The Apple iPad Thread

Originally Posted by jb66

I use my tv for tv and my iPad for ipadding

When I go away on business, I would rather watch the films/programmes I have on my iPad on a large screen TV in the hotel room...

[Tezcatlipoca]

Well, if Apple actually has any stock left by the time it eventually brings its online store back online in a usable fashion, I'll be going for the 64GB WiFi only model, along with a 3rd generation Apple TV.

Still don't have any need for 3G, but I have found 32GB a bit limited recently.

Originally Posted by jb66

It's the same price as the Samsung galaxy tab

Yup. I think the Xoom 2 is the same as well (or close to it). Ditto for the Sony Tablet S.

All the other high-end tablets originally cost the same too... although most failed miserably and had their prices slashed again and again, such as the Xoom 1 and PlayBook, while of course the TouchPad failed so badly it was discontinued.

I might get one when I am over in the US in a couple of weeks, at the dollar price...

iPad 2 has not gone all that cheap then... surprise surprise.

[Cobbydaler]

Originally Posted by Tuftus

iPad 2 has not gone all that cheap then... surprise surprise.

It's Apple's strategy.

Release an item with a base spec, release an update after a year (with technology they could have released at day 1) at a premium. Don't discount the original by that much.

Repeat.

They rely on Apple fans slavishly following the cycle...

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

So when the Ipad 4 comes out is this going to be "The old new iPad"

Neither can have memory added, or connect to a tv, thats why I bought the ASUS Transformer Tf101 (ICS), and I don't need iTunes on my laptops.

I have bought a 32GB card to use for Video/music.

I can connect my iPad2 to my tv using AirPlay and my Apple TV

Pretty impressed with the new screen and processor so will probably upgrade.

[qasdfdsaq]

Originally Posted by Matt D

Well, if Apple actually has any stock left by the time it eventually brings its online store back online in a usable fashion, I'll be going for the 64GB WiFi only model, along with a 3rd generation Apple TV.

Course with other devices when you run out of memory you just buy more memory, instead of having to replace the entire tablet.

---------- Post added at 10:54 ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 ----------

Screen and processor are both no better than my year old smartphone, and a lot worse than what will be my next smartphone. Meh.

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Course with other devices when you run out of memory you just buy more memory, instead of having to replace the entire tablet.

---------- Post added at 10:54 ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 ----------

Screen and processor are both no better than my year old smartphone, and a lot worse than what will be my next smartphone. Meh.

On the other hand, the screen and processor are still way in excess of most people's requirements. I've said this before and I'll say it again - the vital statistics simply aren't vital. Apple isn't catering to the market for nerds who care about who has the biggest numbers. It's catering to the market where users value style and simplicity.

My iPad1 is a workhorse ... its life is more like the PADD you see being tossed around in Star Trek TNG than a handheld HD telly for gawping at. It gives me access to contacts, diary and email wherever I am and earns us money by allowing us to take business enquiries while we're out and about. If I want my office to be a branch of Starbucks for a couple of hours, I can do that (much more effectively than I could with any smartphone - the physical size of the thing becomes limiting after only a few minutes). Plus, it synchronizes seamlessly with all the same gear on my desktop, which is on a Mac and has been for years. In fact making it all work together for the first time was as simple as giving the iPad a user name and a password. It was ready to roll in less than 30 seconds.

Plus it runs a load of bizarre, slightly surreal Toca Boca kids games that my three offspring absolutely love. Everybody's happy.

I don't need to compare stats or prices with any other tablet, Apple or otherwise. It does what I need it to do, simply and without fuss, out of the box. That's what Apple is good at designing and building and that's why I'm happy to keep giving them my hard-earned. Except not this time - my iPad will be getting replaced when it dies, not when a newer, shinier one comes out.

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Screen and processor are both no better than my year old smartphone, and a lot worse than what will be my next smartphone. Meh.

I think the screen is certainly better....

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Course with other devices when you run out of memory you just buy more memory, instead of having to replace the entire tablet.

---------- Post added at 10:54 ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 ----------

Screen and processor are both no better than my year old smartphone, and a lot worse than what will be my next smartphone. Meh.

If I ever run low on space all I need to do is remove apps I am not currently needing as I can easily redownload from iCloud later.

Also the processor is fast enough and powerful enough for what peoplewill use the device for. It will even allow you to edit photos up to 19MP with no issues using the new iPhoto app.

Dual core CPU and quad core graphics on a tablet are more than adequate for doing work, browsing the web and anything else I need to do on the train or out and about. It doesn't need to be any more powerful than that. Its also reported that the A5X is way more powerful than the new Tegra 3 chips.

[peanut]

I think the screen on the iPad2 is great, and for its size I don't think it needs anything better. As for the other extras, I think it's a bit of a waste for me. As Chris pointed out correctly, I won't upgrade anything like this till the one I'm using now dies. I don't think the iPad3 is needed at all just yet. But saying that, kudos for them on the tech.

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Course with other devices when you run out of memory you just buy more memory, instead of having to replace the entire tablet.

---------- Post added at 10:54 ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 ----------

Screen and processor are both no better than my year old smartphone, and a lot worse than what will be my next smartphone. Meh.

You have a smartphone with a 9 inch screen - wow!!!

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Hugh

You have a smartphone with a 9 inch screen - wow!!!

and with higher res than 2048x1538 lol

[peanut]

I watch streaming 720p films on the ipad, and they look great, how would having a better screen improve something that doesn't need improving. Okay it might look slightly sharper but apart from being a bit of a gimmick, is it really worth paying out to update?

I think I need to see one before I can really say otherwise, but I don't think the screen res would change my opinion regardless. (unless they change the size of the ipad to table size).

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Cobbydaler

It's Apple's strategy.

Release an item with a base spec, release an update after a year (with technology they could have released at day 1) at a premium. Don't discount the original by that much.

Repeat.

They rely on Apple fans slavishly following the cycle...

I don't think that applies to the iPad at all.

The first didn't have a "base spec", as there was nothing to compare it to.

The second didn't have a "base spec", unless you also consider the 2011 competition (Tab 10.1, Xoom, Sony Tablet S, etc.) to have "base specs" too.

And the third doesn't have a "base spec" either.

As for adding technology that should have been added earlier, other than cameras (which I still consider pointless on a tablet) I don't see what else could have been added earlier.

"Retina display"? Too expensive. Apple looked at it last year, with Sharp, LG, and Samsung. Sharp could produce the required yields, but was too expensive. LG and Samsung were cheaper, but couldn't manage the yields. Now, finally, it's got cheap enough and of sufficient quality to introduce this year.

Quad-core? Probably would have cost too much at the time. Also, if Apple should have done that last year, then surely Samsung and all the other competitors should have gone with the Tegra 3 last year not the Tegra 2?

What else?

At a premium? How? The iPad isn't overpriced, unlike certain other Apple products. As mentioned earlier in the thread, the equivalent competition all cost exactly the same (except for those that failed miserably and had to have massive price cuts to try and stimulate sales). Each iPad version has also cost the same as the one before (with the 32GB & 64GB 2nd & 3rd gen actually coming in cheaper than the 1st gen).

Oh, and if Apple was relying on fans "slavishly following the cycle", how come sales of the iPad are so huge, and continue to go up and up and up and up every single quarter? That can't just be from "Apple fanboys" buying the 1st gen, then selling the 1st gen to buy the 2nd, then selling the 2nd to buy the 3rd. The iPad continues to sell more than all the competition combined, plus in Apple's most recent quarter it even sold more iPads than any single computer manufacturer sold PCs... including the big three HP, Dell, and Lenovo. Over 15 million units in one quarter. That's not just Apple fans.


Yearly cycle? So what? They all do that, with some even more frequent. Samsung has released a new Galaxy tablet each year for the last three years (sometimes more than one - last year has the Tab 10.1 plus two smaller ones)), and also a new Galaxy phone each year. Motorola has released a new Xoom. And so on. Phones, tablets, they all get annual refreshes, it's not just Apple.