Samsung Galaxy Tab or Apple iPad

[wtoddm]

I've heard that iPads are a hassle if you want to transfer files off a PC. That's the main reason I've been holding back on getting one. Any comments from those who have an iPad?

You gotta use iTunes like the iPhone, iTouch, etc so you can't simply drag and drop like any other storage device.

I'm planning to buy an iPhone next month. Let's say I have that. Then how easy is it?

Well, the thing is that on an IOS device, you have no access to the file system, and neither does anything else that's not an app that Apple made.  What this technical stuff means is that you can't add any file to your phone/ipad unless you're adding it, using itunes, to one specific app, which has to already be installed, and has to be specifically programmed to use that one specific kind of file, and those apps can't share files or data with any other app.  So if you have an office file/document, and you are trying out say, 3 different office apps to see which one you like, or even if you have to have all three for the different features each has, then you have to add your document to each app separately, and itunes has to copy the same document 3 times to your device, and if you edit the document in one app, you won't see changes to the document in the other apps.  Because as far as Apple is concerned, they are 3 completely different documents, because non-Apple-made apps can't share files.  Same with anything.  If you have (or are trying) more than one movie player, be prepared to copy the same move multiple times and have it take up 2X or 3X space on your device.  Or if you switch players (or office suites, or picture browsers or anything), all of the old content gets deleted off the device and you have to re-add everything to the new app in itunes (hope you kept copies outside of itunes on your computer hard drive!) and re-copy everything to your device all over again.

Also, you have to do all of this using what has become probably the worst user interface Apple's ever designed (itunes).  And it'll take much longer than a simple usb transfer should (many minutes or sometimes even an hour or more on usb 2.0), for no particular reason.

The system works ok if all you ever want to do is use the apps that Apple includes for free, or if you plan on never changing what non-apple apps you use to view content, or if you never have to do anything Apple didn't intend for you (or an app) to do.  The moment you try to do anything else (which thankfully is not often for most people) it's nothing but headaches.

Does that make sense?  I'm never sure if I'm being clear enough when trying to explain technical stuff.

...Also despite this, I still like both my ipad and my iphone.  When you're actually using them, they're great.

Hey! Great explanation! I hadn't heard about all this rubbish, so I appreciate you breaking it down rather than just ranting.

That being said, it seems that there really isn't much of a hassle after you decide which non-Apple apps you want to use for 'business' (manipulating presentation type files) and if you can back up your files... so... question:

Is it easy to back up files on your computer taken from the iPad? Lets say I worked on the bus on a PPT for next week's classes and need to transfer it to the laptop to put it onto my USB port. Is that a cumbersome process or is it as easy as opening the file via iTunes and dragging it onto my desktop?

Thanks for your help!

[eggplant_tyrant]

While putting stuff on the iPad using iTunes works well, I've found that trying to get it off that way is much less consistently successful, because iTunes doesn't always "find" the files you've got stored in an app. For most "business" apps, the easiest way to get files on or off the device is by using an online storage service like Dropbox. Nearly all of the apps worth your time and money have the option to save to Dropbox built in. Using Dropbox also has the added bonus of syncing changes across devices. If you don't want to use something like that, you can also e-mail a document as an attachment from within most productivity apps.

[wtoddm]

I've heard of Dropbox. I guess it's time to join the club! :D Thanks for the help!

[flukeriffic]

Make sure your school doesn't block dropbox like mine... -_-

[kps1]

I've heard that iPads are a hassle if you want to transfer files off a PC. That's the main reason I've been holding back on getting one. Any comments from those who have an iPad?

You gotta use iTunes like the iPhone, iTouch, etc so you can't simply drag and drop like any other storage device.

I'm planning to buy an iPhone next month. Let's say I have that. Then how easy is it?

Well, the thing is that on an IOS device, you have no access to the file system, and neither does anything else that's not an app that Apple made.  What this technical stuff means is that you can't add any file to your phone/ipad unless you're adding it, using itunes, to one specific app, which has to already be installed, and has to be specifically programmed to use that one specific kind of file, and those apps can't share files or data with any other app.  So if you have an office file/document, and you are trying out say, 3 different office apps to see which one you like, or even if you have to have all three for the different features each has, then you have to add your document to each app separately, and itunes has to copy the same document 3 times to your device, and if you edit the document in one app, you won't see changes to the document in the other apps.  Because as far as Apple is concerned, they are 3 completely different documents, because non-Apple-made apps can't share files.  Same with anything.  If you have (or are trying) more than one movie player, be prepared to copy the same move multiple times and have it take up 2X or 3X space on your device.  Or if you switch players (or office suites, or picture browsers or anything), all of the old content gets deleted off the device and you have to re-add everything to the new app in itunes (hope you kept copies outside of itunes on your computer hard drive!) and re-copy everything to your device all over again.

Also, you have to do all of this using what has become probably the worst user interface Apple's ever designed (itunes).  And it'll take much longer than a simple usb transfer should (many minutes or sometimes even an hour or more on usb 2.0), for no particular reason.

The system works ok if all you ever want to do is use the apps that Apple includes for free, or if you plan on never changing what non-apple apps you use to view content, or if you never have to do anything Apple didn't intend for you (or an app) to do.  The moment you try to do anything else (which thankfully is not often for most people) it's nothing but headaches.

Does that make sense?  I'm never sure if I'm being clear enough when trying to explain technical stuff.

...Also despite this, I still like both my ipad and my iphone.  When you're actually using them, they're great.

Hey! Great explanation! I hadn't heard about all this rubbish, so I appreciate you breaking it down rather than just ranting.

That being said, it seems that there really isn't much of a hassle after you decide which non-Apple apps you want to use for 'business' (manipulating presentation type files) and if you can back up your files... so... question:

Is it easy to back up files on your computer taken from the iPad? Lets say I worked on the bus on a PPT for next week's classes and need to transfer it to the laptop to put it onto my USB port. Is that a cumbersome process or is it as easy as opening the file via iTunes and dragging it onto my desktop?

Thanks for your help!

Well you can get through a lot of the nonsense that the previous poster was talking about by jailbreaking your device, getting ifile and using cydia.  Using itunes is a waste of time, just use ifile, pretty easy to back things up. Get an android phone. As far as which tablet you should buy, that new asusa transformer seems to be pretty sweet, since its fairly powerful, the touch screen is almost as good as the ipad's and you don't have to mod your tablet since android is pretty straight forward, easy to use, has lots of free apps, filemanagers, and doesnt try it's best you steal all of your money on useless junk. I used it in best buy yesterday and it was great, even has a mini sd card slot, not sure about the battery life though.

[Davox]

Hey! Great explanation! I hadn't heard about all this rubbish, so I appreciate you breaking it down rather than just ranting.

That being said, it seems that there really isn't much of a hassle after you decide which non-Apple apps you want to use for 'business' (manipulating presentation type files) and if you can back up your files... so... question:

Is it easy to back up files on your computer taken from the iPad? Lets say I worked on the bus on a PPT for next week's classes and need to transfer it to the laptop to put it onto my USB port. Is that a cumbersome process or is it as easy as opening the file via iTunes and dragging it onto my desktop?

Thanks for your help!

Short answer: you can usually get files back off by doing the itunes thing in reverse.  It's just that you then may have to go searching through your computer drive looking for where itunes put the things, because itunes has this bad habit of wanting to use it's own folder system for everything no matter how much you tell it to not do that.
Or sometimes the process just bugs out, because they're pushing out itunes updates so fast these days that they never seem to test any of it properly (Or sometimes, to be fair, it could be the buggy app to blame). 
Everything about modern itunes seriously frustrates me.

Luckily there is kinda another way:

Well you can get through a lot of the nonsense that the previous poster was talking about by jailbreaking your device, getting ifile and using cydia.  Using itunes is a waste of time, just use ifile, pretty easy to back things up. Get an android phone. As far as which tablet you should buy, that new asusa transformer seems to be pretty sweet, since its fairly powerful, the touch screen is almost as good as the ipad's and you don't have to mod your tablet since android is pretty straight forward, easy to use, has lots of free apps, filemanagers, and doesnt try it's best you steal all of your money on useless junk. I used it in best buy yesterday and it was great, even has a mini sd card slot, not sure about the battery life though.

This is all true.  However:

The problem with using ifile or SCP or whatever to transfer documents TO the device for apps to use is that you have to
- Know what folder each app store app wants it's documents/media to be in and put everything in it's correct place (which is almost impossible because they won't tell you because if it's an app store app they don't want you to do that yourself) OR
- Use only Cydia stuff, which will tell you where everything needs to go and/or let you browse your folders to find it BUT, the cydia selection is like 5% of the size of the official app store.

That being said, I absolutely agree that ifile/whatever is a pretty easy backup/getting-your-stuff-back-off-the-device method though.

Also apparently the battery life of the transformer prime without the keyboard is about the same as an ipad 2.  With the keyboard attached, you apparently get 4 or 5 more hours.  It's seriously the prettiest piece of hardware I've seen in a long time, and if I didn't already have an ipad2, I'd own a prime already.

[AngryTypingGuy]

No Kindle Fire love?

[wtoddm]

No Kindle Fire love?

Having learned the price and my budget, I'm seriously considering a Kindle Fire now! I really want the iPad for games and the e-book applications (in the classic sense of the word).

[curds]

:) I just put in my order for an iPad 2 :), I would have preferred the Galaxy tab solely because I never thought of myself as a fangirl of Apple.

I was looking at the kindle fire, but from what I've heard it restricts you from reading certain formats. I have an iPod and I love the iBook store.

Does anyone know why the samsung galaxy tab is so expensive? The reviews I read on line usually says they the same price.

I would have loved the sony s tablet as well, but on Gmarket it was way too expensive.

Does anyone know when the new iPad will be launched and at what price?

[kps1]

:) I just put in my order for an iPad 2 :), I would have preferred the Galaxy tab solely because I never thought of myself as a fangirl of Apple.

I was looking at the kindle fire, but from what I've heard it restricts you from reading certain formats. I have an iPod and I love the iBook store.

Does anyone know why the samsung galaxy tab is so expensive? The reviews I read on line usually says they the same price.

I would have loved the sony s tablet as well, but on Gmarket it was way too expensive.

Does anyone know when the new iPad will be launched and at what price?

I'm getting the Asus Transformer Prime. WOOT.

[Sticks]

:) I just put in my order for an iPad 2 :), I would have preferred the Galaxy tab solely because I never thought of myself as a fangirl of Apple.

I was looking at the kindle fire, but from what I've heard it restricts you from reading certain formats. I have an iPod and I love the iBook store.

Does anyone know why the samsung galaxy tab is so expensive? The reviews I read on line usually says they the same price.

I would have loved the sony s tablet as well, but on Gmarket it was way too expensive.

Does anyone know when the new iPad will be launched and at what price?

Uh, you might want to cancel that order. I believe they're taking preorders for the iPad 3 now, and prices should be the same as what the iPad 2 was if Apple's pricing structure stays the same.

[curds]

450k, new for the iPad 3? I some how doubt it and why would apple sell two devices at the same price?

The asus is another good tablet :) good buy

[Frozencat99]

I'd go for the iPad 2 if you got it at a lower price than the iPad 3 launch, unless you only care about graphical upgrades and aren't planning on jailbreaking your device.

[curds]

Not planning on Jailbreaking, but if it really is going to be the same price then might as well get the new one. I currently have the 16 gig on order delivery included for 480 KRW I thought that was a reasonable price for the iPad?

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MD366LL-Wi-Fi-Black-NEWEST/dp/B00746V156/ref=sr_1_34?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1331637245&sr=1-34

Thats what amazon says

[B-ri]

I vote other, grab an Asus Transformer Prime!

[BELTA]

Toshiba Thrive because you can plug in a USB, HDMI, etc. and has pretty much every app as ipad. Only thing is its powered by android which keeps ALL your history forever

[wtoddm]

I broke down and bought my friend's iPad yesterday. (I've been hired to teach at a third school, so it's a treat to myself). I didn't have much time to fool around with it, but of course, it's shiny and fun. I haven't yet tested how feasible it is to use as a productive tool, but reading and gaming on it are great.

[Denevius]

this is an old topic but i didn't want to start a new thread for a quick question. for ipads here, do you buy them under a plan with wifi+cellular like a regular phone, or do you have to buy them outright? i'm more looking for a plan is why i asked, but not sure how it works here for the ipads. and looking at the apple korean homepage, they don't seem to have an option for a plan, only to purchase it outright.

[C.Dennis]

this is an old topic but i didn't want to start a new thread for a quick question. for ipads here, do you buy them under a plan with wifi+cellular like a regular phone, or do you have to buy them outright? i'm more looking for a plan is why i asked, but not sure how it works here for the ipads. and looking at the apple korean homepage, they don't seem to have an option for a plan, only to purchase it outright.

Apple Korea has Wifi and Wifi+Cellular options on their store. After you click on 'iPad' (normal or mini), just select a color (white or black) and the memory options and Wifi/Wifi+Cellular options light up.


If personally have an iPad 3 Wifi, and I've never felt I've been missing out because I didn't have a cellular radio as well- but that's me. If you really want a plan, you will have to talk to a cellphone store: T-World, Olleh or LG U+.