Anybody use an iPad for work ?

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Hi all,

I'd be grateful for any input here on methods, specs etc.

Do any of you use an iPad regularly for work instead of a Macbook ?

I'm planning on doing a lot of work related travelling and am not sure whether I need to spend all that money on a MBP or similar.

I'l need the machine for email comms,web search, basic reporting by document and spreadsheets etc that kind of thing. Am I expecting too much from it?

Regards,
Liam
 
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I'd say a lot depends on how much spreadsheet work you're doing.

I spent several productive weeks using my iPad 3 to work on photo editing/compositing work (ArtStudio mainly), Word documents (via CloudOn) and a few minor spreadsheet changes.

I could happily do that day-in-day out to save lugging a notebook about.

The sticking point is spreadsheets. If I was doing some of the more complex work on a spreadsheet I imagine that would become tired quickly. But it all depends on what you're doing really.

A decent keyboard case is worth a look too. Thinking logitech or maybe Zagg
 
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I use my iPad to work a lot. Instead of my laptop, no. In addition to. It augments my ability to work while on the go, and even as a second screen. I also use it for various function while using FCPx on my MBP via ProCutX.

and if you are going to do any extensive typing, a BT KB is definitely worth getting.
 
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Cheers both of you.

One question, if I had the Pages app for iPad could I still export the file as a Word doc to email it ?

The spreadsheet thing concerns me a bit. That said they'll more than likely be designed by me so perhaps if they were simple and I had a keyboard then it might stack up.
 
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Pages will natively export to .pages, .pdf and .doc

If I were you, and if you don't know anyone with an iPad/Pages/Numbers you could borrow from, I'd have a trip to the Trafford Centre or Liverpool One Apple Store and have a play around to see if Pages and Numbers fit the work you'll be doing. I seem to think the in store iPads have Pages, Numbers, Keynote etc installed.

Knock together a couple of dummy docs and email them to yourself (maybe creating a temp email address for the purpose).
At least that way you'll get a feel for the environment you'll be working in.

They also do free, 1hour workshops like 'iPad at Work: iLife' which is all about using an iPad and document handling etc. Again, might just give you a feel for whether it's practical for your role/tasks.
 
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I use Docs2Go Premium for working with Office documents. I feel it exports/saves as a Microsoft Word/Excel document with less incompatibilities than Pages. It is less than the Apple versions, in fact, you can get Premium sometimes for less than a single Apple office app if you watch the price. The thing with Office (native office) is that it is so powerful and complex, compatible doesnt cut it if you need that power. You can do simple equations that will be compatible, but not full on macros.

Also, keep in mind that Microsoft is supposed to be releasing its Office suite to iOS in March. Will we actually see it then? Dunno. I hope they take their time and do it right. Don't know the price, but I am 90% sure I will be buying it.

All that being said, I use spreadsheets that have auto-calculation built in and they work fine. I use tables and forms in other documents and they work fine. I do not use Pages or Numbers or any of the Apple office apps. I use Office for Mac 2011 on my MBP, Office 2010 at work on Win7 and Docs2Go Premium on my iPad.

D2G Premium also works directly with Dropbox, box.net, google docs and sugar sync.
 
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Excellent ideas thank you.

mrplow...I bought the iMac from the Traffic Centre and didn't know that they do a free workshop. That sounds like a plan.

Deckyon....I've had a look at Docs2Go Premium and that is definitely worth having if only to be able to communicate efficiently within a MS environment.

I'm the other way, I turned away from the Office suite when I got my own Apple equipment and have used Pages and Numbers ever since. I must have only been scratching the surface with Word and Excel because I haven't missed them.

Do either of you use iCloud with it and to what benefit ?
 
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As I have to communicate with a Microsoft Office world, I have to have the Office suite on my Mac. was well worth the price, which was less than the Win7 version. I had no choice.

If you havent needed any of the special features, then Doc2Go premium will work wonderfully and be 100% compatible with Pages/numbers/keynote.

I share data outside of OSX and iOS, so I went with Dropbox and it is flawless. Plus, for clients I can share a directory for them to use and it makes it easier for me to share data than with iCloud.
 
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You book them online, definitely worth a look.

I use iCloud for syncing between Pages on the iPad and iPhone because it's automatic. But mainly use Dropbox as you can open in Pages straight from the dropbox app and save back to Dropbox too.
 
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Cheers guys,

I've got some decisions to make shortly and you've both been tremendously helpful. I'm going to go and have a look at some product first.
 
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My dad used an old iBook g4 for invoices, he does construction, he got an iPad 2 on Verizon over a year ago and loves it. He doesn't have to have a power inverter in his truck, no hotspot to carry and it's easier to carry around. He recommends iPad to everyone.
 

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