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Nelisa Lauren Mansilla to iPad mini or not to iPad mini

Lauren Mansilla wants an iPad mini and sometimes she doesn't. With so many choices available for a mini tablet, what's one to do? After all, with planned obsolescence from Apple, it's not like the latest and greatest will be the latest and greatest for long.

My dad got my brother a google nexus 7 tablet and he loves it.

I use a kindle fire to read my college books, and it's fine for doing just that. Reading.

I like the apps from the apple store.

I like the way my iPhone and iPad works. I like the form factor of my kindle fire. Maybe an iPad mini is just what the doctor ordered.

First world problems. 8-)

Android or Apple iOS for tablet

I am torn between using an android tablet and an iPad tablet.

My iPad works great. Fast, smooth rendering of graphics makes working with documents and spreadsheets easy. So what's the problem? The iPad is too big to comfortably carry around all day. There have been many times I set it down in my 98,000 sq ft facility and wondered where I set it down.

I like the nexus 7 because it is smaller and may fit the bill as being able to carry around all day and can fit in a suit coat pocket. My concern is that the android apps aren't as smooth in function as the apple apps.

I have an iPhone and an evo 3d phone and the apps made for both phones seem to work better on my iPhone. Android apps seems clunky and needs to be smoother in fit and finish.

Now if all you exclusively use is android, you wouldn't know how smooth the experience is with apple apps.

There's a part of me that wants to hold on to android. I don't know why. Maybe it's the same part of me that held on to blackberry for years.

I'm thinking the nexus 7 may be the game changer in terms of smooth and fast rendering and will let me scroll through and use my spreadsheets as easily as on my iPad.

In regards to the Facebook app, super smooth and fast on iPad and iPhone. On android phone and kindle fire, not so much.

No I know that kindle app isn't a work horse to use for spreadsheets and such, but if it could render my spreadsheets faster, I'm not sold that the smaller form factor is what I want as the print is small or when zoomed in, the viewable area is smaller.

Maybe it's because we are conditioned to read 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper.

This is just a rant. I'm still figuring it out on what tablet will suit my purpose best.

Evernote app review why it just makes sense

I've been using Evernote on and off for the past couple of years. It seems that I'm always on the hunt for the perfect or the best note app, task list app, project management app, and I've finally come to the conclusion that Evernote is it. It is the best note app, hands down.

Why?

It can be used by just about anybody for anything when it comes to getting and staying organized. You just gotta want that in your life.

The cool thing about Evernote?

It's cross platform. I use it on my iPhone 4, on my iPad 2, my Evo 3D android phone, my desktop computers at work and my notebook computers. Changes I make on my Evernote are immediately available on all of my devices.

Another cool thing?

I can share a notebook with my management team and it gets us all on the same page. Updates they make or that I make on project notes or task lists are located in a cloud, all in one easy to access place that we all have access to on any of our devices.

No more loose papers? Way cool.

Pictures and the text or hand writing on the pictures become searchable. If I take notes on paper, index card, or napkin, I just take a picture of it with the camera on one of my mobile devices and it uploads to a new note in Evernote. The picture becomes searchable and is always available, so no more loose papers and wondering where that info went.

Take a picture of a product box or a sign, and that becomes searchable too.

Keeping everyone in sync with what's on my radar.

I created a shared notebook called MY RADAR and give all of my managers access to that notebook. Now they know exactly what's on my radar and what's important to me and what our focus needs to be, and we all are on the same page. It's not a mystery on what the focus needs to be that day or week. This results in a management team that is more aligned with my vision. They simply need to know what's on my radar.

Create as many notebooks as you need or want. It's up to you.

I have a daily journal notebook, a notebook for each important person I interface with, a daily task list notebook, upcoming projects notebook, etc.

Business receipts? Make a notebook for business receipts, take a picture of your receipt, and there it is. Safely in your Evernote.

Want to share a note? You can email the contents of a note directly from Evernote.

How do you use Evernote?

Post a comment.

ipad 2 - my review and my take on this tablet

When I didn't have an ipad 2, I totally wanted one.  I had all these visions of how it was going to help me be more efficient in managing my business, be more organized, do more, be more, have more fun, watch more movies, etc.

I would see people carrying their ipad around, using their ipad in public, doing stuff.  What were they doing?  Heck if I know.

Flash forward.  I've had my ipad 2 for six months now and it spends more time on the table in my family room hanging out with my family then it does with me.  I've taken the ipad 2 to work, and it spends the entire day in my satchel, and when I get home, I think about how it would have probably been used by someone in my family had I just left it on the table in the family room.  Then guilt sets in, like I did wrong for taking it to work and not even using it.  I'm not sure why guilt sets in.  After all, everyone in my family has a smart phone with internet, an ipod touch, and a notebook computer.

(Rewind.  Satchel?  Man bag?  No dude... it's a satchel.  Indiana Jones had one too. - ha!)

Then again, maybe I do need to start using it at my place of business for real.  Walking around using my ipad 2 probably looks more legit than me using my iphone 4 while typing out a note or replying to an email.  My customers and employees may think I'm walking/standing around texting when I'm really reading an email.  After all, their perception is their reality.

Okay, so here's my review for real now.

I have the 16 gig ipad 2 with 190 apps installed and there is still 8 gig of free space available.  It's housed in a Griffin leather folio so that it is easier to hold in hand and prop up, and I take it out when I want to use facetime for a video chat.  The finish on the bare naked ipad 2 is very slick, and I can see how one may lose grip of it and drop it by accident.

Suggestion: Use a protective case. 

I put a screen protector on it as well and the picture quality remains very good.

Battery life is very good and lasts quite a long time.

Overall size is just right.  I've seen people with smaller sized android tablets, but those tablets actually looked to small for my taste.

My ipad 2 only has the ability to connect to wifi, which is just fine with me because I happen to carry two phones, one of which has a built in hotspot that allows up to 8 devices to connect to the mobile hotspot.

Fast processing speed, smooth scrolling, and so many available apps... the ipad 2 just makes sense.

Now I just need to use it as I originally envisioned.

......................

What are your thoughts about your ipad or ipad 2?