I want replace my desktop with a iPad to do emails and Microsoft office work. Can this be effectively done? What's the downside if any?

Question

I want replace my desktop with a iPad to do emails and Microsoft office work. Can this be effectively done? What's the downside if any?

Answer 1

I'll go down your list one by one.
1. Access mail - which I know that the iPad can do.
Enough said.
2. Save an excel or word or ppt of PDF attachment for review.
You can view these types of documents natively on the iPad as Tgara has mentioned.
3. Open an review and maybe change a excel or word file.
There are many apps that allow this.  I personally prefer Apples iWork programs, Pages, Numbers, Keynote.  They tightly integrate with iCloud.
4. Resave such above files.
With Pages, Number, Keynote you can save/resave files in iCloud and locally.  Also you could use dropbox to save your files on dropbox and provide a way for you to share a folder with coworkers/family and they can add/view/review files from there and you can see the changes on your device.
5. Reply to a mail attaching a file.
This is possible in many ways.  From dropbox, or another app you can email files with the share button.
6. Be able to rename files and store them in specific folders.
This goes back to dropbox/iCloud.  iOS doesn't really have a traditional file system.  If you save a PDF it isn't saved anywhere you can just open it.  You would have to open an app that supports view PDFs and select the PDF you wish to view.  The same goes for documents, spreadsheets and etc.
Hopefully this helps answer your questions.