[Hitch]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

If you have a fixed keyboard then the use of a touch screen is rather awkward, in that case a mouse is much more convenient.

The real question you should be asking yourself is "do I want to use this PC as a tablet, too?"

Yes, I weally, weally DO, LOL.

Spent it all on women, didn't you?

BWAHAHAHAHA.

Hitch, what productivity issues did you notice? I'm still coming up to speed but I've got my desktop OneNote files working fine through Outline+. Haven't decided on my primary word processor yet, maybe Docs to Go if I want desktop sync. Otherwise maybe Paper or iA Writer if I'm willing to jump through more sync hoops. Sugarsync is working fine but it seems Dropbox support is integrated into more apps so I may be adding that. I've been using Handbase for a relational database since my Palm days and it works reasonably well in iOS as well (you do also have to buy the desktop program if you want desktop functionality beyond CSV files).

@Penforhire:

I guess part of this is because we--my company--already have so many bridges, kluges and software "friendship bracelets" to make things work together that I tend to get exhausted thinking about doing yet more to make the iPad--even if I could really use it to key--work with everything else. On my desk I have a Win7 box with 3 huge monitors, and a Mac-mini with one for itself. The shop has 2 more linux boxes (two different versions, of course, both running VM's), another two macs (the right-brainers), and the rest are on Win boxes, ranging from (I kid thee not) one XP die-hard and the rest are Win7 boxes.

By way of explanation, we use Desk for CSR, which is kluged to our FAQ/KB, which outputs data we use in Teamworks, which is kluged to Freshbooks, which is for quoting/billing. All of which is kluged to our corporate email. We use the TW API to pull raw data for a variety of reporting needs. We live and die on Dropbox. Of course, we have more software for manipulating formats than IBM, probably--from Abbyy to Adobe to Office to Sigil to I've-lost-track. And a zillion wee utility programs, like the epub.tweak exe and some others like that.

So, when it comes to portability and integration, I'm really looking at the quality of the output. My vote mostly goes to Textilus, for any type of raw typing I do on the iPad, because that gives me plain old RTF, (or you can export the underlying HTML) which I can then use like molding dough to make into whatever I want for export. I synched that to a Dropbox, so I don't even have to move it across the ether; once the document is saved, it's available to any computer in the shop or on the go.

I will admit that I learned very early (even before Liz, which amazed me) that I could use Dropbox as a shortcut for moving files hither and yon and for the fastest method for sideloading, ever. Let's see...I was not able to really coordinate contacts across various boxes. (Granted--have not tried lately). Great if your contacts are on your Mac--not so great for other. I actually gave up on email on the iPad, because our email load is so bloody heavy that it was crippling (+/-9K/mo.)--no way to live-synch it to our email and no way to mark all as read? I find that a terminal oversight. Reminders, regular Notes..meh. I do use both databases and tons of spreadsheets on my PC's, so you can see how that might be a bit crippling.

I did not find--and this was a while ago--that the various faux-Office apps really integrated that well (as far as the exported files/saved to DB) with actual MS Office apps. The files just seemed to have various and sundry coding inconsistencies or glitches, which is why I went to Textilus for plain old typing. I did not know about Outline+ -- I'll give that a shot. I'm glad to see it. I'd been using Evernote instead of OneNote, not very happily as I'd grown disenchanted with Evernote when it repeatedly crashed Outlook on my PC about...2 years ago? it works "okay" on the Ipad.

I don't use a stylus, so I can't comment on that. I can key substantially faster than I can write, and for hyper-speed I can dictate a verbal note to Evernote as needed.

I hope that helps somebody. I could just be cranky, too. ;-) But I think that even though I tend to be a software junkie, Win boxes suit my method of working best, as far as I've found, so I'm personally probably either going with a SurfacePro, come January, or another Win8 box if I see one that I think will give me the lightness, portability and KEYBOARD I really want. The way I blow through keyboards, those are seriously crucial.

Plus, truth be told, the way Apple abandons OS's and devices just creeps me out. I, too, held on to my old XP box until just this past December, until I was satisfied that 7 was stable, and never even glanced at Vista. Granted, that was seriously pushing it, but...I wanted to be sure that Vista had gone back to ruling in Hell, where it belonged. With Apple, that attitude, of keeping computers that WORK for more than 1-2 years, particularly the past 4 years or so, seems to be designed for doom.

Just my $.02.

Hitch