iPad - is it worth it?

F1manic

Ok, I've heard loads about it from other people and I'm the kind of person that always wants the newest technology, but I'm also the type of person who hates spending money on it! Does anybody have an iPad yet? Are they worth the money? Would you get the one that comes with just wifi or 3g? Help me!!

Eric_Pisch

i played with one for a couple of hours 2 days after they where launched in the USA

if your familiar with the ipod touch, that's exactly what it is, just bigger, but with all the limitations and annoyances of the ipod / iphone (no multitask, no flash, no usb ports :mad:, no mem expansion, expensive, no permanent coms such as twitter and skype, very bad with hotmail and exchange etc)

OS4 will fix many of these those, we hope

for me its gimmick, its too heavy to hold like a book, awkward to hold for long periods of time and awkward to use on a table

for me a decent netbook will be the same foot print, faster, run a lot more stuff and be the same weight and easier to use at a table.

its a typical apple product, over hyped, over priced, and had many features deliberately removed so they can be added on each 12 months so they can keep selling more of them


I have 3g on my iphone via O2 and its dire in london, slow beyond slow, I wouldnt pay for it on a ipad if i had access to wifi

F1manic

Ah ok, cheers for the info! Hmm, maybe they aren't as good as they seem then!! :-P

bcl999

Eric_Pisch wrote: »

i played with one for a couple of hours 2 days after they where launched in the USA

if your familiar with the ipod touch, that's exactly what it is, just bigger, but with all the limitations and annoyances of the ipod / iphone (no multitask, no flash, no usb ports :mad:, no mem expansion, expensive, no permanent coms such as twitter and skype, very bad with hotmail and exchange etc)

OS4 will fix many of these those, we hope

for me its gimmick, its too heavy to hold like a book, awkward to hold for long periods of time and awkward to use on a table

for me a decent netbook will be the same foot print, faster, run a lot more stuff and be the same weight and easier to use at a table.

its a typical apple product, over hyped, over priced, and had many features deliberately removed so they can be added on each 12 months so they can keep selling more of them


I have 3g on my iphone via O2 and its dire in london, slow beyond slow, I wouldnt pay for it on a ipad if i had access to wifi

Interested in your view that a decent netbook will be the same weight. Which one are you thinking of? I was looking for one a few months ago and ended up with the Sony Vaio P series. The screen is only two-thirds the size of the ipad and to match the ipad battery life I need to carry both the standard battery and the larger extended life battery which bringss the weight up to 900g which is 30% more than ipad. (I know 200g or so doesn't sound much but when it's added to everything else I carry, it matters.) There is of course the Sony X series but that's way more expensive and already discontinued.

I'm not defending Apple - just interested to know which netbook you are talking about.

Eric_Pisch

bcl999 wrote: »

Interested in your view that a decent netbook will be the same weight. Which one are you thinking of? I was looking for one a few months ago and ended up with the Sony Vaio P series. The screen is only two-thirds the size of the ipad and to match the ipad battery life I need to carry both the standard battery and the larger extended life battery which bringss the weight up to 900g which is 30% more than ipad. (I know 200g or so doesn't sound much but when it's added to everything else I carry, it matters.) There is of course the Sony X series but that's way more expensive and already discontinued.

I'm not defending Apple - just interested to know which netbook you are talking about.

you may well be right but for me there both to heavy to hold for long period to be comfortable, i didnt weight the actual ipad when i got hold of it but the first thing that struck me was that it was a lot heavier than i expected

its probably why most of the marketing shots have people with bent legs as a make shift table

Eric_Pisch

F1manic wrote: »

Ah ok, cheers for the info! Hmm, maybe they aren't as good as they seem then!! :-P

i think ver 2 or 3 when it has all the deliberately left of features (like the iphone) added to it will be a much more usable tool

F1manic

Eric_Pisch wrote: »

i think ver 2 or 3 when it has all the deliberately left of features (like the iphone) added to it will be a much more usable tool

I suppose it would be best waiting for future versions then? Thanks for advice. I think for now I'll save my money...:)

Enterprise_1701C

I have a friend who had one, found it almost useless and gave it to her OH!

Stageshoot

Depends what you use it for, and if you have a use for it.,

We work out on the road and often need access to a full size web browser, its on in a snap and quicker and easier than using a netbook for browsing, we also need to show clients high quality photos and presentations so its ideal for that.

Also I sit in the car and play games and watch TV whilst the OH drives, and the battery life is phenominal, at least 10 hours on a full charge.

The 3G version is a must as there are so many times with no wifi, (You can get a t-mobile PAYG sim and cut it down to fit the ipad mini sim slot and for £20 you get 6 months unlimited 3G access). I also have a 3G iPhone and did wonder when looking at the iPad if it would be worth the investment, after a couple of weeks I can give a resounding yes, but it does depend on if you have a use/need for it, lot of money for an un needed gadget to chuck in a corner after a few weeks.

Eric_Pisch

F1manic wrote: »

I suppose it would be best waiting for future versions then? Thanks for advice. I think for now I'll save my money...:)

i did exactly that with the iphone, i joined the fanbois with a 3gs which is ok but limited in many ways, wish i had waited for a 4gs which looks like its finally going to be the phone it should have always been :mad:

i do think the later ipads could be very useful, I had a look at the dell streak over the weekend, when they launch the larger versions they will give the ipad a run for its money

F1manic

Eric_Pisch wrote: »

i did exactly that with the iphone, i joined the fanbois with a 3gs which is ok but limited in many ways, wish i had waited for a 4gs which looks like its finally going to be the phone it should have always been :mad:

i do think the later ipads could be very useful, I had a look at the dell streak over the weekend, when they launch the larger versions they will give the ipad a run for its money

I can imiagine that the iPad will be getting a lot of competition soon. Everyone seems to jump on the bandwagon sooner of later... definitely something to wait for then I think. Cheers everyone :-D