Writing on Devices (Or, "Oh, How I Love My Tablet!")

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Shadow_Ferret

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I was looking at the Surface because I like Win8 and wanted to be compatible across all platforms, but the Verizon had a Fathers Day sale, giving away Samsung 7" tablets.for.free, so Ai went with that.

But I'm not particularly happy with the Compatibility of the MS Office simulated aps. One I can download the file and work on it, but I can't save it back to the cloud.

I'll have to try Officesuite.

And since its only 7", the keyboard, even the external one, are too small for real writing. Not that I write electronically anyway, but the external is fine for editing.
 

Hapax Legomenon

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I was thinking of getting a surface but I decided against it because the ARM processor is only compatible with a limited number of programs. If you're getting something that's *only* for writing and browsing, I'm sure it would be great, though.
 

William Haskins

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mostly poetry now, so it can be longhand at lunch, a line on my phone while sitting in a traffic jam, or grab the ipad for the convenience.

i am most comfortable on a desktop with a full keyboard, though.
 

noranne

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I have an Asus Transformer. It is excellent for writing. Way more portable than my laptop, which makes me more likely to take it with me, which means I get more writing done! It is also uniquely suited to writing on an airplane--actually fits on the tray table and doesn't have to be turned off for take-off/landing and fits in my small bag so I can keep it with me. It also has full Win8 with MS Office so I don't have to worry about switching formats.

I am sure it wouldn't work for everyone, but for me it is great!
 

Hapax Legomenon

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Writing and browsing. What else is there? That's al I use my laptop and phone for.

There are a number programs I use, especially for art, that have never been compiled for ARM processors and likely will never be. A big program that does not work with ARM that I would have had a problem with is Adobe Digital Editions, which I need to use to get library ebooks onto my ereader. In fact, I think that may have been the dealbreaker when getting my asus versus a surface.
 

Wilde_at_heart

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I still find it easier to use a desktop than a laptop.

My own tablet (a Blackberry) is more of a toy, though it's great for reading and surfing the internet. My spouse had an iPad for a couple of years, but I couldn't stand it.

If the Windows Surface tablet comes down in price I might get one.
 

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There are a number programs I use, especially for art, that have never been compiled for ARM processors and likely will never be. A big program that does not work with ARM that I would have had a problem with is Adobe Digital Editions, which I need to use to get library ebooks onto my ereader. In fact, I think that may have been the dealbreaker when getting my asus versus a surface.

Yeah, it's a significant limitation. I have a desktop for my other needs (music production), but the Surface isn't for everyone.

Love mine to bits, though. It has some faults, but I still love it :)
 

Sedjet

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I've been thinking about getting a Tablet, but I already have a laptop (I just have to disconnect the screen, keyboard and mouse attached to it on the desk hehe) and am thinking I'm probably just being gadget-crazy. I almost bought a Tablet instead of an ereader for ebooks, but I changed my mind...for some reason (can't remember). And the laptop is cumbersome...hehe.

I'm not sure I could write on an on-screen keyboard, and I really like having a mouse. Interesting to see other's points of view on it. But it just makes me want to give it a try now heh.
 

VeryFairy

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When typing, Alphasmart neo. For all the reasons stated for the Dana, and because Tablets and laptops give me eye strain and distractions.
I think we're a dying breed though, but I can't understand why.

Right now it's all hand writing with a green pen, then typed up on the neo.
 

Beachgirl

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I have the Microsoft Surface Pro with the Type keyboard and I love it! It has the full Office suite, so I can do edits and track changes in Word documents directly from my publisher, no conversions needed.

I used a laptop for years, but my Surface is so small and portable that it's the only thing I use now.
 

harmonyisarine

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I have a Surface Pro 3 and it's taken over thoroughly. My poor laptop and desktop are both actually gathering spiderwebs. I couldn't have afforded it on my own, but it was a surprise gift to replace my falling-apart laptop. I love the type cover keyboard because I can have it flat or tilted for when I want that bouncy feel, and my giant hands even fit on the touch screen keyboard. Even better, the handwriting-to-text program is good enough to decipher even my chicken scratch.

And, as said above, wonderfully portable. The Pro 2's battery lasts a few hours longer than the Pro 3, but I can go six to seven hours when I'm just writing or browsing.

As far as programs, I can't afford to get MS Office on here yet, so I'm using Open Office for assembling bigger writings and just to save the short ones, but ZenWriter is what I do my actual writing in.

I sound like an advertisement...
 

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KTC

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Just wanted to add here that I tried switching files back and forth between my tablet OfficeSuite app and my MSWord on my laptop...via email. There were no weird formatting glitches. It's all good! (-:
 

phantasy

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I use my laptop mostly. And my iPhone, it helps as a visual changer so I can see the words differently. All of it on google docs, so I can take my files wherever I go.

Going to get the new big iPhone 6 next, a mix between phone and tablet. Hopefully writing will be even better on that.
 

juniper

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A big program that does not work with ARM that I would have had a problem with is Adobe Digital Editions, which I need to use to get library ebooks onto my ereader. In fact, I think that may have been the dealbreaker when getting my asus versus a surface.

I've been meaning to put ADE on my iPad, so I could download library books using that and not my laptop. I'd need an app called Bluefire Reader to open the books - but haven't tried it. Here are instructions on how to do this, if anyone else wants to ... I'll try this tonight ...

http://aplentraining.wikispaces.com/file/view/iPad_iPhone_and_iTouch_Bluefire_Reader_Guide.pdf

There's no way to do this on a Surface Pro? My husband just bought one of those because he *must* use IE browser for some of the (stupid) companies he contracts with for work. Their proprietary stuff doesn't work on Firefox, Chrome, certainly not Safari - only on IE.

~~~
I bought a $99 5-user pkg from MS to use Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) on the iPad and other devices. My husband needed it for his Surface Pro so I bought the 5-user pkg rather than the 1 user for $69. I offered one of the others to my daughter but she said she just uses Pages for writing on the iPad.

For typing with the iPad I tried a couple of different keyboards, the Zagg folio and other such case/keyboard combos. Didn't really like any of them for various reasons. Ended up with a separate Logitech bluetooth keyboard, the K811, which is very portable and works just like a regular keyboard. I've been looking at the overlay called Touchfire - but the review on it from Medi's link above is kinda meh on it.

http://touchfire.com
 
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Ken

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As long as it works for you that's all that matters.
It's cool you found your medium of expression.
Maybe others here will give your suggestion a go.
Ditto for what others here have offered.
 

Hapax Legomenon

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I've been meaning to put ADE on my iPad, so I could download library books using that and not my laptop. I'd need an app called Bluefire Reader to open the books - but haven't tried it. Here are instructions on how to do this, if anyone else wants to ... I'll try this tonight ...

http://aplentraining.wikispaces.com/file/view/iPad_iPhone_and_iTouch_Bluefire_Reader_Guide.pdf

There's no way to do this on a Surface Pro? My husband just bought one of those because he *must* use IE browser for some of the (stupid) companies he contracts with for work. Their proprietary stuff doesn't work on Firefox, Chrome, certainly not Safari - only on IE.

You can't download apps onto nook simples and various other eink devices so you need an intermediary app to get files onto it. The only one that allows you to do this is ADE.
 

juniper

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You can't download apps onto nook simples and various other eink devices so you need an intermediary app to get files onto it. The only one that allows you to do this is ADE.

I use ADE on my laptop to download books from my library, and then put them onto my Nook. I'd like have ADE on my iPad too so I can use it instead of the laptop. Later when I sync up the Nook it should have those books on it.

I'm not sure if this will work on the iPad though. The instructions above are from a library, so in theory it will.
 
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Hapax Legomenon

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I know you need to at least have some kind of file manager... can your ipad even send files to your nook?
 
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onesecondglance

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A big program that does not work with ARM that I would have had a problem with is Adobe Digital Editions, which I need to use to get library ebooks onto my ereader. In fact, I think that may have been the dealbreaker when getting my asus versus a surface.

There's no way to do this on a Surface Pro?

IIRC, the Surface Pro uses Intel processors and should have no problem. The original, low-fat Surface (and Surface 2) run ARM processors and are therefore limited in what they can and can't run.

:)
 

harmonyisarine

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I've been looking at Zen Writer... what is its export like?

It opens fine in MS word for me, and is one of the few programs where I can copy-paste and not lose basic formatting like indents and italics when I put it into my e-mail or googledocs. Mostly I love it for the full-screen effect, and for the fact that I can set my own background photos. The music it comes with isn't horrible, but I usually prefer to open my windows or set noisli to "thunderstorm."
 
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