Purchased an iPad? What’s a new user to do?

Okay, I’ve had the iPad for over a week now and I am finally ready to share some tech notes for current and would be owners of the “magical” device (Hey, I didn’t come up with that Apple marketing smoke and mirrors slogan). While the iPad isn’t quite “magical” in my book, it is a great device; however, new users may feel a bit daunted getting the thing configured for first time use.

So what I’ve done is prepared a list of some introductory steps you might want to consider before actually using the iPad for the first time. In a future post I’ll add to the notes by sharing some must install free apps. Ready? Hit the click below to begin reading.


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I’ve broken down the preparation/configuration notes into three distinct areas. Steps to complete on your; computer (Mac or PC), iPad, and optional devices/services. Let's get started by completing a few steps on your computer before you connect your iPad for syncing.


Computer:

• Update your Safari Bookmarks. iTunes will sync your Safari bookmarks on your computer with Safari on the iPad. So get your bookmarks in order on your computer before syncing. I recommend first creating a folder on your bookmarks bar entitled “iPad” and then adding all the sites you will regularly be visiting with the iPad. I’ve added a small screen shot of my bookmarks in the image to the right to demonstrate. Some of these might also be links you will want to include. Remember that links sync back and forth, so as you add them on your iPad, when you sync they will show up in Safari on your computer.
• Prune your contacts. No matter which application you use to manage your contacts (Outlook, Address Book, Google Contacts), now is a good time to do a bit of house cleaning and remove older contacts, duplicates or update entries with current information.
• Ditto with your calendar. Take some time in Outlook, iCal, or Google Calendar and clean up your events and calendar subscriptions.
• Prepare your tunes. While we are pruning our calendar and contacts, drop into iTunes and determine which music, if any, you want to sync to your iPad. Remember you can exclude files from syncing by simply un-checking the checkbox next to each song title. I decided to sync just a couple of favorite playlists. You can specify specific playlists to sync within iTunes. A great option if you only purchased the 16Gb model, as I did. Smart Playlists are a great way to easily and effortlessly generate groups of music you want to take on the road.
• If you had an iPhone/iPad Touch previously, update your apps. In iTunes, visit the App Store and check for updates to all apps. Many apps are being updated to provide additional features that take advantage of the new iPad hardware and screen real estate. On the other hand, some publishers are getting a bit greedy and you may have to pay for a completely new version. Bad publishers!

Now that our computer data has been pruned a bit, connect the iPad via USB dock connector cable to your Mac or PC. Depending on how much data you have (video, music, apps, etc), this could be a short process, or in my case, a VERY long process.


iPad:
Consider these steps on your iPad.

• Absolutely, positively purchase a protective iPad cover. Keep your purchase pristine. There are a bunch out there and more appearing each day. For now, I recommend the Apple Cover. I’ve found it fits well, has holes in all the correct places and even provides access to the cable connector. I also like how it doubles as a wedge for keyboarding and a stand for presentations.
• Get a good lint free cloth. This thing really captures the finger prints. While the iPad is turned on, you won’t tend to notice them; however, when your turn this thing off, BLAM! It looks like your fingers, and those of every neighbor, did the walking all over the thing. I guess it also goes without saying. No Cheetos while using your iPad!
• Move the Settings icon to the dock. This is a personal preference setting, but I’ve found that I like having access to brightness, airplane mode, etc. on all home screens. I find myself using them a lot and placing access on every page saves a tap here and there. Below is an example of my dock configuration. In the image you’ll notice some other apps I recommend including.

• Change brightness settings to the lowest, most comfortable, level. Now that you have easy access to your settings by following the previous tip, increase your possibility of achieving that 10-hour advertised battery life by lowering the lumens. I’ve found for inside browsing that the lowest level is pretty comfortable. Outside, not so much.

• Turn off 3G. If you purchased an iPad Wi-Fi + 3G and you are not using 3G, turn it off. No…I mean it. Turn it off now. I found that keeping both the Wi-Fi and the 3G on will drain that battery faster than a container of Drano. Use one or the other: not both. Now aren’t you glad we moved that Settings icon to the dock? You’ll find the magic switch for turning 3G off in the settings as shown in the image below.

Those tips should get you started on the iPad but what if you want to use additional devices or services not included with the iPad? I’ve got you covered in the tips below.


Optional Devices/Services:

• Pair a Bluetooth keyboard. If you have one, you may as well pair it so your ready when you work on your novel. You can pair the devices in Settings following Apple’s instructions. My keyboard is ready to go, but quite honestly, I don’t see myself creating much content on my iPad. It’s more of a viewer or a way to capture some general thoughts. Still, it will be nice to throw my Apple Bluetooth keyboard in my bag in case I want to bang out a longer blog post or e-mail.
• Configure the Google Exchange server. Above I mentioned that you might want to take some time to prune through your Google Contacts and Calendar. If you are a Google user, you must configure your iPad to access the FREE Google Exchange service. This service allows you to sync (in real time) your Gmail, Google Calendar events and Google Contacts to Mail, Calendar and Address Book. This will keep all your iPad contact management apps in sync with the Google Cloud for both access on your device as well as in a browser. The configuration instructions for the iPhone work equally as well for the iPad. This is my preferred way to keep data updated, synced and available.
• Configure your Mobile Me service. Maybe you’re an Apple fanboy and don’t use Google. That’s okay too. Take some time to configure your iPad with your Mobile Me service to sync your mail, contacts and calendar to the Apple cloud. You’ll receive all the same benefits of the Google Exchange services. Apple has a very good tutorial you can follow. For new users, Mobile Me is not a free service. It costs $99/year (unless you purchase from Amazon and then you can usually find it for around $70). You receive some additional benefits not available with Google. Truth be told, I have both.
• Prune your iPhone apps and get rid of those apps that you no longer use. There were many apps on my iPhone that just didn’t make sense to carry over to the iPad. Until many of them release higher resolution versions, I really don’t want to view or use them all pixelated when blown up to fill the iPad screen. So I got rid of all the applications that are not iPad enhanced. You may not be able to do it, but I found my iPad experience much better when sticking to native apps.
• Arrange your Apps. After your first sync is complete, use iTunes to arrange your apps by screen. You can do this on the iPad itself, but if you have lots of apps, it is much easier within iTunes. My arrangement is as follows. The first screen contains apps I use almost daily, the second screen holds apps for shopping and social networking, the third screen is the base for games, the fourth screen is for books, video and music apps.

There you have it. A boat load of things to do before you even turn on your new iPad. I know many of these tips are personal preferences and I also know that many of you have already purchased your iPad and completed some of these procedures. I’m betting though that there’s at least one nugget of goodness in there that you forgot or wasn’t aware of. What about it? Leave a comment and let me know. Also feel free to add to the tech note by including your own configuration tips and tricks. Don’t forget to rate this post using the tools found at the top.