Waste of money

[kestrelmusic]

No doubt. But having bought the thing I do expect it to work. Actually I am beginning to think that it must be faulty because when I connect it to the PC nothing whatever happens.

 

[twerppoet]

Do you have iTunes installed on your PC? You don't need the iPad plugged in to import files into iTunes. Just open it and drag the files over.

Though it will be an issue if iTunes does not recognize the iPad when it comes time to sync the files to the iPad. If iTunes does not open when you plug in your iPad manually, open iTunes and look to see if the iPad is recognized anyway.

Here is a screen shot of the icon that should appear. It is on a Mac, so it might look a bit different.

(something weird happened, and I couldn't post the image in-line. It's attached below instead)

If iTunes does not see/recognize the iPad, it's probably a USB Driver issue. The recommended fixes are to try different USB ports, and/or re-install iTunes. Not being a Windows users I don't have any more specific advice.

But until you convince Windows to see the iPad, not much else is going to work with iTunes.

The only other interactions native to Windows and the iPad is the appearance of a USB drive with a DCIM folder. It's only good for transferring pictures from the Photos library to the computer. (don't use it the other way around).

Again, if it is not showing up, it's probably a USB Driver issue.

 

[LannyC]

I think we may have forgotten to mention that you need to download iTunes to your PC and launch it for any of this to work (most of us have Macs, with iTunes preinstalled). Sorry for the oversight.

iTunes - Download iTunes Now - Apple

Once your're in iTunes, I think the rest will become clear. iTunes probably won't find the iPad the first time unless it's cabled to the PC, but after that you can check a box to use wifi to transfer files and do backups.

 

[kestrelmusic]

I think we may have forgotten to mention that you need to download iTunes to your PC and launch it for any of this to work (most of us have Macs, with iTunes preinstalled). Sorry for the oversight.
.

I worked this out myself at about 2.00am from the online manual...

Anyway, I've decided to get rid of the thing. The whole system seems so different from anything I have used in the past (and I've used RiscOS and various incarnations of Linux in addition to every Windows version from 95 onwards) that it will really not be practical for me. I will try to find a Linux netbook which I think will do what I want.

But I would like to thank everyone who has replied to this thread. My experience has been that in general enthusiastic users are far more helpful than the manufacturers and this has certainly been the case here.

 

[robert5555]

I'm used to androids,most everything is free.Chromecast,YouTube,Netflix,etc...,but Google seems to be charging me to use their apps and I did NOT give permission.
I set mine up to only use password if apps are free and to use password again if there is a charge,but I got charged anyway.
Android are much faster.My iPad 2 takes 20 seconds on already downloaded sites and apps while my droids only take 3-4 seconds.
I did get chrome cast to work,now waiting on Netflix.
It takes a few days for the iPad to finally accept chrome cast or it could be I turned iPad off and back on.

 

[robert5555]

Hopefully my iPad mini 2 gets faster,if not I'll go back to droid.

 

[twerppoet]

I worked this out myself at about 2.00am from the online manual...

Anyway, I've decided to get rid of the thing. The whole system seems so different from anything I have used in the past (and I've used RiscOS and various incarnations of Linux in addition to every Windows version from 95 onwards) that it will really not be practical for me. I will try to find a Linux netbook which I think will do what I want.

But I would like to thank everyone who has replied to this thread. My experience has been that in general enthusiastic users are far more helpful than the manufacturers and this has certainly been the case here.

I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. iOS is break from the older file system way of doing things. It can take a while to get used to, and while there is very little you can't do, it often requires a different way of doing.

It can be hard to adjust if your expecting it to work like what you are used to. To some degree the better you are with the desktop systems (they all work much the same in the end), the harder it can be to let go and learn iOS.

Not that anyone is required too. If desktop operating systems work the way you want, then they are the solution.

Personally I think your main issue is/was the time constraint. You expected to be able to just grab the iPad and start doing things the same way, so you did not give yourself the time necessary to discover how to use the iPad the way you wanted. If you had grabbed an iPad solely to discover what it was capable of, with no pressure to use it for 'this thing' and 'right now'.

All which is understandable if you thought it would work just like the operating systems you already knew, or close enough not to matter.

Whatever you end up using, good luck. Though I would steer clear of cheap netbooks. The one I owned took so long to boot up and load new programs I hated it. The iPad was, in that way, a major improvement.

 

[robert5555]

Hopefully my iPad mini 2 gets faster,if not I'll go back to droid.

Mines working much better.Casing programs are working great.
I powered it off and back on and chrome cast,Netflix,etc... all started working.
I just had to get used to how the mini works vrs androids.
So far I don't get booted off of wifi like my droids and the processor runs much smoother.

I'm keeping my iPad and maybe I should have got the iPad Air but the sale on the mini 2 was too hard to pass up!!!

 

[robert5555]

Mines working much better.Casing programs are working great.
I powered it off and back on and chrome cast,Netflix,etc... all started working.
I just had to get used to how the mini works vrs androids.
So far I don't get booted off of wifi like my droids and the processor runs much smoother.

I'm keeping my iPad and maybe I should have got the iPad Air but the sale on the mini 2 was too hard to pass up!!!

I'm now very happy with my iPad mini.It does everything my droid did and the graphics are simply outstanding.
Great colors,definition,and much more 3D effects.

 

[KevinJS]

I was still using a PC as my main computer when iTunes changed DRASTICALLY, so it might be worth pointing out that Windows and Mac users see something entirely different. At first glance (on a PC) iTunes looks completely unusable. The secret is the ALT key. Pressing it shows the Windows menu bar, and allows most of the essential sidebars etc to become visible. Mac users always have access to the menu since it always appears at the top of the screen.

Many iTumes issues can be solved easily when sufficient features are turned on. Why they are turned off by default is beyond me.

Above all, authorize your computer and DO NOT forget your AppleID password. If you are going to use iOS devices, that ID is of paramount importance.