I am thinking about getting an ipad

[crobulator]

Thank you for your input i am fairly anti apple myself but the ipad looks interesting.

Let me also add. if/when you're resolved to buying one, hold off for a few months. Apple may release a new ipad, and guaranteed you'll feel like a fool not owning the latest shiny apple gadget.

yes i heard about that although i doubt Apple would release an Ipad2 so soon

Well actually, they are apparently planning to release the iPad Version 2 in February...

http://www.suite101.com/content/ipad-generation-2-ipad-version-2-release-date-and-specifications-a319055

That is still just a rumour

I work in the smartphone / tablet industry and am generally pretty anti Apple, however the iPad is not a piece of shit as many people are quick to say. That's not to say it's not totally overpriced considering the included hardware like all Apple products but it is far from being crap. It all depends on what you want to do with it and why you want a tablet PC in the first place. If you want it for business applications and acting as a bridge between other computers you own, remotely accessing servers in a network and stuff then yeh with the right Apps installed it is pretty cool.

HOWEVER. You can do exactly the same with a decent Android device at a lower cost. Plus if its more for the portable browsing and entertainment than a business tool then definitely go Android to save the cash. And wait 'til next year when 3.0 is finalised as 2.2/3 isn't really optimised for screens over 5". HTC will get one out without a doubt and the Samsung Tab will probably get an update. Ooh and the BlackBerry PlayBook will be out too which is shaping up nicely.

http://blog.clove.co.uk/2010/12/16/blackberry-playbook-demo/

http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/android-tablet-comparison#more6160

Thank you for the for the input but the range of tablets that are a)available and b)work where i live are few and far between

 

[crobulator]

Not looking for a netbook just a tablet and ironically where i live the Ipad seems to be the cheapest with the best features

Trust me - unless you're buying one of the crappy Windows CE netbooks that have popped up, the iPad will never have superior features to a current-generation netbook. The iPad has a 1GHz ARM processor based on the Cortex-A8 design, which is power-frugal, but hardly a match for the 1.66GHz Atom processors found in most contemporary netbooks. The iPad has 256MB of RAM; a netbook typically has 1GHz, and similarly, the iPad has 64GB of internal storage at most; netbooks come with 160GB as standard, and many come with 250GB drives now.

I meant cheapest and with superior features to other tablets

 

[Danzaivar]

They can't run Java or Flash apparently. Aside from that it's just like a cross between an iPod Touch and a netbook.

Shame though, minecraft on an ipad would be ace.

 

[jebbo]

SNIP

Thank you for the for the input but the range of tablets that are a)available and b)work where i live are few and far between

Ah shame, where are you based? What 3G connectivity can you get?

 

[Virgil]

I am thinking about getting an ipad, does anyone know if they are worth the money and if not why not?

It really depends on what you're going to use it for, and what else you have available. It's a totally unique device at the moment. It doesn't replace a computer or a laptop, and it similarly can't be replaced by them.

I find that it's a great "chair" computer. If I'm relaxing in my recliner, it's the best device to have. I tend to use it for ebooks, web surfing, and watching Netflix/Hulu. It's pretty good for email in a pinch - better than a phone, not as good as a laptop. Also, some games - though the games are generally not the kind of experiences you'd get on a PC or console, but more like beefed up cellphone games. There's a few exceptions though (Galaxy on Fire 2 is an amazing space sim, Wesnoth is a great strategy game).

It's also the absolutely best device you can use for reading digital comic books or any kind of PDF. Mine has all my tabletop game manuals on it, and there's no way that I could use anything else at this point. It's also good for note-taking, and the tablet form-factor is much more convenient for that than a laptop could ever be.

That's why it makes it difficult to suggest one way or another. It's not as easy as saying "get this" or "get a netbook instead". I have a iPad, netbook, laptop, and desktop and all of them get used for different things, and with different frequencies. The iPad is the only one that I carry back and forth to work with me though.

For what it's worth, it's also the only Apple product I own. Like many programmers, I don't like Apple, or how they operate. The iPad fills a niche that nothing else does though, and I don't know of anything else that is currently coming close to doing the same thing.

Edit: If you do decide to get an iPad, make sure you get one with the 3G wireless chipset built-in. Drop to a lower storage capacity if you need to. You don't actually need to sign up or use the 3G plan, but I guarantee there will come a point where you will wish you had the option available, or the GPS chip that it includes.

 

[crobulator]

They can't run Java or Flash apparently. Aside from that it's just like a cross between an iPod Touch and a netbook.

Shame though, minecraft on an ipad would be ace.

really no java?
i knew about the lack of flash though

 

[Danzaivar]

They can't run Java or Flash apparently. Aside from that it's just like a cross between an iPod Touch and a netbook.

Shame though, minecraft on an ipad would be ace.

really no java?
i knew about the lack of flash though

http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/3996

Java isn't the same as Javascript though in case there's any confusion there. It just means web games and java programs (like minecraft) wouldn't work. Stupid webpages with popups and annoying animations would still run fine.

 

[PoliceBox63]

I am thinking about getting an ipad, does anyone know if they are worth the money and if not why not?

As an iPad owner I'll give you my opinion. I bought it as an alternative to my laptop for taking with me to college.
It is very quick to turn on and log on to the internet at lunch or in the library. This is much better than my laptop as I discovered during study week when i used it instead and it took ages to turn on and off.

If you are going to use apps and really use it as a replacement for your laptop then go ahead.
Bear in mind that it has no USB port and no flash support.
I don't regret getting it (barely) but if I had the decision again I would probably get a new laptop instead.

 

[crobulator]

SNIP

Thank you for the for the input but the range of tablets that are a)available and b)work where i live are few and far between

Ah shame, where are you based? What 3G connectivity can you get?

its not so much that 3g would be a problem that there would be no support for it

I am thinking about getting an ipad, does anyone know if they are worth the money and if not why not?

It really depends on what you're going to use it for, and what else you have available. It's a totally unique device at the moment. It doesn't replace a computer or a laptop, and it similarly can't be replaced by them.

I find that it's a great "chair" computer. If I'm relaxing in my recliner, it's the best device to have. I tend to use it for ebooks, web surfing, and watching Netflix/Hulu. It's pretty good for email in a pinch - better than a phone, not as good as a laptop. Also, some games - though the games are generally not the kind of experiences you'd get on a PC or console, but more like beefed up cellphone games. There's a few exceptions though (Galaxy on Fire 2 is an amazing space sim, Wesnoth is a great strategy game).

It's also the absolutely best device you can use for reading digital comic books or any kind of PDF. Mine has all my tabletop game manuals on it, and there's no way that I could use anything else at this point. It's also good for note-taking, and the tablet form-factor is much more convenient for that than a laptop could ever be.

That's why it makes it difficult to suggest one way or another. It's not as easy as saying "get this" or "get a netbook instead". I have a iPad, netbook, laptop, and desktop and all of them get used for different things, and with different frequencies. The iPad is the only one that I carry back and forth to work with me though.

For what it's worth, it's also the only Apple product I own. Like many programmers, I don't like Apple, or how they operate. The iPad fills a niche that nothing else does though, and I don't know of anything else that is currently coming close to doing the same thing.

thank you for your opinion i think i will get an ipad.

 

[crobulator]

They can't run Java or Flash apparently. Aside from that it's just like a cross between an iPod Touch and a netbook.

Shame though, minecraft on an ipad would be ace.

really no java?
i knew about the lack of flash though

http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/3996

Java isn't the same as Javascript though in case there's any confusion there. It just means web games and java programs (like minecraft) wouldn't work. Stupid webpages with popups and annoying animations would still run fine.

typical

 

[Fraught]

Thank you for your input i am fairly anti apple myself but the ipad looks interesting.

My Mom bought a good laptop for less then half of the price of a iPad. I say its probably not worth it, and the laptop has a touch screen.

thanks for your thoughts i was thinking it`s a bit steep price-wise

Looks interesting? Well, I'll give you that, it looks interesting in a "I bought it, and I've used it for a few weeks, my god how little it has to offer in terms of features and functionality" kind of way.

Also, a "bit" steep price-wise? Only a bit?

 

[Sethzard]

You would be better off with a laptop. It loses the portability of the iPhone and the processing power of a laptop. There are a few good apps, but overall, I don't really think it's worth the kind of money that they charge for it.

 

[AmayaOnnaOtaku]

I have one for school, considering how much my textbooks were going to be each semester (600+) and how little I get back when I sell them (maybe 100) Not to mention my books are back breakers, the iPad was the logical choice. I load it up with electronic forms of my books, as well as apps for reading PDFs, microsoft, and google documents; and I am good to go. I also keep apps on it for organizing and finances.

And they have apps for my son that he and I use together to help him (he is on the autism spectrum) one of his apps helps him communicate with others and is a lot cheaper than 8,000 system that the doctors recommended.

As for calling features the google voice app and skype apps are available so you techinically could use your ipad as a phone (abet a LARGE phone)

I have no issues with the touchscreen keyboard, but if you plan to do a lot of typing either spring for a bluetooth keyboard or something like this
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/e65a/

 

[Virgil]

HOWEVER. You can do exactly the same with a decent Android device at a lower cost.

As soon as they release a decent Android-based device, this will be true

It's unfortunate that the Galaxy Tab is such a POS, and so small. It's also a huge black mark on Google that they can't rally any of their partners to make a decent competing device at the tablet size. I assume they're too busy focusing on that abomination they're calling Chrome OS. At this point, based on what I've seen with Windows Phone, I expect that Microsoft will have a decent tablet competitor before any Android device gets to that point.

HTC might be able to pull it off though, if the problems are purely at the interface level. If anyone has experience putting a layer of usefulness on top of a half-baked operating system, their years of making Windows Mobile devices has given it to them

Trust me - unless you're buying one of the crappy Windows CE netbooks that have popped up, the iPad will never have superior features to a current-generation netbook.

Trying to compare the devices based on their hardware specs is not a fair comparison - I'd go so far as to say that it's intentionally misleading. A closed hardware platform based on a custom chipset with a custom software stack can do far more with the hardware they have available than a general-purpose device.

While the total potential utility for a netbook is much higher than the iPad, the actual performance of an iPad application is far better than the equivalent Windows application running on a netbook. Likewise, iPad applications are designed for touch input at a fixed resolution, while the user experiences of applications on a netbook are designed for desktop computers with far larger screens and a full mouse/keyboard.

A netbook can do a lot more than an iPad can. If you're looking for a small laptop, that's a good place to be. But they're not the same thing. If something can be done on both a netbook and an iPad, the iPad experience will almost always be the better one.

In the end, the value of a device is not the specs of the hardware inside it, but in what it actually does and how well it can do it.

 

[jebbo]

HOWEVER. You can do exactly the same with a decent Android device at a lower cost.

As soon as they release a decent Android-based device, this will be true

It's unfortunate that the Galaxy Tab is such a POS, and so small. It's also a huge black mark on Google that they can't rally any of their partners to make a decent competing device at the tablet size. I assume they're too busy focusing on that abomination they're calling Chrome OS. At this point, based on what I've seen with Windows Phone, I expect that Microsoft will have a decent tablet competitor before any Android device gets to that point.

Ouch. Anyway who are they..? I understand the fragmentation issue with Android and the annoyance of customised UI layers confusing updates and such has turned Android in to a bit of a mess but it is getting a lot better this generation. And I wouldn't call the Galaxy Tab a POS, it really is the closest rival to the iPad, and the 7" - 10" issue really is a personal one. I find 10" screens too clumsy for portability.

Anyway as I said before Google have stated that Android still isn't truly ready for tablets and won't be until version 3.0 early next year (6 month iterative development remember) - which is why HTC are waiting and when decent 10" counterparts will be available. The Toshiba and other manufacturers 10" Androids are admittedly pretty big facepalms so far. That and the dual core processors like the Tegra 2 are available now so next year, maybe even Q1, we should see some much better hardware.

I'm looking forward to the Chrome OS as a lightweight alternative for basic computing. I doubt I'd be running it on any PC I use primarily though

 

[Zorpheus]

It's basically a large iTouch

You mean it's basically a large iPod Touch? Don't Touch your i, dude, it hurts.

 

[Cliff_m85]

I work at Best Buy.



Get a laptop.

 

[F-I-D-O]

OH SHIT IT'S ON!!! EVERYBODY GET SOME POPCORN, there's gonna' be a fight! Fanboy vs Bluesclues!

Oh, that made me laugh. One of the best uses for thriller (outside of music) I've ever seen.
OT: If you like apple products, you'll like this. If you don't, there are better alternatives. A netbook can do other things while still remaining portable, and I don't know if Apple has figured out everything with flash.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

OH SHIT IT'S ON!!! EVERYBODY GET SOME POPCORN, there's gonna' be a fight! Fanboy vs Bluesclues!

That is the damn scariest .gif I've ever seen.

 

[BonsaiK]

Apparently, the big draw of having an iPad is how you can use it in business. I'd get one if I was going to be making documents on the fly or making power point presentations to show people personally. As a leisure tool... No, it looks crap. Apparently you can read a book on it but why would you need it to read a book? You could just carry a book around with you.

That's funny because I'd never consider using an iPad for business under any circumstances - a laptop would be far more appropriate not to mention versatile. However the gaming potential excites me after seeing Yahtzee "I hate casual games" Croshaw ramble on as if Castle Crash is a new concept. It'd be a nice toy and if someone gave me a free one no doubt I'd enjoy mucking around on it, however I don't think I'd ever pay for one.