Was on the fence, now im sold...sort of.

[glocke12]

So I was really on the fence about the ipad. I kept telling myself it is nothing but a giant ipod touch, its too expensive, and is too limited due to the closed O.S. But deep down inside I also knew I really wanted one, or to at least check one out, so weds. after work I drove to my local apple store and played around with them in the store, and liked it enough to drop money on a 64 gig version.

After having it for a few days I have to admit, it really is a pretty incredible device, but does have shortcomings.

First off, as other have said it is a total media consumption device, I really dont see how one could be very productive on this, especially when certain things can be done much easier on a desktop or notebook. For example, I see myself doing most of my web browsing on my ipad, but will still need my MBP and imac to due things such as photo editing.

Likes:

Beautiful Screen

Fast, fluid web browsing (this is web browsing the way it was always meant to be!).

Closed O.S. Yep. I think I actually prefer a closed O.S. on a device like this. One less thing to really have to worry or deal with. I have often loaded programs onto both my windows systems and macs that have caused system wide issues. Since content can only be introduced through the app store, theoretically this should prevent things from being introduced to the ipad that could cause the O.S. to become unstable.

Layout. Everything seems to be laid out perfectly. Browsing photos is a snap, having app icons fixed in place prevents the desktop from being cluttered.


Dislikes:

No cover flow for the ipod. Not sure of the rationale for this.

A little too heavy. After holding it for a few minutes with one hand you can really start noticing the weight.

No print capabilites.

No way (that i have found at least) to deal with junk mail.

having to pay for iworks again when i already own a family pack version.

Price. Yes these are too expensive. I think each model should have been about $150.00 less.

Watching movies/shows is diffucult. I like to watch a movie in bed sometimes before I go to sleep. Doing so on this will be very hard since you basically will need to hold it upright.


So overall I really think this is a killer device (though not a laptop killer!).
While it would be nice to have usb, front facing camera, and a more open O.S., I think those are all things that would detract from this devices intended purpose, and be a huge drain on battery life.

 

[ImperialX]

You can try using Air Sharing to print. It works quite well.

 

[Sleazy E]

Too expensive?? Wow I think it's pretty cheap for what you are getting. Maybe you should look into getting an iPod touch, that will probably be within your price point.

 

[bowlerman625]

Since I'm waiting for the 3G, I've had a bad case of iPad fever. I got my first chance to play last Saturday and have been hooked since. My wife has a windows laptop but I've been asking her if she wanted one. She said no. I even asked the dog and she shook her head no, but I'll take a treat!!!!! My thought was get her a WiFi model now and we'll have something to play with before my 3G arrives later this month. She has an Ipod ( 2 actually ) but has never been warm to the iPhone or a Mac. (I have both.)

Today I met her and our friend for lunch at the mall. I intended to go to the Apple store and see if I could pick up some accessories for my 3G rather than wait for them to ship. I said to everyone at lunch, why don't you guys come with me to Apple and see the iPad.....our friends high school age daughter was very willing and my wife and our friend we like, ok. Almost like a whatever kind of answer to me...lol

So we go look and everybody gets hands on with the iPad. They were pretty amazed. So I stayed at the very busy Apple store to look around and the three of them left to go shop some more. About 20 minutes later I get this text from my wife...did you buy your iPad yet? Well I called her back and reminded her that 3G was not out yet and I wanted that one. So we ended the conversation and I was walking through the mall when it hit me, I think she sounded disappointed I had not bought one and maybe she sort of wanted one.........well, long story short, after some conversation and minor coaxing she agreed to try one out. I told her if she is totally unhappy we can and will return the iPad and just have to pay the restocking fee.

She even sent a text to a friend who is out of town right now telling her that she just got an iPad and that "Michael is thrilled I now have an Apple product...." Guess she forgets about the 2 iPods she has.

So anyway, I'm syncing the iPad now and am thrilled she liked it and wanted one. And sort of selfish because now I feel we wont be fighting over my 3G iPad when it comes.

A truly amazing iPad day!!!!!!!!