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Thread: iPad for editing word documents?

  1. #1
    Master Matt London's Avatar
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    iPad for editing word documents?

    Can it do it? I have ummed and ahhd about buying an iPad for a while. If I can edit word documents on it that may be the clincher.

    I have a dead hr each week that I could use to edit word documents, a simple table. I also need to be able to email them on the spot but can use my iPhone to tether. I have no need for a full on laptop but could be swayed towards getting a tablet other than iPad. It would mainly be used for surfing, watching iplayer, movies etc.

    Cheers

    Matt

  2. #2

    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Yes it can!

    You ever excellent free softwares like ever notes. Loads of cheap/free office softwares and if all that isn't enough for £6.99 you can buy Pages/Numbers/Keynote, Apple's versions of Word/Excel/Powerpoint respectively.

    Apple's softwares sync to the cloud, Evernote is also very good at syncing your documents to other machines!

  3. #3
    Master kungfugerbil's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Or a Blackberry Playbook at £169. Excellent device for business, small form factor but great for typing on, built-in excel/word/powerpoint compatible apps for editing etc.

  4. #4

    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Depends.

    You can open Word files in Pages but it will loose all tracked changes and comments!

    GoodReader can open them as PDFs and allow you to add highlights, notes etc.

    So, really depends if by editing you mean creating we docs or reviewing docs.

    In any case, I would recommend getting an iPad. Nothing is cooler than turning up at a meeting with an iPad and be ready in half a second while others spend ages booting /resuming their windows laptops ;)

  5. #5
    Grand Master Christian's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    They can open and edit word documents, but in all honesty, I find it quite a chore on the ipad...using the pop-up keyboard and also trying to format documents can be a pain in the backside.

  6. #6
    Master Matt London's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    I will be editing simple tables that I need to be able to save and email as word docs. I also need to be able to save the edited tables to my pc.

    I only do this work once a week and it usually takes 45-60 min.

  7. #7
    Master markc's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    I use documents to go on my iPad (and my Android phone). It works as well as can be expected for devices with no physical keyboard.

    If it's for occasional editing it's fine but not for serious work.

    Having said that, I take all my meeting notes on my (work) iPad and haven't printed out anything for a meeting since June 2011 (and I go to a LOT of meetings - sadly).

    Cheers,

  8. #8
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    I use quickoffice for word/spreadsheet documents and iAnnotate for all pdfs.

    Regards

    VA

    :)

  9. #9
    Grand Master Glamdring's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Having just bought an Asus Transformer Prime TF201 editing Office docs is easy with the included Polaris Office, though it will only save in Word 2003 version (not .docx).

    The Prime's attached keyboard would make editing much easier than using an onscreen keypad and when you've finished, detatch it and you have a brilliant tablet.


  10. #10

    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Quote Originally Posted by Matt London
    I will be editing simple tables that I need to be able to save and email as word docs. I also need to be able to save the edited tables to my pc.

    I only do this work once a week and it usually takes 45-60 min.
    I would expect to double (at least) the time it takes you and for you to be frustrated by the process!

    Having borrowed an ipad from our it guy I had to give it back and buy an ultra portable instead - I went for a samsung series 9 13.3 inch, which is very light and easy to take out and about and I found I could work properly in coffee shops etc. - the fact it had everything my day to day work laptop has on it and full working versions of every program was a big bonus.

    I am sure with the accessory keyboard you can get for the ipad it would be easier but I still feel they are sadly lacking in the performance and use of programs etc.
    It's just a matter of time...

  11. #11
    Craftsman
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Quickoffice works well but an Ipad is no replacement for a PC if you want to do lots of edits

  12. #12
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Quote Originally Posted by Matt London
    Can it do it? I have ummed and ahhd about buying an iPad for a while. If I can edit word documents on it that may be the clincher.

    I have a dead hr each week that I could use to edit word documents, a simple table. I also need to be able to email them on the spot but can use my iPhone to tether. I have no need for a full on laptop but could be swayed towards getting a tablet other than iPad. It would mainly be used for surfing, watching iplayer, movies etc.

    Cheers

    Matt
    It is possible, but the compromise of the soft keyboard will make it a poor choice for that. It's not so much that you have to tap a screen to activate a keypress. It's having to hit a symbol key to bring up the likes of ^~@£% and the numbers. You can do everything you want and more on a dramatically superior computer for a lot less money, without that compromise.

  13. #13
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Quote Originally Posted by Brewer999
    Quickoffice works well but an Ipad is no replacement for a PC if you want to do lots of edits
    I would agree with this (and is what I use)

    Pages/Numbers may be great if you have a Mac, but Numbers is TOTALLY useless trying to talk to a PC, so QuickOffice is the better bet.

    The Mac wireless keyboard works fine with the iPad, which may be of use to you.

  14. #14
    Master Matt London's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Cheers Chaps. Plenty to think about there. It doesn't sound like I can use this as a good excuse (to myself) to get an iPad.

  15. #15
    Master quoll's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    My business essentially produces and sells carefully formatted Word documents. They are not massively complex in terms of format; a few tables, some use of styles etc, but they have to be absolutely perfect in terms of page layout. The iPad just cannot handle them.

    I have Pages, DocsToGo, Dropbox, Goodreader and Quickoffice. All are Ok at simple documents with no or little formatting, but once you throw in a few tables it all goes out of the window. DocsToGo is the best at preserving format when you edit, but you cannot rely on it to display the same on screen. The others actually stuff the format up, so you cannot work on an original document at all.

    I find my iPad fantastic in many other ways, but not as a word processor unless you are just editing basic text.

    iPad Pages will happily stuff up an OSX (Mac) Pages document too, by the way.

    The same comments apply to all of the Andriod versions, BTW.

    I do use the iPad to create simple documents though - I find either the software keyboard or a bluetooth keyboard fine for that purpose.

  16. #16
    Master
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Quote Originally Posted by Matt London
    Cheers Chaps. Plenty to think about there. It doesn't sound like I can use this as a good excuse (to myself) to get an iPad.

    You don't need an excuse, just buy one already! You won't regret it.


    Send from my iPad 2 :lol:

  17. #17
    Craftsman
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    As others have said before, it isn't really that great on editing word documents. I have done some very basic stuff, but it really isn't too enjoyable (well you still can do it if you want, but get at least external keyboard). Other than editing documents, it is a great machine. So go on on and get it! :lol:

  18. #18
    Master Matt London's Avatar
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Thanks for all of the input.
    After looking into it a bit more and taking a trip to pcworld I have decided on the Asus Transformer Prime. I just need to find somewhere with it in stock!

  19. #19
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    Quote Originally Posted by Omegamanic
    Having borrowed an ipad from our it guy I had to give it back and buy an ultra portable instead - I went for a samsung series 9 13.3 inch, which is very light and easy to take out and about and I found I could work properly in coffee shops etc. - the fact it had everything my day to day work laptop has on it and full working versions of every program was a big bonus.
    Going slightly OT here, but what did you think of the Samsung overall? 13.3 is ideal for me, and the time is approaching when I will have to replace my Dell, which is same size but definitely heavier

    Alex

  20. #20
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    Re: iPad for editing word documents?

    I see Microsoft are releasing an announcement soon with regards to MS Office on iPad due to a fake image being posted this week. Hopefully they are doing it!

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