app too, as well as a 3 TB Western Digital drive. They work perfectly together. Granted, I never need to use it for that purpose anymore as all my files are now in the cloud, but if I really need to get something on that drive, I can.

I think the new Files app is going to probably eventually kill apps like File Browser, but it has been a good stop gap in the meantime, and File Browser will still be great for people who don't want their whole lives in the cloud.
 
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I also use FileBrowser and a wireless RAVPower FileHub. I like the FileHub because it's versatile - it works with any USB storage and SD cards. I usually use a 4TB WD drive. And at $40 it is inexpensive.
 
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I do think having the Files app (and the non-native apps as you mentioned) will really make it easier to be a PC replacement - the features might not all be there quite yet, but they do seem to be heading in the right direction...
 
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Thanks for sharing OP.

So there's a good way to have a large, offline locally stored file system ALREADY - even without iOS 11!

Pretty cool. Personally, I'm all iCloud and it's going well. But we have fast, fibre optic internet in my area and it's rarely down. I understand it's not the same in many locations.

This will be a good referral thread for anyone looking for such a solution.
 
I've used iFiles from Imagam on my iOS devices to do the same thing. I did test iOS11 pb1 with Files, and found I needed to have the Dropbox, Google Drive and Box apps installed for them to be used together.
As Files and File Manager just link to the APIs of those services, there's no need for the additional apps.
It did not have Local Storage enabled either at the time, when I downloaded a file, it gave me the option to open it in Files, but then to store it in whichever Service I had installed.
The new public betas might have changed by then, but I reverted to iOS10.
It will be interesting to see what Files brings in the full version in a few weeks, and see if it's going to replace my copy of iFiles.
 
SB-MBP said:
Thanks for sharing OP.

So there's a good way to have a large, offline locally stored file system ALREADY - even without iOS 11!

Pretty cool. Personally, I'm all iCloud and it's going well. But we have fast, fibre optic internet in my area and it's rarely down. I understand it's not the same in many locations.

This will be a good referral thread for anyone looking for such a solution.
Click to expand...

I only use the FileHub for travel. I go to a lot of places where Internet availability is either nonexistent, only occasionally available, or sketchy when it is. For that matter, I recently stayed in a major hotel in a major city where the WiFi was virtually useless. So I never count on cloud availability and use it almost solely for sharing photos/files with others. I do use Dropbox if I want to get something to all of my devices easily.
 
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Don't forget with cloud services your LTE data plan comes into play. For example I only have 3 GB data for the whole month! In Canada mobile data is prohibitively expensive! At home I have WiFi but not when out unless at Starbucks or something. And even with a huge data plan, some files are just not good to work with over data anyway like video files if you do a lot of editing. If you have a fast connection it's fine but then the cost of always uploading and downloading gets expensive as I explained. Having a 4TB Drive I can take with me and work on videos on the fly is awesome while not having to worry about using all my data plan up to get it to or from the cloud.

Having said that I do use both iCloud and google Drive. But mostly for word documents etc.
 
maflynn said:
My expectations are very low, and I'm considering moving much of my stuff over to iCloud which may help leverage of the new app.
Click to expand...

Looks like I may continue to keep DropBox no matter what. All my employees can access no matter what device they use.

Be glad when Irma passes Jacksonville.o_O

I am ready. Going to stay here.

Motels all full all the way to Atlanta. No gas on 95.
 
I use Documents by Readdle for my file management needs. It allows connections to all cloud services including iCloud and FTP/SFTP, and it also allows for local storage with a regular folder system like Finder on the Mac. The nice thing is that the files stored locally within Documents are backed up to iCloud with your entire device. So if the iPad was to die, you would not lose the files and they could be restored to a replacement iPad. I tested this when I upgraded to my new 10.5 iPad Pro, and all the files transferred during a normal "restore from iCloud backup". Documents also allows you to sync local file storage to a cloud service, so you can further backup your locally stored files in the cloud for essentially a second backup copy (just in case)
 
Just another view of how hubby and I are doing it. Looks like a mini sleek desktop setup! :) Honestly I don't use my MBP anymore. It's a mid 2012 13" MBP which I had already upgraded the HDD on to solid state 400 GB and doubled the RAM so I am hoping I might get some return on it. The ONLY app I cant seem to replace is Dreamweaver. But Coda does the job. Professional level video editing I use LumaFusion, and for graphics I now use Affinity but Pixelmator is a close second. For word / excel / ppt I use MobiSystems OfficeSuite Pro which is basically a clone of MS apps and plays nicely with third party installed fonts.

Oh I forgot to mention for simple file transfers between PCs or Macs and the iPad / iPhone, I picked up a couple 32 GB iDiskk lightning to USB flash sticks. It has a very simple app and does to job for when you just need to transfer some files quickly to a computer and email wont suffice / file sharing through clouds are not an option. So we have all bases covered.

For us, iPad Pro truly IS a laptop / desktop replacement.

e9c8dc7b7a290ac0bb99e8160a2e75e0.jpg
d0eba30f0498f4e54c2c636d3120e280.jpg
 
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Newtons Apple said:
Looks like I may continue to keep DropBox no matter what. All my employees can access no matter what device they use.

Be glad when Irma passes Jacksonville.o_O

I am ready. Going to stay here.

Motels all full all the way to Atlanta. No gas on 95.
Click to expand...

STAY SAFE!

We are in Nova Scotia, and I have been watching Jose which is just behind and looks a bit more curved so we might get some of it next week. I still remember when Juan hit Halifax in 2003 at a Cat 2 and it was NOT fun. I was in the Canadian Navy at the time, on duty on ship, in the harbour. It was like a heavy sea state alongside! Part of my apartment building collapsed in that hurricane. Trees and power lines down everywhere. It took weeks to restore power in some areas. My building that wing had to all move out and it took better part of two years to fix. Luckily I was in a different section (still am) which is shielded a bit more from wind sheer.

Again stay safe. Stay away from the shoreline!
 
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Synergie said:
Just another view of how hubby and I are doing it. Looks like a mini sleek desktop setup! :) Honestly I don't use my MBP anymore. It's a mid 2012 13" MBP which I had already upgraded the HDD on to solid state 400 GB and doubled the RAM so I am hoping I might get some return on it. The ONLY app I cant seem to replace is Dreamweaver. But Coda does the job. Professional level video editing I use LumaFusion, and for graphics I now use Affinity but Pixelmator is a close second. For word / excel / ppt I use MobiSystems OfficeSuite Pro which is basically a clone of MS apps and plays nicely with third party installed fonts.

Oh I forgot to mention for simple file transfers between PCs or Macs and the iPad / iPhone, I picked up a couple 32 GB iDiskk lightning to USB flash sticks. It has a very simple app and does to job for when you just need to transfer some files quickly to a computer and email wont suffice / file sharing through clouds are not an option. So we have all bases covered.

For us, iPad Pro truly IS a laptop / desktop replacement.

e9c8dc7b7a290ac0bb99e8160a2e75e0.jpg
d0eba30f0498f4e54c2c636d3120e280.jpg
Click to expand...
What's that stand you're using on the desk? Is it fairly portable?

This looks like my exact future setup except I may add the smart keyboard as well for quick typing and then Make a magic keyboard setup like yours above.
 
Here’s my work setup love the dual screen setup for what I’m doing - love the charging stands by Logitech to trickle in power as I’m working
 

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Thank you for this thread, I only have the 9.5" Pro at the moment, but I'm pretty keen to get the new 10.5" model and the keyboard case, since I got my iPad I hardly touch my old 2010 MacBook Pro... I pay for iCloud storage but knowing how I can use a portable drive to access files is awesome..

So I could load all my MS Office docs on my Mac to this portable hard drive, and access or edit them on my iPad?
 
Your attempting to make ios do things it was not intended. Make Steve Jobs turn in his grave.
 
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