fbgfromlondon
Level 1 (8 points)
iPad

Q: MacAir vs iPad Pro

I travel a lot and will not always have wifi access. Am thinking of buying an iPad Pro but will I be able to store documents and view (home made) videos from an external hard drive as I do now with a Macbook Air? I think I gather there is no USB port on the iPad Pro so I wouldn't be able to watch my videos? Is that correct? It sounds like I would end up needing both. Many thanks

iPad Pro, iOS 9.3.5

Posted on Sep 1, 2016 5:11 AM

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fbgfromlondon

Q: MacAir vs iPad Pro

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  • by Meg St._Clair,Helpful

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Sep 1, 2016 11:39 PM in response to fbgfromlondon
    Level 9 (58,250 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 1, 2016 11:39 PM in response to fbgfromlondon

    There are external WiFi enabled hard drives that you can use with iOS devices. They generate their own ad hoc WiFi network so you don't need access to an external one. You can, from many of them, stream your non-copy protected videos as well as store other data.

     

    Some cloud-based services will also allow you to stream video from them (or download it back to your phone).

     

    Of course, if you buy the larger capacity iPad Pro and are judicious about what you put on it (do you really need to take everything?) you might not even need an additional drive.

     

    Definitely consider a keyboard, either Apple's or possibly the very nice case/keyboard combos from Zagg.

  • by fbgfromlondon,

    fbgfromlondon fbgfromlondon Sep 1, 2016 11:44 PM in response to Meg St._Clair
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Sep 1, 2016 11:44 PM in response to Meg St._Clair

    Thanks I'll look into this. Still a little unsure about how external wifi can work. I'm going to be travelling  in places with no internet access and phone use will be PayasYouGo and very expensive so not sure it is the solution. Thanks for the clue anyway.

  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Sep 2, 2016 5:29 AM in response to fbgfromlondon
    Level 9 (58,250 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 2, 2016 5:29 AM in response to fbgfromlondon

    The external hard drive creates a WiFi network your iOS device can connect to. All that network does is connect those two devices for the purpose of transferring files. It has nothing to do with Internet access or cellular data.