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finally got to the apple store to kick the tires.

D

dave1812dave

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 15, 2009
858
0
1. heavier than I thought. while the ibooks app is cool, holding the ipad is a chore.

2. screen--nice

3. fairly intuitive, coming from a touch. learning curve very short

4. sound--way too much vibration! dang, that's a bummer that the thing resonates badly when playing music.

5. responsive-nice

6. what's w/ the NY times app? that sucker looks awful. NYT is ok on Safari, but pixelated in the app. I suppose that will get fixed soon.

7. did I mention the thing is too heavy to hold for more than a brief period?

8 email app looks nice. 4.0 OS should make it even nicer, according to the rumors. :)

9. maps wasn't working. salespeople said the maps works off a different server than for the touch/iphone and it's been experiencing outages for the last 3 days.

10. typing--I was surprised it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, considering it's size. but still, being a sensitive touch screen, one can't leave their fingers on the surface like you can when using a real keyboad. that makes if far more onerous to use than say, a netbook or other small physical keyboard.

11. ergonomics--meh, I'm not thrilled with the weight and the logistics of using the ipad in any manner but sitting down. lying in bed--I'm not sure how that would work. Propped up against the headboard, with the ipad in one's lap, ok, but i can easily read books on my touch while lying down. That's what I do the most with my touch now--read books at night, lights out, laying in bed. the touch is feather light. the ipad is simply much too heavy to hold. holding it with one hand is very awkward, too (IMO)

12. I'll skip the usual comments about what it lacks. we all know what it lacks. overall, once the new OS drops, and some rough edges in the first version of the ipad-centric apps are ironed out, I can ALMOST see myself sorta wanting one.

13. photos--THAT was impressive--the slideshow. really liked that. seems like the iPad would make a nice photoframe.

14. ipod - didn't notice anything especially compelling, when compared to my touch. it works.

15. weather - THAT was impressive. love all the extra info. very nice!

16. ibooks -- impressive graphics (translucent pages during page turns--cute!)

that's about I tried on it. I guess this Thursday we will learn about 4.0?
 
Which weather app did you use? The iPad doesn't come with a weather app built in. I prefer AP News and USA Today over NYT: Ed. Choice
 
No doubt you were using the NY Times iPhone app.

No problems with the weight for me. I held it for a few hours today, doing some reading.
 
Good post...and this shows that everyone is different.

The weight is not an issue for me. I'm not buff, far from it..I walk around the plant all day with a phone and stacks of papers. It just doesn't bother me.

The keyboard (which you liked) bugged the poo out of me...finally I am getting the hang of it (in landscape).

Cheers...
 
I still don't understand why people have such an issue with the weight of the thing its not that heavy to me. With the apple case I don't find an issue typing or laying in bed with it.
 
Using the Apple case helps a lot with your #1, #7, #10, and #11. It doesn't make it any lighter, obviously, but it seems lighter, and much easier and safer to hold and use. Too bad they didn't include the case with it because I think it belongs in there.
 
I will say the weight is something you get used to. Its not something you hold in one hand standing up for long periods so the weight isnt really a big issue and you will find whats comfortable for you after time with it.
 
Good review

I knew the weight would be a factor with people, but considering the current engineering realities, I was very impressed!

The Touch is too small for book reading for me, so the 10" form factor is a relief.
 
It's been three days since the launch and user reviews with a lot of negatives are coming out of the woodwork.

Among the negatives: that it's heavy and difficult to hold iPad in a comfortable position for very long; it's also slippery and therefore hard to hold and easy to drop; the glossy screen gets smudgy and disgusting quickly.

Those who just want to be entertained seem pretty satisfied. Those who actually want to do something, less so, as expected.

Apple's hand-picked early reviewers nearly had me convinced I'd buy an iPad eventually. Now I'm not so sure. I can't wait to "kick the tires" myself, but I live in a rural area 100 miles from the closest place to try one.
 
pvmacguy said:
I still don't understand why people have such an issue with the weight of the thing its not that heavy to me. With the apple case I don't find an issue typing or laying in bed with it.
Click to expand...

Same here. At only 1.5 lbs I'm not sure how much lighter weight it could possibly be anyway.
 
Also finally got to the Apple Store today (The Gardens Mall, Palm Beach Gardens Florida).

Waiting for the 3G model, but Apple delivered my iPad Case this AM. Getting my mind around any possible delays in the current estimates of a delivery date for the 3G.

The store (in a mall which suffered a water main break late last week) threatened to tilt to one side, although there was still plenty of activity elsewhere.

Being a near total fanboy:apple:, and ex-Apple Store employee, I can't say anything I didn't like after my first hands on. I do worry about the "in bed" reading experience, as I really want that to work and haven't been fond of the iPhone for book reading on the Beautyrest.
 
I'm torn about the weight. I liked the feel of it initially, but after using the device for a while I was very uncomfortable. But this was because I was holding it like an iPhone -- bad idea.

I really love the Gen 1 version of the iPhone with the metal back, so I'm inclined to lean towards the added weight as a good thing versus saving an ounce or two and having the thing be plastic.

Some people, on other threads, are saying that the iPad is simply a toy. Well, they are right, if you say a BluRay player is a toy, a flat screen TV is a toy, etc. The iPad, like any computer, is a device. It is the content (programs) that make the device a work horse or a toy -- or both. Some people seem to mistake content for the device itself.
 
I think I figured out the initial 'It's heavy!' reaction some people (including me) were having. I'm used to holding my iPhone in one hand, slightly away from the body, and prodding at it with the other. When you first take the iPad out of the box, your reflex is to do the same thing. Once you retrain the muscle memory to other more ergonomic positions, it's fine. Kickstand case helps immensely.

In bed I do web surf with it leaning against my knees, but for real honest-to-god pre-sleep reading I'm still using my much lighter e-ink reader.

Edit: Poster above me beat me to the iPhone thing.
 
The funny thing about the weight is that besides the Kindle DX, all of the iPad's competitors are at least as heavy. The iPad is actually on the light end of the current wave of tablets.

I don't know the exact weight of a Kindle DX, but I used to have one and to me it was comparable in weight to the iPad. Here are some weights.

iPad 1.5lbs
HP Slate 1.5lbs
Lenovo U1 1.6lbs
Notion Ink Adam 1.7lbs
Archos 9 1.75lbs
JooJoo 2.4 lbs

Basically, if you think the iPad is too heavy for a tablet, there probably isn't a tablet device that'll fit your need (unless you go small like a Dell Mini 5).
 
In bed I hold it with two fingers on the side and the thumbs at the bottom. Kind of like making a U with your fingers. This seems to work well. I also have a thin rubber skin for it which helps with griping it.

After reading this it kinda sounds weird :)
 
My University Union PC store now has iPads. A steady crowd of people playing with the three they put on display. Not a speedy sell-out as it seems college kids have better uses for $500+. They did sell out of 64gb models (5) in three days though, to "professor types" she said. ;)
 
babbit said:
I don't know the exact weight of a Kindle DX, but I used to have one and to me it was comparable in weight to the iPad. Here are some weights.

iPad 1.5lbs
HP Slate 1.5lbs
Lenovo U1 1.6lbs
Notion Ink Adam 1.7lbs
Archos 9 1.75lbs
JooJoo 2.4 lbs
Click to expand...

Kindle DX 18.9 ounces = 1.18 pounds
 
Ljohnson72 said:
Which weather app did you use? The iPad doesn't come with a weather app built in. I prefer AP News and USA Today over NYT: Ed. Choice
Click to expand...

good question! I'm installing itunes 9.1 so that I can find out. neither my wife nor I can remember which app, but it was really impressive. will get back to you on that in a little bit...
 
undrpsi said:
Good post...and this shows that everyone is different.

The weight is not an issue for me. I'm not buff, far from it..I walk around the plant all day with a phone and stacks of papers. It just doesn't bother me.

The keyboard (which you liked) bugged the poo out of me...finally I am getting the hang of it (in landscape).

Cheers...
Click to expand...

for one thing, my right arm is weaker than most because of nerve damage in my neck, dating back to 1988 when I had my first ruptured disk. That was followed by more disk problems in 1996 and a few years ago. Compression of the nerves has severely weakened my right hand. My left arm is still unaffected (at least to my perception), but I still find holding the iPad quite tiresome, so I'd want to follow the lead of Jobs and set it on my lap or other surface. I certainly wouldn't (couldn't) hold it for extended periods like I do my Touch. (Come to think of it, I hold it in my LEFT hand, despite being right-handed, because it's my right hand that is weakened)
 
PhoneI said:
No doubt you were using the NY Times iPhone app.

No problems with the weight for me. I held it for a few hours today, doing some reading.
Click to expand...

could be, for all I know. there must have been 15 or more salesman (very attentive) around us slightly-more-numerous customers in the tiny Apple store in San Jose, and while I and another customer mentioned the awful looking fonts (pixelated) in NYT, the salespeople didn't mention it wasn't an ipad-native app, but maybe that was an oversight. We were trying to do so many things, elbow to elbow in a short period of time, that it was a lot to take in for both us and the sales force.
 
HiRez said:
Using the Apple case helps a lot with your #1, #7, #10, and #11. It doesn't make it any lighter, obviously, but it seems lighter, and much easier and safer to hold and use. Too bad they didn't include the case with it because I think it belongs in there.
Click to expand...

I asked about the case that folds and props up the ipad--they didn't yet have any. just some silicone cases.
 
maps

The maps aren't going to be location aware on the wi-fi model. Not sure about that story they gave you about a different 'server' - I had no problems with the maps once I realized I had to tell it where i was...

All the apps that want to determine your 'location' automatically seem to fail on the wi-fi version - or that was my experience
 
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