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Why I would consider buying an iPad...

Yeah I realize it breaks the EULA. A lot of Mac users are definitely not tech savvy, but I figure I put in all the work to get OS X to run on something other than a mac, so I have something going for me there, lol. I use Windows as well (7 and XP, never Vista), have used a few different builds of Linux. Linux has its perks but for me it's not an everyday OS. Anyway. webOS tablet FTW!
 
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IMO i dont think storage capacity on these media consumption devies is all that critical...you do need enough storage to say make it through a 5-7 hour flight if you are using for movies...so for many people 16GB - 32GB will be fine. Do you really need your entire itunes library with you at all times? Plus as in-flight wifi because more common you'll be able to stream media during your flight.

I myself am tempted by the ipad but mainly would like a 7" android tablet that has access to the android market and is running at least Android 2.1.

The ability to run Logmein for remote support without a laptop is a big plus.

Would have picked up the new Archos 7 Home Tablet for $200 but it has restive touch, doesn't have access to the Android Market and the reviews so far are so-so.
 
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Im not ashamed to say I own the 64 gig model non3g wifi, Luckily between my Verizon and Att home phone ( which gives me access to all ATT+ Verizon hot spots), I have access to alot of wifi spots where I live. It came so handy for school, I could record with it as I typed notes. I use it for my organizer and homework and having a big calendar is great. I dont need to kill my phone to watch video or surf the web while at school. Many more uses but just named a few.

Im not saying its for everyone, but not having to bring my laptop everyday is nice, the charge lasts more than what I need for my day at college. But unlike some people, I looked at what the Ipad could do, and use what it does well, rather than dwell on what it cannot due since I did my research on it before buying it.
 
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I have an iPad and I'm not ashamed to say it. Let me preface by saying that I also have 3 Android Devices - Incredible, Backflip, and the god-awful EKEN M001 Chinese tablet.

The iPad is incredibly smooth and fast. Turn left, flip right, the response is fast. It is very portable and comfy;lying on the couch/bed surfing the web. I also use it as an e-book. I have a bunch of manuals I downloaded in epub or I buy Amazon kindle books. I haven't even touch iBook. So, you can definitely use other people's content on this device.

Let me also say, I went thru 3 netbooks. I got the very first eeepc 701. Then I got the very first Acer Aspire Aspire 1 w/ a 6cell battery. I got the Acer because I thought I wanted a hard drive. Big mistake. My last netbook was (is) a Dell Mini 9; the dell had 6 operating systems on it. I won't mention why I chose the Dell but it had Ubuntu, Chrome OS, Android x86 and some other OSes which I won't name. I spent an extra $300 to get the fastest SSD runcore I could for that thing. So basically, the Dell Mini cost me roughly $600 which is slightly more than a basic iPad.
All in all, I think I spend roughly $1200 for all those netbooks w/ extended 6-8 cell batteries, upgraded SSD,etc.. THEY never really performed to my liking. The Dell even w 2GB of ram couldn't run the software I wanted (Lightroom) so what was the point. It ran them but god awfully sloooooow. None of them could play HD video. So what did I do with them? I turned one into a carpc, another I gave away and one I just leave around.

The Ipad replaced all of them. HD video looks fantastic. All my home videos are from my dslr Canon and I just synch the movies and they play. I get unreal battery life - 10 hours normal, 6 hours of continuous back-to-back wifi playback of ABC tv shows (Lost/V). 6 hours of non-stop wifi streaming, full brightness.

So that is my take on it. Let me repeat, I get 10 hours of battery life on avg. Just unreal to me.

As for productivity, this is a consumption device. I have no qualms about it not being a full-computer. I have two macbook pros, a few mac minis at my house so why would I care if I can't run Photoshop on it.

I have used it TWICE for work where as my Android devices failed me. Namely, it has Cisco VPN out of the box. This is a BIG point for me. There is a free SSH/VPN client and that was the 1st thing I installed. It came in handy when I had to reboot a switch. Sysadmins could use this if they wanted. There are even MYSQL clients and it works.

I don't buy stuff from the Itunes store most of the time. I stick with Amazon because I just like mp3s over aac. But I have downloaded a movie or so for my kid to watch.

So that is my take...

Whatever you do, stay away from all and any Chinese non-brand Android devices. I'm waiting to see what someone else has in store.
 
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The ipad is "neat", but it has a couple limitations others have mentioned that keep me from spending $500+ on it. 1. the memory is to small for that much money. 2. USB requires a cable 3. no memory card slot.

I take a lot of pictures, and if this had more memory and a memory card slot, it would be great for showing pictures to clients "live".

Funny thing happened to me last night, I stopped by Hooters and this guy (about as geeky as me) was sitting at the bar typing on his iPad. The whole situation just screamed "look at me!!!". Unfortunately, surrounded by guys watching baseball and drag racing, it really didn't get many second looks. He needed to go across the street to Starbucks lol.

That whole scene really spelled it out for me. The iPad IS cool. But it's still missing some key things that would make me buy it. By the time Jobs gets around to adding those things, I GUARANTEE there will be an Android 2.2 tablet that does everything I need it to, and much like the iPhone, the iPad won't be such a unique toy anymore.
 
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I must admit.. I am somewhat envious of the people who can afford to toss around 500$ for something they plan to not use very often :/.

I mean the majority of what I read about the ipad is uses that would be minimal.. 500$ is just too much for what equates to a spare computer laying around..

It's a luxury item which is why I don't see the point in many of these 'el cheapo' tablets.
 
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With an ipad can you cruise the internet and download music as with say windows, downloading rapidshare zip files and using limewire etc? The only reason i would have an iPad would be to store all my music away from my somewhat volatile computer, because lets face it, apple have done pretty well with their media player and itunes service, albeit they dont provide for people who like the quality of a music file, i.e. Flac or wav, (applelossless is pony)

So basically i would only use an ipad to have all my music files on, but when i wanted to connect it to my car stereo it would take up a load of space and theives would love it, so.............. maybe not after all
 
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With an ipad can you cruise the internet and download music as with say windows, downloading rapidshare zip files and using limewire etc? The only reason i would have an iPad would be to store all my music away from my somewhat volatile computer, because lets face it, apple have done pretty well with their media player and itunes service, albeit they dont provide for people who like the quality of a music file, i.e. Flac or wav, (applelossless is pony)

So basically i would only use an ipad to have all my music files on, but when i wanted to connect it to my car stereo it would take up a load of space and theives would love it, so.............. maybe not after all

So you want to pay $400 for a storage device?? :eek:
 
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A lot of photographers i know are getting one to use as a portable portfolio, but a Laptop with a bigger screen seems a better choice to me.

The iPad has revolutionized photography. Putting photos on an iPad is about the same as handing a client prints.

But with that said, the inability (for me!) to upload photos on site easily is a deal breaker. I'll consider it if there is an app that'll come out that'll allow me to just download the JPGs (I shoot RAW + JPG) then I might consider it.

Then again, an android based pad-thingie that had all the ports built into it I needed rather than having to buy a friggen $30 connector for every use would be better, IMO.
 
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i wouldn't even give it that much praise. it doesn't compare to any macbook, and its too large to be as mobile or convenient as an iphone. it's just a really big ipod touch. i'm just waiting to see someone strap it to their arm and go jogging.

No, it in NO way compare to a MacBook Pro. I agree it's just a big iPod touch. Meh.
 
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I up wound picking up a used ipad 16GB wifi not too long after I posted my reply below(thank you bing 8% cashback!)

For us around the house it has replaced the netbook: great for "coffee table" browsing, looking up recipes. My 2.5 year old plays games on it, watches movies I have ripped or from Netflix, watches Dr Seus animated books and uses some fun educational apps such as word & phrase flashcards.

Besides having watched "Up" about 25 times ;) it is amazing for me to watch my son easily navigate the ipad and open the apps he wants. This is a case where Apple's simple interface is good...anyone can figure it out quickly.
Even when I'm home on my main computer I have the ipad propped up and use for such things as viewing my Twitter/Facebook feeds (check out Flipbook!), weather or keeping email/calendar/task maanagement open on it.

Thanks to apps such as logmein, vnc and rdp I can take this on vacation instead of a laptop and still get work done if needed.

The battery life is amazing...I did take it to work one day as an experiment to see if i could get away with using it instead of laptop(used logmein and rdp) and after using for about 9 hours it still has 33% battery left!

I did want an Android tablet but glad I got this instead. The reason I say this is the apps written specifically for the ipad really make it shine. It will be awhile before a decent android tablet comes out and then even longer for apps to take advantage of what hopefully will be higher resolution screens than 854x480.

For me it was $450 well spent(used) as we use it everyday...and more ipad specific apps are coming out every week.

Im not an Apple fanboy(Droid1 is my phone) but I do use whatever works best for me...

RichP




IMO i dont think storage capacity on these media consumption devies is all that critical...you do need enough storage to say make it through a 5-7 hour flight if you are using for movies...so for many people 16GB - 32GB will be fine. Do you really need your entire itunes library with you at all times? Plus as in-flight wifi because more common you'll be able to stream media during your flight.

I myself am tempted by the ipad but mainly would like a 7" android tablet that has access to the android market and is running at least Android 2.1.

The ability to run Logmein for remote support without a laptop is a big plus.

Would have picked up the new Archos 7 Home Tablet for $200 but it has restive touch, doesn't have access to the Android Market and the reviews so far are so-so.
 
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