As I recall the IT press articles, only jail-broken IPhones had been at risk in a very specific scenario. Even those users were at little risk at the time. I guess iPads will follow the same secure pattern. The only one reason I am friendly with Apples AppStore is that the screening and approval of apps prior to getting listed will nearly eliminate any risk. Apart of this, I am not fond of the monopoly situation Apple has established. This said, don't bother about extra firewall or virus protection software until you see some real smoke.

Especially cause of the ban on the German market I would have expected that Samsung would have rerouted some of its stock to the Swiss market. But it's possible that the markets in other EU countries are still open until the German TRO has been resolved and made enforceable across the EU.

As for the patent issues, it will be interesting to see how that resolves under European jurisdiction. Europe is very restrictive in accepting patents on software. I assume Res Ipsa could say more to this as he is working in the intellectual properties field.

I am lusting after an iPad for a similar reason. It isn't the aircraft manuals I want, it is the in-flight and flight planning applications. I'm looking at ForeFlight in particular. GG, do you have any experience with this program? I need a better moving map and I hate purchasing new sectionals every few months. My old eyes are having trouble seeing the old GNX-80 map in the airplanes and those maps have too little detail.

Since I would be shelling out around $750 for an iPad in the first place, I would use it for other computer applications as well. Anyone who has used an iPad: How does the browser look? I am accustomed to a larger LCD screen and a mouse that lets me navigate. Do you use a bluetooth keyboard? What are the pros and cons of an iPad, in your opinion? I've never owned an Apple and I don't wish to buy a bunch of utilities other than ForeFlight and an add-on GPS.

Comments pro and con would be appreciated.

Zeke, why don't you just wander into an Apple store in all of your travels and put your hands on one? Rather than having someone tell you how the browser looks from their point of view, you can actually see for yourself and how it works with your eyes.

An Apple is not necessary for an iPad. For that matter, a computer is not necessary: you can activate, purchase apps and music, and back up your data over the air. The iPad 2 is $399 and, if you have a cellphone with a moble hotspot, you even can use that for cell connection when you need so that you don't have to buy the iPad with cellular modem in it.

I've had iPads for more than 2 years now (the iPad and iPad 3 of my own, and iPad 2 for my mom), and I have not yet spent $100 on apps in total. And that includes all the iWork apps and Garage Band, plus a lot of other useful items.

I'll give that a look, ducktape. I need an iPad with 16 GB of memory, since the aviation charts alone take about 8 GB. That kicks the price up considerably. I'd need the cellphone option too, since I can't always depend on being at a hotspot when I'm going to file something. Those options tend to kick the price up a bit.

Actually, you're confusing it with the lesser tablets: 16GB is the base size of the iPad 2 and "new iPad." There is no 8GB iPad.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/s ... amily/ipad

I realize that you can't always find a wifi hotspot, but you should investigate to see if you have (or can get) a cellphone that can be "tethered" to other devices to provide a mobile hotspot for it. Depending on your carrier, you may even be able to do this for free with Android (well, using the data you already pay for):
http://www.pcworld.com/article/260184/v ... hones.html
If you were using an iPhone, you'd have to jailbreak the phone to load a third-party tethering app, but obviously from your questions, you're not.


Otherwise, in addition to the extra expense of the cellular modem-equipped iPad, you're also going to have to pay a fee of around $20 to $30 a month (or more, depending on what you opt for) for the cellular connection and data, just to be able to file where there isn't a hotspot. If that's all you need it for, that's an awful lot of money ... It's your choice, but I recommend you educate yourself first as to what is available now.

Tyoped on my gnew iPad. Who'd a thunk an old man would have to read such small print. At least my aviation program looks halfway decent. No way could I use this without a bluetooth keyboard.

Hey, where's the spellchecker in this version of Safari? Help's me, somebody.

Damn, my avatar looks good on this screen. A real spittin' image of the Real Me.

It'll take some work to pry my Nook out of my hands. The thing is solid and does exactly what I need it to do.

The Apple v. Samsung patent dispute is interesting though weird. I don't know how some of these things even deserve patents. Like a curved corner design? Jebus.

An Information Week article today is about the "snap back" feature.



The Judge also said that jury instructions "will put everyone in a coma."

Adding:

Alrighty then. I finally took the plunge and got an ASUS TF300T. So far, I like it. I don't have the docking station/keyboard, which is probably on my list down the road. It's got an 8 megapixel camera to the front and 1.2 to the user. 32Gb of memory and an SD micro slot for up to 32 more.

My biggest struggle? Throughout my computer supporting days, I always admonished people for touching the screen. I suppose I'll be getting over that.

Happy days.

Looks very nice, Muck. Enjoy.

(Okay, so I'm a little envious. )

But speaking of ASUS, I bought this amazing monitor for $180 including shipping. It's even cheaper in the States. This is the best monitor I ever bought. Worked out of the box and is just BEAUTIFUL. I didn't expect 23" to be so big, actually, so I was shocked at first, but I'm used to it now. I think not so long ago, a monitor like this one would probably have cost over a thousand bucks, I betcha.

I've had good luck with ASUS. My bride just inherited my ASUS netbook, and my MB and monitor (27") are both from ASUS.

BTW, the tablet was $374 from NewEgg, including shipping.

I've been lusting after an ASUS tablet for some time now. I think they're lovely. One of dese days.

Well, if you're willing to go 7-inch, I do recommend the Google Nexus 7 (by ASUS). I very much like JellyBean, and really like the tablet.

When I posted about it, that was sort of half a review (which I went ahead and published as well). Here is the other half, after I'd been using it another week: Google Nexus 7, Part 2: The User Experience

Keep in mind that I'm writing for a low-tech audience, for the most part, who's looking to move off their WebTVs.

I bought an Asus Eee Netbook yesterday for a new business I'm organizing, and I love it. 'Course, it takes a lot of time to uninstall all the bloatware and put in the software I really use (and I installed Ubuntu on a 100GB partition, so it's dual boot).

I'd just run Ubuntu except I haven't found a good Quickbooks replacement that runs on Linux.

I hesitated to buy a 7" Kindle, thinking It would make difficult reading, but it was perfect for me since the first minute, so I am now more open to a 7" tablet than I would have thought, especially with your recommendation.

Dudette

You should have this already in your Synaptic package manager or Software Center to download and install.

http://www.gnucash.org/

I've never used it, but it's supposed to be able to import from Quickbooks.

The 'Pretty One' will know more about Ubuntu than I would, though I do use a couple of systems based on Xubuntu and Kubuntu, so I'd be able to answer at least some basic questions that may come up for you, Fogs.

I went to check out the Google Nexus but they are on back order most places. I ending up getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab2 7.0. I did not have any previous tab or smart phone experience, so it took some getting used to. The hardest part was signing onto my wi-fi because I had hidden it and had forgotten the things I did on set up. I could see all the neighbors wi-fi connections but not mine. It pays to write down everything I do in a note book and I finally got the combination of ID's and passwords to get on line.

There was no user manual and I haven't found a really good one on line either. Not good for a new tab user but probably not a problem for an experienced user. Little by little, I have figured things out. It is actually easier to use on websites like HuffPo which take forever to load on my laptop. It has a built in browser which is okay, but I also downloaded Chrome, Firefox for Android, and Opera for Android. Firefox was easy to set up to sync all my stuff from my laptop. Chrome is good for the reading features Ducky mentioned with the Nexus.

It seems to be pretty much the same as the Google Nexus but has the front-facing camera and a few more useful features. The sound is very good....better than on my laptop speakers. It has GPS features and you can set it up so you can track it if it is lost or stolen. Or you can wipe it remotely if you can't recover it.

I started to set up Dropbox but then discovered it's not free after one year. What's the deal with that? What happens to you stuff? How secure is it?

I don't believe that's correct, Esseff. I'd better check it out. News to me.

When did Dropbox become not free? I've been using it for a couple of years and have never paid for it.

There is a paid version with lots more storage, and my partner has that because he uses it for the artists working for us to allow him to see and approve the stages of their work. But the 2.5 GB that came when I opened the free account and the other 2 GB or so that I've picked up for inviting family to join is really all that I need.

How secure? Supposedly nicely so, but I don't know. I haven't put anything in it that gave away the store. I have it on everything, though -- my desktop machine, my notebook, iPads, iPhone, Kindle, Nexus 7 ... I've been using it for reviews where I can take a screen shot on whatever I'm reviewing, put it in the dropbox and pick it up on the PC to edit for the review.

That has not been my experience. In fact, Dropbox has added to my storage space over the past year at no cost to me. If they were to start charging, I would go with the iCloud.

Pro and Teams do cost.

2GB up to 18GB with referrals still free.

https://www.dropbox.com/pricing

https://www.dropbox.com/pricing_terms

Thanks for the clarification. I am nervous about stuff dissipating in the cloud.

(Typed on my little tablet keyboard. It takes some getting used to. )

I know this sounds funny, but if you have a lot of typing, you might look at a Bluetooth keyboard.