Ipads

[wendilla]

A friend is telling me that he can get an I pad from 3g network for £77 and £20 a month and 2 year contract. and that he can do all that I can do with my computer.That sounds too good to be true as I know how much they cost to buy. Would some one please let me know if this is right .Would it be able to work google earth which I understand would have to be downloaded from another computer. Am I right on that. hotmail yahoo banking ect. Please let me know the down sides for them as I would be interested in going for one at a later date if my pc gave up.Thanks for any info would be greatly appreciated from any one who has one.

[bednobs]

dosen't sound too cheap to me - that's over £500 over the 2 years and you could buy a laptop much cheaper. i suppose it depends what you feel about keyboard Vs touchscreen

[wendilla]

Yes that is right but is it going to do what my computer does.? I don't know anything about them and have just been reading on here about them but really need info from people that has one.Apparently you don't need to pay out extra for security .All these things I would like to find out.Thanks for reply.

[ladybirder]

IMO they are brilliant, but not a substitute for a computer, or so I was told at the Genius Bar in the Apple shop.

[bednobs]

they can probably do most of the things you do on your computer. Don't forget though that if your current computer isn't a mac, the operating system and software will look different as ipads are made by apple. It depends what you want to do on your computer i suppose but i cant imagine word processing is that easy on them - imagine it is like the screen on a laptop. How do you prop it up to work on?

[bednobs]

also for me, typing this answer on a touch screen would have been torturously long and tedious

[VHG]

>>>>and that he can do all that I can do with my computer.

Ask him how he watches a film on DVD (it has not CD / DVD drive)

[wendilla]

Good point VHG . I think he said he would have to download films from another computer. Of what I have been reading about them would be no good to me .He has been to the Apple shop this morning and they have filled his head with a lot of things that I know he dont understand as he has never used a computer. He just has internet on his phone and does not really do much with that except google . dont do e mails or anything.

[Fitzer]

They are great machines for what they are but they aren't computer replacements and Apple (in my experience) don't sell them as such. The virtual keyboard is great for typing short things but I wouldn't want to type a thesis one one, they don't support Flash so sites with embedded video won't play on them (the BBC have their own app and iPlayer that do work though). All movies etc. need to be loaded via a connection to another computer via iTunes (just like an iPod), Google Earth is installable direct from the iTunes app store without another computer (as long as you are connected to the Internet, 3G is very slow for big installs though) Online banking etc. works well as long as you bear in mind that all options/items need to be selected by tapping on the screen, so AB for instance is a little tricky as hitting the correct topic on the left can be a little hit or miss. In general Macs, and iPads don't need antivirus software and suchlike as fewr viruses have been written to attack them, as they become more popular this may well change of course. In short I love mine but wouldn't have only it and no computer, plus the new version has been released and prices on the MKI have dropped by £100.

[wendilla]

Fitzer thank you so much for your detailed info. This is exactly what I wanted to know as it is difficult try to tell my friend in detail what he wants to know as he just has internet on his phone and I am trying to explain to him that they are not a substitute for a computer.

[ethelburga]

I've got an iPad and love it. I hardly ever turn computer on now except for printing!
But my real worry is how to back up 4 presentations done on Keynote. These I plan to show to small groups using projector and screen.
But the fact that all my long hours of work are only on this comparatively delicate device makes me somewhat paranoid!!
Apple are reasonably helpful but as I'm 65+ I get lost in ' translation! Can I back up on a DVD??