The Core
Why We Are Here => Hardware & Technology => Topic started by: rcjordan on April 09, 2011, 09:06:06 PM
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I received my iPad yesterday and have spent the greater part of the last 24 hrs hammering this thing into a form that suited me. It is a great machine but given the amount of time I spend reading the browser has to be to my liking ....and safari -while close- just didn't feel right. OTOH, iCab mobile is an incredible piece of software. Highly configurable. With it, I expect the iPad to become my main reading machine.
Pair icab with the myphonedesktop app and they handle some of the nuisance issues (like importing long urls or photos) any tablet is going to have.
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>I received my iPad yesterday
Your black turtle neck is in the mail. ;D
Seriously, thanks for the tips on apps. I've not looked at iCab but I will now, along with the phonedesk thingy.
Some good apps I use on the iPad 1
BBC
Kindle
Nook
Tapatalk (touch screen forums interface)
Wunderradio
Whiteboard
Flipboard
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re:iCab
Hope you weren't depending on the stuff that apple have just insisted the developer removes from the browser:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/08/apple_icab_considered_harmful/
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re:iCab
Hope you weren't depending on the stuff that apple have just insisted the developer removes from the browser:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/08/apple_icab_considered_harmful/
Ouch. I just bought iCab last night too, and I have not had a chance to explore the "modules". Sigh. Well iCab is still worth $2 just for the tabbed browsing which rocks. Good tip.
*Boo hiss Apple*
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No, but that 'apple banned' announcement here in the us tech press was what first brought icab to my attention even before my iPad and black turtleneck had arrived. After I ran safari through its paces and determined it was not going to be up to speed for me I went looking ....figuring that if it was good enough for Steve to ban then it was probably something worthwhile.
I wanted a tabbed browser with an opera-like speed dial or QuickStart home desktop. I also need to be able to easily set the browser user agent to IE. Ideally, since I'd be giving up my high speed trackball for swiping, I wanted custom gestures. I got all that with icab. The ability to easily memorize form input is going to turn out to be a nice bonus as typing into small text blocks for logins is a nagging PITA --especially so without a keyboard.
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>just bought
You got all the modules, Brad. The developer has simply switched to bundling them all with the download rather than letting you pick and choose the ones to install. Just delete the ones you don't need under settings.
BTW, there are TWO places to work with settings relevant to icab. One is on the browser itself, the little gear icon upper right. But the other one isn't so intuitive. Look at the OS settings for the whole app, too.
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<added2>
See this trick. Handy since safari has to remain the default browser.
http://www.icab.de/blog/2009/09/07/calling-icab-mobile-from-within-safari-on-the-iphone/
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Thanks for those tips RC. iCab is turning into a great find. It sure turns the iPad into a much more robust web surfing gizmo.
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<added2>
See this trick. Handy since safari has to remain the default browser.
http://www.icab.de/blog/2009/09/07/calling-icab-mobile-from-within-safari-on-the-iphone/
That is slick. Works like a dream. Now I can pretty much ignore Safari. Thanks.
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>ignore
Yeah, undock that sucker and move it to the second page of the springboard.
Interestingly, G docs is smart enough to catch -or at least get confused- by the user agent spoofing. So if you need to bookmark a g doc, open it in safari then use that trick bookmarklet to convert it to icab. Then bookmark it in icab. Seems to work, though it is sort of puzzling as to how.
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I had my ipad2 delivered on Monday and the first thing I installed was Angry Birds HD followed by 50 episodes of Peppa Pig.
*sign*
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> Angry Birds HD followed by 50 episodes of Peppa Pig
It's something of a shock to have to buy Solitaire ...even if it is only a dollar.
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Taptu is another Flipboard like aggregator worth looking at.
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I tried it and flipboard. I just don't like feeds. That's one reason I was looking for a browser with a speed dial springboard. I use that to assemble my reading list.
The setup with icab does speed up my morning reading, btw.
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iCab is going to get a real workout just as soon as the weather around here gets warm enough for me to sit out on the screened porch. The iPad is replacing my broken 13" Macbook as my main surfing tool once I move my bulk out there. I kinda live on that porch most of the summer.
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What? You only read in the spring? I'm pounding the hell out of icab and it's holding up pretty well. But browsers are largely a matter of minute preferences for heavy users.
Tip: customizing icab bookmark bar
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=929425
Worth a read (note the progression of atomic and icab during the timespan of the thread)
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=916340
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So is an iPad a worthwhile purchase these days? You didn't think much of netbooks when they became the rage. I could get a decent desktop machine for the price of a high end iPad.
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So is an iPad a worthwhile purchase these days? You didn't think much of netbooks when they became the rage. I could get a decent desktop machine for the price of a high end iPad.
I think of it as optional equipment, the smartphone is more important to me, but the iPad is easier to carry than a 13 inch Macbook. Because you spend so much on the iPad you tend to redouble your efforts to work it into your routine. It is a great way to go paperless - with the right apps you can get by with just carrying the iPad. Example: I dump PDF's and spreadsheets I need into Dropbox and that way I can take the iPad to a meeting and I have my reference material. With Whiteboard, I can draw a diagram, and others can see it and add to it from remote locations. Evernote beats my old habit of scribbling notes on the back of old envelopes and then losing them - the larger screen on the tablet is easier on the eyes. A friend takes his iPad to all meetings and has an app that lets him jot notes with a stylus.
I do think a tablet is more versatile than a simple netbook.
However, you might want to wait until summer before making your decision: more Android tablets, the HP Touchpad and Blackberry tablet are due out and will give you more choices.
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>iPad a worthwhile purchase these days? You didn't think much of netbooks when they became the rage.
IMO, it's only worthwhile if you're a moderate-to-heavy reader and you access the web multiple times a day. I bought it strictly based on the combination of near-instantaneous web browsing and long battery life. That eliminated two big nuisance factors for me. I'm not sure if I'd be so enthusiastic if I only had Safari, though.
But if you have to do much data entry or even cutting & pasting, the virtual keyboard quickly becomes a massive PITA. For instance WhereTF is the damn right arrow or left arrow for placing the cursor?!?!!? Damn, those 2 keys alone would help out a lot.
My biggest problem right now is ergonomic ...you can't hold a mug of coffee in one hand and browse easily with the other. So I bought one of those zaggmates for a prop.
I think enough of the setup that I've ordered Louise one (including a zaggmate).
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I did try the Apple bluetooth keyboard and it works well for more frequent typing, although there may be more compact and portable keyboards.
>What? You only read in the spring?
heh. Sounds like it doesn't it? Really it is a matter of battery life. My linux laptop only gets about 2 hours on battery. Too short for me. The iPad goes way longer.
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Zaggmate?
Lol. You look like you have built a laptop lol
Buy a laptop. :-)
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>laptop
If they made one under $700 that had instant web access and lasted 8+ hours on the battery, I might have. Louise will end up using hers like a laptop. My keyboard will likely just do duty while I drink my two pots of coffee in the morning.
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Can't wait to get my hands on one. A friend recommends this im client https://imo.im/ipad.html
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I'm trying the app Penultimate, which is a handwriting note taking app. A friend uses an app like this to jot notes during meetings eliminating notebooks.
Of course I could download the app instantly but I had to order a stylus through Amazon ...
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I'm posting this from the Zaggmate. It's nice little gizmo. The good news is that the arrow keys work. The delete key is really a backspace key, though.
The user experience is kind of weird. Since you don't have a mouse or glide pad to position the cursor you still have to reach up and click buttons or scroll.
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Icab on Ipad 2 can toggle to the YouTube app and load the video (in H264 codec) without closing the browser ...sort of a fake multiprocessing workaround. When on the page containing the Youtube video, pull down the Action Icon (right arrow icon on upper left) and the context menu will show YouTube App. When finished viewing, double-tap the Home button on the Ipad and then click the Icab icon to return to where you were in your browsing session.
Goodreader app, which seems to be some sort of Swiss Army knife app for Ipad, opens zip files and has a file management system.
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RC heavily using an Apple product. What kind of screwed up bizarro world has this become?
[hell should be freezing over any moment]
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>hell freezing
True. But I'm not a fanboi yet. Well, not in the usual sense.
>heavily using an Apple product
I bought it for "always on, instant access" and it is performing like a champ in that regard. But it is extremely convenient in a few other ways, too. Like the Smart Cover, which is a pretty damn clever accessory and makes the ipad even easier to have lying about always at the ready.
However, the OS and its many limitations just plain sucks (compared to XP) and it's only due to Icab that I've managed to make a real work machine out of this thing.
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It has cut a full half-hour off my daily reading routine. It's already bumped the resident netbook off the breakfast table.
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heh, making excuses is the first step of denial. Next con I am setting up an intervention.
How has it saved 30 mins/day? (too much koolaid?)
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I have a regimented daily reading list of about 20 sites that are on the browser Quickstart/Speed dial page. Of these, five or 6 require login. Icab can be set to memorize and recall form data and also custom gestures. By setting these, I have to do very little typing within my routine. Combine that with instant access, I can breeze through these 20 (plus the secondary articles that are down the reading tree) very quickly --my sessions are **noticeably** quicker than on the laptop w/ chrome. (As in; Damn! I'm finished already?!?) I usually do 3 sessions per day.
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I picked a first gen when the 2nd gen was released and I love the thing. I grab it first thing in the morning and check all of my email while laying in bed trying to wake up. That way by the time I make it to my office my inbox is already pruned.
Outside of that it makes for a great device for looking something up while on the couch. Recipes / news / weather. It is great for all of that stuff.
I do not go to meetings so I cannot really say how it is for that, but for general time wasting and browsing they are great. Also lots of great games.
I like that it gets me out of my office for a little bit of time.
I have a galaxy tab by samsung which seems to be less polished and refined. I find it clunky and not as intuitive, or user friendly. The touch screen is not as responsive and it does not seem as snappy. So in my use iOS > android. BUT it may just be my hardware.
I still will always use a laptop or desktop, and these are not even close to replacing them. On a weekend trip I brought it just to make sure things did not implode. If anything did I would just call my partner and have him take care of it. If I did not have that and took things seriously I would never just bring the iPad.
I should try out the browser suggestion, because i think that is pretty weak. I use 1password, and the integration is pretty terrible.
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The Samsung Galaxy Tab isn't the Android you should be looking at as an equivalent - try the Eee Pad Transformer TF101 instead - Honeycomb, Flash, and a claimed 16 hours battery life (with the neat keyboard dock).
Its going to be a fun year with a lot of feature leap-frogging going on - be interesting to see where it all ends up.
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>will always use a laptop or desktop, and these are not even close to replacing them
Absolutely. These are machines for heavy reading and light input. If I had to do development on this thing, I'd blow my brains out due to frustration. Besides, they don't have ultraedit for iPads --I checked.
Right Colin, I'm thinking Asus is the one to watch. The tablets have decimated their netbook turf and they are going to have to be aggressive in order to recapture market.
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I still want to see an HP Touchpad, when they come out. Rumor is June.
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Can I update the galaxy to use android 3? It is basically just a giant phone.
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Probably - best place to look is "forum.xda-developers.com" - they normally manage this kind of upgrade before the manufacturer does... usually with a risk of 'bricking' it though :)
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They finally got the iPad2 in Japan so I was able to fiddle with one at the store the other day. It's a tad friskier than its predecessor, but I was surprised that despite the new form factor the thing weighed about the same. I was expecting something much lighter.
I haven't seen the big Galaxy Tabs here, just the awkward 7" models. That seems a bit too small to be as useful as a 10" model. Maybe that new 8.9" model has the sweet spot?
It's going to take a while, but I'm looking forward to what the Japanese manufacturers can do with a tablet. They certainly have the experience making devices like this for the Japanese cellular market. These Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers are really taking the lead here.
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Maybe that new 8.9" model has the sweet spot?
The more I look at video reviews of the Asus Transformer, the nicer it gets..but.... I have always thought that 10" tabs are just that bit too large for what I need. I see the perfect tablet for me being one that is small enough to carry round everywhere without being noticed or making a nuisance of itself. I thought 7" might be enough, but having played with one for a short while am not sure now - trying to suppress the urge to buy until I get my hands on a 8/9 inch model to see if that is better... but that Asus is very, very tempting.
Its probably a good job everywhere is sold out for now :)