iPad: any experience?
- Thread starter Santilli
- Start date
Stereodude
Not really a
Well, you won't catch me buying one...
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Today, iPad's protection jackets appeared on my price lists. So the toy must be fairly easy to scratch.
ddrueding
Fixture
I'm responsible for the support of over a dozen of them. The user is happy or not along a very clear line:
Happy: Surfing, reading, games, music. Mostly from home.
Unhappy: Trying to do office/laptop stuff with it, trying to carry it around regularly.
Happy: Surfing, reading, games, music. Mostly from home.
Unhappy: Trying to do office/laptop stuff with it, trying to carry it around regularly.
It is a device for content consumption and it is very nice for that, I use mine every day.
Any sort of development or creation is going to range from mildly annoying to nearly impossible. It isn't ready to replace a computer in even the most computer lite homes as it still needs something to synch with and even get it activated when bought new.
In the end it is just an iPod touch / iPhone with a really big screen and some apps designed to take advantage of that big screen which is nice but it really doesn't do more than these devices. Actually with no cameras it is a little less but that will change soon.
Any sort of development or creation is going to range from mildly annoying to nearly impossible. It isn't ready to replace a computer in even the most computer lite homes as it still needs something to synch with and even get it activated when bought new.
In the end it is just an iPod touch / iPhone with a really big screen and some apps designed to take advantage of that big screen which is nice but it really doesn't do more than these devices. Actually with no cameras it is a little less but that will change soon.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
A couple of my customers have them, and so does my ex. My ex doesn't like hers because she thought it was going to be a functional tablet with a functional web browser, just something that would be less hassle for security stuff. It doesn't have Flash, which restricts some of her web browsing and generally pisses her off, and it's not good for doing any kind of useful data input, which makes it very limited for general purpose computing tasks like sending email longer than a couple sentences.
My customers who have them and like them just wanted an iphone with a bigger screen, and that's exactly what they have.
My customers who have them and like them just wanted an iphone with a bigger screen, and that's exactly what they have.
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2002
- Messages
- 5,207
HMMM.
Tried to install firefox: no joy. Seems Safari either blocks it, or, no version for the maxipad.
Good stuff:
People with big fingers now have a phone they can use.
Anyone know what the data package through AT&S... costs?
Screen longevity, since you can't clean it with anything, except a kleenex and water?
Have to check on the flash feature today with the newer model. That's kind of a big deal for me, on a 500 dollar phone.
I kind of know already that it's Apple, which means normal stuff I do with a PC is going to suck, and, I'm going to be a hater.
Overall, however, I did setup Facebook, general surfing was ok with Safari, internet connection and WIFI stuff was easy, and, even my GF managed to do it. The processor seems well matched to the work load, and, much better then my Nokia 5230.
I like the touchscreen being able to change resolution by the two finger expansion.
With the touch screen, what planet do you have to be from to type on it, quickly????
Tried to install firefox: no joy. Seems Safari either blocks it, or, no version for the maxipad.
Good stuff:
People with big fingers now have a phone they can use.
Anyone know what the data package through AT&S... costs?
Screen longevity, since you can't clean it with anything, except a kleenex and water?
Have to check on the flash feature today with the newer model. That's kind of a big deal for me, on a 500 dollar phone.
I kind of know already that it's Apple, which means normal stuff I do with a PC is going to suck, and, I'm going to be a hater.
Overall, however, I did setup Facebook, general surfing was ok with Safari, internet connection and WIFI stuff was easy, and, even my GF managed to do it. The processor seems well matched to the work load, and, much better then my Nokia 5230.
I like the touchscreen being able to change resolution by the two finger expansion.
With the touch screen, what planet do you have to be from to type on it, quickly????
try atomic browser, excellent browser.
This is the good news, 250 MB of data for 30 days for $14.99. There is a 2gb plan for something like $30. Start and stop when you want in the device, no calls need be made to customer service. There is even a web page to do it in now.
I don't clean it but I do have a screen protector. Wipe it with my sleeve if I get something on it and that's it.
There is a special browser for flash that is a paid app, only does video so you can't get menus etc which IMO is a plus. Myself I just do without, not bad at all.
I adapted, not that bad but nowhere near as good as touch typing. Did this whole post on it.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Does ios have Skyfire? Skyfire is what my Windows Mobile phone used to get Flash support.
That new thing that just launched seems to have a good buzz about it. I missed the event but there is news fallout everywhere.
They really just haven't figured out the tablet OS thing yet. A big cell phone is a start but it needs to do much more.
They really just haven't figured out the tablet OS thing yet. A big cell phone is a start but it needs to do much more.
ddrueding
Fixture
The Android 3 tablets should start showing up at the end of the month.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Still within the return date? It's not really a phone (unless paired with Skype and 3G always on network connection). The ipad 2 is apparently already in production.
The new hardware they are talking about is probably the Motorola Xoom (which may be as much as $800). The Galaxy Tab is a dip of the Samsung toe in the water, wait for Android 3.0 there.
Will Rickards
Storage Is My Life
The HP (Palm) tablet looked nice. I'm not sure I would pick that over android though.
Sol
Storage is cool
I bought myself a nook color to use for viewing photos on holidays... I like it, but I don't have a huge list of things I'll use it for. At $250US I'm O.K with that, for the price of a Galaxy Tab, iPad or Xoom I wouldn't be. Plus I can run Android 3.0 on the NC now which is kind of cool. (It's not 100% stable but it's perfectly usable)
The Xoom is just flat out too expensive, it was true of the Galaxy Tab and sales of that appear to have been pretty dismal. It looks like Asus will be releasing an almost identical tablet (no 3G data but who wants another plan anyway when you can use wifi and your phone) for about half the price not long after the release of the Xoom.
The RIM playbook could be cool, but I suspect that some of the really handy Android apps probably won't run in their VM and for some reason I have a feeling that it will also be too expensive.
The Xoom is just flat out too expensive, it was true of the Galaxy Tab and sales of that appear to have been pretty dismal. It looks like Asus will be releasing an almost identical tablet (no 3G data but who wants another plan anyway when you can use wifi and your phone) for about half the price not long after the release of the Xoom.
The RIM playbook could be cool, but I suspect that some of the really handy Android apps probably won't run in their VM and for some reason I have a feeling that it will also be too expensive.
ddrueding
Fixture
Not very long, IIRC.
2 addressed the things I was concerned about, mostly speed and bulk/weight. Rumors are flying that 3 is going to be this year and a big step up. I also liked hearing that 4.3 had mobile safari speed improvements which will be really nice to get for free.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
As an aside, Barnes and Noble is selling Color Nooks on Ebay for $200 right now.
Looks like Apple may have copied a similar design for the new cover.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Another ithing:
My customer who has bought into the ilifestyle in a big way tells me that he consistently has problems connecting or losing connections to Linksys, Netgear and Trendnet APs or routers with his ipads, iphones and ipods. He says his Windows machines are fine.
I just set up a Trendnet TEW-690AP for his office. Now he's telling me he wants all his wireless crap replaced with Airports because Apple told him that would help.
ithing owners, have you noticed these problems?
My customer who has bought into the ilifestyle in a big way tells me that he consistently has problems connecting or losing connections to Linksys, Netgear and Trendnet APs or routers with his ipads, iphones and ipods. He says his Windows machines are fine.
I just set up a Trendnet TEW-690AP for his office. Now he's telling me he wants all his wireless crap replaced with Airports because Apple told him that would help.
ithing owners, have you noticed these problems?
Actually i have seen some talk of that in macrumors merc. I think the key question is are his ios versions up to date? There were some problems on older versions. Other than that i think a forget and relearn could be in order.
Personally i havent had an issue with my 3com office connect and linksys/netgear are on my do not buy list.
Personally i havent had an issue with my 3com office connect and linksys/netgear are on my do not buy list.
I can only speak for an iPhone 3GS and my girlfriends iPod touch (2nd gen). We connect via wifi (WPA 2) using my dlink dir 665 (that SD hates) and I've never noticed a dropped connection on either device. She also has a blackberry which uses it without problems.
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2002
- Messages
- 5,207
My girlfriend was using her's last night, on 3g, watching surf stuff off www.surfline.com
with no problems.
Also, seems we've got it setup so she enjoys it.
with no problems.
Also, seems we've got it setup so she enjoys it.
I believe Merc was asking specifically about WiFi connectivity, not 3G.
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
I have a WRT54GL at home and have never had any noticeable problem. That said I am not on it for half hours at a time. Signal strength issue?
Maybe this has been brought up before but I just got an 802.11n router at home and have learned that iP4 will only connect at 2.4GHz. Not really a problem for me but some bloggers were annoyed about it.
Santilli
Hairy Aussie
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2002
- Messages
- 5,207
Isn't that the same speed as most wireless phones?
Most cordless phones operate at 1.9GHz nowadays, though there are some old 2.4 and 5.8GHz sets in people's homes. However, the speed (bit rate) does not relate to the frequency. I think WI-FI has much greater bandwitdth.
True, some of the ios devices have n but they dont have the higher frequency lower power frequency bands. It is annoying because the battery life on wifi could be much better. Funny thing is i think the chip they use has the capability but they chose not to impliment it.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
My customer replaced his high-end Trendnet stuff with a Airport Extremes. Not only were his 802.11 connection drops even worse for his icrap, he also lost a lot of range.
I love it when Apple is wrong.
I love it when Apple is wrong.
He has to experience it first hand to realize why it wasn't worth using their equipment for wifi. Maybe there is some issue with baby monitors or other interference in the area. Didn't you have an issue not too long ago with someone's baby monitor causing you drops?
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Yes, but that's not his problem. Certainly not in his office, which has no competing 2.4GHz signals unless someone happens to be using a Microwave.
The issue isn't interference. Non-Apple devices aren't having these connection drops, even when they're being used within a couple feet of one another.
iThing forums apparently have lots of threads about this. They're saying that the best thing to ameliorate the issue is to disable encryption. If that's really the issue, I would think that Apple would address it with a quickness.
What specific Apple product are you trying to support? I've not had any issue with either of the two wifi-capable apple devices when using WPA2 encryption. I'm connected with 802.11G, not N. Both devices only support up to G, so maybe they need to work on their N implementation if that's what you're trying to support?
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
I just started using WPA2 over G with my new Netgear. I'm even (temporarily) going through an additional floor. No problems in the last week or so. I small range reduction but I'm attributing that to the change from larger external antennas.