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IPad Air for the wife....Please Help.

Hiya. My wife had previously a Windows 8.1 laptop and its was so slow and complicated that we had to sell it. Now, i'm planning on buying her an iPad Air instead. These are the things i noticed what she was doing and what she would need from her "old" computer:


1. Photos - When we had our holiday in Paris we had about (say in this instance) 300+ photos stored in our camera's SD card; photos are saved at 8MP resolution in normal/auto mode. Now i understand there is an SD card adaptor for the Air. My concerns for this because of the 1GB RAM uploading might take a while. And also where will the photos be stored? Can she easily edit the photo before uploading them to Facebook or Flickr?

Does she have to go to the app first then upload photos thru there?


2. Documents - The bane of her life. She will be doing course work in the next 2 months which requires doing a long case study (essay). Now i understand there is MS Office for iPad. Can she create, edit, copy & paste (from one source to Word) documents as you would on a Windows computer? Is there any other good third-party or 1st-party Office/Word app that she can use that is user-friendly? And can she save those documents in .pdf or .doc format too?


3. My wife has an Android phone and he has Gmail and files on Google Drive. I'm aware there are Google apps on the App Store. But the concern here is can she upload for example a saved CV in .doc or .pdf format to Google Drive from the iPad Air?


4. I have a Macbook and sometimes i would like to send files from my Mac to her device for example a photo or .doc document. Can i transfer such files to her iPad via bluetooth or any other easier/faster way?


5. Wireless printing - There has been occasions that she wants to wirelessly print something to our wireless printer. Can she do that straight & on-the-fly via an app (or from within an app)? For example a train ticket or her CV.




Please advice. Thank you.

Posted on Jul 7, 2014 2:24 PM

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18 replies

Jul 7, 2014 2:54 PM in response to gino_76ph

I guess for starters it would be interesting to know what she found so complicated about it? Windows 8.1 is quite straight forward IMO. But without knowing what she found difficult its hard to say whether the iPad would be easier.


A very important point to be aware of on iPads, is that they aren't really like computers as they don't have user accessible file systems like Windows, or Mac Osx does. So no Windows Explorer, or Finder like you are used to on your Pc or Mac. All file management is done from within the Apps that can read the files you wish to manipulate. Which in many cases can make editing files a little more difficult than on an actual computer.


To answer you questions specifically:


1. Photos are stored on the on-board storage. iPads can have 16, 32, 64, or 128GB of on-board storage. You cannot increase their storage capacity after purchase, so what you buy is what you will stay with. Uploading 300 photos in one swoop will take a little time, once uploaded they will be available in the Photos App.


2. You can copy an paste say from a website to a document pretty much the same way, however as I said, there is no File Management. So any files created with the Office App will reside in Microsoft's One Drive service. Also the Microsoft office Apps require a Microsoft Office 365 yearly subscription to have access to most editing features. There are many Document editing apps in the store she could choose, but only through trial and error would she know which one works for her.


3. Yes. She can use the Google Drive App to upload a document to Google Drive directly. She can even use the Google Drive App to create and edit documents. Though for the most part the App will not let you edit documents that were not created with it. So you won't be able to edit Word documents directly in the Google Drive App.


4. No. Bluetooth on iPads does not support file transfer. Its use is limited to keyboards, speakers, earphones etc... There are some file transfer Apps that can be used between a Mac and an iPad but again you would need to look in the App store to see which one fits your needs. AirSharing is a pretty good App that will do this. However it is not free.


5. That depends on your Printer. For an iPad to print directly, the printer must be AirPrint capable. There some Apps however, mostly from printer manufacturers, that will allow you to print to some wireless printers from within the App. So the file to be printed would have to be transferred to the printing App before printing.

You can search the app store for your Printer brand see if there are any Apps for it, if its not AirPrint compatible.


About AirPrint


I agree with Allan above me, in that for better file management and easier access to things, a Macbook Air (rather than an iPad Air) would be a better choice. Full fledged computer with all the features you are used to on a computer. Like File management, and access to larger capacities and faster processors .

Jul 8, 2014 12:04 AM in response to Phil0124

The Windows 8.1 computer i bought is from Asus and was full of bloatware, OS is not fully optimised and based on the specs that is why it was just struggling with opening/closing apps, multitasking, load videos on Youtube, etc. That is what i meant about being "complicated". Its more of the difficulty and the slowness in being productive.


I have been comparing the iPad Air with the Surface Pro 2 (yes its another Windows computer but as its from Microsoft it has to be faster & better) and the Macbook Air. And i guess it also boils down to finance. If she can do most things i have mentioned on an iPad then we'll go that route.


The most stuff she can do with photos is to crop it, edit some sharpness and perhaps de-blur the background. Then uploading to Facebook. Not necessarily those 300+ photos but maybe around 50-100 of them at once. I haven't seen her do anything more.


As regards writing documents all she needs is an Office (or Office equivalent) to create, edit, save documents on-device or in the cloud (Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.) with all the basic and usual Office functions around it (spacing, font stye, font size, etc.)


File management i heard doesn't exist in an iPad but if she can do most things within the app (with respect to the issue of editing/uploading photos and writing documents) then that's what important to her.

Jul 8, 2014 3:26 PM in response to gino_76ph

"yes its another Windows computer but as its from Microsoft it has to be faster & better)"


that is not really true, the Asus would have a much faster processor than the Surface Pro 2. Even the Surface Pro 3 probably would not be as fast.


You could explore a refurbished MacBook Air on the Apple Online Store. If you go with the iPad look into Pages for her word processing needs. Office is going to cost you at least $49 per year. She will also need a Bluetooth keyboard.

Jul 9, 2014 6:51 AM in response to gino_76ph

gino_76ph wrote:


I have been comparing the iPad Air with the Surface Pro 2 (yes its another Windows computer but as its from Microsoft it has to be faster & better) and the Macbook Air.

While its hard to say without actual specs, it may not necessarily be true. Again, you need to take a step back and pin point what she may need.


Does she need a laptop? Or would a tablet be enough? Why an iPad? Instead of say a Windows full fledged laptop?


For the price of an iPad Air there many laptops out there which could run circles around the iPad.

Jul 9, 2014 2:13 PM in response to Phil0124

I have been considering a Surface Pro 2 and a Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1.


I won't like to go back to a Windows computer because despite having far better specs than an iPad my experience with slow/long downloading & installing of updates and tedious/confusing OS (e.g. you have to "stop all processes" to make some background processes stop, confusing Metro UI & Desktop dual OS, etc.) i'm trying to avoid.

A Galaxy Tab Pro with far superior specs than an iPad Air seems a reasonable choice also. But i feel that there are more apps, better optimised apps in iOS than Android then i may also avoid it.


I'm thinking of getting a 64GB iPad Air which might be enough for her needs. I have mentioned previously what i have asked her what she would normally do with a computer/tablet. I have yet to find a refurbished 11-inch MBA in the Store. Found some 13-inches but she doesn't need that big a screen.


I would like to ask more about Photos. Do i need to upload them to the iPad first before i can do some basic editing? If say she wants to upload those photos in Facebook can she do it via Photos or does she have to go to the Facebook app? Same procedure with uploading to Google Drive or OneDrive?


I have an Office 365 subscription and was told my Microsoft that i can make full use of all features in the Office for iOS? is this correct?


Can i copy a text from a website or wikipedia then paste it onto Word for iOS? Can i also copy then paste it on to an email?


Please advice.

Jul 9, 2014 2:31 PM in response to gino_76ph

gino_76ph wrote:


I have been considering a Surface Pro 2 and a Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1.


I won't like to go back to a Windows computer because despite having far better specs than an iPad my experience with slow/long downloading & installing of updates and tedious/confusing OS (e.g. you have to "stop all processes" to make some background processes stop, confusing Metro UI & Desktop dual OS, etc.) i'm trying to avoid.

A Galaxy Tab Pro with far superior specs than an iPad Air seems a reasonable choice also. But i feel that there are more apps, better optimised apps in iOS than Android then i may also avoid it.


I'm thinking of getting a 64GB iPad Air which might be enough for her needs. I have mentioned previously what i have asked her what she would normally do with a computer/tablet. I have yet to find a refurbished 11-inch MBA in the Store. Found some 13-inches but she doesn't need that big a screen.



I have no experience with Android tablets, so can't comment there.


As to refurbished MBAs, there's a couple right now in the US Store. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air/11


gino_76ph wrote:


I would like to ask more about Photos. Do i need to upload them to the iPad first before i can do some basic editing? If say she wants to upload those photos in Facebook can she do it via Photos or does she have to go to the Facebook app? Same procedure with uploading to Google Drive or OneDrive?



Yes they need to be on the iPad. The Camera Connection Kit support only lets you preview the images from the memory card, camera, or USB drive. But you can't to anything with them until you import them to the iPad.


Also for files, which cannot be uploaded from a flash drive or external hard drive. There are some Wireless drives that will allow you to access files on the drive through their own App and in turn transfer them to the Google Drive or OneDrive Apps for upload onto those services.


gino_76ph wrote:


I have an Office 365 subscription and was told my Microsoft that i can make full use of all features in the Office for iOS? is this correct?

Yes. As I said you need the Office 365 subscription to get all the features. Without a suscription you only get limited editing capabilities.


gino_76ph wrote:


Can i copy a text from a website or wikipedia then paste it onto Word for iOS? Can i also copy then paste it on to an email?


Yes, and Yes. Copy paste is not an issue from one app to another.

Jul 11, 2014 1:41 AM in response to Phil0124

Found some refurbished 11-inch Macbook Airs in the UK store and it's quite tempting. GBP599 which is just a few £££ over the 65GB iPad Air.


Talking about files again.....


After uploading the photos to the iPad do i have the option to rename the file? Crop & edit it on iPhoto?


If i want to upload the photo to Facebook can i do it in iPhoto or do i have to go to the Facebook app? The same procedure as uploading to Google Drive?

Jul 11, 2014 6:36 AM in response to gino_76ph

gino_76ph wrote:


Found some refurbished 11-inch Macbook Airs in the UK store and it's quite tempting. GBP599 which is just a few £££ over the 65GB iPad Air.


Talking about files again.....


After uploading the photos to the iPad do i have the option to rename the file? Crop & edit it on iPhoto?


If i want to upload the photo to Facebook can i do it in iPhoto or do i have to go to the Facebook app? The same procedure as uploading to Google Drive?

Renaming of photo files is not possible simply because there is no real way to view the photo's file names on an iPad let alone edit them.


You can edit, crop, apply filters to photos etc like on any normal Photo editor application.


You can upload photos to Facebook directly from the iPhotos app. However you will have to transfer the photos to the Google Drive App if you want to upload them there.

Jul 11, 2014 7:33 AM in response to gino_76ph

for producing content I would not get a tablet


the thing the surface got going for it is that on can connect a keyboard and mouse and external monitor and when producing content one use it like a normal computer

same with macbook air so if one need not the tablet and touch the macbook air is the best choice


the surface is kinda pricy unless one get the rather small storage version

Jul 12, 2014 3:44 PM in response to gino_76ph

What do you mean what other reasons?


You can't rename them because you can't see the names in the Photos app and such its pointless to rename them even if you could. There is no other reason.


Photos in the Google Drive app, or any other App are separate to those in the Photos App. So whatever you do to the Photos there does not apply to the files in the Photos app. Basically Photos in Google or any other file management App are independent to those in the Photos App. Again because there is no globla user accessible file system.


In other words, Since there is no accessible file system as has been said, all file operations must be done within apps. However files are not global, so what you do to a file in one app does not impact a copy of the file in another App.


And since there is no way to view the names in the Photos App, renaming them in one App and copying them to the Photos App is then pointless.


Once again, a full fledged MBA or other laptop would be a better option if you require that type of file and photo management.

IPad Air for the wife....Please Help.

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