iPad

[Mulligan]

I bought the 499 iPad2 last Friday and feel so bad for wasting that $150. There, how was that?

Its always nice to know someone out there cares. Thanks! Although I spoke a little too soon. I havent technically bought it I found out, because my credit card blocked the transaction according to Apple (that had never happened before). I called Apple they said a lot of cc's are blocking the transaction as possible fraud. I guess a lot of people are trying to buy iPads with someone else's money! I then called CC company and after talking to fraud dep't, they will allow the transaction to occur. So maybe I will get mine in a few days.

 

[Katsmeow]

I don't have the current iPad and plan to get the iPad2 when it becomes available. I plan to max out the memory, but am unsure on the 3g option. I am leaning against it because I think I would use it mostly at home, or somewhere with wifi. I figure if I ever want to use maps or something on the road, I'd have an iPhone by then (I don't now). Can you talk me into getting 3g, or shall I save the $ and skip it?

I really like 3G. There is nothing like being in a store and seeing something and looking up how much it costs online. I can do that theoretically with my iphone but the screen is really small for that kind of thing. This afternoon I was out and the store I was at didn't have something I wanted so I was looking up other stores (not sure where to get it). I had forgotten my ipad so I was using the iphone and it was a pain to do with the small screen and I eventually gave up.

Also, there are some places that theoretically get WIFI (the Y, the side of the building at work where my office is located, my bedroom at home) where the WIFI signal is very low and it is a pain to try to do anything online. It is so bad at the Y that I actually shut down WIFI whenever I go there so I can use 3G which is much better there.

 

[explanade]

I read a story awhile back that retailers were getting hip to people using smart phones to price shop while looking at items in their stores.

It was still a very small percentage of people who do that but there are more and more shopping apps. available. So they might try to find ways to offer deals in smart phone ads, to divert attention from doing price comparisons.

There's a Sony Store at a mall here and years ago, before iPhone ever hit, I was using a Nokia with Wifi and I noticed they used some kind of software so that the Wifi connection they offered was blocking sites like Amazon and Best Buy.

 

[flyfishnevada]

Just bought the 1st gen iPad, 64 Gb, wifi+3G for $529 at AT&T. They ran out of the 32 GB iPads at the same price and so dropped the 64 GB price. I had to sign up for the first month of data, but its free and no contract so I can cancel after that. Since I already have the Verizon mobile hot spot, I don't really need the data, but I like the to go monthly right from the iPad, so if I ever need it, I can get it.

By the way, that's $40 less than the refurbed 32 GB at the apple store!!! Free 2-day shipping too. Will likely arrive before I leave for Jamaica on Friday!

 

[audreyh1]

I read a story awhile back that retailers were getting hip to people using smart phones to price shop while looking at items in their stores.

It was still a very small percentage of people who do that but there are more and more shopping apps. available. So they might try to find ways to offer deals in smart phone ads, to divert attention from doing price comparisons.

There's a Sony Store at a mall here and years ago, before iPhone ever hit, I was using a Nokia with Wifi and I noticed they used some kind of software so that the Wifi connection they offered was blocking sites like Amazon and Best Buy.

That's why you need a 3G connection. LOL!

 

[Mulligan]

Got my iPad 1 today. Had to post with it, with my er app I downloaded. Did some free games,too. Ten pin bowling poker and Angry Birds are pretty cool free download games to play with. A little different than a laptop, but I'm getting the hang out!

 

[Mulligan]

still need to work on the typing. It should have said getting the hang of it!

 

[Ronstar]

still need to work on the typing. It should have said getting the hang of it!

You gotta watch that auto correct feature. You might up posting something you don't want to post.


I'm PC (and Mac)-less for the next week. But I think the iPad can handle it

 

[Mulligan]

My skills are very limited. It took me a day to figure out I could even post on it through the re app! Anyone downloaded any fun free app games? The ones I have are right up my alley. Playstation games are way too complicated for me.Too much thinking and and too many buttons to remember what to do with!

 

[explanade]

There are free versions of Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and Words with Friends HD.

Free version of Scrabble too, but that may be iPhone only, meaning it will be a small screen on your iPad or zoomed in and fuzzy on the iPad.

 

[RockMonkey]

Well, my megacorp ran an employee deal for iPads, and it turns out they found my buying price. I ordered a 32 gig iPad 1 wifi, brand new (not refurbished), for $277 including tax and 2-day shipping. I already had an otter box defender case sitting around that I got free at a trade show. I got my iPad yesterday. Typing on it now.

Compared to the Galaxy Tab:
The iPad is better for surfing the Internet. The screen is larger, and web sites default to the full versions, instead of the mobile versions, as they do on the galaxy tab.

The Galaxy Tab has a noticeably higher resolution screen. Text looks significantly crisper. Although the Galaxy Tab screen is smaller, movies play only slightly larger on the iPad screen due to the cinematic aspect ratio of the Galaxy Tab, and the higher resolution screen makes movies look better on the Galaxy.

Having streaming Netflix on the iPad (which will never be available on my Galaxy Tab), is a huge benefit of the iPad.

As an e-reader, I prefer the Galaxy Tab. It's screen is about the same size as an average book-page, and it's far lighter than the iPad. Combined with crisper-looking text, this makes the Galaxy Tab an excellent e-reader.

For typing (anything) the iPad far exceeds the capabilities of the Galaxy Tab. The keyboard is much closer to full-size, and I can type quickly and accurately, though not as quick as with a real keyboard. I would not want to type this post on the Galaxy Tab, but on the iPad, it's manageable. With practice, I could see myself possibly using the iPad to create lengthier documents, which I would not do on the Galaxy Tab. I find reading email and managing my calendar on the Galaxy Tab to be fine, but I would write email on the iPad, which I do not tend to do on the Tab.

The Galaxy Tab has a take-it-with-you-ness, that the iPad does not. The Galaxy Tab is small enough to fit in my pants pockets. I can (and do) take it almost anywhere. The iPad is large enough to be inconvenient to carry around many places. It's almost as if the iPad is a little laptop, and the Galaxy Tab is like a big smart phone. I was on a plane yesterday, sitting in the half-a-seat that was left to me by the overweight gentleman to my right. I was able to use my Galaxy Tab during the flight, but the iPad would have been too large.

Those are my initial impressions. Overall, the iPad is a wonderful device. I was planning to wait for iPad 3 to come out (hoping for a retina display), but the deal was too good to pass up.

 

[explanade]

iPad 3 rumors are coming out more and more. They may wait until March or April or one rumor is to come out later in February, on the anniversary of Steve Jobs' birthday.

I've held off getting either of the first two models because last year, there were rumors of a "retina display" iPad, which would have 4 times the pixels of the current models.

Ready to order as soon as it's announced. I always have iPhone by my bed and iPad would be much better. I've tried using laptops and it just doesn't work. Some study said there is a peak in usage of tablets at night and early in the morning, suggesting a lot of people use them in bed. There are also indications that people use them in front of the TV, presumably sitting back on the couch.

 

[Brat]

I use my iPad at night because I can listen to KQED.

Fidelity customers.. they now have an iPad app!

My brother, a retiree, has virtually abandoned his portable computer because his new iPad does virtually everything he did on the portable including Skype his son in Europe.

Question: can you link to a printer on your wi-fi network using the new iPad?

 

[explanade]

There's a limited number of printers which support AirPrint.

But apparently, HP just showed a line of printers which will make it even easier to print, using what they call Wireless Direct printing.

HP makes printing from an iPad easier with Wireless Direct printing

 

[FIREd]

Here is a list of iPad-compatible printers:

iOS: AirPrint 101

I have the iPad 1 and will upgrade to the iPad 3 when it comes out. I use my iPad while watching TV, but also in bed "early" in the morning.

 

[explanade]

What kind of cases are you guys using?

I think I want one of those with the keyboard so that you can set it up like a regular clamshell for doing a lot of typing when necessary.

 

[explanade]

BTW, Apple got some adverse publicity this week with the NY Times story about working conditions at the factories which make iPad and other products and the components which come from the thousands of suppliers throughout China.

Interesting timing for those stories. Apple reports a record quarter, making money like oil companies, announces some educational products and services and are on the verge of announcing the new iPad.

 

[braumeister]

I use my iPad2 about 5X as much as i ever expected to. When I travel now, I take the pad and an Apple wireless keyboard, leaving the laptop at home.

DW has been watching me with the iPad, and has decided to get one when the next model comes out (soon, I hear).

 

[ziggy29]

BTW, Apple got some adverse publicity this week with the NY Times story about working conditions at the factories which make iPad and other products and the components which come from the thousands of suppliers throughout China.

I'm glad the story about the "social cost of cheap goods" is coming out, though I see no reason why Apple should be singled out here. Virtually all manufacturing companies use foreign sweatshops to make their goods all because of our relentless pursuit of the cheap and Wall Street's shareholder demands to squeeze every cent out of potential earnings.

Then again, my wife just got an iPad last week; it was part of the deal when she secured a ministry gig (she wants to use it for sermons). Seems pretty neat.

 

[FIREd]

What kind of cases are you guys using?

I have tried several cases, but I always come back to the basic Apple case for iPad 1. I also like my Dodocase (bulkier but much better looking). I have an external keyboard for the iPad, but never use it. If I have to type something, I find that using the iPad's virtual keyboard while propping it up with the Apple case works pretty well.

 

[explanade]

I'm glad the story about the "social cost of cheap goods" is coming out, though I see no reason why Apple should be singled out here. Virtually all manufacturing companies use foreign sweatshops to make their goods all because of our relentless pursuit of the cheap and Wall Street's shareholder demands to squeeze every cent out of potential earnings.

Then again, my wife just got an iPad last week; it was part of the deal when she secured a ministry gig (she wants to use it for sermons). Seems pretty neat.

You can't focus on one company, though when that company has $100 billion in cash and threatens to have the highest market cap, they're going to be under the microscope.

It really goes to issues of global trade, the prodigious amount of consumption the industrialized world has and so on.

Though the working conditions are rough at those plants, apparently it's a great opportunity for a lot of low-skilled workers, many of whom come from families which survive on subsistence farming.

I can't imagine rising to the middle class working at the factory but if the alternative is to be migrant laborers ...

 

[W2R]

What kind of cases are you guys using?

I got the regular apple smartcase (or is it smartcover? the one below) for my iPad2. It seems to be pretty well designed, and can either prop the iPad up for typing, or just open and fold back flat behind the back (which is how I use it). It is reasonably priced. It shuts the iPad off when closed, and turns it on when opened, a nice idea IMO.

 

[Brat]

NIKE was hit with bad publicity about working conditions a few years ago. Because their customers could easily switch to other products, and in fact they cared about working conditions, they applied pressure to their sub contractors to shape up. What most consumers don't realize is that their competitors used the same sub-contractors because of the patents held by the contractors. Conditions from one factory to another for a sub-contractor aren't significantly different.

IPad customers won't buy another similar product because there are no comparable products at the moment so, short of shame, there is little incentive for them to address sub-contractor working conditions.

 

[Meadbh]

I'm glad the story about the "social cost of cheap goods" is coming out, though I see no reason why Apple should be singled out here. Virtually all manufacturing companies use foreign sweatshops to make their goods all because of our relentless pursuit of the cheap and Wall Street's shareholder demands to squeeze every cent out of potential earnings.

Then again, my wife just got an iPad last week; it was part of the deal when she secured a ministry gig (she wants to use it for sermons). Seems pretty neat.

iSermons?

 

[Meadbh]

What kind of cases are you guys using?

I have the Apple magnetic cover (in dark blue leather) which is very versatile (it's amazing how it almost never falls off) and also bought this Incase neoprene sleeve in bright pink! I like it because I can put the iPad with its magnetic cover, my charger, stylus, and earbuds all in together. I took it on vacation this way and it worked great.

Neoprene Sleeve Plus for iPad by Incase