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Re: Need help with office issue
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #907189 by Alaska hsm
Aug 15, 2015 5:49pm
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I am totally ignorant about behind the scenes computer workings but I do know that when I tried to download Office 2013 on my new Windows 8.1 computer last spring, I had to call Microsoft and have them install it. What they did is a mystery but it does work fine now.
iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Aug 26, 2015 7:09pm
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For those of you that are Apple iPad users Please share your knowledge. I am looking to purchase an iPad and have no idea What I need/want. I do not need cellular. Not sure if I want a mini or full size, and how many GB do I really need...

~Aurora
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908315 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 26, 2015 7:36pm
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I don't have an iPad but I do have a tablet. Storage (GB) depends on what you want it for. Just web browsing? Then 1GB will work. Music and movies? Then 32GB or more is needed.

The best way to figure out size is to play with both. I use mine for web and YouTube when I don't want to sit at a desk. I still use a tiny iPhone 4, so a 7 inch screen is huge, but I can fit the tablet in my pocket. If you have poor vision or are getting it for movies then larger might be better. Would you rather carry a clipboard or a thin paperback book? That's the sizes of the iPads.

Unless you are an apple fanboy, you can get a tablet that is just as good or better for far less cost. I use the Google nexus 7. (But only because it was given to me) I have several iPods and my (5 year old) iPhone so I know the feeling of wanting to keep the same OS and not wanting to rebuy the same apps for droid. But the extra $400+ still isn't worth it to me.
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908315 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 26, 2015 7:39pm
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We have both a mini and a regular size iPad in the house. As I am old I prefer the larger one for my aging eyesite.

I guess it depends on what you want to do with you iPad. I have the lowest GB available, but have a bunch of photos and even a full length movie and several 1/2 hour sitcoms.

Lisa
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908315 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 26, 2015 7:49pm
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I have 32GB (with 14.9 available) and it's plenty for what I use. I don't listen to music through my iPad and I don't store photos for any length of time. I read the daily paper, check email, check AQ, FB (not as much). I have a few apps, but only really play Sudoku on it. I don't download/watch tv, movies with it. I rarely take it out of the house and I use the wifi at home. I purchased it primarily to be a resource person for a family member when tech assistance is needed. I've had it for 18 months.

I thought I might like to use it as an e-reader, but I hated the first experience, but I might give it another shot.

I do use the Numbers and Pages apps. And I really like Evernote and Hours Keeper. Most of the apps I use on my phone are also on my iPad, but I don't use them all that much at home.

You should probably figure out what you are currently doing and see if the iPad will be a substitute or an addition. I went from a laptop to a desktop because I didn't like the small screen. This is the main reason I don't get the most use out of my iPad.
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908321 by RIclimber
Aug 26, 2015 9:01pm
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I will be using it mostly for digital scrapbooking. So photos and itunes apps related to that. I'm sure I'll surf the web with it such as AQ, Facebook, pinterest. Etc. Maybe music and youtube

~Aurora
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908330 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 26, 2015 9:11pm
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I will be using it mostly for digital scrapbooking.

I would love to know more about this!
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908315 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 27, 2015 12:07am
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Alright you asked the correct question for me to chime in. The technology teacher in me has to answer this and help out. I will try and not give information overload.

First off, do you know you want an iPad for sure? The answer would be a definite yes if you own either an iPhone and/or a Mac computer. The answer is a soft yes if you own a Microsoft computer and no smartphone. I would hesitate if you own an Android smartphone and a Microsoft computer

Getting past the qualifications now and on to facts.

An iPad is not upgradable in storage space like some Androids are. The size you buy is the size you get, kind of. When you buy an iDevice expect to have 2-4 GB less than advertised as usable storage space. It won't be 32 GB, more like 29 GB. This missing space is taken up by the operating system and pre-installed Apple apps that can not be uninstalled.

The current storage sizes for iPads and iPad Minis are 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB. Don't buy a 32 GB in either model, buy a 64 GB. Apple lowered the prices for the latest models and so buying a brand new latest model 64 GB iPad is the same price as buying a still in production one generation older 32 GB iPad.

For information used here and if you don't know the comparison, consider 1024 MB is in 1 GB.

Screen Size:
This will come down to a personal preference. You can change the display, to a small degree, size. If you want it to travel a lot, smaller might be better. For reading, typing or watching movies then larger might be best. If touching the buttons on the smaller device is difficult, then go towards larger. Go into Best Buy and play around with both sizes, if you have not already. If you have a friend who has one, see if they will let you play on them for a bit to get the hang of it.

Apps:
Tablets are as useful as the apps you get. The apps take up storage. Some apps are as large as 2 GB and as little as 2 MB. The more apps you have the less storage you have for things like pictures, music and ebooks. If you use any of the iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) those individually will take about 500 MB of storage space. If you add the following types of apps: Skype, Notability, Weather Bug, Outlook, Word, Evernote, Camera+ and Snapseed. You can easily use up a couple GBs fast in apps.

Photos:
If you use the iPad to take photos, buy the latest model possible. Better camera. The average iPad photo will take up 2 MB of space. So if you have only pictures on a 16 GB iPad, then you can have about 6,144 pictures on there. If you download pictures from email or scan them in and transfer them over, consider the same numbers. For larger iPads, multiply 6,144 by either 4 or 8.

Music:
Larger iPads will allow you to keep music on the device. The average song is between 2 - 5 MB. Again using the example above on a base 16 GB iPad you could have from 2,457 to 6,144 songs. Unless you listen to a lot of music, 500 to 1,000 songs might do you. If you have purchased or are going to start buying music from iTunes then Apple stores all of your music in their "cloud" (on their computers) and you can stream iTunes music to your iPad while on wi-fi without taking up storage space on your iDevice. So you could have 10,000 songs that you own and can listen to whenever you want and takes up no storage space.

Email:
Email can take up storage space on your iPad. If you program your email into the iPad Mail app, then some email will be stored on the device. This is an option you can choose in settings. On the other hand if you login to your mail on a website page, then no mail is stored on the device. Unless full of picture attachments, email takes up very little room. A random rough guess might be a couple thousand emails for 500 MB.

Ebooks:
If you buy ebooks from Apple then they will need to be downloaded to be read. As far as I know their is no "cloud" reading yet. Where you can read them and not be stored on your device.

Internet:
Anything that is visited through a web browser (Safari, Chrome, Opera or Dolphin) is the internet. None of that is stored on the iPad and will not slow you down.

How files are stored:
Apps work different on an iPad. On a computer you use programs installed on your machine. You create a file and save it to your hard drive. This location is somewhere "outside" of the program. If you uninstall the program, your file stays on your computer. With iPad, when you create a file in an app, the file is stored inside of the app by default. You can choose to "share" it to other apps, but that is a later topic. if you uninstall an app, all the files will be deleted with it. When you learn about iCloud, then some of that fear I created in my last paragraph will disappear. iCloud is an intermediate topic and is not fully necessary unless you have at least two devices. iPad + either iPhone, Mac or Microsoft computer.

Prices:
iPad Air 2
16 GB - $499 | 64 GB - $599 | 128 GB - $699

iPad Mini
16 GB - $399 | 64 GB - $499 | 128 GB - $599

Functionality:
As with all technology, iPads will slow down and become cranky one day. To hold this off I always recommend to never completely fill up your storage space. Always leave at least 1 GB available. You may have the storage space to use, but your iPad also needs memory room to open, close, switch between and access apps. Leaving 1 GB of space should help it to never be noticeably slow.

Apple Care Plus:
Depending on how you use the iPad or where you take it, Apple care Plus is the only warranty extension I recommend. $99 for two years. During those two years if you have an "Accident," you can replace your iPad twice for $49 each time. If the car runs over it, switch it out for a new one at $49. If you buy a 128 GB iPad, buy this. If you pay for the highest priced version, splurge and get the good accidental insurance. You don't want to knock it off the table and have the glass screen break and the body bend. Piece of mind. And I rarely recommend extended warranties.

In closing, unless you have an iPhone, you might be trying to figure out how you are going to use this device properly. It will be hard, but do your best and really think about it.

I hope this has helped more than confused. You can always ask me questions. I love technology based questions. Especially ones I can answer! Good luck!
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908339 by Scribe
Aug 27, 2015 6:13am
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That is great information! Thanks. To answer a few questions. ..

I have an android phone and Windows computer. The particular app i will be using is on iTunes only. I could just use my kids old ipod but dang that screen is small to see collage photos on.

You have answered so many thoughts i hadn't even thought of yet! That was a great post. With all that being said for extra $100 i would be better with the larger of the two. But size wise the mini is more portable. I guess i will go play at best buy. (Great idea) and see which one i like better.

Thanks so much

~Aurora
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908330 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 27, 2015 6:19am
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I don't need to add much but I will ask: will your kids ever use the iPad? If so, get more space because they will want to have some apps (games) on it too.

For me, I can't imagine going smaller to a mini so I would go with the larger size.
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908330 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 27, 2015 8:54am
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hey girl are you digital scrapbooking Project Life? or with Elements 13? Or both. If so tell e how it works for you. I'm thinking about doing the same thing. i have a droid so i'm outta the loop. And wondering about an i pad for the very same thing.

deniserows
electronically by
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908357 by deniserows
Aug 27, 2015 2:55pm
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Deniserows I am anxious to get my hands into the project life app! (Only available in itunes currently ) i just took a class and I loved it. I hadn't heard of elements 13 but I'm of to go learn about it now! Lol. The app let's you create a page in 5 min or less. There is a digital version also but its the app I want most!

~Aurora
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908380 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 27, 2015 7:53pm
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Elements 13 is Photoshop correct? I do need to get that also. :)

~Aurora
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908380 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 29, 2015 7:10pm
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Where did you take a class in this? (Not that I can get to your class. But might lead me to finding one locally.)
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908520 by windsurfgator
Aug 29, 2015 7:20pm
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Where did you take a class in this? (Not that I can get to your class. But might lead me to finding one locally.)

It was at the 2015 Scrapbook Expo. It was taught by Becky Higgins herself. (the creator of Project Life) It was so simple, quick and inexpensive compared to traditional scrapbooking. For all of you with Itunes that scrapbook should definitely look into the project Life App.

~Aurora
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908521 by The hicks from the sticks
Aug 30, 2015 8:22am
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i also took a class from Becky Higgins for 3 days!!! on Project Life. I dove right in and love it, but i find i miss the process of doing 12 x 12 traditional. Sometimes sticking cards in pockets isn't that satisfying for me personally. Don't get me wrong i do a monthly PL 'cos that makes documenting life so easy peasy. However i really enjoy the double 12 x 12 format ...that and i've got literally a ton of scrapbooking crap i mean great stuff. lol

deniserows
with Creative Memories in her brain
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908520 by windsurfgator
Aug 30, 2015 8:27am
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There's a lot of you tube videos on how to do Pocket Page spreads. Google is your friend. Or on Pinterest. If you need some cards to start i can send you some 5th and Frolic. Just send me your snail mail address. Don't go but a whole "core kit" as you will never use all the cards. If you're on FB there is a group that does sells 1/3rd kits from different people.

deniserows
all sorts of info on PL on AQ
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908339 by Scribe
Aug 30, 2015 10:32am
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Me, being a gear junky, would say get the newest iPad. The Air 2 128GB is the same as I paid for my cellular iPad 2 32GB. I've had mine a while and yes, they do get slow and cranky after a while, but that was partially my fault, I knew I should not have put IOS 8 on this thing. But, such is life. A new one would make me very happy. But I digress. Get more storage than you think you need. It fills up quick. I've got less than 2GB left.

I have a old PC laptop and an iPhone 6, with not a lick of interest in a Mac computer (Malachite Dragon has one. I hate it, he loves it, give me my PC any day). So my iPad mostly plays nicely with my phone.

I'm not a fan of the minis. Too small. Just like I think the 6 Plus is too big for a phone. The 6 is dangerously close to too big for me. For the tablet I like the regular size, it's enjoyable for reading and picture viewing.
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908538 by DM Scuba Brat
Aug 31, 2015 4:14pm
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Thanks for the input DM Scuba Brat that helped a lot. I think I will look into the Air 2. I knew I could count on all of my AQ friends to get a variety of honest opinions. That way I can make somewhat of an educated purchase.

~Aurora
Deniserows you have mail. ;)
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908339 by Scribe
Sep 3, 2015 9:06am
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I concur with a lot of this. I might add that you should wait until after the Sept. 9th event to see what is changing with iPads. The larger one is rumored to be coming out in Oct/Nov and the regular and larger iPads will have side by side multi-tasking which might be useful for your digital scrapbooking. Not sure if the mini will have that ability.

I definitely recommend upgrading the memory to at LEAST the mid-level one. My husband is regularly frustrated by his work-issued iPad 4 because it is only 16G.

If you are in the iPhone/Mac ecosystem already then the iPad is an obvious choice. I am systems agnostic (meaning I have iOS devices, a Kindle, Windows PCs and a Surface Pro3 in the house and available) My iPad 2 died a few weeks ago after a run in with my teen's knee and I dearly miss it. I used to automatically go to that when I was going to grab something to get online quickly at home. Now I tend to grab my phone because the laptop is too much of a hassle.

Just a few more weeks until I have all the information at my fingertips to make a replacement decision!
Re: iPad recommendations
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #908760 by Woolfairy
Sep 3, 2015 5:27pm
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Thanks I had no idea that there was a new one coming so soon. :) I can hold out a few more weeks. LOL

~Aurora
fitbit & other trackers
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Sep 7, 2015 9:21pm
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I was wondering if there was something out there that was stored directly on my PC and not in the cloud or online. I have limited internet access and even more limited interest in oversharing my data. When you look at them in the store, there is such limited information on them and how they work. Before I shell out that kind of money, I want to better understand them.
Re: fitbit & other trackers
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #909055 by Wry Me
Sep 7, 2015 10:24pm
Thread Board (disabled)
You just need a simple pedometer that doesn't do anything fancy. Something like the Omron HJ321. No fancy dodads... And a lot cheaper than something like a Fitbit!
Re: fitbit & other trackers
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #909055 by Wry Me
Sep 8, 2015 2:27am
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I have a Garmin Vivofit. It's simpler than fitbit (and cheaper). It does have an app that I only use on my tablet to sync data. You don't have to use it though. No one sees anything but me......I like to sync it to track my sleep patterns (have insomnia!). Makes it easy to show to physician.
And since I wear it all the time, I like that it has a watch on it.....
Re: fitbit & other trackers
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #909055 by Wry Me
Sep 8, 2015 5:17am
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Someone should make a tracker tracker.
Ideas for you in a hand carved stamp on a pretty 3.5×3.5 card. Embellishments optional.

:)
Re: fitbit & other trackers
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #909056 by Green Tortuga
Sep 8, 2015 5:34am
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I'm leaning that way, which is even cheaper when you already own one. I wanted something that tracked my sleep. I need an excuse for my crabbiness.
Re: fitbit & other trackers
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #909055 by Wry Me
Sep 8, 2015 11:24am
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I have a fitbit and I love it! It syncs via bluetooth not wifi, so you don't have to have an internet connection to use it; but, I believe the app on your phone and needs to connect to the internet in order to get the most out of the product and of course in order to log in on your computer, you go to the website, so you need wifi for that. While you could theoretically use it without wifi, I don't think you are going to get much for your money. A simple pedometer might be a better way to go and you could just keep a manual spreadsheet or word type document to keep tabs on your steps.
Re: fitbit & other trackers
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #909113 by Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Sep 8, 2015 5:34pm
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It does seem like you just need a pedometer if you don't want the fancy wi-fi bits. Somewhat relevantly, I had an UP2 by Jawbone and it broke in less than six months. They sent me a replacement and that one broke too.

Because the thread seems to have branched off into fitness trackers in general, I'm currently looking for a heartrate monitor (sans strap), calorie counter, and pedometer. So far one of the fitbits seems like it's the best bet, but I am curious what you AQ people have to say about the matter. The heart rate monitor seems essential when I consider that the other day I climbed vertically for a half mile and felt far more winded than I would ever feel on a 5 or 6 mile horizontal hike.
Help w/ Word & Windows 10
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Mar 17, 2016 9:30am
Thread Board (disabled)
I'm trying to re-pin Word 16 to my Windows 10 taskbar. When I right click the app, I don't get the pin to taskbar option. Someone suggested opening Word & right clicking on the task bar, but that didn't work either. I found the solution a long time ago, but was dumb & didn't write it down & now I can't seem to find it again. Basically I think I have to find the winword.exe file in the mire of files on my computer. I did find one, but it was the old Word, not Word 16. Can someone help? I need step by step instructions to find the right files to click.
Re: Help w/ Word & Windows 10
Board: Computers, iPods, and Other Electronics
Reply to: #922407 by Topcollector
Mar 17, 2016 9:37am
Thread Board (disabled)
Nevermind--woohoo I figured it out by myself.