waterproof tablet

[Stumble]

CDK,

I use a combination of an iPad, iPhone, iMac, and a dell laptop. Because so many of my devices need to have the same data all the time, I have basically stopped using an internal HDD. instead all of my data is stored in the cloud, and it doesn't really matter what device I access it on. So I only have one copy of anything... And just access it in different places.

In fact the only data on my iPad is navigation charts and songs. Everything else I access remotely. This has made my life MUCH easier, and actually allows me to spend less time in the office, since I can revise a brief while fishing on my iPad, email to someone, and fax it to someone else all without ever putting down my fishing rod.

I use almost all apple products by preference, but the same service I use allows me to log in from any computer.

[FMS]

Originally Posted by CDK

That's nice FMS.
AT&T says it is waterproof for 30 minutes, not 30 ft.

You are correct CDK - the cnet article got it wrong.
"Waterproof against incidental exposure to water when all ports (incl. USB and earphone ports) are tightly closed. NOT designed or intended for in-water use. Submersible up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes."
Or else it changed between January 9 and when it went on sale at AT&T.
The January 9 article said "Pantech seals the components and guarantees they'll stay in working order in up to 30 feet of water"
Either way, it could be useful for an open boat.

[CDK]

Very interesting for me to read this Stumble.
We are complete opposites, matter and anti-matter. I have a deeply rooted hatred where Apple is concerned, an open wound from the distant past when I decided to build and sell Apple clones and got sued after the 5th sale already. They found out because I ordered some external parts from a company in Asia that produced these exclusively for Apple. So I switched to the IBM architecture and was never sued again.

The cloud concept is something I cannot grasp. As long as I worked in the computer industry, data transfer was never fast enough. Standards were updated all the time until we had SATA, Fire-wire and quad core processors. And now we must return to very remotely located storage that can only be accessed by slow and unreliable public transport. No internet means no data!

At this very moment a high voltage grid distribution center on the island is in trouble. The fire brigade was there when I drove by last Thursday and I noticed severe damage to some of the 300 KV isolator poles. There are brownouts and blackouts every 10 or 20 minutes. Each time my satellite link resets itself and needs up to 10 minutes to sync again. Shops in the city are closed because their computers went crazy and cell phones don't work most of the time.
If my data was in the cloud I might as well go fishing or work in the garden.

[mydauphin]

I use Dropbox; I have it in four computers of different kinds, an external hard drive, and the cloud, and I can run everything on solar if I had to just in case. On Apple, I was Apple handheld developer ( I forgot the name of the darn thing before the Ipad), and after spending 6 months and countless thousands, they dump it and left everyone dry. So I try to stay away from any proprietorial system.

[CDK]

Originally Posted by mydauphin

I use Dropbox; I have it in four computers of different kinds, an external hard drive, and the cloud, and I can run everything on solar if I had to just in case.

Are your computers in a local network with the hard drive as backup?

Of course you can run everything on solar, but it won't do much good if all communication seizes. The power outages we have here affect both the telephone grid and cell phone system.
We have our own satellite link to the internet and I contemplated running it from solar. But it is a heavy burden on the batteries because it must be online all the time; one small glitch is all it needs to loose sync.
And the power grid trouble is of course mainly during bad weather periods in winter, when solar input is below 10%.

[mydauphin]

Look into dropbox, it keeps file synch but u use then locally, not online. It synchs when I get online and backups automatically. Just don't put any illegal software or music.

[Stumble]

CDK

I use sugarsync, but it and dropbox are pretty similar. basically you install a small program that creates a folder on your drive (you can also designate a folder or drive to sync). Whenever the computer has an internet connection any changes you make to a file are instantly uploaded to their online server, and then those changes are pushed to any local device you have with the same file on it. If you make changes while not connected to the Internet then it just delays the update cycle until you are.

For me this has been a huge advantage because I no longer have to continually move files around with USB drives, and can stop carrying my external HDD to backup files. And because the files are now stored offsite, they take the responsibility of backing up files (in the legal world, this type of service is considered the same as incremental backups, with the devices storred off site in multiple locations. Pretty much the ideal for a backup system). They even have a performance bond, so if the service goes bankrupt they have a guarantee of 90 days of access to allow you to switch to something else.

The only thing I don't use this for is low priority, very large files (like movies, and music), since the sync times can get silly if you try to run 100 movies through it. Doable of course, but you would need a very fast upload speed.

[troy2000]

Speaking of cloud storage and backup, I've been hearing a lot of ads for Carbonite, which supposedly gives you unlimited on-line backup for $59.00 a year. Does anyone have any experience with it, and/or opinions?

[CDK]

Sugarsync's website is very informative, especially the comparison between current cloud storage providers.
Unfortunately it requires a much better infrastructure than the one I have access to.

My satellite link has an upload speed limitation of 256 kbits/sec. and download 2048 kbits. These are limits, the actual speed during the day is approx. 50% lower, so moving a 20 Mb file from my hard drive to the tablet will take at least half an hour.
And it also is expensive. The contract allows only 2 Gb data transfer per month, that is what we need for email traffic, reading the news and downloading a few files. Using cloud storage would use up the whole monthly data space within a few days.

I'm afraid swapping SD cards is my only option.

[powerabout]

and this year is the peak of the current solar flare cycle so not much luck for you CDK