The new iPad...

[braex27]

...who's getting one?!

 

[ozguy]

Not me .... no interest in ipads at all. I have a desktop computer, a laptop and a netbook, and they will do me just fine.

 

[rotary]

I skipped the iPad and iPad2 because the resolution was terrible for its screen size. This one is 2048x1536 which blows my macbook air out of the water. Can't wait until the 16th

 

[pilotguy121a]

I bought a 2011 Macbook Air 11" for school and was torn between that and an iPad. Well, here I am now, I don't use the Air for anything but internet browsing. My plan is to sell it and buy a 32GB iPad. I'm very excited about it.

 

[Corny]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0FVm_H_D18[/ame]

 

[looseliam]

^ love it!

 

[maxpowr9]

I hardly ever use my ipad 2 unless I am sitting on the couch and bored since I don't have a reliable laptop. If it wasn't for free, I wouldn't be using it.

 

[andysayshi]

That clip is hilarious! I remember reading that in the US, not long after the first iPad came out, one guy's wife threw out an iPad with a pile of magazines of her coffee table.

 

[Kirbster66]

I pre-ordered my new iPad yesterday. Can't wait!

 

[looseliam]

I pre-ordered my new iPad yesterday. Can't wait!

First drink's on me

 

[andysayshi]

Just spoke to a friend of mine who's a special needs school teacher. Today her school ordered 40 iPad 2s at the new low price (plus education discount). Apparently some specialised apps developed for the iPad are revolutionising education for children with autism.

 

[djunkie]

Buying mine in a few days hopefully! Cannot wait until it arrives!!

 

[jonahjonah179]

Unnecessary update. They should have just waited for their next generation entirely.

 

[andysayshi]

If I could afford any kind of tablet I'd get something like the kindle fire, or some other generic android tablet. Apple products are just too overpriced, and apple fans are just to psycho for me to join in.

Performance-for-dollar, iPads are the cheapest tablets on the market. If you want something low-specced like a Kindle Fire, sure, but if you want a high-performance tablet, iPads are better value. Especially the $399 iPad2 for budget shoppers.

 

[JB3]

I'm getting one. I almost sprang for a 4G version, but my Verizon LTE smartphone can do unlimited tethering for cheaper than the plans on the 4G iPad. (Oh, and I sold my iPad 2 on ebay and will only spend $70 more for the new one)

I actually have a use for it though: in the classroom iPads are wonderful things, especially for the younger ones.

 

[andysayshi]

Unnecessary update. They should have just waited for their next generation entirely.

So, just to clarify:

• 4 times more display pixels, highest resolution on any mobile device ever
• double the processing power
• 4 times GPU power
• 5 megapixel camera with much better optics and 1080p video recording
• 4G compatibility
• OS-integrated voice recognition/dictation capabilities

What were you expecting? A teleporter?

 

[JB3]

I think an Eee pad is better.

The new Transformers are actually pretty great. If they could match (or beat) Apple's price for their cellular-connected models they could be a potent threat.

 

[looseliam]

So, just to clarify:

• 4 times more display pixels, highest resolution on any mobile device ever
• double the processing power
• 4 times GPU power
• 5 megapixel camera with much better optics and 1080p video recording
• 4G compatibility
• OS-integrated voice recognition/dictation capabilities

What were you expecting? A teleporter?

A teleporter would be nice. We can call it iMove.

 

[andysayshi]

Or iPort?

 

[andysayshi]

I think an Eee pad is better.

I won't deny they are probably the only tablet on the market that gives the iPad a run for its money. But I had a play with the earlier Honeycomb models about 6 months ago, and it had lots to criticise.

Firstly, with the keyboard dock connected, it keeps falling over! The tablet section is twice the weight of the keyboard section, so if you try to use the touch interface while it's docked, the whole thing falls flat on it's back. Don't use it near the edge of a table!

The graphic display performance is just clunky, there's no other way to say it. (Which is true of every Android tablet I've used to date.) There are occasional lags and pauses that are really annoying. The newer model has a much better graphics processor, so I assume those issues are resolved. This review doesn't fill me with confidence:

With all the hype surrounding quad-core mobile processors, we were expecting fireworks and rockets to shoot out of the tablet every time we tapped the touchscreen. But the experience of using the Transformer Prime wasn’t anywhere near as mind-blowing, and frankly, we were left feeling disappointed. When it’s fast, it’s really fast, and some of the things that used to lag on dual-core Honeycomb tablets (like bringing up the multi-tasking pane, swiping through the homescreen, unlocking it and loading photo thumbnails in the Gallery photos app) were swift on the Transformer Prime. But there were just as many things that performed at the same speed as older tablets, making us wonder whether Ice Cream Sandwich is actually optimised for quad-core processors.

But that wasn’t even the worst part. The bigger let-down was how flaky the Transformer Prime was for day-to-day use. It randomly rebooted a handful of times, and frequently gave us ‘[application name]’ is not responding’ errors – particularly when we were using the browser. A lot of the time, it didn’t even feel like a dual-core processor, let alone a quad-core one, as it would regularly lock up when doing one task (such as installing an app or loading a webpage) and ignore any other input attempts until it was finished.

So, given the new iPads substantially higher resolution (best in any mobile device made to date), 5-lens HD camera optics (optics are SO much more important than megapixels!), most versatile phone network compatibility of any mobile device ever made, and access to the world's largest libraries of music and mobile apps ... I still think the new iPad is in a class of its own.

I'm the first to admit there's plenty to criticise on the iPad as well, especially for the average tech head. I've no doubt the iPad will not be first-in-class for too much longer. But it is today.