Is the iPad a white elephant ?

iMax

Just browsing adverts & thee's a huge amount of ipads for sale all "two weeks old"/ "unwanted gift" etc...

It it a pile of crap ?

jakdublin

No, but it's hugely overpriced and I'd say a lot of people bought it thinking it was a laptop replacement which it's not. I queued for one but I sold my unwanted CD collection to pay for it as I knew it wasn't really worth the money, but I still wanted one.
It's basically just a media browsing device. Great for watching movies and reading books, but frustrating for web surfing. When I'm on the Internet I like to have a few pages open at the same time and you can't do that with the iPad. I find if I'm doing research I ditch it and go to my desktop as it's to slow to switch from website to website. It's also not great for typing.
Was over in the uk at the weekend and it was great for the trip, watching movies and surfing in free wi-fi hotspots (3G version is an additional waste of cash) and the battery lasted the whole journey there and back. It's also really handy to carry around.
I'm glad I have it, but it's a toy that's worth about €250-300 IMHO

Sad Professor

I've had mine since launch and it has pretty much replaced my Macbook around the house. I do a lot of online reading as I don't buy newspapers or magazines anymore. I don't like being crouched over a computer screen, be it a desktop or a notebook, for long periods of time. Especially if all I'm doing is reading. Even using them on your lap or in bed, notebook computers are too big, hot and awkward for reading.

I disagree that it is a toy. But it depends on how you use it. Lots of things are potentially overpriced toys if you don't make full use of them. The iPad has tons of potential, not all of which is immediately apparent. But obviously it's not for everyone.

Does it have its limitations? Plenty. The main one being typing: it works fine but it can't compare to a physical keyboard. And I agree with jakdublin about tabbed web browsing, but I think that could improved immensely via software updates. iOS4 for iPad will be out next month. Apple held off on it for a reason, so they could tailor it specifically for the iPad. I think it will offer substantial improvements.

jakdublin

iOS4 would certainly improve things. I'm also going to get myself a bluetooth keyboard which might speed up the typing experience. Actually, the typing mightn't be that much of a deal for people with average typing speeds or 'two finger' typists, but I type fast using both hands and all of my oversized fingers so I find it a bit too small for my liking.

Shouldn't this thread be in the Apple Media Devices section?

tonylee

ATOMIC browser works well for tabbed browsing on iPad.

J-blk

jakdublin wrote: »

Shouldn't this thread be in the Apple Media Devices section?

Yep, would probably get a lot more feedback too...

I've had mine since early June and like Sad Professor, I find it has replaced my MacBook around the house, especially for the typical tasks, like reading RSS feeds, visiting a few sites, watching the odd video, etc. Though for most (if not all) of these tasks, it shines with 3rd party apps and not what's pre-installed (apps like Reeder, Flipboard, AirVideo, etc).

I think the reason many people might buy one and then sell it off real quick is one of misguided expectations, like SP said. It will not replace your laptop/home computer. In most cases, you need a separate computer to get the vast majority of content on it anyway. But as a media consumption device, it is way more comfortable to use than a laptop and I'd find it very difficult to go back to any laptop for those kinds of tasks.

silvine

Interested to hear it's not as great at browsing as people first said. Also those adverts.ie price are still near enough to retail value. The second gen model might be worth a look when it comes out next year.

Sad Professor

It still is great for browsing. Just not power browsing. Since getting one I've realised just how much jumping back and forth between different tabs I do. You can do this on the iPad as well, but it's a bit slow and awkward. I'd like to see Apple add some multi-touch gestures, such as a three finger swipe for switching to different tabs. It would make things a lot easier.

J-blk

Sad Professor wrote: »

I'd like to see Apple add some multi-touch gestures, such as a three finger swipe for switching to different tabs. It would make things a lot easier.

Mercury web browser supports multi-touch gestures, including for tab switching (you can customize what each supported gesture does). Can't recommend it though as I can't get any to work for me at the moment even though a colleague has it working just fine on his iPad ...

jakdublin

tonylee wrote: »

ATOMIC browser works well for tabbed browsing on iPad.

Good shout that. Just got the full version now and testing it out. Looks pretty good so far.

After a good run out I have to say it's fantastic. Much easier for power browsing.