Well, I've had the iPad now for over a month and I thought it was time to post my thoughts after getting used to the device.
Do I use it much?
My iPad goes pretty much everywhere that's sensible with me. unlike the woman I observed flipping out her iPad while she waited for Inception to start at the IMAX, I don't carry it in plain sight, I don't take it to the pub and it doesn't go absolutely everywhere, but I take it to a lot of places. My MacBook pro is almost a desktop now, with iTunes syncing, mobile me and Evernote putting most things I need on the iPad, there's little need to move the MBP most of the time. From a point where I never envisaged buying anything but a laptop, My next Mac purchase will probably now be an iMac.
What's the software keyboard like?
I'm not a touch typist, but I can type at a fair lick. I've hardly noticed the keyboard, it hasn't got in my way although I do find the layout a little strange sometimes with the numbers being on a secondary keyboard with the numbers spread across the screen. I also think that a dedicated number keypad similar to the windows mobile one would be a huge benefit.
How's safari for browsing?
It's really good. Easy to use, fun to interact with and very fast. I do wish that Safari would show you how many tabs you have open, maybe even with tabs.
Don't you miss Adobe Flash when browsing?
Rarely. I find it to be a benefit rather than a curse. On a few occasions I've gone to websites to find that I couldn't watch content, but it's been very few and far between, the lack of flash has meant that my battery isn't drained and my processor is not being tied up displaying adverts instead of doing what I want.
What's Ibooks like?
It's a really good reader, especially now Apple have added native PDF support. The only thing I think that it's missing is the ability to either group your books by your own choosing, or to archive them off the 'bookshelf' and into a storage box as it's a pain searching through everything.
Is it heavy, how is it to handle?
I've found myself using it in landscape mode most of the time, I like the layout of a lot of the apps with options on the left and content on the right, occasionally I'll flip it to portrait, but mostly landscape, especially as the keyboard is cramped in portrait. I've not noticed the weight, so I obviously don't think it's heavy. The hardware orientation lock is really useful too.
Is it as thin as it looks?
The short answer is no, but only because I bought the Apple case. The apple case seems well made on the whole and is really useful, I just wish it worked to stand up in portrait mode. When I remove the iPad from it's case for cleaning, I'm struck all over again by how sveldt it is.
Is there anything that's missing?
The first thing that bugs me (Which has on the iPhone also) is that I would like to be able to pin apps in a certain place. They move as apps are added and removed and it annoys me, I think you should be able to pin them in place.
I was expecting to be able to access my iTunes library on my Macs from the ipad and stream media, but this doesn't seem to be possible, seems like a wasted opportunity.
I also think that the ability to get 'back to my mac' would be a killer app and it seems a glaring omission.
One thing to note is that since I installed 3.2.1 on the iPad, the wifi has been very slow to gain dhcp. It's very annoying.
So a month into ownership, how do I feel?
I'm sold. I could envisage a future with three or four ipads in the Airey household along with a Mac or two. The iPad has become central to my online life and the apps that are gradually coming onto the iPad are using the screen to it's potential. The iPad is a still expensive, I think that the 32GB wifi should be about £350, but while they're flying off the shelves, Apple aren't about the reduce the price.
Do I use it much?
My iPad goes pretty much everywhere that's sensible with me. unlike the woman I observed flipping out her iPad while she waited for Inception to start at the IMAX, I don't carry it in plain sight, I don't take it to the pub and it doesn't go absolutely everywhere, but I take it to a lot of places. My MacBook pro is almost a desktop now, with iTunes syncing, mobile me and Evernote putting most things I need on the iPad, there's little need to move the MBP most of the time. From a point where I never envisaged buying anything but a laptop, My next Mac purchase will probably now be an iMac.
What's the software keyboard like?
I'm not a touch typist, but I can type at a fair lick. I've hardly noticed the keyboard, it hasn't got in my way although I do find the layout a little strange sometimes with the numbers being on a secondary keyboard with the numbers spread across the screen. I also think that a dedicated number keypad similar to the windows mobile one would be a huge benefit.
How's safari for browsing?
It's really good. Easy to use, fun to interact with and very fast. I do wish that Safari would show you how many tabs you have open, maybe even with tabs.
Don't you miss Adobe Flash when browsing?
Rarely. I find it to be a benefit rather than a curse. On a few occasions I've gone to websites to find that I couldn't watch content, but it's been very few and far between, the lack of flash has meant that my battery isn't drained and my processor is not being tied up displaying adverts instead of doing what I want.
What's Ibooks like?
It's a really good reader, especially now Apple have added native PDF support. The only thing I think that it's missing is the ability to either group your books by your own choosing, or to archive them off the 'bookshelf' and into a storage box as it's a pain searching through everything.
Is it heavy, how is it to handle?
I've found myself using it in landscape mode most of the time, I like the layout of a lot of the apps with options on the left and content on the right, occasionally I'll flip it to portrait, but mostly landscape, especially as the keyboard is cramped in portrait. I've not noticed the weight, so I obviously don't think it's heavy. The hardware orientation lock is really useful too.
Is it as thin as it looks?
The short answer is no, but only because I bought the Apple case. The apple case seems well made on the whole and is really useful, I just wish it worked to stand up in portrait mode. When I remove the iPad from it's case for cleaning, I'm struck all over again by how sveldt it is.
Is there anything that's missing?
The first thing that bugs me (Which has on the iPhone also) is that I would like to be able to pin apps in a certain place. They move as apps are added and removed and it annoys me, I think you should be able to pin them in place.
I was expecting to be able to access my iTunes library on my Macs from the ipad and stream media, but this doesn't seem to be possible, seems like a wasted opportunity.
I also think that the ability to get 'back to my mac' would be a killer app and it seems a glaring omission.
One thing to note is that since I installed 3.2.1 on the iPad, the wifi has been very slow to gain dhcp. It's very annoying.
So a month into ownership, how do I feel?
I'm sold. I could envisage a future with three or four ipads in the Airey household along with a Mac or two. The iPad has become central to my online life and the apps that are gradually coming onto the iPad are using the screen to it's potential. The iPad is a still expensive, I think that the 32GB wifi should be about £350, but while they're flying off the shelves, Apple aren't about the reduce the price.
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