Anyone getting an iPad?

[disneyholic family]

for those of you who already have one, does the lack of flash affect the browsing experience?

 

[gkrykewy]

for those of you who already have one, does the lack of flash affect the browsing experience?

For the most part, no, since most sites are not flash based. Youtube videos work, even embedded in forum threads and the like.

The browsing experience is honestly glorious - it's the best part of the device.

 

[whodini]

for those of you who already have one, does the lack of flash affect the browsing experience?

Very rarely. Most of the big sites that use it for streaming video have converted over to the HTML5/H.264 model. Occasionally I'll click on a link from Twitter or Facebook and come to a site that doesn't work without Flash. Of course, even if the Flash "worked" you probably couldn't use the application anyway, especially if it relied on rollovers or moving items around. I've come across a few sites, like Kayak, that have AJAX based sliders that technically work, but you can't actually drag them on the iPad.

The lack of camera doesn't bother me either. I doubt that I'd use a back facing camera to snap photos. A front facing camera, while widely requested, doesn't make sense to me either. Would you really hold the iPad perfectly on your face for a 20 minute Skype call? Even if you put it in some type of holder, it would have to be adjustable to find the right angle. I can never seem to find the right angle on the webcam on my laptop, and that has 3 different pivot points.

 

[donalduck]

I really don't think the iPad and IPod Touch are the same. Yes they share a similar interface, but the experience is much different. The iPad feels like a real computer to a certain extent. The amazingly sharp and vibrant screen is easily viewed and doesn't require much zooming on most web pages, which the iPod definitely does require. The speed of the iPad is much greater than the Touch. It loads web pages as fast as my MacBook Pro. And it just feels comfortable to read — again due to the size and quality of the screen. So to me, the iPad is a different creature even if it shares a similar pedigree, just like a lion is different than a house cat. Yea, both are cats, but one is big and powerful and can take down a gazelle. The other is sweet and cuddly and can lap up a bowl of milk.

It's the same thing as an ipod touch only bigger. My ipod touch loads webpages fast. It has all the same things as an ipod touch does. So if you have an ipod touch already you are wasting your money if you buy an I PAD. If you don't have either of them then I would buy the IPAD because it's bigger.

 

[CR88]

The new OS being capable of multitasking is a huge plus, but as much as I love the new shiny Apple products I still don't think I am ready for it yet in its current configuration. I really want one, but just can't justify the cost. I remember buying an ipod when it first came out and wish I would have waited. The next version addressed a bunch of issues and I was stuck having to sell the 1st gen one on e-bay for what I could get out of it and buy a new one, then another new one, then another. As a side note, I was speaking with a friend who works at a local big box store, who is also an Apple fan. He said that he has never seen a product with so many returns. We are about an hour or so from Chicago and down the street from The University of Notre Dame and Indiana University so you would expect decent 3G coverage, but 3G coverage from At&T is really bad out here. Maybe that is the reason for the high rate of returns. I do think that future versions will be FANTASTIC, but I really think Jobs just threw this thing out to make quick sales with fans who will buy anything with an "i" on front of its name. One thing to consider is that the iPad's back lit IPS LED display is not that good for extended e-reading, which is one of the reasons I wanted it. The Kindle and other true e-readers use a different technology, e-ink, that is much better for reading and easier on the eyes. As a music and media player, I already have my Touch and Blackberry, and as a computer, it doesn't have USB, a media card reader and it can't keep up with my Macbook Pro, so I am not sure why I would spend $600 for "better" mobile web browsing, movie watching and games.

For those who want to use the iPad on a non AT&T 3G network I would suggest considering the WIFI version and looking into a Cradlepoint Personal Hotspot adapter. You can connect it to most smart phones regardless of carrier. You would then get a personal mobile WIFI hotspot for you to connect your iPad, Touch, PSP, Macbook or any other WIFI device. You would also have better performance and more data for the money, but the best thing is that you wouldn't be tied to AT&T's service. Many Blackberries and other smart phones can function as high speed modems so for as little as $10-$15 a month (Verizon) you can get 5 gigs of data. Much better than AT&T's plans and saves you $150 off the purchase price. Besides 3G will become obsolete within the next year or so when 4G (LTE) comes out (both AT&T and Verizon said they will migrate over from 2G/3G to LTE by 2011), then you could still use your WIFI version and get 4G speeds. Plus a lot of the future phones (4G+) that are in development will have their own personal WIFI hotspots built in. Just a thought.

 

[whodini]

For those who want to use the iPad on a non AT&T 3G network I would suggest considering the WIFI version and looking into a Cradlepoint Personal Hotspot adapter.

I ordered one from Amazon yesterday and should get it tomorrow. I have a bunch of travel coming up and am going to try and not bring my laptop, just my iPad, iPhone and BB to tether to the Cradlepoint. It's not so much the AT&T network as it is the extra $140 plus $30/month. The great thing about the Cradlepoint is that it will work with almost any phone that tethers or USB modem. So you could go to someone like Cricket or Virgin Mobile and get one of their Pay-As-You-Go plans if you only need wireless for short amount - say, a few days at WDW.

 

[simmons_m]

Sending this from my iPad.
1month in, and I still have not traveled without my laptop. However, I have not open my laptop on a plane since I picked up my iPad.
My iPod touch gets minimal use these days. Web browsing, email, video and pictures all look great on the iPad. I wish numbers would export into excel, and wish pages would let you track changes. Once that happens, I should be able to leave my laptop at home.
iPad wish list.
Wifi tether to my htc incredible
Numbers supporting excel output
Pages support to track changes
Multitasking
Flash support

The top one is not apple driven, but it is still on my wish list.

I am still amazed by the battery life and the display.

 

[gkrykewy]

Sweet, printing capabilities are officially on the way!

 

[simmons_m]

gkrykewy,
Thank you for the WaterField Designs recommendation. The folks at WF were excited to hear about how I found them, and thank you as well. I checked out the slip case, and decided to purchase the Ultimate Case.
http://sfbags.com/products/ipad-cases/sleevecases-ipad.php
I received the case this afternoon, and i am very happy with it. The quality is very good.
With your connection to Steve, can you put in a good word for an update to Numbers & Pages?
Best,
Mike

 

[spaddy]

I won an ipad last week!!!! I was not going to buy one. I thought it was just a big ipad touch which I already have. I didn't want to like it but I do. I have been watching the ABC shows on the new ipad app and it is awesome!!! The battery life seems to be incredible. My son spent at least 3 hours on it watching movies and playing games and only lost 20% battery power.

It's been 2 weeks and I still love the iPad. I think I like it even more after traveling last week. Between 2 flights and a train ride i watched 2.5 of TV, a 1.5 hour movie and read 1/2 a book on the Kindle app and I still had more than 50% left on the battery. Just the movie alone would have eaten through most of my laptop.
Best apps so far are MLB 2010 and We Rule.

You like the MLB 2010? My husband is not happy about having to buy it again for the iPad since we already purchased it for the iphone. I think we are just going to do it.

Has anyone tried out any of the 3rd party cases yet? Found one you love?
Most of the ones I've seen are just the type you slip in and out. I've got the Apple one, and while it's OK and gets the job done, I don't love it.

+ Thin
+ The feature that allows you to prop it up like a keyboard
- The outside gets dirty really easy and is difficult to clean
- Dust and pet hair always get trapped under the edges

I am also looking for a case. I am thinking about ordering on from ivyskin, but I can't decide. My 5 year old will be using it sometimes and I want it to be well protected. I was going to buy the apple case but they were all sold out. I would love to have an opinion if anyone has a case that they like that protects even when you are using it.

 

[gkrykewy]

I would love to have an opinion if anyone has a case that they like that protects even when you are using it.

Look into the macally bookstand case.

 

[yitbos96bb]

The isn't going to go down. Look at the IPOD touch how long has that been out for. The one for 500 is 16gb that should be enough space. It's up to you though. If it was me I would just get the one for 500.

Maybe... but remember, the original iphone dropped in price fairly quickly after launch. Of course the iPad is selling very well right now and its biggest upcoming competitor, the HP Slate, got cancelled. The next big tablet will probably be an Android tablet, so we might see a drop around then. Also, I believe the price of ipod TOuch dropped between Gen 1 and 2, although I can't remember 100%.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Very rarely. Most of the big sites that use it for streaming video have converted over to the HTML5/H.264 model. Occasionally I'll click on a link from Twitter or Facebook and come to a site that doesn't work without Flash. Of course, even if the Flash "worked" you probably couldn't use the application anyway, especially if it relied on rollovers or moving items around. I've come across a few sites, like Kayak, that have AJAX based sliders that technically work, but you can't actually drag them on the iPad.

The lack of camera doesn't bother me either. I doubt that I'd use a back facing camera to snap photos. A front facing camera, while widely requested, doesn't make sense to me either. Would you really hold the iPad perfectly on your face for a 20 minute Skype call? Even if you put it in some type of holder, it would have to be adjustable to find the right angle. I can never seem to find the right angle on the webcam on my laptop, and that has 3 different pivot points.

There is an iPad Kayak App if you haven't seen it and like Kayak. It works nicely.

I agree with this... Lack of flash rarely affects me. Most of the sites I visit either have an HTML5 version or have an app (like Netflix). Occasionally there will be a video link or a site I can't browse, but for the most part it is never anything essential.

Personally, I prefer the long battery life to having Flash.

 

[simmons_m]

The battery life is amazing.
I just ordered Ghost Armor to protect the device while outside of the case. I'll provide feedback once i receive it and install it.
Has anyone installed this product?
Mike

 

[yitbos96bb]

Sending this from my iPad.
1month in, and I still have not traveled without my laptop. However, I have not open my laptop on a plane since I picked up my iPad.
My iPod touch gets minimal use these days. Web browsing, email, video and pictures all look great on the iPad. I wish numbers would export into excel, and wish pages would let you track changes. Once that happens, I should be able to leave my laptop at home.
iPad wish list.
Wifi tether to my htc incredible
Numbers supporting excel output
Pages support to track changes
Multitasking
Flash support

The top one is not apple driven, but it is still on my wish list.

I am still amazed by the battery life and the display.

Agreed on the Numbers thing... I'm not sure why you can't export to XLS... in the Mac version you can, but on the ipad version its just numbers and pdf. Hope they fix that.

If your HTC can turn itself into a hotspot (I do this with my jailbroken iphone), then you can do a tether, otherwise, I wouldn't hold my breath of the Wifi ipad tethering to anything.

Multitasking will be here in the fall.

I doubt we will see Flash on here. Maybe if Adobe fixes Flash, shrinks its footprint, and optimizes it for a mobile platform. And then its still a big maybe. Don't fret... the more ipads get sold, the more sites that will make an HTML5 version.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Look into the macally bookstand case.

I have an InCase one that works well too.

 

[Shan-man]

I'm loving my iPad! Just got it a couple of days ago and can't hardly put it down. Formerly I put in a vote to have e-ticket ported to the Android platform... Now all I want is a iPad version that takes advantage of the screen size (and switches to landscape). I got the wifi version since we have an Overdrive (4G air card and wifi router that fits in your shirt pocket!) but am really longing for gps now.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I'm loving my iPad! Just got it a couple of days ago and can't hardly put it down. Formerly I put in a vote to have e-ticket ported to the Android platform... Now all I want is a iPad version that takes advantage of the screen size (and switches to landscape). I got the wifi version since we have an Overdrive (4G air card and wifi router that fits in your shirt pocket!) but am really longing for gps now.

Motion X GPS is supposed to be good. It's #2 on the paid apps list and goes for $2.99. I haven't used it but it has 95 reviews and 4.5 stars out of 5.

 

[Shan-man]

Motion X GPS is supposed to be good. It's #2 on the paid apps list and goes for $2.99. I haven't used it but it has 95 reviews and 4.5 stars out of 5.

Unfortunately, unless it uses an external gps unit (like Bluetooth) then I cannot use it. And I haven't found anyway to use a Bluetooth gps with the iPad yet.

 

[simmons_m]

It is not as accurate as true gps, but if you turn location services on your iPad, it should be able to determine your location using your wireless network. This works with both my home network connection and my mifi hotspot. This works with the map app on the iPad.

Android 2.2 is expected to launch on Wednesday, which should bring wifi tethering to android devices. Now I hope Verizon provides an update to the incredible.

Although I can use my mifi, it will be nice to have the flexibility of just using my phone if needed.