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Saved by LogMeIn on the iPad

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For some time there have been ways to remote into a computer or a network and get some work done when you aren’t sitting at the computer you need. So that’s nothing new. Yesterday though I had an experience where I needed to do just that, but all I had with me was the iPad.

Well, I shouldn’t say “all I had with me”. I had the LogMeIn Ignition app installed on the iPad and in this instance it proved to be a time saver. I have been crazy busy with contracts, grant applications and a ton of work that all requires lots of documents flying to and from. Typically, I use DropBox to store these documents as I’m working on them so I have access to them anywhere. That system works OK, but still with limitations, unless, like an idiot, I forget to put the document in question into the DropBox folder.

The idiot part happened yesterday. I headed out late in the day for a path that would take me to several meetings and then home. Midway along the path I got an email saying that the recipient hadn’t received the correct document that I thought I had sent. I was confused because I distinctly remember saving the file with a new name, but obviously not to the DropBox location.

So, I whipped out the Sprint MiFi card, fired up LogMeIn Ignition on the iPad, and discovered the file in question was sitting there on the desktop pointing a finger right at me showing me the error of my ways. I fired up GMail remotely on the desktop, attached the file to an email and within about 10 minutes all was right with the world.

LogMeIn works very well for this kind of situation, and there are other apps that offer similar functionality. LogMeIn’s cursor control leaves me wanting more though, and I’m glad the file was on the desktop and I didn’t have to go searching for it. It takes some adjustment to move the remote cursor to exactly where you want it to execute commands and mouse clicks. But that said, I’m glad I made the investment in the LogMeIn Ignition app and service. (The App sets you back $29.99.)

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Fleon

    05/12/2010 at 8:10 am

    In a touch of “not quite irony,” I do the same thing. Except I pull out my actual tablet- a Lenovo X61 – and just email the file that’s on my tablet without having to do all that remote desktop stuff you had to do.

    I still don’t get the value of the iPad in this scenario. My tablet is not so much larger or heavier than the iPad that I would not have it in any given scenario where I’d be carrying the iPad but does a million things more (and better) than the iPad can.

    Not saying the article isn’t a nice statement about portable technology. Just saying that I still don’t see the point of the iPad here.

  2. vm-01

    05/12/2010 at 9:23 am

    Quite frankly for something so simple any smartphone would be able to get the job done. So you probably had something more than just the ipad.

  3. Maggie Hibma

    05/12/2010 at 11:08 am

    Hi Warner,

    Just stopping by because I always love to hear how users are saved by LogMeIn. Thanks for sharing your story.

    Maggie Hibma
    Social Media, LogMeIn
    http://www.Twitter.com/LogMeInNews
    http://www.Facebook.com/LogMeIn

  4. tivoboy

    05/12/2010 at 1:55 pm

    Yes, Logmein is really great and on the ipad it is a perfect remote access tool. Here is my story.

    Parents were in Dubai of all places at the moment. Of course connectivity and access were difficult, as well as the phone connectivity. So, on my moms laptop, I logmein’d and was able to
    A), setup a VPN,
    B) get to a download site to download Skype,
    C) create a ICS hotspot with the laptop that was connected to ethernet,
    D) setup WEP
    E) get her iphone setup via a skype to PC call from my home here in Menlo Park to her Laptop in Dubai (I actually was LMI’d and just did the dialing on her computer myself from HERE and she was connected via phone to ME HERE :-) ,
    F) get her to see the laptop hotspot with her iphone, join the secured ICS network that had the VPN connection on it, setup skype on her iphone with my account, login and CALL ME BACK for free.

    Now, she has full access, people can reach out, they can make calls etc. (which is sort of necessary at the moment, lots going on) all for free and easily just walking around their hotel room with the iphone.

    I have to say, nearly 7000 miles away, my logmein connection to their computer in Dubai seemed no further away than it normally is in Chicago.

    Awesome!

  5. mrpacs

    05/13/2010 at 7:23 am

    Use Sugarsync instead of Dropbox; SS will actively/automatically back up & sync your selected files/folders.

  6. Joe

    05/13/2010 at 6:01 pm

    I use RDP Lite by Mochasoft ($FREE) to remote into my office and home computers when I’m on the road from my ipad.

    The program works great and hasn’t been recently updated for ipad. The full version is only $5.99.

  7. ChrisRS

    05/14/2010 at 10:33 am

    I do not have an iPad, but do use remote desktop (RDT) to run quickbooks on a computer in the office while I am on the road. This works OK. I assume RDT or LOGMEIN would work the same on an iPod. Depending on how well a specific appliaction ran, this would help reduce my desire for a full OS the iPod/Tablet.

    Just remenber, this is not a very green solution. You need to leave your office/home computer runnig.

  8. Computer Parts Dwight

    05/20/2010 at 5:30 am

    This seems similar to the one you can do from your Iphone.

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