I’ve had the good fortune to try the new iPad on two separate occasions during the past week. One of these locations was a rooftop in Madrid, but I’ll put the stunning settings aside and mention the ups and downs of this hyped product in an almost objective way.
The user interface is clean and intuitive, eliminating the need for reading boring manuals. The sound is surprisingly good and the touch screen is just as good as on the iPhone. It also seems to have a decent battery time.
I tried reading an e-book, which was a pleasant experience complete with page turning. You can lift the virtual page and have a sneak peak at the next page, just as a normal book. A nice touch (pun intended).
Browsing Mink Machine on iPad at a rooftop in Madrid.
Some of the classic iPhone apps have been converted, and Google Maps is a joy to play around with on a bigger screen. You can also install regular iPhone apps until they get properly converted, but they are simply enlarged to fit the larger screen and tend to look a bit rough.
Apple are not known to shy away from removing popular devices (remember the old fuzz when they started to remove the floppy drive?), and this time I lack an USB connection. Not all devices have a Bluetooth yet.
If you’re watching long movies and such, the iPad is a bit large for holding. Might want to invest in one of those iPad cases.
The iPad don’t support Flash. I didn’t feel the need for it at all during the sessions, but then again I might be a bit biased regarding Flash in general.
The real issue is the tough lock-in with Apple products. You have to use iTunes and such crap for file management. And only very minor settings modifications are possible. It’s such a shame to cripple a fantastic piece of technology like this.
In total, a very nice gadget which will attract a lot of people if the price goes down a bit.
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9 comments
price go down? It’s pretty darn cheap already here (much less than I’d expected). I saw one for the first time yesterday (no time to storm the apple store right now…) – and was pleasantly surprised! I think one of the major misses is the lack of built-in webcam though.
Darn cheap? Then buy one and bring it to Gothenburg when you arrive this summer. :)
Ah, the iPad, yes. Well, being your friendly apple fan-boy ;) I’ve already played a weekend with it and are desperately trying not to buy one.
The web experience is actually better than I could have hoped, it really feels like this is the way the web should be. Flash, well, I’m not sorry, I’ve already sanitized my web browser from it
Lock in. Well, ok, not everyone loves iTunes, but being an avid iTunes user since version 2 or so, it has never bothered me. Just convert all your movie files to mp4 and import them and you’ve got a very nice tool to catalogue all your stuff. All I really need now is spotify integration and a decent converter built in.
Up for a trip to Germany to sample beer and the Apple Store in Hamburg? ;-)
Beer and Apple Store? Sounds like a dangerous combination for the wallet. :)
That’s why I’ve kept away from Germany and sites like blocket ;)
With iOS4 (thanks Cisco for selling Apple that name ;) ) due end june, I guess it will get even more difficult staying away from an iPad :-)
This spam, just trying to see if I can get an avatar…
Success! :)
Well, so much for iOS 4 in june for the iPad :(
The word now is november (!) Still, I’m quite happy with my 64GB 3G-iPad.
If you’re considering buying one, don’t go for one without 3G, it’s so much more useful with. I got a “extrakort” for my Telia subscription and can now really work on using up all of my 10GB/month ;)
Yeah, it seems we have to wait even longer… I just hope the 3G version will be affordable so it can arrive to my evil lair. :)
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