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Ipad and HL..

T

tkolhoff

Active member
Im looking at getting an old Ipad to put HL on so I can use a tablet at the table.. what is the minimum generation I would need to have HL work on an Ipad?

Thanks...
 
Last I knew an iPad 2 would work, but I'd get whatever the one you can afford with the most RAM because HL is very memory intensive
 
I've considered an iPad solely for Hero Lab (I dislike Apple and have multiple Android tablets, but since it's not supported ... yet) I'd probably look at a mini 2 if you're trying to save some money, it's around $300 and has 1GB of RAM. You can't get more unless you get an Air 2 which is expensive as all heck.

Other option is also get a Surface Pro 3 running Windows, but even the cheap ones are around $700.
 
Maybe not helpful but the new 64bit version of the HL app runs REALLY nice on the iPad Air and Air 2's. Just mentioning if your going to spend the money maybe better to get something that will last many years. :)
 
Ooo one of those would be perfect for my needs ... although I'd rather have a larger BT/USB keyboard/mouse
 
Something to consider:

HL is a single thread application. What this means is, it runs one thread, thus on Core0 of your processor. HL relies on "thread to clock/core" process count, having 2, 4, or 8 cores means nothing if they are all low thread to clock, thus fewer faster Cores will help HL run well.

The weakness of the Atom is Intel based the idea that they can squeeze out decent performance with 4 small (low speed) cores, and for Windows 7/8.1/10 and many modern applications this is true. However for smaller or older apps, this actually cripples the performance.

One of the reasons the Surface runs HL so darn well is it is a very fast dual core processor.

MS has released a Surface 3 non pro running an atom, but I have no idea of the HL potential, really the dual core I3 model may be better. For the money, the I5 126BG SSD and 4GB memory is an awesome system, but its over kill for just HL.

I hope the 64bit HL on Ipad leads to 64bit windows app. I am also mystified why we do not see such a beast, my god we have been in a x64 world for an awful long time.
 
I know HL runs just fine on my wife's Atom based Netbook. It's not as fast as on my i7 laptop, but it works well.

The only reason I'm looking at some type of Windows tablet is for coding purposes as my laptop is just too heavy to lug around easily and while the screen of my wife's netbook is big enough (and 10" isn't much smaller) the keyboard is too small so I'd need something a little bigger (being 6'4, 290lbs means slightly bigger hands than those tiny keyboards allow).

I agree I would love to see a version of HL that took advantage of multi-cores and 64-bit, but that would likely be a whole redesign of the core program and it works well enough for me that I'd rather see an Android version first.
 
AndrewD2 said:
Ooo one of those would be perfect for my needs ... although I'd rather have a larger BT/USB keyboard/mouse
Click to expand...
If you're talking about the Transformer: the dock has a USB 3 port, the micro USB port on the tablet is USB OTG compatible (so you can get an adapter to connect things to it), and it has Bluetooth 4.0.

I have a compact USB mouse I use with mine sometimes, though normally I get by using the touchscreen and/or touchpad.


Exmortis said:
Something to consider: ... (Summary: Atom performance is comparatively low.)
Click to expand...
True, but for most of what these machines are aimed at doing raw performance isn't a main requirement. Cost and battery life are more important considerations.

The main things my Transformer gets used for are Internet (web and email), PDF viewing, Hero Lab and Realm Works, and Office. Performance impact is pretty minimal for those applications.


Exmortis said:
I am also mystified why we do not see such a beast, my god we have been in a x64 world for an awful long time.
Click to expand...
If your application isn't in a place where 64-bit has large benefits (notably using upwards of 2 GB of RAM on systems with much more) then there isn't a lot of appeal. 32-bit applications run just fine on 32- and 64-bit systems and you don't have to maintain two builds. It's not just XP compatibility; many systems came with 32-bit Windows 7 or 8(.1) and can be upgraded to 32-bit Windows 10. (Ex: my Transformer is now running 32-bit Windows 10 Home.)

I expect that 64-bit builds will be coming, but probably not for a while. Maybe not until Microsoft requires them like Apple did...not that there's a good way for Microsoft to require people to do so. (The Microsoft Store just isn't dominant like the Apple, Google, and Amazon stores are for their respective ecosystems.)
 
Last edited:
Yeah I know the Dock has the ports, but using the Dock means having it's Keyboard sitting there and it's not really what I want.
 
AndrewD2 said:
Yeah I know the Dock has the ports, but using the Dock means having it's Keyboard sitting there and it's not really what I want.
Click to expand...
You can always unhook it from the dock and get a Bluetooth one you like or an OTG adapter for a USB one you like. (The micro USB port is on the tablet.)

If you know you never want to use the dock, though, you might be able to find a better deal for just a tablet. Alternatively, look into a docking/folding tablet that better fits what you want in a keyboard. Plenty of options out there. :)
 
Regarding the original proposal to purchase an older tablet for Hero Lab usage,
Hero Lab is supported on iPad 2 and iPad Mini, however for the best experience
you will have better results using iPad Air or iPad Mini 2 (or newer versions).
 
AndrewD2 said:
I've considered an iPad solely for Hero Lab (I dislike Apple and have multiple Android tablets, but since it's not supported ... yet) I'd probably look at a mini 2 if you're trying to save some money, it's around $300 and has 1GB of RAM. You can't get more unless you get an Air 2 which is expensive as all heck.

Other option is also get a Surface Pro 3 running Windows, but even the cheap ones are around $700.
Click to expand...

I too would consider getting an iPad solely for Hero Lab use, which means I'm not getting an iPad (I refuse to buy a hardware platform for 1 piece of software). So that leaves me waiting ... like many hundreds (thousands?) of other people ... for an Android version of Hero Lab.

I would love to at least know if it's in the pipeline, even if it's as obscure as "we want it to happen, we're tentatively planning on it to happen, and just haven't started on it yet."
 
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