Airline Pilot Central Forums - FDX: iPad vs Laptop

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Quote:

Originally Posted by hyperone (Post 910641)

Just printing to PDF, and saving each file to a desktop "Flight Planning" folder works great. You can save the flight plan, weather, radar or satellite image, maint. history, and Lido pages when you right click on the plate, and open with preview. You just won't be able to edit any text.
Doing all of this take 5-10 minutes in the hotel before you leave your room, and allows you to review it all on the cab ride to the airport. This greatly reduces the time crunch and stress after getting to the aircraft, especially when flying internationally.

Also, you can drag the files to iTunes, they become books, and after a sync w iPhone or iPad, you'll have those books on them. Great for reviewing Intl procedures, airport info, etc. w/o all the printing and paper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD11Fr8Dog (Post 910684)

What happened to all geeky explanation stuff? :) I was just about to reply that I don't think that stuff is geeky, I think that most of what your original long explanation is basic Mac user stuff. Good explanation.

Yeah, it was just too much. Wrote it, posted it, and then read it again. The first one was way, way over the top. Decided I needed another shot of Jack, and needed to simplify and re-write.:o

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pecan (Post 910081)

I'm currently an iPhone user with no laptop. :eek: Looking at getting an iPad or MacBook (air/pro/etc.) to simply life on the road: Bidding, LIDO flight planning, web surfing, email, CFM study etc.... I do not use Bid X because of my juniority. I also would like to get an iMac at some point and dump my PC desktop.

I love the portability of the iPad, but am wondering what most folks' experiences are with it. Please chime in!!

I was in the exactly the same situation as you. I was waiting for the iPad to come out with a camera (for Skyping), and then it woud be my perfect companion for international trips. However, when the new MacBook Air came out I immediately bought the 11" model. It's almost perfect!! I just wish the keyboard was backlit!:mad:

If the hotel doesn't have wifi in the room, I carried the tiny apple airport express wireless router for my iPhone ($99new, $65 refurb off eBay). This does the trick for my Macbook Air too. Plus, it's a "secure" wireless network.

I really like the MacBook Air better than the iPad because it runs the full Mac OS. When I'm on the road, I can work on editing my now digitized home movies, etc. You can't do that on an iPad. When the new Apple Lion OS comes out this spring, it will run iPhone/iPad apps on my MacBook Air, so no more squinting these old eyes while playing Farmville on the layover in Almaty!!:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by fr8rcaptain (Post 911564)

When the new Apple Lion OS comes out this spring, it will run iPhone/iPad apps on my MacBook Air

Maybe, but I doubt it.

Have you ever tried running iOS apps in the development simulator? It's not a great experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doogs (Post 911573)

Maybe, but I doubt it.

Have you ever tried running iOS apps in the development simulator? It's not a great experience.

Ahhh...go to the apple website and watch the Lion teaser. Theyre making the MacBooks look more like an iPad and visa versa. Yes, the MacBooks will run apps....:cool:

Quote:

Originally Posted by dojetdriver (Post 910276)

Balut,

I've never done the Atomic browser for the iphone, but I heard it works good as an emulator to run things that need IE. Have you tried that app on the ipad for some of the things you need to do? Just curious.

I've used Atomic on websites that won't run on the Safari Browser (claims seem to be security driven). Atomic works perfectly.

Great info, thanks guys! Is there any way I can turn a 3G enabled iPhone 4 into a wireless hub for an iPad? I'd like to get the iPad but I don't really see a reason to get the 3G one if I've got the iPhone 4 in my pocket.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce130 (Post 911917)

I think you can jailbreak your iPhone and then use a tether app.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce130 (Post 911917)

Deuce,

To echo USMCFDX, you can jailbreak your Iphone to tether it to your ipad. I haven't done this, but know others that have and it seems to work great.

You can also pay additional money to ATT (I think $25/month?????) and tether it as well. It's another way that ATT tries to rip you off. It seems to me that if you pay for a data plan on a similar device (Iphone) that you could choose to tether for free. But ATT still has a corner on the Iphone so I don't see them changing their ways until a competitor gets the Iphone. I keep hearing about Verizon making an Iphone.

I haven't decided if an Ipad works for me. It's a very cool device, but lacks the functionality of a laptop. I am kind of leaning to the Macbook Air. My old laptop still works fine, so until it dies, I think I'll hold out. I'm sure next years IPad will have quite a few upgrades....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce130 (Post 911917)

AT&T will gladly charge you extra to use your capped data in that specific way. :confused: