Good apps, etc.

[bixaorellana]

I recently got an android tablet and am completely thrilled with it despite the fact that it's still a big mystery to me.

So who has iPad, Nexus, etc. etc. and would like to share ways to get the most out of these fun and (to me, anyway) amazing items?

I scroll though the Google Play Store and read the user reviews on apps, but would love to get recommendations from anyporters.

[mossie]

I bought an iPad as my birthday present and find it a very useful gadget. In fact APIAS is tuned in to as I sit having my breakfast, which would not be so easy top do on the desktop which sits up in my spare bedroom. I also find it much easier to travel with, when I went to Paris in Sept it came with me so I could maintain contact by email, and see APIAS AND download my camera card. Ideal for showing pics around.
Not to mention playing solitaire in idle moments

[mich64]

I bought the Galaxy tablet before our trip this past September and found it quite helpful. It fit nicely in my cross body purse and it weighed a lot less this trip with no needing to carry along guide books, maps, schedules.

We loaded the series Game of Thrones to have something to watch before bed time, we used google maps and was able to check our emails. The most important thing was to be able to have contact with family back home as there were some medical issues and family issues happening that we needed to assist with and one of our hotels did not have a telephone in the room. Plus I was able to keep in contact with APIAS.

At home, we have used it in watching an episode of some TV shows we forgot were on and wanted to catch up on and my husband uses it when I am on the laptop.

We are going to Toronto tomorrow to the Veterinary Hospital and we looked for it on google maps and were able to survey the area and find parking so when we arrive it will be less stressful. I really like having the tablet.

[Deleted]

Still not equipped with anything modern.

[onlymark]

Nor me. My wife has an iPad and swears by it though.

[mossie]

Get with it, you old dinosaurs ;D ;D ;D

[onlymark]

I've got a desktop computer, a laptop, a netbook and an eReader. My life is complicated enough as it is. The kids have a laptop each, touch screen phones and the wife has the iPad and a laptop.
My biggest mistake was them knowing I'm technologically capable.

[bixaorellana]

These answers are pretty surprising to me. I somehow thought the rest of the world was walking around all adept with smartphones & other gadgets that would naturally segue into using a tablet. However it sounds as though there are others like me who bypassed the transitional items & went directly to a tablet.

I have an old computer (not even flatscreen!) and am still using XP. Don't have nor want any kind of cellphone. The most technologically advanced aspiration I had was a vague idea that a Kindle might be a handy thing to own. Then, when I was innocently doing research on what kind of camera to buy, I stumbled across info on the Asus transformer tablets & was suddenly eaten up alive with the desire to own one. This is totally out of character for me, but I'm glad I succumbed.

Then I gave my son a tablet for his birthday, thinking he might not even want it, as it could be redundant for him, since he has a smartphone. He was completely delighted, though. Given the choice between the larger tablet & the 7" one, he opted for the smaller one, saying that since he had a laptop, he liked the little tablet for how practically portable it is.

Before taking the plunge on buying my tablet, I asked my sister how she liked her iPad. She didn't even make the decision to have the thing, as it was given to her by her job. Her instant answer: "I love it & carry it everywhere." My son also used the word love for his tablet, & I quickly fell in love with mine. It's the way they strive to give us what we want that makes them so loveable, I think.

Still, I have so much to learn. Mossie is way ahead of me with using the tablet for photos. Never having had a laptop, I don't even know how to right-click or highlight or anything using a touchpad. I did buy a little mouse for the tablet, but that seems like a cop-out plus one more thing to schlep around.

I want to be able to carry my tablet around the way Mich did on her vacation, but as yet have no handy holder for it. There are tons of options in iPad cases, but a universal gripe about mine is the lack of a perfect case for it as yet.

[auntieannie]

ha, smartphones, ha! not on my watch!

[Deleted]

I don't have a smartphone yet. It is on my agenda for 2013.

I have a netbook on XP -- for travel, but I need a new one
I have a laptop on Vista -- totally saturated and at the end of its life
I have another laptop on Windows 7 - for upstairs use while watching TV
I have a new Sony Vaio on Windows 7 hooked into a huge flat screen - for downstairs and important matters

p.s. I really do not like touchpads, so I have a mouse for all of them -- cordless on the last 3. I always have huge amounts of batteries on hand, because the most horrible thing that can happen is when your cordless mouse goes dead.

[Deleted]

I have a 'smart phone' but still prefer to use my normal one for day to day personal use.

I have quite an old computer that I love It has XP on it. I also have a lap top and an note-book.

But scattered around the house, we have in total 4 desk tops, two with XP, one with vista and one with windows 7. Two laps tops, one with XP and one with Windows 7. And two net-books. It's worked out that there is a desk-top on each level of the house.

I've opted out of buying a tablet (for now anyway), same reason as Kerouac, I don't particularly like touch screen, and prefer to use a mouse. I will however be purchasing a new net-book for that trip. I will need to upload many photos and a net-book seems the best way to do it, as it has many more Gigs than a tablet. If it weren't for that a tablet would have worked just fine I guess... I can see how easy it is to transport and pack.

[Deleted]

I am still amazed to see people taking their tourist photos with a tablet -- it just looks so strange to see them holding a big rectangle in front of them for no apparent reason.

[Deleted]

hehehe.... I haven't seen that yet. That would be a strange sight.

[htmb]

I have a nine year old laptop with XP and about 15 vertical lines through the screen, as the video card is almost ruined. I'm gradually migrating to a new Mac desktop. I've had a 16 GB iPad since last spring and it has been great to take when I travel. I'm pretty fast at typing with one hand, but can also type with two on the touch pad if I choose. The only mistake I made when purchasing was not getting one with more storage space. When traveling I transfer pictures from my camera to the iPad to make it easy to email, upload, and edit.

Apps I use are Google maps (great for public transportation information), Fliclstackr (I'm a Flickr person), and Instagram for photos just to share with my family. I also like the YouTube App.

I've had smartphone for four years (not iPhone) and like being able to respond to email when a quick answer is often all that's needed.

[Deleted]

I recommend transferring photos every day while travelling. I have read too many horror stories about people losing the photos of an entire trip through theft, stupid loss or simple damage just before they return home. I also carry more than one memory card with me, even though there is no longer any risk of running out of space. Sometimes it is just good to keep totally different sets of photos on two or more cards for convenience.

[Deleted]

I think you are right, Kerouac and I remember you mentioned this before one time, and it made me realize that putting the photos on the net-book is really a good idea - and as I go along. There have been times when an SD card on my camera has simply stopped working and I've lost tons of pictures, I really don't want that to happen. At least if the card mal-functions half way through I still have most of them saved and can go on and put a new SD card in the camera. And also same for if I lose or get the camera stolen. (Hope it doesn't happen, but you never know)..

[bixaorellana]

You wouldn't want a smartphone, Annie? Is that because you wouldn't want a mobile phone at all, or for some other reason?

Htmb, isn't there a way to use the usb port to add memory to the iPad?

Thanks for the apps recommendations. I believe they all have android versions, too. I'm already using the youtube one.

One of the criticisms of android tablets is that many of the apps were originally meant for the smaller screens of phones. I didn't understand that until today, when I finally loaded one that hadn't been redesigned for the larger tablet screen. Yes, it does look yucky.

The bad thing about the touchscreen for me is that it's triggered a yearning for one of the new stand-alone touchscreen computers. ;D

[bixaorellana]

Oh yeah .............

Dec 17, 2012 19:53:59 GMT mich64 said:

We loaded the series Game of Thrones to have something to watch before bed time

Mich, life in general just got soooo much better: mashable.com/2012/12/18/hbo-game-of-thrones-beer/? ;D

Dec 18, 2012 19:40:15 GMT kerouac2 said:

I am still amazed to see people taking their tourist photos with a tablet

The first time I saw that was in the cemetery for day of the dead this year. I scampered right up and asked the woman doing it about her iPad. She was thrilled that she could take pictures with it. My photo-taking buddy later remarked that the picture quality was crappy. That's a little strong, and in any event, the lady was so happy to be taking pictures with it that to me it seemed all to the good.

[htmb]

Bixa, I have wondered if I could attach a drive or flash via the USB port like I do my camera and transfer information. Investigations I did earlier didn't appear promising. Anyone here know more about it?

The iPad is not perfect, that's for sure. I had to find a way around removing a couple hundred photos I had loaded via my old computer. I couldn't just delete them the way I can those pics that have come from my camera. But for the ease of use when traveling, it's great! It's so nice to have a space to back up pictures, and to actually see your photos on a screen larger than my camera.

Forgot to mention, bixa, I also have a Facebook app. I don't use it much, but the simplicity of the app is so much more appealing to me than looking at FB mess via a web browser.

[bixaorellana]

Hmmmm. I just looked online & read that you cannot upgrade the memory in an iPad because there is no usb port. Surely that is outdated information?! The alternative mentioned was to use cloud storage.

I looked further & found this interesting info on Amazon about trading in your pad for an Amazon gift card, which you could then use for a 32 gb iPad. I wonder if they offer enough to make it worthwhile.

Oh yeah -- you are so right about the fb app.

There is also an app for proboards forums. I heard negative things about it, but don't know if that's just applicable to android or not. I should install it to see. The speed of installing & uninstalling on the tablet is exhilarating.

[htmb]

I thought there was a fee to get the proboards app.

That's right, there isn't a USB port on the iPad. There's a port that I plug an adaptor into to transfer images from my camera. It's also the port you use to connect the iPad to a computer and to a charger.

[htmb]

Oh, yeah. Cloud! Drove me crazy until I turned it off.

[bixaorellana]

I have 5 gb of Amazon Cloud free, which I guess Amazon gave me since I'm registered with them. I'm pretty sure Asus, the maker of my tablet, also gives me 8 gb of cloud. I don't know how secure I'd feel having something only in the cloud. So far, all I've done with it was to put all the genealogy info on my computer into it ........ but have also kept it on the computer.

What's very annoying is that whenever I turn off the computer I have to wait to also manually turn off Amazon Cloud so that the whole computer can shut down.

Just went to look & indeed, it appears that there is a fee for both the ios and the android proboard app. I also looked at the support board for those apps & didn't make me all that eager to get it.

One app I really like is Mobile Radio Live, which gives you music from all over the world, lets you make playlists and also add stations. I don't know if it's only for android or not.

Music Cloud is also great for building up a nice little stash of free music. Be sure to check out the time listed next to the song, though, as sometimes it's only a sample. It's balky sometimes, but overall worth it.

I like Taptu for a nice tiled presentation of all kinds of news. It lets you add topics.

I paid for VideoMixPro, which so far seems fine, although like all pirate sites, can have really crummy editions (camcorded) of new popular movies.

Kindle app of course! What's really great about it is that you can see illustrations in color that appear in b&w on an actual Kindle.

I have Koi Live Wallpaper, the free version, which I love so much it almost makes the whole table worthwhile. Look up Kittehface Software -- they have tons of wallpapers, most with a small fee. Their Clock Tower 3D is beyond fabulous

[patricklondon]

I have a desktop and netbook, both now several years old and running XP perfectly OK. I mostly use the netbook now for its portability, as it has more RAM than the desktop and therefore runs a bit faster. On the other hand the bigger screen of the desktop makes it better for photo processing, spread-sheets and the like. So the netbook is mainly for the internet, media (I use it to listen to the radio through wireless headphones when I wake up early, and have the Kindle application on it) and temporary bits and pieces.

I also went in the end for the cheapest Android smartphone on the market, but since I'm enough of a cheapskate to only have PAYG for its phone function and rely on Wifi rather than a data plan for anything else, using apps is a little bit limited. However, it, like the netbook, has all my CDs in mp3 on it. There's a handy app that picks up the TfL bus database for me to check when the next buses are due at the bus-stop before I go out into the weather. I've experimented with social networking apps, but the screen's a bit small for extended typing; and if the camera were better, I might use Flickroid, which allows direct upload to Flickr from the phone. Plus, there's the question of battery drain - I'm forever re-charging.

My brother, who's a bit of an old-fashioned engineer and therefore rather suspicious of the "newest, latest, flashiest" hype about anything, now swears by his cheap generic Android tablet.

If I can get round the battery and "ease of typing" issue, it's possible that I'd be in the market in a few years for a tablet that converges what I use the netbook and phone for, and maybe replace the desktop with a laptop with an external hard drive. Hmm. Some disciplined saving to be done.

[bixaorellana]

Dec 18, 2012 18:02:41 GMT auntieannie said:

ha, smartphones, ha! not on my watch!

So ~~ why izzat, Anniekins?