Can iPad 3 use MS word?

There are no Microsoft Office products available but Quick Office, Documents, Pages, etc. are availalble. They can all read and write Word formatted documents.

Pages, Documents to go, Office Pro HD and other Word compatible apps are available in the App Store. Do a search for iPad word processor apps.

Microsoft now has a web app as well for the iPad.

http://blogs.office.com/b/officewebapps/archive/2012/08/20/bringing-touch-editin g-to-office-web-apps-on-windows-8-and-ios-tablets.aspx

Take a look at these options as well.

http://www.macworld.com/article/1168347/run_office_on_your_ipad.html

You're quite welcome.

Does your daughter have a laptop or desktop for college?

The apps listed by other posters are helpful but they can't do everything and adjustments sometimes must be made. My son is in college and uses an ipad at school as do many others. They all have other computers to do the heavy work, but love the convenience of the ipad for notes, etc.

I think to print from the ipad, she would need a compatible wireless printer. With a laptop or desktop, any printer would work. My son's college does not allow wireless printers because of their networks, so she'd need to check on things like that.

However, the ipad is light, a great size and very portable. She can have newspapers, books, etc. on it and have the convenience of reading wherever she likes. She can also listen to her music, watch movies and tv shows, etc. She can also do this with a laptop but they are not as portable.

And please note, that particularly for college students, having an ipad with the most memory you can afford, will be very important. You cannot upgrade that.

If she's in college now, she probably has friends who have experience with their ipads at school. She can check with them.

In many other threads on this forum the general response from posters indicated that an ipad is great and very useful, but will not replace a computer for a student.

Hope this helps!

There are many, many types of laptops available on the market. As a Mac user, I would always recommend a Mac .... A MacBook Air is light and very portable, the MacBook Pro is great as well. She doesn't need the retina version IMO - they are pricey and IMO - overpriced for what you get.

If you have been using PCs and are comfortable with Windows, go to some of the tech sites such as cnet.com and do a search for reviews on the Windows laptops that are on the market right now.

I didn't realize that the choice for your daughter was an iPad or a laptop. I would NEVER recommend relying solely on the iPad for a college student. If I had to pick one or the other for my college student, I would always opt for the laptop for the reasons that were stated by appleuser1322 above - and more .... Like maybe needling to access Flash sites on the web, having the ability to use thumb drives and things like that.

The iPad is amazing, but it still isn't a real computer.

Here is a link to cnet.com laptop reviews.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/

Google Drive on the iPad is pretty awesome. It allows offline editing of documents on a Google Docs account as well as live editing in the cloud. She can then access her files from any machine, share with others, print, etc.

For printing from the iPad I use the "Print n Share" app, which enables wireless printing to virtually any printer on the same network directly from the iPad. It's great!

Hi Nidia25

Demo added good points like about adobe flash (still can't think of others right now) that I forgot to mention and I agree with him on the Air which I recommended to someone in this forum as an alternative to an ipad given the college situation. (Note - it has no cd/dvd/ rom drive.)

Regarding pc vs. Macbook Air - Here's the thing - we were always a pc family. Our first was a desktop that my sons and I used. It lasted about nine years without problems, though I had to upgrade and add other peripherals a few times. Eventually, it wasn't strong enough to keep being supported (though it still works!)

When my sons were old enough, I got a new desktop and laptops for both of my sons. I got all hp and had them filled with the best, thinking they would last for many years. However, they're guys, very into sports (playing and keeping up with the pros) and they hit links and there were viruses that would knock out their hard drives. I had to replace them many times ($65.00 - $80.00 each,) each time taking eight hours for each to re-install windows, etc. Then there were the charger bricks. I had to replace them, too, at least four times ($80.00 each.) I had to learn how to re-seat hard drives, use thermal silver compound, etc.

Then, at the end of 2009, my older son got the very well known Internet Security 2010 Virus. Our home was networked, and my younger son was getting out the last of his college applications. For security, I didn't dare try to fix it until all applications were done. When they went back to school after Christmas vacation, my older son had to do his college papers on the working laptop. After trying everything to get rid of the virus (as I'd successfully done too many times before) I gave up. Then in June of 2010, we got automatic Microsoft security updates which took out our two working computers. Microsoft was great, giving us everything we needed to get going again. However, I needed a number - a number - to get on the internet again, and HP, while they could have done it, refused to because my computer was more than two years old! I did all I could to try to get it going again. So I have here a $2,000.00 desktop that is useless.

Meanwhile, our younger son was starting college. After a lot of looking all Summer, he decided on an imac (cheaper than his old laptop.) He loved and still loves it. He kept trying to convince me to get one. I then bought my older son a macbook pro. And he still loves his. We then bought an imac, feeling quite guilty because I stll wanted to salvage my hp desktop. I couldn't, so I bought an imac, too. And guess what? I love it!

Apologies for having used the long way to this, but in case you're worried about changing to Apple products, it took a lot for us to go Mac. I was always worried about becoming one of those people who 'drank the Apple kool-aid.' I have to say, though, that we all love our macs and we have no interest in buying a pc ever again! And they were cheaper than anything we'd owned before! And so far, no viruses!

We also got my husband an ipad this Summer. He only uses computers at the office, but thought he'd like a reader. He loves it. So my son bought one to use at school. He loves it. The one and only thing is, if he's working on a paper, he has to do it in his dorm room on his imac. He's in a dorm apt., and only one tv is allowed in the apt. So he can't watch tv and work at the same time. (?!) He's thinking of also buying a macbook or air with his money.

Just an fyi - when we got my husband an ipad, I waited until the new ipad came out, read issues on this support forum, and decided to go with a 32 gb. But they weren't available anywhere. So for the first time, we bought refurb through the apple on-line store - an ipad2 64 gb for $499.00. When my son played with his dad's for a bit, he decided to buy one, too. They had sold out in the refurb store, and didn't come back for six weeks! But he got it! Make sure, though, that if you buy refurb, make sure it's still supported in 'upgrades.' They point this out clearly under the title of each product.

So if you go Air or macbook pro you might want to consider the refurb store. If you buy new, you'll most likely qualify for the $100.00 student discount. My son's home for the long weekend. He sais he couldn't wait to get the new iphone. I told him the Galaxy III was getting great reviews, too. He laughed and said, "Sorry, Mom, I drank the kool-aid." Then we both laughed a bit. And guess which phone our older son wants!

Hope this helps!

She can use a PC with an iPod and an iPhone. Many iDevice users are Windows users. But .... Since you know how Macs work, and you are already using a Mac, there is no doubt in my mind that I would stick with a Mac.

You do make a good point about about not having the optical drive (the lack of the optical drive was the reason that I opted for the MacBook Pro) but Apple believes the entire world will be going to the cloud and with the Mac App Store on the Mac OS Apple believes that whatever you need is available in there. You can purchase an external optical drive for it if needed and it does have USB ports that will facilitate thumb drives.

Hi again, Nidia25,

I agree with Demo again regarding everything he just pointed out. My son is actually on the fence about the Air vs. macbook pro because of the cd/dvd/ optical drive. (That's why I pointed it our right away in last post.)

And I know as Demo said that 'Apple ...the world will be going to the cloud, etc.,' but I am never an early adopter so happy to wait. Even with the ios6 update I told my husband and son to hold off. And I know you can do the optical drive thing, but I don't think I'd want to so...

If I had known you were already mac'd, I wouldn't have worried about writing my last post. But for me, that was the biggest hurdle. So yea, you!

Why are you still considering a pc, given you're so used to apple products? And again, if she's already in college, she'll find an ipad very useful. Can she get an ipad and use her pc at school until it konks out, and be prepared to make your decision then? Is her pc as fast as any mac?

If she already has an ipod and iphone, can you find out what she'd prefer (pc vs mac) or is it a surprise? I've seen some pc's that are less expensive, and more expensive than macbook pro's.

Have fun deciding and I hope you'll let us know your decision!

We were all so used to Word and Excel on pc's, too. However, both of my sons had no trouble adjusting. I don't need word much anymore, but I should study it...

I'm not sure how fast pc's take to start up these days, but it's so much nicer to start in 10 seconds instead of 10 min. And I'm not sure how well batteries in pc's last these days, but my son with the macbook pro 2010 can't believe how long his battery lasts.

Re ipad2 vs. new, I researched for a long time before deciding to get an ipad2. There were so many possible problems with overheating, yellow hue on screen, shorter battery life, etc., I'm still glad we went refurb. The refurbed ipad 2's came with a new outer shell, a new battery, and a full one year warranty. We don't get Siri, but seriously, so many people text rather than talk these days, yet many ipad 2 users are ticked off that they don't have Siri (a machine) to talk to. And we all have gps on our phones, so...

Why don't you try this -- Surprise your daughter with a macbook pro! If you're near anApple store, she can go try them out there after she gets it, or use a friend's with MS Office for Mac. You'll have thirty days to return it (at least in US) and get a full refund. (If you go refurb, they come in the same brand new boxes as new ones.)

And don't forget about memory. We're so glad we got the 64 gb, though when I was looking for an ipad 2 in stores, we were going to go 32gb.

Even if your daughter decides to return the macbook and and buy a pc, she'll be thrilled that you made such a great effort for her!

Keep us posted!