# Off Topic > The Water Cooler >  >  Excel Solution for iPad

## tindercd

Hello,

I'm new to the forums, and I have to say I'm very impressed on the amount of knowledge located in these forums.  It's a surprise that I haven't stumbled upon this forum before.

Recently we have procured iPads for our board and senior management.  I have been looking for an Excel solution on the iPad that has equivalent (or at least close) power that Excel has.  Apple's iWork Suite leaves A LOT to be desired.  Does anyone know of a better app?  My CFO loves the iPad but it's a shame that she can't utilize it to actually modify and create spreadsheets.  It would really be great if Microsoft decided they were going to branch out into the tablet world a little more than they have.  I would be one of their first customers!

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## Paul

Hi tindercd, welcome to the forum.

Even if Microsoft did branch out, my guess is the iPad would be the last branch.

As I've told the salespeople and executives that have purchased iPads at our company - they're virtually useless for [our] business.  For the same price as a 3G 32GB iPad (and reduced long-term costs) they could get a laptop that will do everything they need from anywhere in the world; it just weighs a bit more and isn't as "cool."  I actually just turned in my test iPad2, since it proved pointless and only ended up getting used to watch Netflix in airports.

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## JieJenn

Hey Paul. If you don't mind I asking, what do you do for a living? I am just a young man who is looking for a the right career for himself and I am hoping to get some advice from you.

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## tindercd

I agree for the most part.  It has been very useful for our Board Packets (done monthly) and any policies that are being reviewed.  Since our board now has iPads they can view everything we post to our secure site and do their job more effectively (without wasting so much paper).  They are serving their intended purpose for now but being the IT department of our company it's my job to find new and more efficient ways to do things!  I don't know your business Paul, but we are working closely with others in our industry to optimize training software for iPads.  Which is proving to be more difficult since Apple (for some reason) doesn't do flash!  Despite that though, I feel that it is a really effective tool for learning if nothing else.

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## Paul

My guess is you can by an awful lot of paper for the price of one iPad.  Although the secretary who makes the copies would be paid more than those that build the iPads.   :Wink:

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## tindercd

Haha, it took some figuring, but the iPads pay themselves off in 2 years.  Which is the term of a board member and equals just about the amount we spend on paper, ink, shipping, and what not to print out those packets!  Just feeling ansty for these things to take over the PC already!

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## SchuhmannR

Hello,

This just made the round on Twitter earlier this month.

Excel works just fine on the iPad and you don't have to pay a dime. Just pop the Excel files into a (free) SkyDrive folder (25 GigaByte free storage), then access SkyDrive on iPad Safari. Make sure to tap "PC Site" (or whatever it is called at the bottom of the SkyDrive window), then enjoy Office Web Apps on the iPad. Reduced ribbons, but probably more functionality than your CFO will ever use in Excel. 

Details and screenshots here: http://bit.ly/wMDbv4

MrExcel has posted a video about the same thing, two weeks after the article above: http://bit.ly/y27VWS

(not sure if it is against the forum rules to post a link to MrExcel's stuff, since links to the Code Cage seem to be forbidden)

enjoy

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## SchuhmannR

PS. You can set up a SkyDrive account and create a folder that is only visible to your board members. All they need to access it is a (free) WindowsLive ID, which they already may have, anyway. Whoever owns the files just needs to create a folder in their SkyDrive and share it with these other SkyDrive users. Very secure, very private.

The only drawback is that the iPad does not remember the "PC site" setting, so every time they access SkyDrive with the iPad, they'll need to give it another nudge. That may be too much for board members, but if you can show them that they have "real" Excel with that additional tap, they may be convinced.

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## snb

@SchuhmannR

Please send my regards to Clara. :Smilie:

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## Domski

Aberystwyth...seriously!?!  :Wink:

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## SchuhmannR

University of Wales, 1983/1984. Seriously. Took me three months to learn how to pronounce the name of the flipping town, but I got there in the end.

@snb: Clara is somewhat involved with Liszt, at the moment, but I'll try to catch her.

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## Mordred

The company I work for has been testing the iPad for the about 4 months now and the techy that I talked to about doesn't find them applicable yet to handle corporate duties such as organizing data, manipulating data, integrating with current corporate software, and the likes.  They do work well for presentation purposes though so for managers, VPs, and other higher ups, it would probably be a great tool for meetings and such.  Other than that, they are great for games and surfing the internet.  I don't think we'll see them as adequate until maybe the next gen or even the gen after that.

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## JieJenn

Getting the new iPad this week. Honestly, think it is going be awhile when Excel will function properly on the iPad. I am getting it mostly to show my portfolio and as well as for reading PDFs and Kindle ebooks whenever I go. I think it is a great tool to carry around if the owner does a lot networking and consulting.

 I have the kindle Fire and kindle DX. Every since I got the fire I got hooked to that astonishing screen display when it comes to reading, love it. Unfortunately, the screen is too small for my PDFs. iPad is expensive, but I will make it worth.

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## abousetta

I wanted to get the IPad since it came out, but couldn't force myself to buy an iPhone-look-a-like with a bigger screen, no flash, no standard programs, no USB slots, etc. So I waited for iPad 2 to save us all... and was disappointed. So I ended up selling the barn and buying an Asus tablet running Windows 7, Intel i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM. Perfect for traveling as well as a general purpose computer. I don't read books on it but it does have an Kindle program (I think that's what it is) installed that allows you to use it as reader. Also great for movies (e.g. Netflix) and even the young ones. I am overall very satisfied with the purchase.

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## Mordred

@abousetta, is the Asus tablet cheaper than an iPad?

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## abousetta

Twice as expensive  :Frown:   when i bought it about a year ago but now I don't even see on the BestBuy (Where I bought it). They only have the refurbished versions and even those are sold out. They might be putting a new version soon???

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## Mordred

And it's twice as expensive?  Blrghh!

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## abousetta

The refurbished are stated to be just a couple hundred more expensive than the iPad. The one I got was for $1200. Here it is on the MS website.

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## JieJenn

I don't know. I was never a fan of Asus's product. For an overly priced toy, I rather get something that everyone has, just so it is easier to troubleshoot as there are forums like this out there.

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## abousetta

I consider an iPad to be an elegant toy, the Asus tablet is a fully functional computer with USB slots, Windows 7, etc. You can compare it against traditional labtops but it's a completely different class than the eReaders, iPads (and the likes), etc.

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## Mordred

I like the specs for the Asus Eee Slate.  It might be worth the little extra, maybe.

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## Bob Phillips

The thing about the iPads is the resolution which has been better than the Android tablets, and iPad 3 ramps it up a notch. But, Asus have just bought out the Transformer Prime, which is awesome. As a tablet, because it is open, it is streets ahead of an iPad IMO. You can get it here in the UK for about £700 with a docking keyboard, which is just a bit above an iPad 3 64Gb 4G, but far more extensible.

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## JieJenn

Just bought the new iPad the other day; I am very impressed with its functionality and performance. Before I purchased the iPad I thought I probably wouldn't like it that much since I already have the Kindle Fire, I was wrong. What got me hooked was the apps and the resolutions. I read a lot, and I found my Kindle DX to be sluggish when it comes to flipping through pages and highlighting notes can be very inconvenient - iPad certainly addressed those issues. 

I bought the Wi-Fi only version, but since I already have 4G on my cell phone, I am using my phone as a portable Wi-Fi router, which is the same as having the 4G Lit model

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## Firefly2012

I got an ipad3 today and I do think the display is superb. I have to say that in OS terms, I am surprised at how similar to Android it is (I haven't used iOS before).  I don't fee like I've been missing out by not having an iPhone.

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