# Just bought an Ipad 2



## Knight Rider (Jun 17, 2008)

....and not impressed to be honest.

Always had PC and laptops. Kept hearing about how good the Ipads were, so as my wife was told not to use her work machine for personal use we went on the lookout for a laptop.

I could have bought a HP 6 gig mem , intel i3, 500gb hd, plus all the shebang for less than 400 squid, but the particular model and type was not in stock (along with another 4 laptops we picked)
As we were leaving, the store, the missus pointed out the Ipad 2, at £399, so only a few more quid than we were looking at for a laptop. Anywhoo, with all the raving about Ipads we thought "why not" so went ahead and got one.

Bugger me, I can't play any files on it as whatever I send to it says "You cannot play this on Apple" or "Ipad does not support Flash player" etc.
Nevermind, she would like her personal files transferred from her old laptop to the Ipad....nope, nothing will allow it, or makes it unreadable!

I love the touchscreen, and the portabilty of it, but the rest, if i'm honest, seems like a waste of £400. Only had it 3 days, and its obviously still mint, and we have all packaging and even bought all the screen protectors but I'm sooo tempted to whack it on Ebay, and get another laptop. One you can use in everyday life.

Wife wanted to set up all her personal files (excel and word) but it cannot be done? We downloaded yet another app , and it let us create a type of word folder, but looks like we can only ever have 3!!!

Does anyone else think that with theirs, or am I being a bit previous, and knowing only windows and linux that I am fobbing off as a load of crap purely due to ignorance?

If so, please let me know, and can this tablet do more? or is it just "nice" because it has a nifty screen.

Downloaded a few free apps.....seem great some of them, until they ask you "before you go further, you need to pay xxx" FFS

Any apps that are any good that are free, and don't ask every 5 mins for more cash?


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Enjoy they are great you will be on DW more now


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

can you not just take it back for a full refund ? like you pointed out,you can get a reasonable laptop for that money.



Derekh929 said:


> Enjoy they are great you will be on DW more now


doesnt sound like he or his wife are enjoying it at all lol.


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

silverback said:


> can you not just take it back for a full refund ? like you pointed out,you can get a reasonable laptop for that money.
> 
> doesnt sound like he or his wife are enjoying it at all lol.


LOL just let's you see how i have been brainwashed by APPLe i will add you need PC and IPad for browser for net


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Thing is, if you want a new laptop don't buy an iPad. Laptops are streets ahead and price comparison is unbeatable. If your lookig ultra portable and cool fun factor the. It's apple.

I'd take it back and get the laptop if you aren't happy.


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

I don't use the pc much now we have an iPad, I'd still have a desk top but for taking on holiday the iPad does everything you could want, and yes I'm sending this from an ipad


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

iPad's are just bigger iPod's.


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Bigger iPhone's.

I'll give you £300 for it?


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## Matt197 (Dec 27, 2006)

An iPad will never replace a laptop unless you only use a laptop for browsing the internet or receiving emails, they are good but are very limited unless you keep buying **** loads of apps that are otherwise free on a PC or are better value.

I find if I need to do work on the train and not just **** around I take my laptop with me.


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## ant_s (Jan 29, 2009)

I had my iPad 2 at crimbo and I haven't put it down yet apart from 10 mins back when I had to do my measure/invoice for weeks work, that meant going on my laptop for Excel.

I can see that becoming the norm, using my iPad 99% of the time which in honesty is just for web browsing an a few emails. But as you've found out there are times when you will need a proper pc/mac


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## GJH0702 (Oct 21, 2011)

If you email yourself Word & Excel docs you can open & read without any special software on an iPad 
but if you want to 'use' then I had to convert via my Macbook Excel to Number & Word docs to Pages
Hope this helps


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## Knight Rider (Jun 17, 2008)

Cheers guys,
I think she may keep it, I have an all singing desktop / server, so she can always use that for stuff i suppose.

Just felt a bit cheated, all we ever heard was how great they are and you can do everything on them yada yada , and although it is fun, it doesn't exactly do everything. Also of course we can only use the internet part of it at home, as we are both on PAYG phones, but thats not the ipads fault.

So is there any apps people use that are a must have.

She does like some games, she downloaded a free one some hidden object game which she loves, but i'm guessing it will get to a point where it will ask for cash to continue.

Being a Windows man, i'm not fully used to everything it can do (if it can do any more than I can see) so maybe it will grow on me too.

I suppose the one thing I have found handy is the fact that I can just pick it up first thing in the morning and within seconds I am on the net.


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

download , apps gone free 

everyweek a list of apps go free for a period , Ive got a few good un's off of it


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## Modmedia (Jul 25, 2008)

No offence but to buy it in replacement of a laptop is silly.

It is a fantastic device for surfing the web and having fun. But for boring word/exel work related stuff just stick to a laptop for now. Or if you need portability get a MacBook Air. Which I will never be without from now on.


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## Ric (Feb 4, 2007)

I just lol'd massively at this post.

So.. you bought an iPad without doing any of your own research as to what it can and can't do, and bought it as a laptop replacement.

Well.. just.. lol.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Knight Rider said:


> Cheers guys,
> I think she may keep it, I have an all singing desktop / server, so she can always use that for stuff i suppose.
> 
> Just felt a bit cheated, all we ever heard was how great they are and you can do everything on them yada yada , and although it is fun, it doesn't exactly do everything. Also of course we can only use the internet part of it at home, as we are both on PAYG phones, but thats not the ipads fault.


To be fair, the iPad is a fantastic piece of kit, and I'm in no way an apple fan. I only use my desktop for the word/excel and photo work, the rest is done on the iPad.

And if your PAYG phone has the wi-Fi hotspot facility, then you can surf the internet with your iPad.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

sorry OP, but it think it seems you bought it for the wrong reasons! :lol:

I find the iPad is great for me when I travel... I can do email, get on the web etc, and look at files/accounts to review...

that's where it ends, if I actually need to do work, I still take my laptop... my personal files are on there, plus it's better to work with...

so for play / looking / reviewing = iPad

working = laptop

:thumb:


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## Knight Rider (Jun 17, 2008)

Ha ha, cheers guys , I know, I can only blame myself :lol:

Just got pee'd off in the shop when asking about every laptop they came back after 10 mins and said none in stock, and on the way out we say the Ipads, and I'm forever being told how great they are, how they do everything, how they mean you never have to turn your bulky desktops or laptops on any more. :lol:

Anywhoo, as I said, think she / we'll keep it anyway, as like I said, love the fact you can pick it up and surf the net within seconds etc, so just looking to personalise it for her a bit, and she can use my desktop or laptop whenever she needs to. 

I did suggest taking it back/flogging it but I got "the look" :doublesho

So guess it couldn't have been that bad a buy :lol:


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## bmwman (Jun 11, 2008)

Have an ipad 2 too. Apple wont integrate (easily at the least) with windows based products. The annyoing part is that flash is not supported. However connected to my home wifi it seems to load page'es up faster than my sony vaio laptop and the apps available particularlys if your interested in news, markets etc etc is just amazing. I used the ipad instead of my laptop now for browsing the web (DW) and other non important things. The windows always comes out for work based projects though.


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## A210 AMG (Nov 8, 2008)

Hello


As others have said its not a laptop...

However its handy for what it is and surfing the net etc. You can buy a case which has a bluetooth keyboard so it makes it more 'like' a laptop to type.

Try need to look at the Apps you need and find the right ones. I have an iphone and many free apps (in fact I have never paid for one) I don't get asked from them to pay more each time?

I think you need to spend some time getting it set up correctly and them your wife / you will enjoy it more.


It isn't a laptop though and appreciate they had none in stock but surely there are many shops with laptops? What you might be best with for yourself is a netbook, same 10" screen as the iPad but a normal laptop which will work just like a bigger PC?

You can probably get these second hand on the bay now for £150 ?


I would like one, I already have laptops, netbooks, PC's and Iphones in the house so don't need one at all but just for instant on, surfing and e-mails which it what I use my laptop for it would be great. I also think dome of the apps for Children are very good and educational with it.

So it has its place but its not laptop replacement which I think a lot of people think they are.


Good think is if you did sell it you would probably get almost all your money back. Even when the ipad 3 comes out they hold the price better than any laptop would.


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

I bought my iPad 2 in July '11 to replace a Samsung netbook which had just turned up its toes. With the exception of the inability to use Flash (no great loss I hear msyself saying), there is little day-to-day stuff I can't do on it - yes I can read/use/modify Word (using Pages @ £6.99) and Excel (using numbers @ £6.99) and both can be easily printed. 

Integration with other Apple devices is simple (in my case an MBP and iPhone 4) and also with Windows via iTunes. 

I find it to be a brilliant tool for browsing - Safari is by far my favourite browser, I used in on Windows for a couple of years before using any Apple product - and it's also excellent for e-mail.

The are literally hundreds of thousands of Apps, a large propertion of which are free, and all are tested and virus/trojan checked before being added to the App. Store.

As others say, it sounds like you didn't do your research first and bought on a knee-jerk reaction. No an iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement, but in reality it's a superb and very versatile tool which works brilliantly in conjunction with either an Apple laptop/desktop or Windows laptop/desktop, and can do many things which a laptop can't.

For sheer portability, ease of use, versatility and build quality it's the best and it kicks all other tablets into a ****ed hat.

Persevere with your iPad 2, in a month or so you'll be looking back and wondering how you could manage without it.


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

in the OPs defence they way the ipad is advertised its making out like its the second coming of christ (not that he came the first time,no pun intended) so its not hard to understand why someone would just snap one up as a replacement for a laptop.but yeah,its certainly no replacement for a laptop,thats for sure.best tablet on the market without a shadow of a doubt.but then again its more than twice the price of most tablets .strange market that has been created,with these tablets.


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## griffin1907 (Mar 4, 2006)

I'd say try and stick withthe iPad a bit longer theybare a great bit of kit BUT, IMHO you need a pc / laptop thing and an iPad as well. iPad is great for browsing and emails, but for bigger stuff then I don't think pc will ever beat it.

I'm sad, I got iPad, windows netbook and a Mac book pro, and a work laptop. Yep, use all of them quite frequently.

Sadly I'm strangely tempted by a MacBook air as well but have no idea why!

EDITED TO ADD take a look at the transformer prime, seems to do everything you might need?


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## Knight Rider (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi guys, Thanks again.

The iPad 2 will be staying :lol:

The missus loves it now with all the apps that she can use , and I have now begun to understand iOS.

I feel much more happy now that I can load all my .avi films on the pad and play them (even better without having to pay for an app) Also got used to a few quirks that I obviously don't see with what I think is the more versatile Windows / Linux stuff. Obviously they would not compare to the portability of this.

Panic over, using / playing it for what is is, a great little portable machine.

Cheers


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

Knew you'd come around eventually - awesome little machines.

_Sent from my own awesome little machine (i.e. my iPad 2 WiFi 3G 64Gb_


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## Aghescar (Mar 5, 2011)

Got mine in october, it doesn't do everything but what it does do is brilliant and the interface is just sooooo slick. Though you still need PC access for some things. It has significantly changed the amount of time on the laptop by both me and the missus, just so easy to pick it up and look at something. However if you only have one machine it has to be a full PC still


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## Gizmo68 (Mar 27, 2008)

iPads are great .... as a play thing / browser, but if you really need it for a serious peice of kit to do work with then it comes a poor 3rd (behind a laptop and netbook if you want real portability).

I seriously considered one to *replace *my netbook, but it wouldn't, my stepson (who owns an iPad) said "well use your laptop for the things it won't do" he missed the point a bit I think there.


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## Chris CPT (Dec 16, 2009)

Gizmo68 said:


> iPads are great .... as a play thing / browser, but if you really need it for a serious peice of kit to do work with then it comes a poor 3rd (behind a laptop and netbook if you want real portability).
> 
> I seriously considered one to *replace *my netbook, but it wouldn't, my stepson (who owns an iPad) said "well use your laptop for the things it won't do" he missed the point a bit I think there.


I bought the iPad 2 not long back, and I really disagree with it just being a play thing/browser, and it's definitely not a poor third to a netbook. 
I use it to run my two websites with no probs, and to do a stack of other stuff, and there's so many apps for just about everything that it's an extremely useful piece of kit. 
Besides, netbooks may have a few more work-like uses (not that many though), but are pretty poor in comparison with the speed, screen quality, non-crashing and non-virus-catching iPad 2.


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## Gizmo68 (Mar 27, 2008)

Chris CPT said:


> I bought the iPad 2 not long back, and I really disagree with it just being a play thing/browser, and it's definitely not a poor third to a netbook.


Depends what you require it do do I suppose, as everyone's needs will be different.

For me it *had *to do Excel and VCDS (so needs a USB port), without doing both it was pointless me getting one.

They are _very _ good at what they do, they just don't do enough for *me*.


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

can you connect to a network with ipad 2?

if i have NAS connected to my router with all my movies stored on there, can i use the ipad 2 to connect to my NAS?


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Another question. Is the ipad2 just a big iphone? Will one pretty much make my ip4s that i had for christmas redundant, other than for phone calls etc?

I also take it that it uses the same itunes, so the apps i have bought on my ip4s will upload to the ipad2 at no extra cost?

Cheers


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## Chris CPT (Dec 16, 2009)

Shiny said:


> Another question. Is the ipad2 just a big iphone? Will one pretty much make my ip4s that i had for christmas redundant, other than for phone calls etc?
> 
> I also take it that it uses the same itunes, so the apps i have bought on my ip4s will upload to the ipad2 at no extra cost?
> 
> Cheers


Basically, yes the iPad is a big iPhone (albeit far more powerful) but no, it won't make your iPhone redundant as you can't make normal phone calls from it, and the camera and video on the iP4s is just immense compared to the iPad.
I have both the above (iPad 2 & iP4) and use them equally for what I need to. 
It's not always practical to take your iPad out with you, so the iPhone then becomes its replacement for the 'net, emails, apps etc etc.

Regarding the apps etc, yes they automatically sync with your iPad when you plug it into iTunes. Any apps and musicmyou buy from iTunes go ontomany Mac device you have ant no extra cost. Some of the iPhone apps differ to iPad (although you can still use them on it), so you may have to get some new ones for it.
Turn on iCloud on both devices though, and it automatically shares all your tunes, apps, notes, photo's, contacts etc etc. iCloud is seriously cool and works brilliantly - you'll love it!

(sent from my iPad 2 using TapaTalk)


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Cheers Chris. Most helpful.

Although iCloud has limited space without paying by the looks of things. I've already stuck 2500 songs on the IP4s and i've not even started on my CDs lol!


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## Estoril-5 (Mar 8, 2007)

Any clues to the NAS connection?


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## Chris CPT (Dec 16, 2009)

Proof that the iPad is not just 'a toy'. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adammountford/2012/01/englands_collapse_in_dubai_cau.html#more


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## Dizzle77 (Mar 27, 2010)

Estoril-5 said:


> Any clues to the NAS connection?


Airplayer allows you to stream content from NAS.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/airplayer/id369713694?mt=8

I have it on my iPad2. I must admit i've hardly used it, but it does work. I've tested it out with blu ray rips and they play fine over my Wireless N network


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

I have the ipad2 and love it, great for super fast Internet browsing where as my laptop (Advent,icore 5, 320g ram bla bla bla) takes ages to fire up and get going, 
Apps are awesome and yes some you download are pants and keep screaming for you to upgrade to full version etc but there not all like that,
I still use the laptop for uploading pictures or ripping/burning albums, creating threads for details on here,
but for quick surfing,emailing,apps,music, iPad wins hands down.


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## alipman (May 10, 2007)

I have an iPad, well its a work paid for thing.

It wont replace a laptop as mentioned previously but its great for surfing, and sharing.
Battery is excellent. my son likes the games.

Try the free app called Flipboard.
It is a News Reader, bit like Google Reader and can integrate Twitter and Faceache but in a really nice way.

I used an Advent VEGA before Xmas before the iPad turned up and it was ok but not a patch on the Apple.
I love the Apple. I have an iPod Nano, which Apple replaced recently cos there was a problem with the battery (well documented). Thanks Apple, replace my 2gb on a unit that I didn't ever use for an 8gb one. 

Back on topic, sort of.
I think people need to appreciate what the iPad is and then it doesn't come as a surprise when it doesn't replace their laptop or PC. It can do a lot but not that much.

Its great cos I didn't pay for it. But if it was my money then I would/WILL buy a laptop for the money.
I have an Android phone, and when replacing it will get another Android phone. But I like Apple stuff.
Dip in and have the best of both!


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