Before the Ipad came out, I was seriously considering getting a Netbook. I already have a Laptop and Desktop at home. Waiting for the Ipad 3g to come out and considering to buy the 64gb one. Have read reviews that all the Ipad is is a glorified Iphone. It no where compares to a netbook and a lot of people have been disappointed. I know it's not going to be like a laptop but I am looking to use it for school (word processing and such) as well as entertainment and personal use! Before I spring for $800 should I wait for something better or just go for it?? I hate being the guinny pig when something new comes out and spend soo much money on something where a year later a better one is out! Any adivice?
I have had this thing 'up on a pedestal' for months. After using it for five days, I should be disappointed at the lack of iChat, etc. I'm NOT!!!
I would have bought a Verizon Subsidized VAIO P in November '09, but they never released it.
I am very happy that I didn't.
One unpublished missing feature: there is no Vibrate when muted...
Well, I guess what you really need to focus on are things similar to what I've focussed on.
Is there anything you do on your iTouch/Phone (assuming you have one) that made you wish you had something bigger to do it on? My answer is yes. I read a lot, and I utilise Kindle and the books from the App Store on my iTouch - I'd like a bigger screen for this. Do you have similar issues? Maybe you like to watch movies? I don't, but that doesn't mean others do.
As for Word Processing, I've asked myself the same question. My expectations of the iPad aren't high in this area. But at the same time, all I really need is something ultra portable that I can present my ideas on before importing it onto my PC or Mac for serious editing. In this case, I think the iPad will fit the bill. I have preservations about the actual on-screen keyboard though. I feel that typing with it may not be as fluid as I'd like to believe it will be. Will it be cumbersome to use? Is it something I could deal with since I'm not planning on doing anything too serious on it? Would I be better off lugging my MacBook Pro to work to fill in this gap during my breaks and such? My answer is "no" to the latter. I feel the iPad will work for the light use I intend to use it for, and a netbook is a waste of money when I can get a full-blown 13" laptop and MacBook that will do much more.
Keep in mind that I am not a Mac lover. I do not feel that Apple is superior to Microsoft, and I do not feel that Microsoft is superior to Apple. I even use Linux to fill in certain gaps that neither of the other systems offer. I neither feel that either system is surperior to the other and I like them all equally, and I use them for different things. Personally, I do not feel a netbook would suffice for what I expect from an iPad. On this particular issue, I feel the iPad may offer more for what I intend to use it for. On the other hand, I do not feel, nor do I expect that the iPad will come anywhere close to my laptop or MacBook Pro. But do I need something that powerful for what I intend to use it for.
Hmm,....Thank you Kreme for your imput and things to think about! I guess it all depends on what you are looking for and if it fits your usage needs or not! This will actually be the first Apple Product I will be purchasing (besides my Iphone of course) since I have always had Microsoft products. With the Ipad, is there a way of backing up data, pics and such in case of a crash and/or a reformatting so that you don't lose all your material? That might be the deal breaker for me!
Yes!
Your sync with iTunes will back up photos, applications, music, videos, contacts, and calendars. If you get a MobileMe account you can sync many of these 'over-the-air' without iTunes.
The iPad, I believe, is still fairly linked to being regulated by iTunes. If it's anything like the iTouch, you will not be able to retrieve music or movies from it unless you utilise third party software, which may or may not always be reliable.
As for photos, I would assume if you took them with your iPad, you should be able to email them to yourself at the very least. At the very best, there may be a way to sync them to your computer. Someone that uses an iPad for that purpose would be able to answer your question better than me since the iPad isn't available in my Country yet.
Apps, I would asume, should back up in the same manner as they do with iTouch through iTunes. But data is another question. Again, at the very least, emailing your data should work, and again, at the very best, the App itself, may offer a syncing option. Syncing is more or less up to the individual developers of the App though, I believe.
The best way to think of the iPad at this present point in time is as a media delivery system, as others have said. There are limitations that don't come with a laptop. But there are also workarounds for most things - just not all things.
Well,
I bought mine Saturday morning after reading a week of reviews. I just tried it for myself and unless you just want a big IPHONE never mind. No usb is a pain, I thought I would not mind but I have a laptop and the Iphone so really what do I need this for, not even a camera? The only selling point is the battery life. I will wait until they want to offer a little more to their loyal followers. So mines went back this morning.
I came to a similar conclusion, but owing to the fact that I have some Apple stock, I hope I am in a small minority. It is, without question, a gorgeous product.
To help you out about the Netbook or iPad, make sure that all of your favorite websites don't use either Adobe Flash or JavaScript. The iPad does not support this feature at all. No updates, no nothing. So if you like to watch videos only from Netflix, YouTube or ABC, don't bother. I contacted support about this and this is what I found out, along with their attempt to divert me to purchasing other supporting app's from their store. I hope this help's everyone out.
The best way to make this decision is to go play with one yourself at an apple store. Since its launch, there has been numerous buy or don't buy lists. They've gotten annoying. Also, don't listen to the "it's just a giant iPhone argument". Those miss the point.
My own view is that it's a device that people don't need, but they will eventually find a need for it. In other words, this might change the way people work with computers. For some, it'll replace the laptop, for others it'll be a new device. A good comparison would be with Nintendo Wii. It created a whole new market that appeale to a new group of gamers that no one cared for.
Actually I believe both ABC and Netflix work well on the iPad. Best correct that, unless I'm mistaken (always a possibility). I returned my iPad in spite of liking it a great deal because it is not so useful as it needs to be to earn a spot in my computing world. There are some multi-touch tablet netbooks that are much more useful and not "strangled" by the mfgr and the OS. That said, my expectation is that the iPad will develop over the next 6-12 months as a more computer-like device and then I'll happily re-purchase.
This isn't directed at you, Tiffany, but all I can say is that negative reviewers are certainly entitled to their opinions. And with that said, I say they don't know what they're talking about. Either they're so enslaved to some preconceived idea or need that they can't see the iPad for what it is, or their needs seem to run counter to virtually everyone else's. Who would not want a computer of this magnitude with this degree of ultra portability? If someone says that, "Yeah, but I can do all that and more on my tablet computer," I say yes, but can you do it by just pulling out a 24 ounce slate the size of a small magazine, turn it on instantly and do everything right there on the screen resting comfortably in your lap requiring nothing else and do it for the next ten hours without a power cord? Can you interface with your tablet with the ease with which one can interface with the iPad? Can you almost immediately find and download a program for virtually any need you can think of and be using that program within seconds, usually? Well, can you?
There is nothing and never has been anything before like the iPad. The sheer extent of it's portability coupled with that gorgeous almost ten inch screen that is really the entire computer, make it thrillingly unique. I've been using it since I got it that first Saturday. The virtual keyboard I find easier to use than real ones. It's a joy, which is a real surprise. The only other Apple I've ever owned is my iPhone, although I'm comfortable on Macs. This device transcends any so called loyalties, however. A winner is a winner.
Don't think it's for you, naysayers, fine. But don't even bother trying to tell me anything otherwise. I'm sorry you can't see the enormity of what's going on with the iPad. One thing to keep in mind, it's only going to keep developing and advancing. The amount of creative energy this thing will release to feed it's complete open endedness is kind of awesome to contemplate. Frenzy is the only word that comes to mind. If sitting on the sidelines of such an event makes you feel better, then you're welcome to it. The rest of us will be sending you emails from the 21st Century that you can blithely read on your 20th Century machines.
It's a good argument. The iPad is new and operates in a "new" way, notwithstanding the other tablets already out there and soon to be. I think the problem is the stranglehold Apple has on HOW it operates is the problem. All the things we're used to doing with our computers simply cannot be done with the iPad without considerable difficulty. Let's imagine you teach at a university and have fifty papers delivered by email and you have to read, markup, grade those papers. And let's imagine you're in a hotel somewhere 1000 miles from your home computer and have to get these papers graded over the weekend. Which would you rather have, the iPad or a netbook/notebook? Let's imagine you have some photographs you need to send to a friend, or some T-Shirts you're having made for a conference, or a camera you want to sell on eBay, or a four page memo you've got to get out to a committee, or 210 MS Word files you want to transfer to your "portable" device, or any one of a hundred other things we routinely do on our computers and which we might have to do at any time, day or night, at home or away, etc.
Who is going to chose the iPad in these circumstances? Sure the iPad is wonderful, I mean REALLY wonderful, but at the present it is so severely limited that it's toy, a plaything, a charming knick-knack.
Jobs tried to make light of this limitation by carefully saying it was not a replacement for a notebook (or netbook) while clearly implying that it was exactly a replacement for both. Look! A word processor! A version of Excel! Powerpoint!
