Stand-alone iPad usage via 3G? Bman?

Post #333,118 by Another Scott 9/25/10 2:56:23 PM Reply	Stand-alone iPad usage via 3G? Bman? Hi, IIRC, Bman has an iPad. Maybe some more of you do. I'm considering getting my mom an iPad (or something like it) so that she can have some internet access via 3G. (I've considered setting her up with a cable or DSL connection, but I've worried about her trashing her system via a virus or something, and figure an iPad is a bit more foolproof.) She's pretty-much home bound. Something with a smaller screen probably isn't a good choice due to her health issues. Once it's set up, can an iPad (or similar) be used for extended periods (6-9 months or more) without connecting to iTunes or another PC? My understanding is that with a standard (un-jailbroken) iPad it's impossible to add apps without iTunes. I'd like to set it up for her, add a few apps, and then let her use it for things like web browsing, maybe listening to Pandora (or similar), and e-mail. She would only have access via 3G - no WiFi. Is this feasible yet? Is there an Android tablet that can do it? If not, I guess there's the 3G hotspot option with her laptop, but that brings me back to the problems with viruses and her trashing the system accidentally. "Linux...!!!" :-) Any other possible options? Thanks. Cheers, Scott.
Post #333,121 by malraux 9/25/10 3:51:46 PM Reply	Dunno about iPads... But both the iPod Touch and the iPhone have an App Store application that doesn't require iTunes for purchasing applications. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #333,131 by Another Scott 9/25/10 6:32:06 PM Reply	Thanks. You're right, of course. I downloaded the User Guide - http://manuals.info....ad_User_Guide.pdf (19 MB). It certainly seems easy enough to use without iTunes, once it's set up. Even adding apps looks pretty easy. It looks like it's easy to delete applications, though. :-( I wonder if all the fancy finger motions will be too much for her... :-/ Some more to think about. Cheers, Scott.
Post #333,132 by Bman 9/25/10 6:44:54 PM Reply	Re: Stand-alone iPad usage via 3G? Bman? The ipad has an app store you can down load your apps to the ipad and books and movies you only use itunes to put photos and movies and so on that on your pc's to the ipad once you are set up you use itunes to do firmwaer updates and back ups you use the ipad to set up your 3g with at&t "Pictures are better then words because some words are big and hard to understand" Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Post #333,136 by Another Scott 9/25/10 7:24:43 PM Reply	Thanks. I appreciate it.
Post #333,133 by Bman 9/25/10 6:47:31 PM Reply	Go here for ipad manual http://support.apple.com/manuals/#ipad "Pictures are better then words because some words are big and hard to understand" Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Post #333,148 by Another Scott 9/26/10 10:33:55 AM Reply	Is 2GB/month too limiting? Another issue with 3G, of course, is paying for downloads. AT&T has 250 MB/mo for $15, 2GB/mo for $25. After 2 GB its apparently $10 for an additional GB (but this isn't clear). According to http://blogs.chron.c...o_the_iphone.html a 2 hour Netflix movie is about 300 MB. A little over 6 movies a month if nothing else is downloaded. I bet many iPad users are still on the $30/mo unlimited plan. Do other heavy users commonly run over the 2GB limit? An alternative is a 5 GB/mo plan via a 3G hotspot, e.g., http://shop.sprint.c...TNAV=ATG:FT:Plans for $60/mo (note they claim around 7 movies for 5 GB). Decisions, decisions. Thanks for any additional info. Cheers, Scott.
Post #333,157 by Bman 9/26/10 12:41:26 PM Reply	I don't know I have the $30/mo unlimited plan Buy I use the wifi at home and out a lot I have not gone over 2GB how hard would it be to set up a Wireless Router in her home with out her getting near it? Comcast is like 49.99 for internet "Pictures are better then words because some words are big and hard to understand" Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Post #333,164 by Another Scott 9/26/10 4:49:41 PM Reply	It's not hard, but it's another bill and ... I've debated for a long time about getting her cable and internet, but it's really a can of worms. If she has WiFi then she'll want to use it with her Vista laptop, and then the issue of keeping it running becomes a big concern. If I swap the laptop for the iPad, she'll think she's being deprived (she's a bit of a MS fan). Just getting WiFi without the iPad is too easy to break. I want something foolproof for her. At the moment I'm leaning toward the 16 GB iPad with WiFi/3G and the 2 GB/mo 3G data plan. It seems the simplest and least likely to break. If she goes over 2 GB/mo, she'll have to learn to be more economical with her web traffic. ;-) I'll keep cogitating for a few days... Thanks again! Cheers, Scott.
Post #333,165 by static 9/26/10 5:00:02 PM Reply	You've got an uphill battle. You said it yourself: "(she's a bit of an MS fan)" IME, people like that will have MS-type computer problems sooner or later. The only way out is to teach them to not be "a bit of an MS fan". It may take a disaster or two to do it; that was the only way my sister got taught to be wary of IE's security. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #333,166 by Another Scott 9/26/10 5:52:43 PM Reply	Tell me about it. :-) I actually think she'll like the iPad. She was after me for a while a few years ago to get her a BlackBerry (without really knowing what it was). She's not a "Microsoft or nothing" person. She mainly doesn't like feeling she's missing out. Thanks. Cheers, Scott.
Post #333,170 by folkert 9/26/10 8:35:41 PM Reply	Put Linux on the Laptop. She isn't missing anything.
Post #333,172 by Another Scott 9/26/10 8:51:52 PM Reply	:-) I knew you'd suggest that. :-) I might eventually, but not as the first attempted solution. $30 a month for 3G is better than $50+ for cable internet, plus I'm sure there will be fewer headaches. If the iPad doesn't work out for her, I can use it. IIRC, her laptop is a Gateway dual-core AMD Vista machine which was astonishingly slow even after I did a substantial memory upgrade. No doubt it would be better with Ubuntu, but not vastly better. And she has several Windows games she plays, so that might make her cranky if they didn't run.... I'm assuming she'll keep the laptop for her Windows stuff and use the iPad for Internet stuff. I will keep your suggestion in mind. Thanks. Cheers, Scott.
Post #333,167 by Bman 9/26/10 8:03:02 PM Reply	Ok, let's try this I'm trying this with my mother 1. if you have an apple store near by I'm taking her to the store to take free mac work shops 2. when she has some mac training if she likes it I will get her a mac mini that why she can use safari,crome,or firefox the cost is not much more and she can do more and get her away from MS ipad 16 Gb with wifi and 3G is $629. + $25./m + apps $0/$20.00+ a case from $39.00 to $70.00 Mac mini $699.00 + keyboard $49.00 + cable $49.99 (no over charge) "Pictures are better then words because some words are big and hard to understand" Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Post #333,173 by Another Scott 9/26/10 8:55:23 PM Reply	It's tempting. I just got a Mac Mini Server so I'm aware they're good boxes. (I haven't set it up yet.) I don't think it would be a good fit for her, though. As I said to Greg above, I'll try the iPad and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out for her, I can use it, and I'll cross the next bridge as it happens. Thanks. Best of luck with your Mom! Cheers, Scott.
Post #334,648 by Another Scott 10/22/10 10:03:51 PM Reply	Finally did the iPad unboxing. I got the 32GB WiFi + 3G model a few weeks ago and finally found the time to set it up. It's an amazing little box. I have it in an Otterbox Commuter case which seems pretty good. Putting the screen protector on wasn't too difficult. Of course, I had to install the latest iTunes on my XP laptop - that took half of forever. Registration of the iPad was fairly painless. I downloaded several free apps. Setting up WiFi was trivial. It connects and runs well with our home network. I had to Sync again for the downloaded apps to install, and it took a while. Osmos is very neat - it's a physics-based inelastic collision game where you're a cell. So far, I'm very impressed. One annoyance is that it doesn't charge through my laptop's USB port - I have to use the charging adapter and the USB cable (dunno if that's the way it always works or if I've got weak ports). Now to figure out how to set it up so that my mom doesn't drain my credit card by downloading half the internet, and to decide when to start the 3G service... :-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #334,659 by Bman 10/23/10 12:34:46 AM Reply	Re: Finally did the iPad unboxing. Great!! Your mom will love it I love mine you can not charge it with a laptop it takes more to charge then an ipod use the wall charger video uses the most power just playing on the web the power will last for days "Pictures are better then words because some words are big and hard to understand" Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Post #334,665 by static 10/23/10 8:24:13 AM Reply	Thoughts on charging. There was an article a few months ago about a little company who figured out how to make their battery-powered emergency USB charger work on iPods. And then again on newer iPods. And then again on even newer iPods. Turns out Apple are playing somewhat with the USB electrical current rules and use specific resisters across the datalines in their charging things to tell the iDevice when it can take its (usually) motza charging current. That's why it won't charge on a laptop: it's made so it can't. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #334,667 by Another Scott 10/23/10 3:03:48 PM Reply	First annoyance - Hangs on syncing with my XP laptop. I bought a movie and a music video and some other stuff, then tried to sync it. It trundled for a while, but there was no disk activity. Then it gave up with an error popup with lots of references to 0xE8000065 http://discussions.a...=2088612&tstart=0 I'm trying it with a D-Link powered USB hub now. It seems to be doing something (~ 150 kB/s)- we'll see how it goes... :-/ Cheers, Scott.
Post #334,674 by folkert 10/23/10 6:37:19 PM Reply	Use a Mac. it'll work much better.
Post #334,675 by Another Scott 10/23/10 7:13:05 PM Reply	Read my mind. It's been a busy day. Our new LG washer and dryer were delivered this afternoon, and I'm finally setting up my MacMini Server at the moment. :-) It's been pretty painless so far, but I don't have much idea of what I'm doing - network-admin-wise. It's looking for updates now. Gotta figure out how to tell it our Windows Workgroup name (not "Workgroup")... Once the Mini is configured, I'll try doing the iTunes Syncing to the iPad - as you say, I expect it'll be painless. This Mini is amazing. It's a 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo with 4 GB of RAM and includes OS X Server with unlimited client licenses. It was something like $750 (refurbished at Apple) plus tax and shipping. I've got it standing up on edge on a shelf with my monitor. It's tiny! About $5 for a DVI cable to connect to my HP LP2475W (the Server comes with a HDMI to DVI adapter), a Logitech USB mouse, and a MB110LL/A aluminum keyboard and it's good to go. More later. Cheers, Scott.
Post #334,677 by Bman 10/23/10 7:47:21 PM Reply	Re: Read my mind. My 1st mac was a mini and I loved it it had the G4 chip Let me know hoe the mini server is I think you will like it "Pictures are better then words because some words are big and hard to understand" Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Post #336,497 by Another Scott 11/30/10 11:17:46 PM Reply	TheReg review of MacMini Server. http://www.reghardwa...mini_server_2010/ I like it. My earlier complaints about fiddling with CUPS to configure remote access to the attached printer was before I discovered "Server Admin". As you might suspect, just about everything can be done via the GUI tools without messing with CUPS and the like directly. It's a quick, nearly silent, and unobtrusive little box that consumes hardly any power (compared to my previous dual-core Opteron box). It's hard to beat the features, especially for the price I paid ($850+ shipping and tax for a refurb from Apple). Cheers, Scott.
Post #336,688 by crazy 12/4/10 6:45:25 AM Reply	Thanks I've just recommended it.
Post #334,703 by Another Scott 10/24/10 1:17:16 PM Reply	Second annoyance - Refreshes on returning to Safari page The fact that it only has 256MB of ram really shows up with Safari. I haven't had any trouble with pages not rendering yet, but if you have more than a few pages on the Safari screen, then when you switch between them a refresh is triggered. E.g. You start a reply here, but want to check something with Google. You start up a Google session, get the info you need, return to the posting screen and watch your composition get wiped by the refresh. :-( Some have said if you only have 2 or so sites active then it doesn't do the refresh. I dunno the limit for sure... This is why Apps should be better than unoptimized web pages - the footprint should be smaller and there should be less download traffic. It's still an amazing gizmo. Cheers, Scott. (Posted with iPad.)
Post #334,706 by Bman 10/24/10 3:45:52 PM Reply	Re: Second annoyance - Refreshes on returning to Safari page That may change with the ISO 4.2 up date in NOV "Pictures are better then words because some words are big and hard to understand" Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Post #334,707 by static 10/24/10 4:00:55 PM Reply	I think this might be partly Webkit's fault. I've noticed both in Chrome and the Android browser that it will take almost any excuse to refresh the page. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.

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