Using iPad only for business trip

[forceofnature]

Ok, I just started my week in Denver using the iPad only. It will be interesting. Used GPS to navigate to the hotel and Skype to make a couple test calls. Now to see how i do the rest of the week.

I need to get the camera adapter kit so i will find a store around here to pick one up. I need to downsize from my dslr to a more pocketable camera. As it takes up nearly As much space as my luggage.

 

[Tom G.]

I just spent two days in Chicago attending the Tall Ships Festival. I brought along my Olympus pocket camera and of course my iPhone4. After a short while all I used was my iPhone. It was faster and took better photos. I really like it.

P.S. I had the camera connection kit and it is really user friendly. It's so easy even a caveman can do it. I could start editing and sorting photos in the restaurant at supper and later in my hotel room.

 

[IrishVixen]

The Cherry Creek Apple store had CCKs last week; I know, because we picked one up for my mother in law.

http://www.apple.com/retail/cherrycreek/

Worth a call!

 

[forceofnature]

The Cherry Creek Apple store had CCKs last week; I know, because we picked one up for my mother in law.

http://www.apple.com/retail/cherrycreek/

Worth a call!

Thanks I will take a trip tomorrow night

 

[misterbig]

I've taken my iPad on short business trips (less than 3 days) and it was enough to get light work done. For longer trips though I always bring my MacBook Pro since it has all of my work data on it.

The only problem I've encountered so far is there are some hotels which only offer wired in-room internet access. This is a huge PITA when I only have my iPad and have to scour for a hotspot. Apple really needs to come up with a dock-to-ethernet connector because as ubiquitous as WiFi may seem to be, it's not omnipresent.

 

[thelookingglass]

The only problem I've encountered so far is there are some hotels which only offer wired in-room internet access. This is a huge PITA when I only have my iPad and have to scour for a hotspot. Apple really needs to come up with a dock-to-ethernet connector because as ubiquitous as WiFi may seem to be, it's not omnipresent.

Steve would tell you to get the 3G version.

 

[TheBritishBloke]

Steve would tell you to get the 3G version.

You will see that the WiFi version actually has 3G built in, but people never listen to Steve when he says "Don't hold it that way"

 

[nharrisn]

I've taken my iPad on short business trips (less than 3 days) and it was enough to get light work done. For longer trips though I always bring my MacBook Pro since it has all of my work data on it.

The only problem I've encountered so far is there are some hotels which only offer wired in-room internet access. This is a huge PITA when I only have my iPad and have to scour for a hotspot. Apple really needs to come up with a dock-to-ethernet connector because as ubiquitous as WiFi may seem to be, it's not omnipresent.

Take along an airport express, it's small enough, plug that into the hotel's ethernet and voila you have wireless in your room. Make sure you set it in bridge mode with the airport utility on your laptop before you go.

Nigel

 

[leodavinci0]

Take along an airport express, it's small enough, plug that into the hotel's ethernet and voila you have wireless in your room. Make sure you set it in bridge mode with the airport utility on your laptop before you go.

Nigel

This comes in handy as well for printing docs, plugging a portable printer into the airport express and using HP's iPrint app. I definitely recommend that app, or an equivalent (Brother and Lexmark have similar, but haven't tried them).

 

[forceofnature]

Update

Day 1 of meetings

I have found the hotel wireless lacking to use citrix receiver. Email push and calendar works fine. I hate to use the 3G service when free wireless is available.

Just started using OmniFocus today so putting actions from the meeting into something i can track locallyis great. Cant wait to get the GPS enalbed actions input.

Thanks for the airport express tip for hotels with wired access, mine is sitting on my desk at home oh well.

 

[leons]

Which portable printers can you use this way? Which things can you print from the iPad?

This comes in handy as well for printing docs, plugging a portable printer into the airport express and using HP's iPrint app. I definitely recommend that app, or an equivalent (Brother and Lexmark have similar, but haven't tried them).

 

[misterbig]

Take along an airport express, it's small enough, plug that into the hotel's ethernet and voila you have wireless in your room. Make sure you set it in bridge mode with the airport utility on your laptop before you go.

Nigel

I do have an airport express, but I find it useless most of the time because a lot of hotels' internet have a login page which the airport express can't seem to deal with. If you have any way to bypass the login page please share by all means!

 

[GinoDotCom]

If you're going to bring an airport express for those hotels that have Ethernet wired Internet only... You might as well bring your laptop at that point! Unless you have a 17inch top or something really big and heavy- I don't see the point of carrying an airport and maybe even a camera kit just so you can say you used your iPad on a business trip. I don't get it?

Or tether your Internet.

 

[forceofnature]

If you're going to bring an airport express for those hotels that have Ethernet wired Internet only... You might as well bring your laptop at that point! Unless you have a 17inch top or something really big and heavy- I don't see the point of carrying an airport and maybe even a camera kit just so you can say you used your iPad on a business trip. I don't get it?

Or tether your Internet.

The camera adapter kit is so i can upload photos i take on a trip and has nothing to do with business.

 

[BrennerM]

The camera connectors are about the size of a matchbook and you likely only need one for a particular camera...I don't think carrying that is a burden at all.

An airport express is obviously bigger and more of a personal choice if you know it will get you a connection where no other choice exists.

 

[poloponies]

If you're going to bring an airport express for those hotels that have Ethernet wired Internet only... You might as well bring your laptop at that point! Unless you have a 17inch top or something really big and heavy- I don't see the point of carrying an airport and maybe even a camera kit just so you can say you used your iPad on a business trip. I don't get it?

Or tether your Internet.

I have the 3G so this isn't an issue for me, but even if I didn't have 3G service I'm not sure I'd consider the Airport Express a burden. It's about the size of my MBP's power brick so I'm coming out ahead either way. I also have an MBA but I've almost given up using that entirely since I got my iPad.

 

[Matthew9559]

I don't travel as much anymore but recently I was at a Disney World resort and they had Ethernet only. I had my MBP because this was month or two before iPad came out so I was fine but I thought about what if I had the iPad. Using an airport express is a great solution. I will invest in one at some point for this alone.

 

[b.c.]

I do have an airport express, but I find it useless most of the time because a lot of hotels' internet have a login page which the airport express can't seem to deal with. If you have any way to bypass the login page please share by all means!

I also recommend bringing along an AP Express, it's small and light, and not a bother to carry at all. plus it has a powered USB jack on it - unfortunately not enough juice to charge the iPad, but enough for iPhone or iPod. this often comes in handy since I have several i-devices to charge in the hotel, and sometimes there's few spare AC outlets especially in some overseas hotels

even if I'm traveling with my MacBook Pro and have wired ethernet in the hotel room, the AP Express still comes in handy to let me use multiple devices on the same internet connection (e.g. iPhone, or family members' iPhones/iPod touch/iPad)

I still encounter hotels that only have wired internet, so for those the AP Express is a lifesaver when traveling with just iPhone or iPad.

I've been traveling with an AP Express for more than 5 yrs, and I've never had a problem with a login page at a hotel when using it - if there is one, I've always managed to login via Safari, the first time I try to browse some other site the login page will come up.

I have yet to take a business trip with only the iPad, but I'm thinking I may do so on my next trip overseas...

 

[IrishVixen]

I also recommend bringing along an AP Express, it's small and light, and not a bother to carry at all. plus it has a powered USB jack on it - unfortunately not enough juice to charge the iPad, but enough for iPhone or iPod. this often comes in handy since I have several i-devices to charge in the hotel, and sometimes there's few spare AC outlets especially in some overseas hotels

Our AP Express goes on its first trip late in September. I'll report back then.

On our first overseas trip last year, the "few spare AC outlets issue" really hit home, and we didn't even have the iPads tagging along on that trip. Two more outlets needed now! So I started hunting for options.

Travel power strips: Monster Power To Go
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MP-OT...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1283200167&sr=8-2

I bought two of the four-outlet each versions. These are only about 6-7" long, and the cords wrap around them for travel, so they're really quite compact. According to Monster, they're also 120/240v compatible, unlike the regular power strip I took to Ireland last year. Even with an adapter, that one was a no go (it was useful in our domestic layover though)! There's a larger six outlet version, and they're available in both black and white.

Travel surge protector: Belkin Mini Surge Protector
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BZ1030...p?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1283200504&sr=1-1

I also picked up two of these. I'm still of mixed emotions on this one. I think having surge protection is a smart move but these units are both fairly large and relatively heavy. On the plus side, the wall plug rotates fully, so it will fit nearly any outlet, and it has two USB charging ports that mean you can carry fewer wall warts. But they're still pretty big, and feel a little unstable when plugged in with the bulk of the main unit facing any direction but down below the wall outlet.. I might look for something smaller, perhaps a one outlet only option, since I can plug the travel strip in to expand to four outlets total.

And for those trying to figure out how to organize all this electronic crap...

Cocoon Grid It system: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...field-keywords=cocoon+grid-it&sprefix=Cocoon+

I went with the 10x5 version as it fit the bag I carry my iPad in, but the larger versions are probably well worth the small cost increase. Great for organizing cables, the CCK or other adapters, a secondary battery, stylus, or what-have-you.

Hopefully some of this is of use to someone!

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

I've tried just bringing my iPad as my primary computing device on business trips. For almost everything, I'm ok....DropBox keeps all files in synch between my MBP and my iPad, I can easily do presentations via Projector and the VGA out cable, etc. With the addition of my Apple BT keyboard, I can do reasonably long edits to existing documents or create new ones on the fly.

I still tend to grab my MBP and my iPad both when traveling. I find that while I can do all those things with the iPad, I can do all of them so much faster and without any compromises with my MBP. So my iPad stays as my "daily travel companion" with my MBP staying at my desk or hotel for evening use.

 

[panzer06]

Ok, I just started my week in Denver using the iPad only. It will be interesting. Used GPS to navigate to the hotel and Skype to make a couple test calls. Now to see how i do the rest of the week.

I need to get the camera adapter kit so i will find a store around here to pick one up. I need to downsize from my dslr to a more pocketable camera. As it takes up nearly As much space as my luggage.

Yeah the whole awkward file access is too annoying. I have Dropbox and a few other apps for this but I still carry the MBP 13 on business. I do take the iPad to all my meetings and eliminated the notepad. Much Better. Haven't figured out how to save in a decent directory structure for Pages so I have all these notes with no filename sitting in some fake my documents.

The iPad is an awesome device. Just a few little items would make it great for work.

Cheers,

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Haven't figured out how to save in a decent directory structure for Pages so I have all these notes with no filename sitting in some fake my documents.

The iPad is an awesome device. Just a few little items would make it great for work.

This.

To me, the one failure of the iPad as a netbook/laptop replacement is the lack of a decent file/directory structure. Yes, DropBox helps but iTunes was never really designed for this purpose and it shows.

 

[forceofnature]

Notes application

Is it just me or does the notes application suck down battery power. On the flight over i watched videos listened to some music and read a book on kindle and still had 50% battery at around 15 hrs of time.

Today i took notes in notes and noticed the ipad was getting warm and could watch the battery drain. Only made it about 9 hrs to get less than 20% battery

 

[Jaro65]

Travel surge protector: Belkin Mini Surge Protector
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BZ1030...p?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1283200504&sr=1-1

I also picked up two of these. I'm still of mixed emotions on this one. I think having surge protection is a smart move but these units are both fairly large and relatively heavy. On the plus side, the wall plug rotates fully, so it will fit nearly any outlet, and it has two USB charging ports that mean you can carry fewer wall warts. But they're still pretty big, and feel a little unstable when plugged in with the bulk of the main unit facing any direction but down below the wall outlet.. I might look for something smaller, perhaps a one outlet only option, since I can plug the travel strip in to expand to four outlets total.

I always take with me my Airport Express and also the Belkin Mini Surge Protector. You're right that the surge protector is a bit on the bulky side, but I found that it can also be pretty handy when sharing the A/C ports by the gate at the airport, etc. Its size really doesn't make much difference to my carry-on luggage.

 

[poloponies]

I always take with me my Airport Express and also the Belkin Mini Surge Protector. You're right that the surge protector is a bit on the bulky side, but I found that it can also be pretty handy when sharing the A/C ports by the gate at the airport, etc. Its size really doesn't make much difference to my carry-on luggage.

Ditto that. The 3-hour-delay has become the rule rather than the exception and finding even a single outlet can be a challenge. If I'm feeling magnanimous I often let others share the wealth.