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iPad me

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Moderator1, Apr 29, 2011.

  1. Care Bear

    Care Bear Guest

    Sounds about right, BB. We also keep the data service turned off, so we have to think about it before we actually use it.

    If you have WiFi at home, you should be able to conserve a lot of your plan. It gets pretty expensive when you have to keep re-upping it.
     
  2. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I orginally bought the wifi-only version. I had it for almost four weeks and decided I needed the 3G in some instances.
    When I know I'm going to be traveling into areas of no or unknown wifi connectivity, I buy the data plan.
    You don't have to buy it every month.
     
  3. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    Need a little iPad advice. I'm leaning toward getting one. I have an aging MacBook (2005 model) that has given me no problems, and I have an iPhone. I don't do any heavy computing; just lots of web browsing, document processing, skyping (when I'm deployed), etc. I think the iPad could potentially be a laptop replacement once this one, which just survived its second deployment and is headed back to Afghanistan next September. Potentially.

    I really like my big screen, big hard drive, full-size keyboard, etc. Although I have a 1TB hard drive (but it runs on a USB, and I don't know if iPads do), which could possibly work

    But what REALLY got me thinking was today when a classmate of mine (I'm in a class learning how to fly the newest version of the Black Hawk) carried an iPad into class, rather than the two, 10-pound, 3-inch binders with more than 1,800 pages that I'm carrying.

    It's light enough to carry into meetings (read: ass-chewings from the commander) for note-taking. It's big enough for flight planning (a huge plus) and small enough to carry to the flight planning room. There are subscription-based apps that can provide me with the most up-to-date FAA documents required for flight planning. I can store all the documents on my soldiers in one place, link it up to my email, etc.

    The cons, while few, are pretty significant.

    Instead of buying the 3G version, I could theoretically tether it to my iPhone, but how does that work? Is it reliable? Does it drain your battery? And, then, there's the obvious cost issue. But, if I'm going to use an external hard drive, I could stick with a 16 or 32G, I guess.

    Like Moddy, I'm on the edge. Can you guys talk me out of it? Or, will you push me over the edge?

    Seriously, though. Can anyone answer my questions?
     
  4. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    The Times just wrote about how commercial pilots are using the iPad:

     
  5. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    Yeah, the Army'll never go that far for us. Methinks they wouldn't hold up bouncing around Afghanistan in a Black Hawk, but they would certainly cut down the shit we need for planning. For now, I'll still have to carry my paper copies for use in the aircraft.
     
  6. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    It depends on what you want to use it for. iPads are more of a consumption device instead of a production one.

    Tethering an iPad to an iPhone will drain your iPhone battery rather quickly, but won't really effect the battery life of the iPad compared to normal use. You can't connect the iPad to an external hard drive.
     
  7. maberger

    maberger Member

    as an ipad user from day 2 i'd also say (as much as i love it for my media consumption) for someone like a pilot who needs immediate specific page availability (like, say,a surgeon as another example), this is not yet the device you want instead of dead trees.

    in encyclopedic cases, where you know what you are looking for and know exactly where it is, paper is still better than electronics: faster to find, easier to page through.

    the ipad is a fantastic device, but is not yet a complete substitute for dead trees.
     
  8. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    The Omega Moon Watch was space certified by NASA because it was mechanical. It is the first watch to be worn on the Moon ( by Buzz Aldrin) . Neal Armstrong left his watch back in lunar module to use as back up timing device because electronic timer had broken down.
     
  9. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member


    If it has a good index, wouldn't it be easier and quicker to find the info, rather than flipping through a huge book?

     
  10. westcoastvol

    westcoastvol Active Member

    I like my iPad2 a lot, I just don't use it a whole lot, except for traveling, reading in bed. Too tethered to my MacBook Pro.

    I use it to consume content, not create it. The bluetooth keyboard's great, especially for a laptop, because you don't roast your nads the way you do with a laptop on your lap.
     
  11. leo1

    leo1 Active Member

    i'm the same way. love my ipad2, just don't use it a lot.

    what keyboard did you get? i want to get the logitech one that's also a hard cover, although i already got a smart case when i bought the actual ipad2 from apple.
     
  12. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    It all comes down to how you use it.
    My VPN and virtual deskptop give me access to my home and work computers. The iPad is just my portal into those computers.
    I have no need lug around a laptop.
     
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