Computer Access for Studio - ipad, bamboo, ...?

[LadyLake]

We are moving our office upstairs, which means I'll be without a computer nearby for my studio. I would like to purchase a 'cordless' computer and am interested in the ipad, but I've also heard some Forum members talk about the 'bamboo.' Technology is changing so fast -- any recommendations?

[mitzi]

To my knowledge, ipad is not a computer - more like an oversized ipod - has applications that can be downloaded, but I am not sure how well it works with computer programs and saving our own work. I could be totally wrong, but just wanted to mention that. Perhaps you want the notebook, which is smaller than a laptop, but it is a computer.

[Quilting Heidi]

Joan it really depends how much you want to process on your little 'cordless' computer. I don't have an ipad just several laptops, actually 3! LOL one for each floor. I use them all too. Sad, very sad. I do use them for work a lot.

[LadyLake]

Heidi - so what you are saying is that the laptop has more processing ability and thus is faster, whereas an ipad is like a mini-computer that might be slow?

Mitzi - I did notice on the ipad introductory sales info, that they played up surfing the net and emails, and not so much 'making documents.'

Perhaps a laptop is more what I'm after. ...

[Hollyrw]

In order for your laptop to be wireless you will need a wireless router. This will hook into your existing internet connection and "broadcast" wirelessly to your wifi enabled computers and other devices like printers.

[Quilting Heidi]

Joan,

Yes in general most of the small computers like ipads are for surfing the net and emails but if you are going to use it to process data or making documents they are generally slower. I know you can find some really nice laptops at Dell for a great price and they last well too. I don't know what your budget is. We purchased one for my mother for about $600 and she will never use all of its capabilities. Another thing you should consider is how much RAM the computer has. That is probably the key thing to computer function. Too little RAM and it will be slow and crash often.

[fineseams]

If you want to run programs like Word or Excel, or EQ in addition to reading mail and web surfing, what you want is a laptop, not an ipad. As Holly said, you'll need a wireless router for your laptop to be wirelessly connected to your home network. It is possible that you already have one, depending on what your internet service provider uses - for example, AT&T gives you a router with wireless capability when you sign up for their service. With a wireless-enabled home network, you will then be able to use the laptop anywhere within range - usually 100 or so feet, depending on the type of surface (wireless signals don't travel well through stucco, for example). I recently purchased an HP laptop for under $400. Heidi is right - you want lots of ram (memory) - at least 2 gig. The model I chose did not have a high speed graphics card, which you don't really need unless you use graphics-heavy programs, like games. It also had a fairly short battery life - only about 2 hours - which was okay with me. I needed wireless connection, but am okay with having to plug the laptop into electricity from time to time to keep the battery charged. Since I didn't really need either of those features, I opted for the $400 model rather than the $600 model. Prices are always coming down. Be sure you shop on the internet to at least see what the best prices are. I ended up getting mine at a special sale at Walmart.

[Gator]

I'm not a compter geek but the IPAD (it's not a computer)wouldn't be very useful. It's great for web browsing but you can't stick a USB thumbdrive into it or use most computer programs. I have a wireless router on my home office computer (desktop) and have a laptop which I use for embroidery, downloading to my IQ, run quilt programs etc. A lot depends on where you receive your internet from, is it a cable modem, dsl (I think that's the one on telephone lines), mifi, fios, etc. You can even get cell phones now which can run your wifi devices!!! I have something Verizon calls mifi. It's about the size of a credit card which I use for my laptop and IPAD away from home. The number of options will make your head spin. You can't go wrong with a good laptop, most are on sale for the beginning of school. "Go get'em".

[LadyLake]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We have cable internet and my son recently installed a CISCO Linksys E1000 Wireless-N Router/2.4 GHz Band/Fast Ethernet (10/100 Ports). He installed it so that he could use his laptop around the house he is away at college now with his laptop. My e-machine PC computer blew up a couple of months ago, and I went with a new MAC computer, which has been a bigger adjustment than I was expecting, but I'm gradually learning. So, it seems that if we move the MAC with a cable connection upstairs, I should be able to run a laptop downstairs in my studio, since we have the wireless router.

Okay, can we discuss laptop brands now? I like the MAC iphoto program, so would lean toward a MAC laptop because I frequently take photos of my quilting/customer quilts. What laptop brands are other people using and why do you like them? Did you choose a laptop over a non-mobile computer for budget reasons or for portability?

[Quilting Heidi]

Joan,

I have Dell's and IBM laptops. Most of my laptops are from work and our institute uses only IBM so that is why I got it. I have been extreamly happy with their reliability. My daughter and mother got a dell laptop and they have loved them. Never had any problems. I know there are lots of MAC girls and guys out there but for me I have too much software that is not compatible and I will say when I have somebody at work that has a MAC send me files I have problems with them. MACS have much better color and handle images much better but unless you are going to do a lot of photo editing or stuff like that I wouldn't let the play into what I got. I think MACS are about 1.5 times the price of most of the laptops I have.

[Busy Quilting]

I have used a Mac but found it very hard to use without a mouse. I also had Difficulty with EQ6 on the MAC. I now use a HP laptop that has its own docking station, so I can use my normal keyboard and monitor when in my Studio. he bigger the memory the better!

I may have been using iPhotos wrong but always found it very slow. I now have a USB outlet and can download and play with my camera and photos very easily using Microsoft programs.

You son sounds like he is switched on to Wireless network, as all the things you quoted sound the same as I my Husband would quote. Just make sure he has it secure. So that noone else can get into your network.

Lyn

[Neher-in-law5]

I have Mac Pro here for our business and use Quick Books on it also. We have the program Parallels so we can run the non-Mac (IBM) programs as well as the Mac programs. I also have had a Gateway, and just replaced it with an Asus for my embroidery machine storage. Personally, I have always liked the Macs and the way they work. Right now as I am typing this, my Mac laptop is on our main floor, the printer and router are in the basement. I can print right from here with no need to connect to anything else. In the house we have my laptop, my son's laptop, his girlfriend's laptop, and on weekends the daughter's laptop, all working at the same time.

You can also get a wireless mouse for the laptops for any who really miss using one.

[fineseams]

I love Apple products, and have owned Macs since the very first one. Mac laptops will be more expensive than a Windows machine, but you do get Apple software quality. iPhoto and the rest of the iLife suite (except for iTunes) are not available for Windows OS. Some programs either are not available for the Mac OS, or don't work as well on the Mac because there are way more Windows machines in the world, so vendors concentrate their customer support on Windows. However, with the new Macs that have Intel processors, you can run Mac OS or Windows on the same machine. You can do this either with a Windows emulator that runs under Mac OS, or you can boot Windows as a native system.

So, if you like the Mac environment, you can still use whatever programs that run on Windows only. But the Mac will be more expensive. I personally have always chosen the Mac, although I do keep a Windows machine for some business stuff I do that I don't want to put on my personal Mac.

[cjtinkle]

I have an iMac for a desktop, which I run Windows software on via Parallels, and a Windows laptop. When it comes to laptops, I am extremely picky. I want a laptop with as much horsepower as a desktop, so the brand I've used for years now is not commonplace, it's a boutique brand built for gamers. Sager/Clevo. Fantastic laptops, and they have guts like a desktop, which can be completely upgraded, which you won't find in standard brands laptops.

[LadyLake]

When I purchased my iMac desktop, the Best Buy employees told me if I bought iWork, then I could interface with Windows. But when I downloaded attachments, the system was adding 'html' to all documents, so they were unintelligible text. Then I called the Geek Squad help line, and he said I needed to buy Windows for Mac to solve the 'html' problem; he however could not answer any of my iphoto questions and suggested the Geek Squad come to my home for free to help. Well, I installed Windows for Mac and the system is still adding 'html' to downloaded documents (although I have figured out how to erase the html ending, so can read the documents now.)

Now I notice, at least two of you that responded here, have a program called Parallels, so you can run Windows on your iMac. I feel like I'm on a wild goose chase here (with Best Buy being the culprit...). Can anyone clarify for me the difference between the two software programs I purchased: iWork and Office: mac2008 and the Parallels software?

cjtinkle -- I like the idea of having both an iMac and a Windows laptop. Are they networked at all?

Heidi -- are all of your 3 laptops networked, and if so, with what?

[cjtinkle]

Yes, the entire house is networked. We have a wireless router inside our entertainment center in our family room, satellite TV, XBox and Reciever run to it via Ethernet cable, and the 4 computers in the house access it wirelessly. Works fabulously. By the way, I'm currently using an Apple Time Capsule as a wireless router/backup drive, and it was very easy to set up.

[fineseams]

Joan,

Parallels allows you to run both Windows and Mac OS (and hence Windows-based programs and Mac-based programs) on your Mac without rebooting when moving between a Mac application, like iPhoto, and a Windows application. It works on Macs with Intel processors, and Mac OS X v10.4.11 or later. You still have to buy Windows 7 and install it, then you can install and run any Windows program that works with Windows 7.

You can also install Windows on your Mac without Parallels, using Boot Camp, but then when you switch between a Windows program and a Mac program you have to reboot your computer to bring it up with the appropriate operating system. Using Parallels eliminates the reboot step.

IWork and Office:mac2008 are both applications that run native on Mac OSX. iWork is an office productivity suite offered by Apple, while Office is the suite from Microsoft. Office is available both for Mac OS and Windows, but iWork is only available for MacOS. iWork is less full-featured than Office, but is perfectly adequate for many people. However, because Office is more widely used, more folks are familiar with it, and it is kind of a hassle to save documents, etc. in a format that Office can read when you use iWork. I have, but do not use iWork. Even though I don't much like Microsoft, I use Office for word processing and spreadsheets.

If you have Office:mac2008 you do not need parallels or Windows to run it. It runs native on MacOSX. I'm not sure about the problem with adding .html to the end of your files, but I'll bet it is a simple settings problem. You didn't say whether you were running iWork or Office when you downloaded attachments, so I can't recommend specific help, but if you send me a U2U, I'll give it a shot.

If you have a wireless network in your house you can add any reasonable number of desktops and laptops to the network. It should not matter whether the computer is an Apple or a PC. I have both Macs and a PC on the same network.

[Quilting Heidi]

Joan,

Yes all three computers are networked. I have a wireless router and can access from anywhere in the house or even in the backyard, just as long as I'm not too far away from the router. The network that I actually use is my work network and I can access my files and folders on my network drive by logging into our CISCO VPN tunnel. THat works pretty well, although it is slower since all the data is encrypted and takes longer to process. If you wanted to set up one of your computers as a server you could do that. You would just have to set up a network to allow you to see that computer from your other computers. I haven't actually set that kind of system up in a long time since now at work I have great IT guys. It is a doable thing and not that hard.

[IQuiltToo]

I gave DH a MacBook for Xmas, bought it at Best Buy. He gave me the big iMac desktop from the Apple Store in Encinitas, CA as we did not have an Apple Store locally (we do now). Just purchased an iPad a few weeks ago for taking on trips for e-mail, books etc. Still have a lot to learn on that one. DH has a Dell (we have had several Dells) desktop. When we were both working for the school district, we switched from Macs to PC's so we could also work from home. We really like having the ability to have both. I may take over the old Dell laptop and put EQ on it.

We also have Parallel's to access PC programs on the Mac.

Love our Mac's, but it is really nice to have both.

Marilyn

[LadyLake]

Here's 'the rest of the story'. I ended up getting a Mac laptop this week and, luckily, the 'Apple Guy' was at Best Buy, so I was able to ask him all of the questions I've had during the first 3 months of using the desktop iMac.

I was going to buy Parallels and Windows 7, but after talking with him I decided against it for now. He said 'why do you want Windows?' and I didn't have a reason; until I run into a situation where I need Windows, no sense in buying it. I asked him if I could get a virus if Windows was running on the iMac; he said yes, viruses are software based and the Windows files would be infected, but not the Mac files.

When I told him about my experience with not getting accurate answers from the Geek Squad help line about why 'html' was being added to attached documents (and no info about iphoto), he said that's why you call 1-800-apple about Mac problems (makes sense!) He said to email him about the html issue and he will get the answer for me. Also, he said I need to switch from Safari to a different browser such as Firefox, to eliminate problems I'm having with being able to download certain links, etc.

All of you were very helpful and knowledgeable, especially you Bonnie, and it provided a great jumping off point for me to solve my techy questions and problems. Between your info and researching on the internet, I came to the store much better prepared to ask questions and make decisions. I now have my iMac in my studio and the laptop upstairs, and not only that, but the Apple Guy showed me what cords I needed to play DVDs on the TV via the laptop! Now we won't have to pay Charter cable to install a line to the office (due to the wireless routing) or to come and tell us how to work our DVD player (son is off to college, so no help there!). Thanks again!