Questions regarding an ipad

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llvonn

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#96704 2-Feb-2012 20:26

Hello

I have a friend who is not tech savvy. She has been wanting to get a computer for some time, but is now thinking of getting an ipad. I think apple would be better for her as they are traditionally more secure and user friendly, but I have a few questions as I am not at all familiar with the ipad.
She wants to use the ipad as a stand-alone computer - can this be done? I know that the first ipad needed either a laptop or computer to hook into - but not sure about the ipad 2.

Currently this person has a computer that is not used and dates back to 2001 - so effectively from the prehistoric age). She plans to use the ipad for basic documents, downloading, viewing and storing photos and using the internet. I am assuming that she will most likely be emailing, basic web use (ie banking, research and maybe watching on demand tv downloading and reading documents, maybe e books etc).

Would this work for her? Also, re ipad 3 release - any idea how long it will be before it is released in NZ?

Appreciate the time you take to answer these questions.

llvonn

alasta

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#576479 2-Feb-2012 20:50

I've been thinking about this option recently for my father and also a friend of mine.

The latest version of iOS effectively unchains the device from iTunes, so she should be fine as long any any work processing or spreadsheeting that she does is very, very basic. I'd recommend that you budget to include the bluetooth keyboard as an accessory.

The biggest problem that I could see would be storing her photos. You can get the camera accessory kit to load photos straight onto the iPad from a camera or memory card, but over time the storage capacity on the iPad would be insufficient to house a growing collection of photos. There may be solutions to this in the form of cloud services or storage accessories, but I don't know how easy that would be for a non-technical user.

gehenna

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#576486 2-Feb-2012 20:56

I suspect we will see an updated iPad in time for Christmas 2012. But you never can tell with Apple, could be sooner, could be later.

antoniosk

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#576494 2-Feb-2012 21:01

iPad does a good job of working with the web, but there are gaps. Air NZ for example uses flash for their website - non starter on iPad. BNZ and NB have good enough apps for iPad. Editing documents is a chore. Complex websites are painful because they are unit for mouse and keyboard. And so on.

I use both, but I wouldn't settle on one.

For your friend.... Perhaps a $400 net book......

________

Antoniosk

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#576500 2-Feb-2012 21:05

gehenna: I suspect we will see an updated iPad in time for Christmas 2012. But you never can tell with Apple, could be sooner, could be later.

More like Q2 this year.

gehenna

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#576502 2-Feb-2012 21:06

You're adding complexity with a netbook. My parents both use iPads as their only computer, and do all the things you have mentioned you require on a daily basis. They don't have any issues. They did complain about Flash once or twice in the beginning but it's never been an actual issue for them. Flash sites are slowly updating themselves to be HTML 5 compatible so it won't be long until it's a moot point.