How would I save Office and .pdf files to the ipad?

You can throw PDFs into iBooks or whatever it’s called, jsut saving it from an email or through iTunes, but not office documents. You’d be better off getting a Tablet PC.

@XOIIO I thought that there was an app Documents to Go or something like that. Would that work? For the .pdf files, can I organize them into categories on iBooks? I would have a bunch of .pdf files, and I’d like to get them organized instead of just having them cluttering up the iBook bookshelf.

Oh, and I found this. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-gadgeteer/ipad-office-app-showdown-four-apps-to-help-you-get-work-done/3445

You should be able to make categories, but I mean, $10 an app? If you buy a tablet for the same price you can do so much more for free.

@XOIIO I know. I’m limited by what my work will be compatible with.

And by tablet PC are you talking about an Android tablet?

@Rarebear I mean a real tablet computer, like the fukitsu stylistic which is what I have windows 7 on, not crummy tablets that do half th stuff a real PC does.

@XOIIO Thanks

Oh, and just so I’m clear, I have a very powerful laptop that I have for real presentations and work. The ipad or android tablet is really for reading, reference, and travel.

@Rarebear Still, a tablet is a way better invenstment.

Can you make any suggestions?

Well the fujutsu stylistic tablet I have is an old one, but some of the new ones look great, and are fair priced. I would buy one but I have one.

First off, NOT THE iPad!!!

Transferring files other than music and movies is a royal pain in the ass. Also, I tried many PDF readers for iOS4 and the only one that even came close to the EX PDF Reader I have on my Droid X had a file transfer procedure so arcane that it bordered on ludicrous. iBooks was easy to transfer stuff to, but was so lacking as a reader that that strength could not save it.

When if comes to Office stuff, I can view and edit .xls files with ease using free apps on my Droid. I never tried to do anything like that on my iPod Touch because I never found a free app to do so with. Come to think of it, I think that some of the free apps I use are ones that Apple charges money for the iOS version of.

If you want an inexpensive solution, go with an Android tablet, but be aware that iw won’t quite compete with your laptop thought the portability and battery life compensate for that . If you want something that can compete with your laptop for speed and power while still being tablet-sized, you are wanting something like these updated versions of what @XOIIO has

Regardless, while the iPad is great for entertainment, it really isn’t all that good at anything remotely practical including reading PDFs so I would not recommend going the Apple route.

What size are you thinking anyways? Apple only offers one size, but Android ranges from 5” to 12”. DO you merely plan to view things (something an ARM A9 or Intel Atom could handle) or do you really need somethingthat might give your laptop a run for it’s money? In short, could you please be a little more specific about wha tyou are looking for?

I have been using Evernote for quite some time now, and I love it! Evernote’s mainly used as a note-taking cloud service, but it’s so much more. I can store virtually any type of file (i.e. audio, pictures, video, PDFs, Word docs, you name it) on the Evernote cloud server and access everything from my personal Mac, my iPhone, my Windows PC, and any other computer with an internet connection via their website. And best part it’s free, but you can upgrade to premium and get more storage space if you’d like. I use it as a PDF reader for my iPhone and it works great, so I would assume it’s pretty good on the iPad. Simply put, it’s revolutionized how I store and access digital information. Check out the website.

@RedmannX5 But if he doesn’t have a 3G model it’s useless on the airplane, and areas without wifi.

@XOIIO airplanes have wifi, but you usually have to pay $10 or I think you can subscribe monthly.

@jerv thanks. What I am interested in is something about the size of an ipad so I could read professional journals, take notes, and do presentations. Also I would use it for travel.

The reason why I’m considering the ipad is that my hospital is going wireless with an electronic medical record system, and the EMR only has compatability with ipad. They say they’re going to get a droid version, but don’t know when.

But my question was more geared towards file management. What’s important to me is to have a tablet that I can store files on in an organized fashion.

@Rarebear Those are mutually exclusive. The iPad does not have any sort of file management beyond what you see in iTunes whereas Android has file management more akin to Linux with directories like /bin, /mnt, /mnt/sdcard and allows you to move, copy, rename, and delete all files without hooking up to a PC.

The iPad offers pretty icons and is simple for people who have never seen a computer before to use. Granted, Android has the same interface and ease of use, but there is one exception; Android allows the user to access options that a technologically illiterate user could possibly shoot themselves in the foot with whereas Apple removes those options so that even those who need them cannot access them.

Of course, a Win7 tablet would eliminate a lot of issues, assuming hat your place (like most hospitals) uses Windows. Still, it sounds to me like you are not going to find a single tablet that will meet all of your needs :(

@jerv Does the windows tablet have a touch screen interface—i.e. can I use my fingers for manipulating the docs as opposed to a stylus? But I think I’ll hold off and wait a few months or a year to see how the technology plays out.

@Rarebear A lot of tablets do, not sure about that one.

Thanks guys.

Make sure that whatever you get has a capacitive touchcreen; the resistive ones suck. You have to press almost hard enough to break the glass, and their response is just…. don’t go resistive!

@jerv I’m not sure what the difference is, but I’m assuming the ipad has the capacitance screen?

@Rarebear Yes. In fact, pretty much all of them over $400 or so do; resistive screens are only really used as a cost-cutting thing on those tablets at the low end of the price spectrum.

@jerv Thanks. If I’m going to get a new machine, I’m going to get a good one and spend money accordingly. That’s why I’m asking this question—I only want to get one once.

@Rarebear So, do you want immediate compatibility with what the EMR has or do you want an actual file management system?

@jerv To be honest, I’m not sure what I want yet. I will need compatability with an EMR system, which ipad will have (and probably Android next year). Windows 7 tablet will obviously have it too, but I need something really light—the tablets linked to above are about a pound heavier.

That’s why I think I’m going to wait to see what happens. I’m starting to fart around with Cloud-based file management systems so I may not need the data right on the machine.

The PC ones tend to be heavier. The Android ones, not so much. For instance, the Xoom is only 4 ounces heavier than the iPad 2…. _or exactly the same weight as the original iPad.

Look at this comparison by Maximum PC.

As for the cloud, don’t put anything there that you wouldn’t tattoo on your forehead or post on a billboard. Since I like to do things like online banking and… other things, I do not trust the cloud, especially not after the snafu with T-mobile losing everybody’s data.

@jerv by Cloud, I just meant the technology in general. I’m not using iCloud, but Dropbox. And all I really put on there are .pdf files of medical articles and videos. Nothing personal. Also, I don’t put anything there that I haven’t duplicated to begin with.

@Rarebear I consider anything except local storage or a server that I personally control to be “in the cloud”. That includes Dropbox.

@XOIIO If you get an Evernote Premium account ($5/month or $45/year) you can store your notes locally on the iPad, as well as keep them synced on the cloud server. This is certainly handy in situations where you don’t have WiFi or 3G connectivity.

@Rarebear If you want to take advantage of using a cloud server (i.e via Evernote, Dropbox, etc.) then I would definitely suggest going with the iPad, especially if it’s compatible with EMR. The iPad is a “simpler” device, but is still very powerful as far as viewing PDFs. I’ve found that most iOS devices are easy to use, yet are still very capable of handling “business” related tasks. However, if you’re not interested in using any sort of cloud service I would suggest going with a Windows based tablet, simply because they are better at local storage using directories, etc.

@RedmannX5 Thanks. I just downloaded evernote to my iphone to test it out.

@Rarebear Yeah I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with Evernote, it really is amazing. Check out their website for more info