<p>A few days ago DH bought me an iPad - “just because”. It has 32 gigs of memory waiting to be filled with junk and is 4G-enabled. H opened it, so return is not a good option at this point, and I have to get the max out of it. So far, I’ve used it to read my 3000-page textbook in PDF format and surf CC. I have a suspicion that the device is capable of much more. 
Any tips for a novice iPad owner? Can anyone please enlighten me about the iCloud and such? Are there any good MS Office apps for iPad? Your tips are greatly appreciated! TIA.</p>
<p>Are you a list maker? I have an app called “paperless” which I like for keeping all my lists. I used to have cards, or notebooks, etc. but now I mostly keep track of them on the ipad. Also, there is a calendar to schedule events, and the ipad can be used with Kindle, Kobo, etc. as a reader.</p>
<p>Paperless is GREAT! I not only keep lists of things that I want to do, I also keep a list of my bike rides (among other things).</p>
<p>I like Pocket Informant HD (for the iPad) because it will sync all of my Google calendars automatically.</p>
<p>I use Goodreader to read PDF articles and make notes on them. </p>
<p>I use Fitness for iPad to make and to run me through my weight lifting workouts.</p>
<p>I also watch episodes of Castle and Body of Proof on my iPad. </p>
<p>MS Office app that has worked the best for me is Quick Office Pro HD. </p>
<p>I do a lot on my iPad, but almost all of it is for my enjoyment.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p>I have used Pages for creating documents and a short powerpoint.</p>
<p>I have a Nook but use the iPad Nook app to read my downloads when I’m away from the house. </p>
<p>Used my iPad at a conference recently to take notes.</p>
<p>Use iCloud to sync my calendars.</p>
<p>Email - read and respond in the comfort of my chair and ottoman.</p>
<p>I use Boggle for productive, entertainment purposes. :)</p>
<p>I use mine for work (church music…surprise!) to remotely control our a/v system during rehearsals/presentations. Pretty specific and probably not helpful to you, I know, but cool. :)</p>
<p>Also, I am on weight watchers, and there is an app called Weightwatchers Kitchen companion that I love. You can search recipes, make lists of favorites, then select ones to go on a shopping list…it creates ingredient lists for shopping. Yep, I am that person who grocery shops with an iPad! There are other similar apps if you are not on weight watchers.</p>
<p>My 3 year old grandson LOVES my iPad! He has his own folder of apps that he goes to and plays with…</p>
<p>I also use it for recipes. I use allrecipes.com and Pinterest to save a lot of new recipes. When I’m ready to cook, I just prop up the iPad in the kitchen (a little away from the actual food prep area cause I’m afraid I’ll spill or something) - so handy!</p>
<p>I don’t have an Ipad but uses I’ve seen recently–at the golf course, taking videos of a golf swing, for sports practices, taking videos of games, etc. Heck, on American Idol, the piano players have Ipads in place of sheet music. Our kids have used Ipads at friend’s houses to be a metronome for band practice.</p>
<p>I think a good thing to do (I think I mentioned this on another thread) is to just put it in your mind when you first get the iPad that instead of going to your computer - especially for “at home” things - ask yourself, “is that something I could do on the iPad?” or as they say (but it’s true!), “is there an app for that??”.</p>
<p>The iPad doesn’t have to replace your computer but I also think like any other electronics you have to take the time to learn it and its uses!</p>
<p>Subscribing to this thread…I have had mine for almost a year and some of the apps mentioned I have needed and never heard of…thanks!!</p>
<p>I like the Kindle app for reading books. Facebook, Twitter, all my webpage forums have icons. I use it for business email when I’m traveling. A lot of our executives don’t take laptops anymore for shorter trips. If you are just doing email and/or reading documents, you can get by with the iPad. Facetime with other iPad/iPhone users is fun, too.</p>
<p>What a sweet DH. Most of the women I know only get their technology upgraded when their SO gets a new one. ( except my DH, Then it is the other way around)</p>
<p>I assume you already have Dropbox? (transfer files)</p>
<p>[Dropbox</a> Review & Rating | PCMag.com](<a href=“http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343852,00.asp]Dropbox”>Dropbox Review | PCMag)</p>
<p>You might find Wolfram Alpha helpful. There is a $2.99 version, or now subscription “pro” version. ( because you’ve always wanted Picard’s computer)
[Wolfram</a> Alpha Pro democratizes data analysis](<a href=“The Verge”>Wolfram Alpha Pro democratizes data analysis: an in-depth look at the $4.99 a month service - The Verge)</p>
<p>I use both iBooks & the Kindle app to read books.
The local radio & television stations all have apps as do the newspapers.
You can make your own magazine with apps like [Zite:</a> Personalized Magazine](<a href=“http://zite.com/]Zite:”>http://zite.com/) or [Flipboard[/url</a>]</p>
<p>How to use fancy gestures on the iPad.
[url=<a href=“http://gigaom.com/apple/how-to-use-ipad-multitasking-gestures-and-why-you-should/]How”>http://gigaom.com/apple/how-to-use-ipad-multitasking-gestures-and-why-you-should/]How</a> to use fancy gestures on the iPad (and why you should)](<a href=“http://flipboard.com/]Flipboard[/url”>http://flipboard.com/)</p>
<p>I like Fotopedia for the pretty.
[8</a> Eye-Popping Retina Display Photography Apps for the New iPad | Gadget Lab | Wired.com](<a href=“8 Eye-Popping Retina Display Photography Apps for the New iPad | WIRED”>8 Eye-Popping Retina Display Photography Apps for the New iPad | WIRED)</p>
<p>What I need is an App where you can take a picture of a food and it will load it into LiveStrong.</p>
<p>BCEagle91–have you seen that tv commercial where the guy uses middle school mean girls to lose weight–every time he put something in his mouth, there are 3 mean girls making a comment about what he is eating :D.</p>
<p>No, I don’t watch much television - I see TV a few times a year.</p>
<p>I just use my belt to tell me if weight is a problem.</p>
<p>You can use it as a cutting board…</p>
<p>^^mini, LOL!!! The Apple dude who sold the iPad to H showed him the video. :)</p>
<p>Many thanks to all! Please keep suggestions coming!</p>
<p>The only work purpose that I use our iPads for is reading work email. I check my work email on the iPad when I get up in the morning to see if there’s anything that happened overnight that I need to address quickly. It beats going to the basement and booting up my desktop or laptop. I also use it for checking the status of batch jobs throughout the night if I’m running a lot of server batch jobs around the clock.</p>
<p>My work environment is Linux on a remote host and I can’t get into my workplace enviroment with the iPad.</p>
<p>Pandora, Words with friends, DrawSomething, USAToday, CNN, TV Guide,</p>
<p>It’s also quicker for checking for new email.</p>
<p>The Weather Channel. It’s free and you can save a bunch of cities.</p>
<p>So for work, I not only use email and web access to sites I need, but I also use an app call Polkast. It lets me have access to my desktop at home so I do not have to carry the notebook computer but I can also get to any thing I have on the hard drive at home. I don’t have to move things to Dropbox for it. Makes visiting clients easy and I don’t have to worry that I will forget a document. </p>
<p>I like Flipbook for news, I use Instapaper to grab articles I want to read later. QuickOffice HD Pro does not work well with Office 2010 unless they recently updated it so does not work for me. I have started to play around with Onlive Desktop and it seems like it may work well to work with documents though. Playing with CloudON but not sure about it. I use my Kindle App a lot.</p>