I ordered an iPad.
The first one with WiFi only wasn’t really what I wanted, though. I needed mobile connectivity and I knew that I couldn’t depend on having abundant hotspots around. In fact, the primary place where I want to use the iPad doesn’t have any WiFi at all. That meant waiting for the 3G version to come out and it arrived on Friday afternoon.
The only other decision to make was figuring out how much space to get with it. 16GB, 32GB or 64 GB? I really wasn’t sure. Unlike my iPhone, I knew that I didn’t plan on keeping my music library on the thing. Books really take very little space, and the same is true of the photos I load. The resolution is only 1024×768, so it wasn’t like I needed to load full-sized images from my camera. I figured the data hog would be video. I just didn’t know how much video I’d want or need to carry. Indecision is a terrible thing, so I opted for 32 GB – right in the middle.
That turned out to be the right amount. I currently have about 4.5 gigs free. That’s after I’ve loaded 13 feature films, 5 Pixar short films, 2 videos from iTunes U, 9 music albums and 9 books. Oh, and I also have 13 video podcasts loaded up, too. That seems like enough content to keep me occupied for a while.
iPad Apps
One of the things I read, repeatedly, is that iPhone apps just don’t look good on the iPad. It’s true. Some apps, like Speed Test (from speedtest.net) don’t really matter. All you want is the data and it functions well enough. However, I find I just removed most of my iPhone sized apps from the iPad because there’s no advantage to having them take up space. Chances are that I’ll still walk around with my iPhone, so those apps function quite well on that device. The apps that take advantage of the extra screen space are the ones I keep.
Full size media apps like Netflix and ABC Player work very well on WiFi. The picture looks great and I didn’t have any buffering problems, stuttering, etc. However, they aren’t so hot on the 3G network. ABC’s app won’t play at all without WiFi and Netflix (or AT&T) downgrades the video quality over the 3G network.
That’s a shame, because I’m getting some pretty decent speed reported from Speed Test. Typically, I’ve received a 3Mb download speed while out surfing on the AT&T 3G network in Central Florida – same as I get on my iPhone. That would seem to be sufficient for full video streaming, but I suppose AT&T just doesn’t want to allow it. Hence, that’s why I have so much video loaded on my iPad.
Other apps designed for the iPad seem very nice. Tweetdeck, NPR, Reuters News and The Weather Channel apps are all beautiful and seem to work well. I’m also pleased with some of the universal apps that work on either iPhone or iPad. IMDB looks fantastic, as does 1Password Pro and FlightTrak Pro. SoundHound is a great update from Midomi that may replace my original iPod app on the dock. It’s pretty cool.
I also loaded WordPress and BlogPress. Of the two, I think BlogPress actually looks better. However, I’ve yet to really try posting an article from either.
Accessories
Weeks before my iPad arrived, I received a couple of the accessories I included on the order. The first was the iPad case. At $40, it’s definitely overpriced. So are most things provided by Apple. This case has gotten a lot of flak online, but I’m not terribly disappointed in it. I wish it didn’t have the big Apple logo embossed on the top, screaming to everyone that there’s something expensive within its covers, but I’m not surprised. The iPad fits very snugly inside. That’s a bit of a problem when you want to take the iPad out of the case, though. Like I said, it fits very snugly inside.
The other accessory was the keyboard dock. What can I say? It’s a keyboard with a dock attached. I can type faster using the keyboard than the screen keyboard, and that’s why I bought it. It’s just a bit awkward to carry around. The thing you need to remember is that there is no mouse. When you want to scroll, you have to reach forward and touch the screen. It seems like that should be obvious, but I revert to thinking like a typical computer user with the keyboard dock. Once I’m used to it, I doubt it’ll be an issue.
It’s a curiosity
I’ve taken it out to lunch and dinner a couple of times. I used to bring a book to read if I was dining alone, but I’m trying this out. The good part is that you don’t have to worry about getting smudges on the page if you’re a little messy at dinner. The bad thing is that you constantly have fingerprint smudges and it gets annoying at times. I tried reading on the iPad in lieu of a book. It works just fine. In fact, it’s better in a dimly lit restaurant because the screen is backlit. I find that I need to prop it up on something so it displays at an angle, but I used to do the same thing with my books. I could use the prop on the iPad case in landscape mode, but I prefer reading on the long side. No big deal.
However, now I’m watching movies at dinner and it looks great. I’m sitting there digging Iron Man, but I can’t hear a damn thing my waitress is saying. It turns out that a lot of waitresses are coming around to check it out. That surprised me a bit, since the original WiFi iPad has been out enough that I figured the curiosity factor would already have waned. Then again, maybe I’m the only lonely dork who takes his iPad to lunch and dinner. At any rate, the device seems to be a topic of curiosity and conversation with the servers. I just have to remember to pause the movie and take out my earphones when they ask me questions.
Conclusions
It’s too early for conclusions. My first impression is very positive. It’s not without issues. I won’t re-hash the discussion about Flash, as it hasn’t been a problem for me yet. However, some of the web sites I visit tend to treat it as a mobile device and give me a different view than I want (e.g., Google Reader). I don’t see any glaring faults, though. I just need more time to spend with it to see where it fits in my life. I’m looking forward to giving it more of a workout this week.
