Home Networking With A Tablet Or Ipad

[Furbie]

I have a home set up that uses Windows 7 (home premium), with it, it’s pretty easy to use my main computer as a de facto sever and access all the files I have there (video, word documents, etc) from my laptop and my TVs. I was looking into buying a tablet with windows 7, but there is nothing good on offer here, so now I’m considering an IPad.

Does any know how compatible an IPad would be with a windows 7 home network? Would it be full access to read and write, or would it be read only?

What about one of the android tablets – what kind of access would that give me to my main computer?

Thanks.

[melsnet]

I use Dropbox for file sharing from my main PC .

www.dropbox.com

Edited January 19, 2012 by melsnet

[jybkk]

Accessing files through Microsoft Network is pretty difficult unless you use another Microsoft device. Meaning it will be a bit complicated, whether you choose iPad or Android based tablets.

There are, however, other solutions that could answer your questions.

For small documents (word, etc..) , as the previous poster suggested, going through a cloud sync with dropbox (or sugarsync) could be the solution.

But if you want to access files like music, video and pictures, I'd recommend to use Skifta http://www.skifta.com/ , which is based on DLNA protocol (supported by many devices and operating system, including Windows 7 and the latest TV sets).

[astral]

I have windows 7 (previously win xp) in my notebook

and can easily access the files on my Dreambox

via the windows file explorer

Why should it be any more difficult for an iPad?

[jybkk]

I have windows 7 (previously win xp) in my notebook

and can easily access the files on my Dreambox

via the windows file explorer

Why should it be any more difficult for an iPad?

Because despite Apple's claims, an iPad is an appliance, not a computer. And unless they implemented the support for microsoft networks (which they didn't) in their operating system, you're pretty much forced to find complicated workarounds.

It's not impossible. Just not simple.

Try Filebrowser app. You might manage to get what you need.

[melsnet]

Accessing files through Microsoft Network is pretty difficult unless you use another Microsoft device. Meaning it will be a bit complicated, whether you choose iPad or Android based tablets.

There are, however, other solutions that could answer your questions.

For small documents (word, etc..) , as the previous poster suggested, going through a cloud sync with dropbox (or sugarsync) could be the solution.

But if you want to access files like music, video and pictures, I'd recommend to use Skifta http://www.skifta.com/ , which is based on DLNA protocol (supported by many devices and operating system, including Windows 7 and the latest TV sets).

Thanks for the Skifta recommendation, just checked it out and looks really usefull. Going slightly of subject

as well as using Dropbox, I find Hotmail Sky Drive is a lot more acommodating for sharing files than attachments

[jybkk]

Thanks for the Skifta recommendation, just checked it out and looks really usefull. Going slightly of subject

as well as using Dropbox, I find Hotmail Sky Drive is a lot more acommodating for sharing files than attachments

Dropbox and Sky fire are a bit different while they share quite a few features.

Dropbox offers an instant and automatic sync/backup of your files in the Cloud. Any file, as soon as it is modified, will be updated in the cloud. It seems Sky Fire requires you to specifically "Add".

I actually like Sugarsync even better, as you can set which folders on your drive will be sync'ed. Typically I set it up to sync the "Desktop" and the "My Documents" folders and then I never bother anymore. I'll always have my files available from anywhere with an internet connection.

Sharing seems easier with Sky Drive (although Dropbox and Sugarsync let you activate sharing on a file or folder and give you an link to send to the people you want to share to)

[rahi]

I second the Dropbox

[Digitalbanana]

I have switched to Sugarsync from Dropbox for private use... it seems to do so much more..lets you sync (or share) anything on your PC rather than specific (Dropbox like) locations (although it can do that to with Magicbriefcase), besides giving 5GB free. Best is one can sync photos on the fly as they are taken on a mobile phone..

We still use Dropbox at work though as it is simple.

[Furbie]

Thanks for the responses so far.

So, the answer is, it can’t be done easily. What about just accessing files on a Windows 7 computer from a table running Android – don’t need to edit and save?