Do you love your iPad?

[j_alexandra]

I think I need one. I'd like to hear from current users. Do you have issues with wifi access, have you been able to use Skype, how is it as a magazine reader? A book reader? Do you take it into the practice room and use it as a learning tool? Are you in love with the available covers? Is there a must-have accessory? Is it possible to use a mobile broadband chip (i.e., is there a usb port?)

Is it the coolest toy ever, or just something else expensive to break?

 

[Peaches]

I will refer dh to you in a couple of weeks but... From what I can see from playing a bit with one, it's like a large print version of an iPod touch...and I don't know how I lived without my iPod touch. I only wish I didn't have to rely on wifi.

 

[Subliminal]

Would love to hear about this too. Thinking about either an iPad or a full blown laptop as my next device.

 

[MidwestDancingGuy]

Would love to hear about this too. Thinking about either an iPad or a full blown laptop as my next device.

Depends on your needs. If you want to use it to do e-mail, calendar, web browsing, PDF document reading, note-taking, Skype/FaceTime (video chatting only with iPad 2, of course), and posting on DF :raisebro:, then iPad 2 will probably be great for you. Heavy duty uses (writing a dissertation, journal paper, annual report, programming, graphics/audio/movie editing, etc. etc. etc.) will still need to be done on a real computer. But you might be surprised how much of our daily compute time falls under the capabilities of iPads.

For any of you who watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, or any of the Star Trek series that followed, think of the iPad (or Xoom, or PlayBook, or any other slate device being released these days) as being used like one of the PADDs in the show, where any of the characters who needed anything more heavy duty still went and sat down at a console on the ship's computer. (Okay, somehow I'm starting to feel like this post could go in the Geeks thread.)

(

... is there a usb port?)

Yes, j_alex, there is a USB port, but it is Apple's long, flat, 30-pin connector, not the standard rectangular ones that you're usually used to seeing on computers. Which means that you'll find yourself buying a lot of USB adapters if you want to connect to other devices, like a projector or HD television.)

 

[flashdance]

Yes, j_alex, there is a USB port, but it is Apple's long, flat, 30-pin connector, not the standard rectangular ones that you're usually used to seeing on computers. Which means that you'll find yourself buying a lot of USB adapters if you want to connect to other devices, like a projector or HD television.)

Didn't realise there was a USB port on them (even though it's non standard!). That will certainly help things...

 

[pygmalion]

I love Apple, in theory, but, IRL, not so much. IMO, Apple needs to get a few steps ahead and change the game for the next generation of devices. Everything that is currently standardized is Microsoft, which makes Apple a PITB, through no fault of their own.


I've been thinking of getting a xoom.

 

[TangoRocks]

I think I need one. I'd like to hear from current users. Do you have issues with wifi access, have you been able to use Skype, how is it as a magazine reader? A book reader? Do you take it into the practice room and use it as a learning tool? Are you in love with the available covers? Is there a must-have accessory? Is it possible to use a mobile broadband chip (i.e., is there a usb port?)

Is it the coolest toy ever, or just something else expensive to break?

I don't have an iPad but I have friends who have it so I have seen it in action. The biggest shortcoming of an iPad, and the reason I would be reluctant to buy it, would be the fact that it does not (and if Steve Jobs is going to have his way, will never) support Adobe Flash. Now, I am as annoyed with badly built flash-enabled websites as Steve Jobs is, but it is a simple fact that MOST sites use flash for one thing or another, and if you need to be able to surf the internet on your tablet device, an iPad would not be the best choice. There are enough websites that are flash-only that it would be counterproductive if your iPad is going to be a replacement for your netbook/laptop.

As for using it as an ebook reader, as long as you do not intend to use it in bright sunlight, it should be fine--under artificial light, ie indoors in an office environment, the iPad was pretty good with ebooks. However, if you want to read a book under any conditions, an e-ink based reader like the Amazon Kindle would be my suggestion (and yes, bias here, I love my Kindle, however, there are other e-ink based readers, from Sony etc, that work similarly as well.)

 

[j_alexandra]

Thanks, all, for the input. I decided to take the plunge, then found out there's a 3-4 week wait for the iPad 2.

sigh. So much for that bout of immediate gratification!

 

[pygmalion]

Bummer.

 

[Peaches]

Preliminary report from DH: t'is awesome.

A very minor pita to get started. (Had to wait until we got home to get Lappy to then load iTunes under his login, and then had to go through the registration blah blah before things would work. I should have opened the box and gotten it set up for him before I gave it to him.) The process itself, though, was rather easy. Initial report--very easy to use, very good display, and hella awesome built in camera/video recording. Con: the stupid power cord needs to be longer.

From my standpoint, I'm happy to have my laptop back. I don't know that I'd want to go to only having an iPad (t'would make posting a bit more difficult, what with the soft keys and whatnot), but methinks the combination of a laptop and the iPad is a good one. Both needs met and so forth. (FTR DH also has a desktop, for gaming and business purposes.) It seems like a fantastic "computer" for taking on travel, for personal/entertainment purposes. The size and weight make it very convenient.

Recent quote: "Ohhh...this thing is sweet!"

 

[pygmalion]

Soft keys?

 

[TangoRocks]

Soft keys?

On-screen keyboard, touch-screen. Me, I can use touch screens to replace the mouse, easily (do so on my cellphone) but they will have to pry my physical keyboard out off my cold, dead hands, lol...

(Then again a lot of iPad users seem to go out and buy bluetooth keyboards for their toy, so...)

 

[pygmalion]

Obut they will have to pry my physical keyboard out off my cold, dead hands, lol...

Amen to this, which is why I have a Droid Pro -- the only one my cell company offered that has an actual keyboard.

 

[Ray Sison]

I don't have one yet, but I read today that tablets like iPads are beginning to (or will begin) to outsell laptops...

 

[Lioness]

Preliminary report from DH: t'is awesome.

A very minor pita to get started. (Had to wait until we got home to get Lappy to then load iTunes under his login, and then had to go through the registration blah blah before things would work. I should have opened the box and gotten it set up for him before I gave it to him.) The process itself, though, was rather easy. Initial report--very easy to use, very good display, and hella awesome built in camera/video recording. Con: the stupid power cord needs to be longer.

From my standpoint, I'm happy to have my laptop back. I don't know that I'd want to go to only having an iPad (t'would make posting a bit more difficult, what with the soft keys and whatnot), but methinks the combination of a laptop and the iPad is a good one. Both needs met and so forth. (FTR DH also has a desktop, for gaming and business purposes.) It seems like a fantastic "computer" for taking on travel, for personal/entertainment purposes. The size and weight make it very convenient.

Recent quote: "Ohhh...this thing is sweet!"

I've only played with DP's iPad...and my favourite thing by far is the game Fruit Ninja. Stress relief ahoy!