Should I Buy an iPad ?

[Resurrection Man]

Frances...not wiling to go down that route, thanks. Bad enough getting to grips with the Apple world!

Steve..deleting 600+ photos by individually selecting them is a step too far!

Don... correct, my camera is a Panasonic. On a normal computer what you are suggesting is perfectly rational. However on an iPad accessing the underlying file system to identify these photos is nigh impossible as far as I can see. Neither is there any way to display any extra information, tags, descriptions, whatever alongside each photo on the iPad. As I said...functionality for my intended purpose is pretty poor.

Not to worry as I'd always planned to sell it on afterwards. Won't be sorry to see it go.

[MrGongGong]

I think you might have misunderstood what the iPad is ....... (and some of the publicity does this as well ..)

It's NOT really a "tablet" computer
it's a very large iPhone
you can do lots of very cool things with it
but it doesn't have (without faffing) the connectivity of a laptop or tablet computer

Apple do make a very light and portable laptop so it does make sense for them not to make the ipad simply a touchscreen version of that

[Resurrection Man]

I think you might have misunderstood what the iPad is ....... (and some of the publicity does this as well ..)

It's NOT really a "tablet" computer
it's a very large iPhone
you can do lots of very cool things with it
but it doesn't have (without faffing) the connectivity of a laptop or tablet computer

Apple do make a very light and portable laptop so it does make sense for them not to make the ipad simply a touchscreen version of that

Not sure I agree 100% as the connectivity is all there....wifi 3G etc. Adding peripherals is a no-no, of course, and perhaps that is what you are referring to?

Where it falls down is the limited functionality of the very basic of apps such as Safari. It really is very clunky to use. Anyway it's up on eBay at the moment. Won't be sorry to see it go.

[Stunsworth]

Adding peripherals is a no-no, of course, and perhaps that is what you are referring to?

Not quite true. You can add a keyboard - both piano and typing - using the camera connection kit.

[Dave2002]

RM

You've obviously been to places I've not been (on the iPad). Wouldn't one of the Cloud type solutions work for you - Dropbox, or even iCloud?

That way you can get all your pictures on to another machine, then manage them from there.

You could always use iTunes and a cable - even with a PC. You (and others) may hate iTunes, but it would get the job done.

Now you've got me interested I may check out whether Dropbox works with a lot of photos.

[Resurrection Man]

I forgot about Dropbox. Just had a quick go. Benefit over Flickr is that you can upload more than that puny 10 in one go. BUT you still hit the main gripe with using the iPad and that is how to select more than one photo at a time. You can tap on each photo in turn but after 100 taps it gets pretty boring. There doesn't seem to be a way of shift-click as you would on a proper computer. I've Googled for this and there have been some suggestions using two fingers and then dragging but I've never been able to get them to work on my iPad.

iCloud..I don't have as it needs Lion and I'm not going down that route. You would still have the multiple selection problem.

iTunes and a cable ...not practical in a hotel in Japan! No computer.


EDIT: I remember why I stopped using Dropbox. Upload speeds were so excruciatingly slow.

[Quarky]

One of my sons was demonstrating his iPad to me. I am still recovering from the experience !

Press the right keys & there ( should you wish ) were hundreds of Bach Cantatas plus a vast selection of rare music played on my namesake - ' gamba', both to see & to hear !

I could also take Ha Na Chang with me wherever I go !

With decent headphones the sound was fine. Not having to go & sit in front of a computer screen in another room was an asset, or tolerate the extra bulk ( & cost ) of a laptop.

As a recent & reluctant convert to matters digital , I'm wondering why everyone hasn't got one - after all they're not that expensive. ( although my wife may not agree ).

You seem to have answered your own question. I agree with your answer, having recently purchased a tablet (not an iPad), just on a whim, rather than having made a serious survey of my needs. I have a laptop and smartphone, but it has proved far superior in terms of convenience and ease of use, whether it is on the kitchen table, or in a Starbucks coffee house. I can read the latest news or watch a video clip just with a few finger "gestures". No keyboard which requires careful protection, and a very large screen, comfortable to view. And all free transmissions with WiFi.

However I have not discovered as yet how to install an antivirus program.

[Beef Oven]

You seem to have answered your own question. I agree with your answer, having recently purchased a tablet (not an iPad), just on a whim, rather than having made a serious survey of my needs. I have a laptop and smartphone, but it has proved far superior in terms of convenience and ease of use, whether it is on the kitchen table, or in a Starbucks coffee house. I can read the latest news or watch a video clip just with a few finger "gestures". No keyboard which requires careful protection, and a very large screen, comfortable to view. And all free transmissions with WiFi.

However I have not discovered as yet how to install an antivirus program.

I'm obviously missing something here. I go everywhere with a 160gb iPod, a smartphone and a 3G/wfi kindle and it is just perfect.

Please, can someone give me a reason to go and spend some money on an iPad or similar. Please, just give me a rationale, I'll do the rest!

[Quarky]

No rationale - just follow fashion, offload a lot of cash, and "suck it and see"!

[Beef Oven]

No rationale - just follow fashion, offload a lot of cash, and "suck it and see"!

The last time I was in fashion was May 1976

[Bryn]

However I have not discovered as yet how to install an antivirus program.

If it run a version of Android. Avast is available for it, free of charge.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avast.android.mobilesecurity&hl=en

[Resurrection Man]

OK, BO...here's a scenario and tell me if your combination of three pieces of kit can do this either singly or together?

Plug in an SD card and transfer the images onto one of these devices. Then using that device, upload the images to Flickr.

Or using a USB cable, plug in a camera, transfer the photos from the camera into your device as a backup. Then upload to Flickr.

[AmpH]

a 3G/wfi kindle and it is just perfect.

Beef - I know the Kindle is good as an E Reader, but is it actually any good for internet use via 3G ? All I have ever read about this aspect of its functionally is that it is not very good.

[Beef Oven]

Beef - I know the Kindle is good as an E Reader, but is it actually any good for internet use via 3G ? All I have ever read about this aspect of its functionally is that it is not very good.

It's crap - takes for ever to load etc.

But, it gets there, and I was grateful last year in a remote part of Armenia when every other piece of technology failed and my Kindle actually got onto the net and worked. But, that's a desperate situation!!

In the same region it downloaded a copy of Tony Benn's biog in seconds!!!!

So as an e-reader and e-book downloader it's untouchable anywhere , but it's no good as an internet surfer or email device.

[Quarky]

If it run a version of Android. Avast is available for it, free of charge.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...security&hl=en

Many thanks for that advice Bryn - a very useful exercise.

I guess if a rationale is required for purchasing a tablet, it is that it provides a very useful and convenient package for doing a lot of computing tasks. It can't do everything, and what it can do is emulated by laptops, smart phones. But why do I always pick up the tablet if I want some mobile computing?