The iPad ...better than I expected.

[x88x]

Ok I admit it, I was in Best Buy today, and as I passed by the Apple display I decided to stop and try one of the display iPads.

...I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually a very nice device. I know, I know, I hate Apple and all, but...I have to admit, they did well with that thing. I really wanted to hate it, but it just...worked. It didn't get in my way like a lot of other devices tend to. After using it for a little while I can definitely see the power of the A4...I'd like to try a Snapdragon-powered Android phone to see a comparison, but it is definitely snappier than the 600MHz cortex-A8 in my N900 (damn well better be considering it's based on the same tech and has a 1GHz clock -_^ ). The wide bezel used to puzzle me, but when I held it I could see how nice it is; it's just wide enough to comfortably grip it, but not so wide that it gets in the way. The frame is nice and solid, with no flex.

All that highly out-of-character praise aside, there's no way in hell I would buy one. Too expensive for too little use cases (for me), the onscreen keyboard is one of the best onscreen keyboards I've ever used, but...it's still an onscreen keyboard, which means that it inherently sucks, it's a fingerprint magnet, there's no flash, and there's no multitasking. Really Apple, wtf were you thinking? You're wasting that beautiful A4 without multitasking. I could almost feel it straining at the software, wanting to let me do more with it. Oh, and the closed-garden environment...that alone is almost enough for me to say 'never will I buy this thing'. ..not quite enough on its own, but combined with the other faults, yeah...never gonna happen.

Disclaimer: This viewpoint is based on about 5 minutes using the thing, so by no means is this intended to be a fully-informed opinion. I was just surprised at how nice it actually is.

[Zephik]

Burn the apple worshipping heathen!!

:p

It's actually not that bad of a device, really. It's just missing some important features and is about $200 too expensive. It's also not what the tablet loving market wanted at all. But for a regular person it's more than fine I'd say. It's just that for the same price or less you could get a much better device and thus it's not a good deal unless you've got money to burn. But then, it's still a rather limited device, so... Hmm.

It's just apple I guess. They're bloody fantastic at offering devices that both suck and rock at the same time. It's like I want it and don't want it at the same time. lol annoying.

[TheGreatSatan]

I agree, if they had an SD option it would be a lot better.

[x88x]

They're bloody fantastic at offering devices that both suck and rock at the same time.

Hit it right on the head there. If it were about half the price, weren't locked down so hard, and had some...dearly needed additional hardware (like an SD slot), it would be awesome. As it stands, no.

[Zephik]

I think that's what irritates me the most, too. That if not for the flaws it would be awesome. It'd be the perfect Tablet PC. But no, let's take a great starting point like "a giant iPod Touch" and just leave it there.

They should make a "MacBook" edition. Give it all the bells and whistles. Jeez, just make a keyboardless MacBook with a Touch Screen and the App Store. An OS X and iOS combination along with MacBook hardware would be flipping awesome!

[Drum Thumper]

I have to admit, they did well with that thing.

If you worked my job, you would ****ing hate those God awful things. What the **** were they thinking with the mail client on that utter POS? Interoperability is one thing, but to have it set up to interface with every mother****ing 3rd party webmail site in existence is a tad bit much. And unless you are Mac certified, forget about trying to configure it on your own to work with your ISP, you WILL, no wait, WILL be talking to your Tier 1 tech support office, where poor bastards such as myself pull out what little hair we have left because YOU DECIDED YOU NEEDED TO BE PART OF THE ****ING PROBLEM, NOT PART OF THE *** **** SOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


/end rant.

That said, wait a couple more months, Dell has a droid based tablet coming out that promises to kick the **** out of anything the Chinese or Apple make.

[Zephik]

I like loud noises, too! We should all type like this for now on! Our ISP's will be banging on our metamorphical cielings with their metamorphical brooms!

Edit: ****, caps lock. Forget trying that on an iPod. That would take FOREVER. lol

[Okele]

Ok I admit it, I was in Best Buy today, and as I passed by the Apple display I decided to stop and try one of the display iPads.

...I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually a very nice device. I know, I know, I hate Apple and all, but...I have to admit, they did well with that thing. I really wanted to hate it, but it just...worked. It didn't get in my way like a lot of other devices tend to. After using it for a little while I can definitely see the power of the A4...I'd like to try a Snapdragon-powered Android phone to see a comparison, but it is definitely snappier than the 600MHz cortex-A8 in my N900 (damn well better be considering it's based on the same tech and has a 1GHz clock -_^ ). The wide bezel used to puzzle me, but when I held it I could see how nice it is; it's just wide enough to comfortably grip it, but not so wide that it gets in the way. The frame is nice and solid, with no flex.

All that highly out-of-character praise aside, there's no way in hell I would buy one. Too expensive for too little use cases (for me), the onscreen keyboard is one of the best onscreen keyboards I've ever used, but...it's still an onscreen keyboard, which means that it inherently sucks, it's a fingerprint magnet, there's no flash, and there's no multitasking. Really Apple, wtf were you thinking? You're wasting that beautiful A4 without multitasking. I could almost feel it straining at the software, wanting to let me do more with it. Oh, and the closed-garden environment...that alone is almost enough for me to say 'never will I buy this thing'. ..not quite enough on its own, but combined with the other faults, yeah...never gonna happen.

Disclaimer: This viewpoint is based on about 5 minutes using the thing, so by no means is this intended to be a fully-informed opinion. I was just surprised at how nice it actually is.

This post is full of win. Why? It starts out in a calm meadow, with a light breeze. Birds chirping in the background, and tree branches rustling in the distance. As you're relaxing to the calm, you notice a cloud in the distance. The cloud starts churning, spinning in a circular motion. Trees begin flying through the air, and birds are running for their lives. Next thing you know, the breeze turns into a sharp howl of wind as you are flung through the air. Landing on a sharp pointy stick, you realize that you just heard someone go from praise to down right hatred in the course of 45 seconds of reading.

Fan(effing)tastic!

[x88x]

Hahaha. Yeah, pretty much. That's the problem with it...it's really a pleasure to use, but then you start thinking "Hey, if they had done [x] it would be awesome.", and it just gets incredibly frustrating. I've been having that frustration with Apple's hardware a lot recently, like, "Yes, it's good, but if you had just paid a little more attention to your user base and weren't so %$&@ arrogant, you could have had a truly great product that's actually worth the price you're charging for it."

Oh, and Zephik, check out the Axiotron modbook (http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook). It's basically what you described without the tablet software that Apple made for the iPad.

[Luthien]

What's interesting is that the one on display at Best Buy actually worked for you. The last time I was in a Best Buy the thing was locked up and some poor employee was trying to make it work.

[Mark_Hardware]

I can't wait for the Notion Ink Adam (http://www.notionink.in/adamfeature.php)

[BuzzKillington]

They should make a "MacBook" edition. Give it all the bells and whistles. Jeez, just make a keyboardless MacBook with a Touch Screen and the App Store. An OS X and iOS combination along with MacBook hardware would be flipping awesome!

They probably will too but it will probably be 1000-1300 dollars. That's my guess.

"iPad: More Than a Tablet" I find this funny since it's obviously far less than a tablet.

[Zephik]

For a MacBook Tablet with "iOS X" I'd pay up to $1600.

[x88x]

For a MacBook Tablet with "iOS X" I'd pay up to $1600.

Good....because that's probably about where it would start. :P

[Oneslowz28]

I heard that upon purchase of a iPad, your testicles begin to shrink and you slowly develop an iVagina to replace them. That is the beginning of the fanboy transformation and eventually you will have an undying urge to move to SOHO or some trendy street in San Francisco. Not long after you move a new urge will form, one of great desire to become the most smug guy on your street. You will wind up buying a Prius because an ex vice president tells you the world is getting warmer, drinking nothing but estate bottled California pinot noir while discussing how more advance your social standards are than the rest of the world with other iVagina owners. Eventually you will begin eating only organic soy products that were grown in open fields to music normally found at Lilith Fair. By then you will have started color coding your recycling and wearing clothing made from 100% renewable fibers and using your own hair trimmings as a loofah in the shower. At this point your transformation will be complete and you will join one of the several hundred apple fanboy sites and be forever lost to online douche bag anonymity.

[SXRguyinMA]

lmao that was awesome +rep

[x88x]

You forgot getting a job as a journalist on Gizmodo and live-blogging all the Apple keynotes. ;P

[Oneslowz28]

Lol

[Drum Thumper]

http://codewordhank.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ip11liev.jpg

[billygoat333]

I heard that upon purchase of a iPad, your testicles begin to shrink and you slowly develop an iVagina to replace them. That is the beginning of the fanboy transformation and eventually you will have an undying urge to move to SOHO or some trendy street in San Francisco. Not long after you move a new urge will form, one of great desire to become the most smug guy on your street. You will wind up buying a Prius because an ex vice president tells you the world is getting warmer, drinking nothing but estate bottled California pinot noir while discussing how more advance your social standards are than the rest of the world with other iVagina owners. Eventually you will begin eating only organic soy products that were grown in open fields to music normally found at Lilith Fair. By then you will have started color coding your recycling and wearing clothing made from 100% renewable fibers and using your own hair trimmings as a loofah in the shower. At this point your transformation will be complete and you will join one of the several hundred apple fanboy sites and be forever lost to online douche bag anonymity.


awesome post. +rep. ;)

[Luthien]

too funny

[Luke122]

http://codewordhank.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ip11liev.jpg

Interesting, but it doesnt mention weight, or battery life.

So I looked it up..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Compaq_TC1100

Weight: Just under 3lbs with 6 cell battery. (according to HP's site)
Battery life: Not listed.. never a good sign.

This device was also discontinued in 2004, which is a shame, since it looked pretty good. I saw one in person once, with the optional keyboard attached.. very neat. :)