iPad or not.

[Nottingham Nick]

it is here!

So, who is going to get one. Already the debate has started on facebook

My own first impressions are that it is too big to fit in your pocket, so I will probably stick with the iPhone /Macbook combo in the short term.

May change my mind though. [;)]

More pictures from engadget.com

Nick

[Darren Wheeler]

iPod Touch on steroids.

I give it week before the complaints about it getting snapped in half.

[Neil]

You know my views from FB.

It looks like it will work perfectly for me. Since I have got my iPhone I hardly ever use my laptop and cannot even remember the last time I switched it on. I just use my iPhone at home and whilst it is excellent it is just a bit small really for doing everything, so the iPad, which looks to be basically a large iPhone will suit me perfectly.

Also think it will be great to travel with. Perfect to use on the plane, in hotel rooms when away on business/holiday without having to take a full, larger, heavier laptop.

I guess price will be key, and how you personally use your devices but I just think it will become the next must have and like all things Apple we will all give in to it's charm!

[buns]

As it stands Nick, I with you on this - carrying the thing (and keeping it in one piece) would be a worry and even with my bad eyesight, the Touch /Phone is adequate enough when on the move.

Reduction on the cost of the Touch perhaps[:w][:w]

buns

For travel purposes its a dream, big enough to see and for fat middle aged fingers and useful for OLCI checking office emails and light entertainment. I like it, would be nice if they could give us 120gigs
though it would not be difficult.

I have a nice brand new Louis Vuitton Cupertino case just waiting for it to find a home.

[Darren Wheeler]

$499 for 16GB
$599 for 32GB
$699 for 64GB
Add $150 for 3G

I would have expected a LOT more storage for the size.

It's a big ipod touch - No flash, no multitasking, no videocamera, screen doesn't go to the edges, Doesn't run half the OSX apps you'd want. I'd probably buy one at 300 price for watching films on the go but beyond that I think it's a major disappointment!! It's basically good for planes and the toilet

[Pete]

I'll probably get one. No; I'll definitely get one.

I see it being a device that sits on the coffee table, so takes the place of casual browsing of the Internet; makes it possible to read the news, control music around the house (I already have AirTunes littered all over, controlled by the iPhone), an interface to my Apple TV, a gaming device, and when it's not in active use; a digital photo frame - facilitated by the neat dock/stand.

At $499 it is *way* cheaper than I thought it was going to be, and next to the 9.7' Kindle at $489, it's a positive steal. I suspect Amazon execs are spitting a few feathers and working out how they can shift a mountain of now very obsolete-looking stock.

[HighFlyer]

As I said on FB, the price point is very good. The 3G versions may even come down a bit with a device subsidy from the carriers for taking out a data contract with them. Can understand its not for everyone - it wouldn't be a laptop replacement for me, but regularly I want something to browse the Internet on, or watch videos/listen to music on. Yes it is a big Touch but as some of the others have said, it will be a great device for taking on my travels as it will take up far less space and weight.

First post of 2010 and not even about Virgin lol, ah well my second love is Apple........

I have to agree there are some disappointing aspects to the product, the price seems ok though however you add $150 for 3G and then 3G service plans are paid for seperately so how much extra will it cost??? to download that book on the move.etc I think i'm defo going to get one, i mean silly not to really... have sort of gone to blackberry for mobile love my mac air book would love something to read books on and use for everything except calls.etc save me carrying those when travelling and then can spend what i would have on a new mac laptop on a imac

As highflyer said it wont replace my laptop but will be useful especially when flying

Cheers

Alex

and there was me trying to spend less and save more this year......

[Darren Wheeler]

quote:Originally posted by LiamRugby
It's basically good for planes and the toilet


[:w][:I][:#]

[mitchja]

quote:Originally posted by platinumleo
$150 for 3G and then 3G service plans are paid for seperately so how much extra will it cost???



If I were to get one, I think it would be a 3G version. I'd just stick in my existing PAYG Three mobile broadband SIM.

It did say the iPad would be unlocked.

Not that I want to give anyone any ideas but why not just stick in your existing mobile phone SIM and use your existing data allowance (if you have one as part of your tariff) [:w] Mobile networks wont like that one bit though [:w]

Regards

[Scrooge]

Sorry all you Apple freaks, I got to play with a few of these at CES THIS ONE kick the s**t out of the IPad, as much as I love my IPhone and it did sway me towards other Apple products, this product is hands down better.

[Pete]

I probably won't bother with the 3G version. I can see me taking the iPad out on long haul flights, etc, but I'll have my iPhone for comms - the iPad would be for books & movies that I'd load up in advance. And when VS finally do hook up Internet, I suspect it'll be a version of WiFi rather than anything 3G. WiFi is already on Virgin America, of course. That means my iPad's going to San Francisco in May...

[Darren Wheeler]

Instead of built-in 3G, I'd prefer to see a decent Bluetooth setup that allows you to use a mobile as a gateway.

[Scrooge]

Exactly, A friend and I were talking about this at the start of the month, I was giving here a run down of the feature on the Notion-Ink, we both came to the conclusion that it will be our travel computer in the future.

None of the Tablets are that high powered, so a serious laptop maybe needed for some people, but for the vast majority of us this next Gen tablets are going to be fantastic.

[fozzyo]

I can understand Pete's comment about it being a coffee table accessory. Great for showing photos, surfing the web etc. That concept of pick it up and use it ease of access / use.

I can see it beating the Kindle hands down, which is why it has the 3G functionality option I guess. Some people prefer the ePaper aspect of the Kindle, but full colour video screen appeals to more people I think. Personally I'm a bit old school, I prefer to read books / papers etc printed on paper.

The other big market this is going for is video's on the move. I can immediately see the appeal, but my Samsung Netbook has two advantages I can see here. Firstly storage - more vid's on it, but thats not really a concern - you can still fit quite a few vids onto the iPad!!

The one for me is that my laptop has this great ability to hold the screen at any angle I choose. I don't have to hold it or balance it. I know there is the little dock thing ... is the angle adjustable on it, if not could be a bit annoying?

Of course it will sell shed loads, its Apple and thats reason enough for it to sell so well.

Its the start of moving into Star Trek & Minority Report style working.

One final thought I've not seem talked about yet - robustness. Is it strong and resilient enough to be knocked about, knocked off the coffee table etc?

Mat

[Pete]

Nice summary Mat, although I think you're still a bit hung-up on the product category overlap. Sure, a netbook / notebook is going to offer more storage / connections / features than a tablet; but that's missing the point of this product. When I want to do processor-intensive work (like video editing, for instance), you'll find me on a desktop machine. If I need to work on the train, I'll pack my laptop with me. If I want to check emails and surf the web when I'm at M&S, the iPhone does the job. Where I see the iPad fitting in is mostly as a home-device for casual browsing when the iPhone screen is just a bit too small to be practical, and also to slip into a carry-on bag when I want to take my entertainment with me, but when I don't need to write Word documents (or I don't want to clutter the limited real estate of an airplane tray table with a laptop). The iPad is clearly going to be useless if I wanted to design a theatre programme; but it's perfect for checking the flight prices to Vegas if I'm having a conversation about that in the lounge.

For me, it's definitely a coffee-table device, and I think Apple are going to clean up in that market. Regardless of whether their competition have got a faster, sleeker, more powerful product, it's going to be Apple that define the category with slick marketing and their sheer dominance over the Apps market. Like the iPod, you either have the Apple product or one of the wannabe's.

Pete

[Scrooge]

Pete, you could very well be right there, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 3-4 months, after playing around (though very very limited with the IPad I will admit) I really feel it will come down to 3 of them, the I-Pad for the reasons you listed above, The HP because it is nice and runs windows and the Notion Ink because Google will be pushing the heck out of it.

I really want them to have a phone built in. It would be brilliant to see a real life version of that Trigger Happy TV phone - Apple style!
I see it as Apple's version of the those novely giant remote controls or calculators that you get.
And yes I will get one. I am all about the gadgets...

Just see this on one of the news programs and then had a look at the video on the apple site.

This is exactly the piece of kit I need to replace my Vaio X series laptop, which has been fantastic for travelling size wise, but is now getting a little clunky. (when thinking about it, the only thing its been used for in the many trips across the pond is browsing and emails and very very occasionally an excel or word doc)

The only issue I see is that for some hotels, you would need to bring a wireless router as I would assume that the 3G roaming rates in the US will be horrendous.

The prices

16GB 32GB 64GB
Wi-Fi $499 $599 $699
Wi-Fi + 3G $629 $729 $829

look ok in dollars, but what will they translate to in pounds.

Does anyone know if the US 3G frequencies are the same as the UK ones?

Can't wait [y]

David

EDIT : the other benefit for me is, when on holiday, we read alot of books, think of the weight saving [y]

Seems pointless to me.
I have an iphone and am perfectly happy with it and combine it with a notebook when travelling - no problems.
There's not enough storage on the ipad for my liking and no multitasking, there's always something missing with Apple products.
I've not looked into it in detail but is the battery built in like the iphone/pod? I hope not but assume it will be and there's another negative if so.
I'd image it's not much to use holding it in your hand(s) all the time to obtain the best angle for viewing.
I'm a bit of a gadget man at times but this does nothing for me.

[Pete]

David; I expect the cost will be about 375 over here, give or take. Bear in mind that US prices are always ex-Taxes, and vendors are legally obliged to price inc-VAT on consumer items in the UK; so $499 equals roughly 310, but add on another 55 and 'retail rounding', and it'll be in the mid-to-high end of the 300's. If it's significantly more than that, I'm buying in the US! ;-)

Daywalker - Battery life is touted to be 10 hours constant usage, one month standby. Apparently the LED technology they're using means the viewing angle is huge, and there's a dock if you want to plonk it on a table to watch a movie rather than keep it in your lap. It's not a notebook replacement, and if you want multitasking, etc, then you need a laptop or netbook, not an iPad. It's an oversized iPod Touch, which means you're probably going to use it at home most of the time, or on long haul journeys when you don't fancy watching full movies on your phone. It's worth saying again; this is not a notebook replacement - Apple were very clear at the launch that this is a new category of product. It's an entertainment device, like an iPod.

Billy - One of the videos I saw about the iPad stated whilst there isn't a phone app on it as standard, just like the iPod Touch, it will run applications like Skype, and you can be pretty sure that a hundred developers will rush to write a phone app for 3G-enabled iPads (although this is one area where I think, why bother? - that's what the iPhone is for).

I still think at $499, this is an absolute steal. Amazon are flogging their 16-greyscale one-trick Kindle for $489, and no one is slagging that off, yet for $10 more you get 16-billion colour touch-sensitive display which has an eBook application that beautifully animates as you flip through pages which alone makes Kindle look crappy and overpriced before you even scratch all the other things it can do.

quote:Originally posted by David
EDIT : the other benefit for me is, when on holiday, we read alot of books, think of the weight saving [y]


True, but you'll need two of them and you can't go 'whoops, dropped it in the pool, I'll let it dry off in the sun...'

Pete's point about the Kindle is a good one...

[Scrooge]

Yes it is, Mrs Scrooge has been bugging me for an ereader for a while now, we may well end up grabbing a couple of these so she can use it as her book on trips, it will pay for itself just by not having to pay for and extra suitcase on every trip.