iPad, Quick Review and things to know if buying from the US. (now with pics)

adox · 12-06-2010 05:55PM

chrislad wrote: »

Reeder for iPad is a go. Yay.

I'm going to buy this later on. Still have my $40 worth of iTunes vouchers.
It will be my first experience with a RSS reader. Looking forward to figuring it all out.

Be interested to hear how you think the iPad version competed to previous versions.

Branoic · 13-06-2010 02:37AM

Having used OCD's BlackVPN code, I now would like to humbly submit that if anyone else hasn't signed up yet, they share the love and use my code when doing so - SBXKJCF

OCD · 13-06-2010 08:28AM

Branoic wrote: »

Having used OCD's BlackVPN code, I now would like to humbly submit that if anyone else hasn't signed up yet, they share the love and use my code when doing so - SBXKJCF

Thanks Branoic. Think existing subscribers only get an extra month max so we should pass on the codes anyway.

chrislad · 13-06-2010 08:57AM

adox wrote: »

I'm going to buy this later on. Still have my $40 worth of iTunes vouchers.
It will be my first experience with a RSS reader. Looking forward to figuring it all out.

Be interested to hear how you think the iPad version competed to previous versions.

Just as good. Very easy to use. There's a reason it's jumped straight to the top of the paid charts within a day!

My only gripe, and this is present with the iPhone version too, is that you can't post feeds to Facebook, but it's by far the sleekest, fastest reader I've used on the iPad (which granted isn't much as I only got the free ones as I knew this was coming) and it's made it's place onto my actual dock alongside Mail, Safari, Comic Zeal, iPod and Photos.

tallus · 13-06-2010 02:23PM

Has anyone seen the WePad ?

It's a german made device coming out later this year. It has a faster processor(1.66ghz), two usb ports, and hdmi port along with a memory card expansion slot, and camera's on the front and back of the device. The bog standard model is 16gb.
It runs Android operating system.
As far as I know the retail price will be €459 for the base model.

Interesting times ahead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRxa_rseP6c

yawnstretch · 14-06-2010 02:23PM

Hmm, wepad looks interesting. Bevel is thicker than ipad though (looks a little chunkier too but nothing serious). Does it do flash? Does it allow drawing with a stylus?

tallus · 14-06-2010 05:52PM

yawnstretch wrote: »

Hmm, wepad looks interesting. Bevel is thicker than ipad though (looks a little chunkier too but nothing serious). Does it do flash? Does it allow drawing with a stylus?

Not sure YS. They are very slow to release information. We'll have to wait and see.

On the down side, the ipad has considerably better battery life as the WePad is quoted at 6 hours. I'd say in reality you would probably get about 5.

Some stats listed Here.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was able to run flash out of the box, but time will tell.

adox · 14-06-2010 06:46PM

My case arrived today. Only just put the iPad into it a few minutes ago, but I'm really impressed with it. Fits great, acccess to all points, lines up beautifully.

It's sot of like a leather looking version of the official iPad case but probably better. It has two magnets to keep it closed, which is great. Really pleased with it.

adox · 14-06-2010 06:55PM

Here's a quick YouTube link to the one I got:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uck7vfPm0vQ

Basq · 15-06-2010 03:21PM

Where'd ya buy that from adox, and how much?

As for me.. this is my 3rd day in Miami and went to an Apple store yesterday and reserved one, but the guy said stock is non-existant and the average wait is between 10 and 12 days so he said he'd be suprised if I got one.

Ah well.. we'll just need to see what happens. Am here til next Wednesday.

alexlyons · 15-06-2010 03:29PM

In San Fran at the minute, was in Heathrow on saturday while flying out, popped into Dixons and they had the 16GB Wifi in stock, was about an extra 40 or 50 quid, but holiday mode had kicked in and had a budget for the holiday including an iPad, so I decided to get it based on the lack of stock levels. I'm so glad I did! No stock here at all and even though I've used them before, the device is incredible!

basquille, check bestbuy.com, search iPad then just at the one you want you can check availability, stick in your zip code and it'll tell you. Just watch though, it says stores in stock come up dark grey, they're actually black so be careful! When I did it in the two weeks run up to my trip it almost always said at least one store had stock of them.

No case or camera connector here, bit bummed

Basq · 15-06-2010 05:42PM

Wanna know how lucky I am? Reserved one in Lincoln Road Apple Store in Miami.

Came over that direction and sitting in a Starbucks enjoying an iced coffee, and realized I'm about 60 feet from that Apple store and just checked my e-mail and..

.. my iPad is ready for collection!

Score!

Oliver1985 · 15-06-2010 06:14PM

Guys how much is a 16g wifi in belfast am thinking about getting one for my baby girls birthday?

adox · 15-06-2010 07:42PM

basquille wrote: »

Wanna know how lucky I am? Reserved one in Lincoln Road Apple Store in Miami.

Came over that direction and sitting in a Starbucks enjoying an iced coffee, and realized I'm about 60 feet from that Apple store and just checked my e-mail and..

.. my iPad is ready for collection!

Score!

Ah fantastic news. I'm sure you'll love it.

As for the case, I got it on amazon.co.uk from one of the sellers. I think it was his last one. I just did a search for snugg on amazon and it came up.

I think it was about £ 38 sterling delivered. Pricey I know, but it's abquality case. I'm prettybsure it's not leather but it feels veery well made and the iPad sits well in it. Very sturdy in both landscape positions but a bit unstable in portrait.

It's probably like most people would like the official case to be.

chrislad · 15-06-2010 08:12PM

Heh. You have the same problem as me. You keep pressing n or b when typing in portrait instead of hitting space.

banquo · 15-06-2010 08:36PM

Oliver1985 wrote: »

Guys how much is a 16g wifi in belfast am thinking about getting one for my baby girls birthday?

Almost 560 - it's £429, and then you've to get your cash converted, which costs more.

Cheaper by credit card though. Standard conversion rate applies then.

adox · 15-06-2010 08:44PM

chrislad wrote: »

Heh. You have the same problem as me. You keep pressing n or b when typing in portrait instead of hitting space.

Ha, yeah it's been happening loads to me. Must remember to proof read read before posting.

adox · 15-06-2010 09:04PM

Anyone using Zinio at all for magazines? I'm quite tempted to take out a subscription on something.

A lot of the UK based mags, which I may be interested in, are just stupidly expensive and I won't even entertain them, but there's the likes of the US edition of Macworld, which you csn have 12 issues for $19.99.

Also there's a few US music mags on there as well. Anyone know if any of them are any good?

Was tempted to buy the Wired app as well, but it just seems too expensive too.

Dr Galen · 15-06-2010 09:08PM

I have the Zinio app and played about with some of the samples. Looks good, but nowhere near as interactive and such as Wired. I;d hold off on Wired just now, rumours of a pricing shuffle in the near future

Dr Galen · 15-06-2010 09:09PM

basquille wrote: »

Wanna know how lucky I am? Reserved one in Lincoln Road Apple Store in Miami.

Came over that direction and sitting in a Starbucks enjoying an iced coffee, and realized I'm about 60 feet from that Apple store and just checked my e-mail and..

.. my iPad is ready for collection!

Score!

Nice one! Had fingers crossed for you, remember saying that stock was pretty tight over there.

chrislad · 16-06-2010 07:47AM

I have a sub to GamesTM on the iPad. I got a 6 month to see how it works out. While I would like a higher resolution so I didn't have to zoom in to read some articles, it's quite nice. Pricing isn't crazy either. Have downloaded the Retro and X360 mags too to see what they were like. I found Zinio quite slow to load if you were flicking through quickly.

talla · 16-06-2010 08:37AM

adox wrote: »

Anyone using Zinio at all for magazines? I'm quite tempted to take out a subscription on something.

A lot of the UK based mags, which I may be interested in, are just stupidly expensive and I won't even entertain them, but there's the likes of the US edition of Macworld, which you csn have 12 issues for $19.99.

Also there's a few US music mags on there as well. Anyone know if any of them are any good?

Was tempted to buy the Wired app as well, but it just seems too expensive too.

Bought a subscription to the US Macworld and using zinio to read them on the ipad. Earlier versions of Zinio on the ipad were slow but performance is fine now. At the moment very few magazines have any interactivity in them apart from weblinks which will open in the browser within the app. Its up to the publisher to embrace the model rather than try and guage everyone with their rip off pricing models for their own dedicated apps.

OCD · 21-06-2010 04:01PM

culabula wrote: »

Belfast is an amazing shop, never had service like it. They have swapped out a MacBook Air not bought there,exchanged a BT keyboard, repaired out-of-warranty MacBooks for free, done the same for a Mac mini, listened to my woes and just given me a brand-new one instead with a new warranty up to 01/11.

Retail done right.

just an update to this in case anyone's US ipad develops problems....Belfast were fantastic to deal with and so too were Apple's customer care. Right from the start when the ipad techs couldn't help me they escalated it right up to senior level until i was happy that the ipad was being replaced.

Anyhoo, the belfast store asked me not to wipe the ipad so that they can carry out diagnostics on it before it's wiped....apparently it's only the 2nd one they've received with the problem and doesn't seem to be an issue with EU/UK ipads. So if you did buy your ipad in the US and it does develop problems, you have a worldwide guarantee and a great shop up the road if you need to get a new one.

whiterebel · 21-06-2010 04:54PM

OCD wrote: »

just an update to this in case anyone's US ipad develops problems....Belfast were fantastic to deal with and so too were Apple's customer care. Right from the start when the ipad techs couldn't help me they escalated it right up to senior level until i was happy that the ipad was being replaced.

Anyhoo, the belfast store asked me not to wipe the ipad so that they can carry out diagnostics on it before it's wiped....apparently it's only the 2nd one they've received with the problem and doesn't seem to be an issue with EU/UK ipads. So if you did buy your ipad in the US and it does develop problems, you have a worldwide guarantee and a great shop up the road if you need to get a new one.

The iPad doesn't have a worldwide warranty according to Apple's website. It would be interesting to find out what would have happened if you had called Tech Support, as they probably aren't set up for repairs yet. Apple Stores always seem to be more helpful.

OCD · 21-06-2010 05:21PM

whiterebel wrote: »

The iPad doesn't have a worldwide warranty according to Apple's website.

I was told it did, twice and by two differents service reps.

whiterebel wrote: »

It would be interesting to find out what would have happened if you had called Tech Support, as they probably aren't set up for repairs yet. Apple Stores always seem to be more helpful.

I called tech support before going into the shop. In fact, tech support got the shop to call me. I purely went into the shop to pick up the new unit - didn't have to explain myself or show them the fault....tech support bounced it to senior customer service and they contacted the shop on my behalf.

whiterebel · 21-06-2010 07:13PM

OCD wrote: »

I was told it did, twice and by two differents service reps.

I called tech support before going into the shop. In fact, tech support got the shop to call me. I purely went into the shop to pick up the new unit - didn't have to explain myself or show them the fault....tech support bounced it to senior customer service and they contacted the shop on my behalf.

Well its on their warranty, I posted it on here the other day, same as the iPhone. It says you may have to have it serviced in the country of purchase. Certainly not a worldwide warranty.
Tech support bounced you to the Store because they don't have a service channel set up yet, thats why I was interested.

OCD · 21-06-2010 10:43PM

whiterebel wrote: »

Well its on their warranty, I posted it on here the other day, same as the iPhone. It says you may have to have it serviced in the country of purchase. Certainly not a worldwide warranty.
Tech support bounced you to the Store because they don't have a service channel set up yet, thats why I was interested.

sounds like i got lucky so...perhaps because this was only their 2nd recall in ireland. two service reps definitely said to me, when i asked, that it was a world warranty so i don't know why they said that.

to be fair, when i was talking to the senior rep in the states, i pointed her to the apple forum and when she realised there were lots of US owners talking about the problem, she said there and then that i'd be given a new unit. there was no mention of repair fees, only where my nearest shop was.

either way, the new unit doesn't seem to have the freeze problems but i just wanted to post an update in case someone with a US unit has issues in the future.

whiterebel · 22-06-2010 09:40AM

OCD wrote: »

sounds like i got lucky so...perhaps because this was only their 2nd recall in ireland. two service reps definitely said to me, when i asked, that it was a world warranty so i don't know why they said that.

to be fair, when i was talking to the senior rep in the states, i pointed her to the apple forum and when she realised there were lots of US owners talking about the problem, she said there and then that i'd be given a new unit. there was no mention of repair fees, only where my nearest shop was.

either way, the new unit doesn't seem to have the freeze problems but i just wanted to post an update in case someone with a US unit has issues in the future.

I always watch out for these things. I worked in Apple a good few years ago in Tech Support. When the original iPod was released, it was US only for about 6, maybe 8 months? People went off buying them in the States, thinking themselves very clever, only when something went wrong, we could offer no Tech Support (We hadn't even seen one at the time), and the only repair option was for the customer to return it to the US, and back at their expense. Oh, the rows we used to have.........They take their time setting up repair strategies, couriers etc to make sure it goes fairly smoothly from the beginning, and it usually works pretty well when it kicks in. Anyway, i suppose you could say I've a touch of OCD about it.....:D

Graham · 26-06-2010 09:11AM

Anybody out there got any tips for watching the World Cup on their iPad? I have a VPN account setup for the US/UK if that's required.

culabula · 26-06-2010 09:30AM

iPad.tvcatchup.com?

iPad, Quick Review and things to know if buying from the US. (now with pics)

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