Apple iPad is here

[kieMac]

I think enough to earn a merit badge 

[Nikos]

I think enough to earn a merit badge 

Not.

[Woz]

I decided to get one. I´ll let you know my experiences then...

[ryan1835]

If you can use a regular keyboard with it, that would help. The fact that it doesn't have handwriting recognition software is a disappointment.  It sounds like a large version of the itouch.

BTW namewise:  Islate would have been awesome.

the dock comes with a keyboard so yeah you can use it as a netbook pretty much

[Chako]

I might get one out of curiosity if the price isn't steep.

[GMArthur]

 I don't understand how you can put out a product that is mainly for online use and not have flash support. Not being able to watch netflix movies or harvest crops on farmville pretty much makes this thing handicapped in my opinion. I'm a happy ipod touch user and think it's great for music, email checking, and reading an ebook on the go, so I don't hate apple at all, but I just can't find any redeeming qualities in this product over a netbook. Maybe instead of iPad they should have just named it iNewton.

[Whoey]

without flash it's kind of iNewtered :p

[Styerman]

I suspect I will get one , probably not the first iteration . I like the idea of an intermediate device . Packing a full blown Laptop can be a PITA , an it's tuff to surf porn on an Iphone !

Chris

[Grant Lamontagne]

That's why I got my Netbook- 8.9" screen, 8 hour battery life.  It's a great little doodad.

Def

[Whoey]

The concept of an ipad is good, it's the lock down on software I don't agree with... there are other similar devices in development that look interesting:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/crunchpad-alive/

[Styerman]

I'm also thinking of getting a netbook , mostly for work apps . Not a biggie if it gets stolen or has coffee spilled on it . I don't wanna put a second operating system on my Mac , and dont want it stolen of drowned in coffee . I see the Ipad as being more for recreation/travel . The netbooks are basically biodegrable/throwaway computers , as such they are great .

Chris

[Mate]

look what i've found:    

[Pacu]

we got our pads in today for deployment this weekend sometime. I wanna play around with one.

[Woz]

So, it is on the market some days, did anyone get one? They are not available here till May/June, so I have to wait.

Oh, iPhone OS 4 will add multitask to the iPad, Apple announced that officially. So, in fall, we will see a multitask-iPad.
To be honest, based on the data on iPhone OS4 I guess I might wait a little longer and wait for the next iphone to compare it to the iPad. Multitask on an iPhone, larger screens (so they can add iBooks), longer runtime,... Maybe the next generation iPhones will be an iPad killer device?

[ryan1835]

ive been hearing ipads might be getting recalled due to there wifi being naff

haaaa at apple

im kind of annoyed actually ill get more people digging at me for having a mac  

[Pacu]

think i'd rather have an itouch...say 32gig or so just for portability.

those ipads are nice though..tv looks beautiful on them and it's damn snappy. we have been selling a donkey load of them.

[andre0407]

Not for me. The whole works come across as gimmicky.

[Woz]

The iPod touch is great, so is my iPhone 3G, but the iPad is still appealing. It is a new category of toys, and I LOVE toys 

[Pacu]

Everything Apple we display just feels high quality..like they put a lot of thought in their designs, materials and software. Their G4 G5 CPUs are real lookers. When you hold a touch it has just enough heft to not feel cheap. Ipods are well finished.

i just wish i could crack open a cpu without voiding the warranty .

[Whoey]

being able to crack it open is part of the fun...

[Chako]

How to print with your IPad?


http://www.pcworld.com/article/194341/the_apple_ipad_printing_secret.html


 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Def

[Whoey]

I honestly think there was a typo, and it was intended to be called the iPaid

[andre0407]

I honestly think there was a typo, and it was intended to be called the iPaid

  Good one there mate.

[Woz]

Delayed, once again. New European release date is the end of may/early june...
It reminds me on older times, when everyone knew: The Apple release date is just a joke, the actual product will be available some months later - I hate to wait, guess they will present iPhone 4G before the release the iPad here 

[eodtech]

I came across this review of the iPad today. I sold my MacBook laptop today and went and played with iPads at BestBuy. True they are new, a bit pricey ( it's an Apple ) but I know I will use it more often than my MacBook ( which I managed to sell for more than Ipaid for it 4 months ago ! ).  Time will tell, maybe I can get the boss to buy this for me also ?


I thought I would throw my 2 cents into the ring as to my impressions of the iPad now that I've had it for some time. Here are a few things to know about me before I proceed:

1. I have never owned an apple product before
2. My home computer is a HP with Windows 7 which I really love
3. I bought the 32GB, 3G model
4. I had a netbook that I had bought almost a year ago. I sold that to help cover a fraction of the costs of the iPad
5. I am rarely a first-mover for anything. I like to make smart purchases and that usually involves waiting for reviews of a potential purchase and watching its track record.

I'll just cut to the chase right off the bat and let you know that I have no regrets about my purchase. I like the iPad. It beats the crap out of my netbook (except for one aspect), and is superior to a laptop in my opinion as well. The only major issue I have with the device, particularly as it pertains to recommending it to others, is the price. I'm not sure that its value justifies the price. However I had the money to spend, and if money were not a concern, then I can't recommend this enough.

Let's touch on the bad points:

1. MS Office alternatives. I'll be blunt here, the apple products -- as well as the slightly inferior Office HD products -- feel like demos of the MS Office counterparts. I'll use Excel as an illustration of this. There was a file I wanted to import into the iPad from Excel 2007. The iPad did import the file, but cannot support the following: validation, pivot tables, filtering, named references, some formatting, some formulas, etc. I would describe myself as a power excel user, and the limitations of Numbers and Office HD is immediately notable. Taken on its own merits, Numbers is not that bad and does have a nice feel. But Excel it is not. And for only this reason do I think that netbooks and laptops have an advantage over the iPad. To put it another way, productivity software generally is best served on a desktop, and if you can live with the limitations of a mobile device, then the iPad is fine. But I would never replace my work notebook with an iPad.

2. Apps crash. Most apps do not crash. But many do. It's common enough that I'd say I get 3-4 crashes a week. To crash simply means the app stops working and you are returned to the home screen. There's no additional damage beyond that. And you can always just go back into the app that crashed. Still, it's annoying.

3. Multitasking. This will be fixed later this year, but for now it does limit the device. I don't use multitasking all that much, but there have been times when I would like two apps open at the same time (e.g. dictionary.com and Pages as I write).

Let's touch on the bad points others have mentioned that don't really matter at all:

1. Printing. Actually you can print. I have an app called Print Central. It allows me to print e-mails and images, and I believe files as well but I haven't used that functionality. My printer is connected to my router, and the iPad can send print jobs over wifi. Technically the printing is limited and you do have to close one app to get to the print app, but really, it's functional enough. By the way, if you hold onto the home button and then press the power button and release, it will take a screen print of whatever you are looking at. Print Central can then print that image. Nice.

2. USB port. I love USB ports, but you can move things to the iPad wirelessly, so who needs one? I use an app called Air Sharing HD. It allows you to see a drive on your desktop computer and you can move files back and forth that way (from that app only, not from other apps). As for as other apps, usually you can just e-mail documents to yourself to move your files. There really isn't that much file movement to do with an iPad, so this functionality is adequate.

3. A camera. Really? Really? Do you how many devices I have that have a camera? I'll pass on another one, thank you. I guess a camera would be cool for video conferencing, but I don't want to video conference. Isn't that the advantage of being on the phone, you don't have to worry about your looks!

I'm just going to touch on the good points, as covering them all will take too long.

1. Internet browser. Here's the deal, in order to get on the internet with my netbook, I needed to boot my computer, let it launch with anti-virus, and perhaps load any updates that came around since I booted up my netbook last. The result, it would take over 2 minutes to start browsing. Or to put it another way, I could just go upstairs to my desktop without the hastle. To launch from my iPad in stand-by mode? 4 seconds maybe, and that's assuming I have to reestablish the wifi connection. Browsing is great, and no, I don't miss flash. I don't generally watch video clips, so it isn't an issue for me.

2. Oh my, look at all those apps. I have 135 right now. Most are free. True, some apps I've only used once and may never go to again. But more than you would think are useful. And most apps have a "fun" element I just can't describe with words. In a way, that's the best part of the iPad, it's just plain fun.

3. iBooks. I got rid of my eReader. I loved my eReader, but iBooks is fine. My main concern had been the back lighting, but set to it's lowest levels in the dark it works great does not appear to be straining my eyes. My light for my sony reader would have a glare which was worse than the back lighting, or would leave patches too dark. Most classic works are free, and the built-in dictionary allows me to look up words without losing the flow of the story. I mocked iBooks when I first learned of it. No more.

4. Games. Let's be honest. The iPad does not compete with Desktop computers, PS3s, or XBOX 360s. It just does not have the graphical oomph or complexity to hang with the big boys. But this device does hold its own with the DS and the PSP. In fact, the difference between the PSP and the iPad for games is that I actually use the iPad. From what I know about the DS, that device is probably the best handheld gamer on the market, but the iPad holds its own.

In conclusion, if price and productivity are not that important to you, the iPad is a must buy. It doesn't feel like a first mover product, it feels like a mature device, albeit still waiting for enough "killer apps" of its own, but it can borrow from the iPhone and do just fine for now. Some will decry my critique about productivity on the device, that it's just fine for the work they do. I am sure this is true. For me, there is no replacement for the desktop computer, and the extent I will use the iPad for productivity (writing, spreadsheets) will be as starters for stuff I will finish on my desktop. But don't get sidetracked on this issue. I didn't use the net book for productivity either, and thus the iPad has replaced that device with no regrets.

http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-general-discussions/3591-thoughts-ipad-three-weeks-later.html

[Whoey]

it's a nice toy... I can think of other necessities I'd rather have first, such as a multi disk network storage device to offload some harddrives and load off the 3 desktops in the house, as well as a good backup solution. More ram for my desktop, 3gb has been nice, but I'm finding it's time to make the leap to x64 bit OS and some virtual machines and productivity apps are a lot more demanding...

I know I'm not sold on any mac product, while in general they seem solid, this is only partially true, as pointed out in the review. I give it 6 months and there will either be a plethora of alternatives or something even better... and the prices might be more reasonable. I don't think the ipad style of device replaces a laptop, but rather it's a more convenient type of netbook... (didn't they claim netbook popularity would die in 6 months? oops)

it would be a great toy for sofa surfing while watching tv... if only it had flash support as well...

[Grant Lamontagne]

My netbook, which runs Linux rather than Windows (although I have thought about installing Windows as a dual boot) actually is booted up in 15 seconds and online in 20.  He must be referring to a Windows netbook, which would take longer.

Video is such an integrated part of a web browsing experience that I doubt I'd want to give it up.  In fact, I watch videos on my SmartPhone, and I'd hate to pay iPad kind of money for something that will be outperformed by my HTC Touch, which is somewhat outdated by the current generation of phones.

Air Sharing is nice I am sure, but I have a lot of data that I carry around and transfer via thumb drives- USB is a must for me.

iBooks sounds interesting- I currently have e-reader and MS Reader installed on my phone, and I use both quite often.  I'd be interested to know if iBooks supports .lit files, which is (or was) a MS Reader only format, and which I have quite a few of.  True I could convert them, but that's another step, when I am more likely to carry my phone with me than some relatively large device.

In short, I am interested in the iPad for what it is, but I don't see myself jumping on the iPad bandwagon.

Def

[Whoey]

the latest in bad ideas:

http://www.steering-wheel-ipad.com/index.html

 

[ryan1835]

but it doesn't distract you a bit reading whilst driving