iPad/iPad 2/other tablets...what can you tell me?

[GormanHarvey]

Thanks a bunch for the info laserbomb. I ended up ordering a Seidio 1750 mAh battery for my phone but I haven't received it yet. It is the biggest replacement battery available that fits in the original door so hopefully it helps. I will have to try out one of the browsers you mentioned so I can get the full jsonline site

[Invader3K]

How are those of you with tablets liking them?

 

I am thinking of getting a tablet, primarily for web surfing and email. I don't "need" one, just think it would be cool and useful for a few business needs. I am leaning towards either the iPad 2 or the Blackberry Playbook. As a current Blackberry user, the sync features on the Playbook are intriguing. Then again, the iPad is just plain cool (and has many more apps, etc). Not really sure which way to go, and I'm not in a big rush either.

 

Thoughts?

[DHonks]

my students are overwhelmingly fans of the Ipad 2. They utilize them for class notes, reading, surfing the web, etc etc. The battery life and thin profile are huge, along with the games library and Itunes music/video stores.

[thebruce44]

my students are overwhelmingly fans of the Ipad 2. They utilize them for class notes, reading, surfing the web, etc etc. The battery life and thin profile are huge, along with the games library and Itunes music/video stores.

How do they take class notes without a keyboard?

[thebruce44]

How are those of you with tablets liking them?

 

I am thinking of getting a tablet, primarily for web surfing and email. I don't "need" one, just think it would be cool and useful for a few business needs. I am leaning towards either the iPad 2 or the Blackberry Playbook. As a current Blackberry user, the sync features on the Playbook are intriguing. Then again, the iPad is just plain cool (and has many more apps, etc). Not really sure which way to go, and I'm not in a big rush either.

 

Thoughts?

There is a new Blackberry tablet coming out that will be able to run Andoid Apps FYI. I don't remember the name of it off the top of my head but that seems like it might be something you would be interested in if you are a current Blackberry user and want more apps.

[DHonks]

thebruce, I've had students for about a year now that use fold out keyboards (only one or two students), but a bunch simply used the touch screen. I don't mean to sound like there's tons of students, but I would speculate there are 5-8 that I've taught in the last year with them. With a few of the students, I've been amazed at how their notebooks went from awful to looking beautifully organized thanks to it. I don't know if they just use the notes program or what...but it's been really interested to see.

[thebruce44]

Huh, I just stick to a netbook but I wonder how fast people can type on the on-screen keyboard. I don't think I could ever get used to that.

[owbc]

My wife needs a new computer and I am seriously considering an iPad 2 for her instead of a new laptop.

 

The iPad can do almost everything that a PC can do for the average user. Surf the internet/use email. Watch streaming Netflix. Listen to iTunes. That is about 90% of her usage.

 

It does not do MS Office which accounts for most of the other 10%. However I feel like she can buy Apple's productivity software for $30 which will suffice for most cases. If she really needs office she can use my computer, which she does anyway to use Adobe CS. It would be nice for video chatting also since we live 1,500 miles from home. The Kindle app will also be cool.

 

The external keyboard is about $50.

 

The 32 GB iPad 2 is $650 with tax, so the total cost of device+accessories+apps is only about $750. That is about the same as I would pay for a basic laptop with MS Office and far less than the cheapest MacBook. We have no 3G data plan of any kind and do not plan on paying the extra $120 for a 3G iPad.

 

The main problem with this idea is that the iPad is designed like a big iPhone. File transfer requires syncing with iTunes on a PC. Apple has not (probably intentionally) taken the steps to allow the iPad as a stand alone device. I want to be able to sync an iPod to an iPad and as far as I can tell you can not do it. The obvious solution is to just use her old laptop as the syncing device, but it is in serious disrepair and may stop working altogether at some point. The ideal goal is to completely remove the laptop from the equation and that is not possible yet.

 

I would never consider an Android tablet at this point. I do not care about the processor/resolution/cameras/tech specs. Android's app market is way behind in terms of numbers and especially in terms of quality--and it only really matters when you buy the device, not 2-3 years from now.

[Invader3K]

Office compatibility is something I hadn't thought of, but would be handy. It's nice that on my Blackberry I can view Word and Excel files seemlessly, as well as pdfs. Would the Playbook probably be better for this (granted, I realize it hasn't been released yet)?

[owbc]

Apparently iWork is completely compatible with MS Office so the problem isn't as bad as I thought it was. It doesn't change that iWork is inferior to Office but it isn't that big of a deal now.

[DHonks]

my iphone opens word and excel documents, so I imagine the ipad does as well

[endaround]

Amazon's Cloud Drive will likely not come to the iPad so there is that.

[Invader3K]

The more I think about it, I am leaning towards waiting for the Playbook. Being able to sync my Blackberry with one is appealing.

 

The only Apple device I own is an iPod. It's great as a stand alone device, but at the same time, iTunes can really tick me off. I could see myself getting frustrated with an iPad pretty quickly.

[mothershipconnection]

My wife needs a new computer and I am seriously considering an iPad 2 for her instead of a new laptop.

 

The iPad can do almost everything that a PC can do for the average user. Surf the internet/use email. Watch streaming Netflix. Listen to iTunes. That is about 90% of her usage.

 

Exactly what we did (original iPad) when we were in the same situation, and it was a good move. She rarely does more than web surfing and streaming audio, the price functionally dropped by $130 because she was about to buy an ereader anyway, and we can watch Netflix with the iPad in the treadmill or elliptical's book holder. Plus, the portability is nice - we can easily stash it in a bag when we travel.

[endaround]

Since there are some local users here, anyone use the Time Warner iPad app yet?

[Invader3K]

For whatever it's worth, I put in a pre-order for the Blackberry Playbook. We'll see how I like it. Comes out on the 19th.

[Blindcheck]

I just read that the HTC EVO Tablet is coming out this summer...

 

and the HTC Flyer (I think is what they will call the WiFI version.

[Invader3K]

Got my Playbook today. It's really slick. Great browser. I was even able to use the chat room this evening with it.

[RobDeer 45]

I feel like I may have asked this before but wanted to again get some advice from you guys. I'm tossing around the idea of an iPad again (not sure which one). I keep looking at it like it's more of a toy than anything else and therefore not pulling the trigger on it. We have laptops at the house and those work fine for everything we do. I also have an iPhone so between the two I get what I need. Would love to here some opinions of people who are owners whether to buy or not. I do plan to have mlb.tv again this year so being able to watch on the iPad does get me excited!

[1992casey]

Once you get an iPad, I think you'll find yourself "needing" it in pretty short order. It gives you a lot more screen than a phone and it's sooooo much easier to carry around than a notebook.

 

I recently purchased an iPad Mini. The size is great, and I can have it with me pretty much whenever I want it. Now that I've had this thing for about a month, I can easily see myself supplementing it with a larger iPad, with both getting plenty of use.

 

As far as iPad advice, the main thing to decide is which size best suits you. Because the Mini has as much screen real estate as the larger iPad, text can be small. Of course, the Mini is easier to hold and carry around than the full size iPad.

 

If you choose a Mini and decide that text is small at times, for apps that don't offer custom text sizing or zoom, you can turn on three-finger zoom in the accessibility controls (Settings > General > Accessibility > Zoom). This would also be available in your iPhone if you'd like to get a taste of how it works.

 

If you opt for the larger iPad, you have the choice of buying an iPad 2 for a hundred bucks less. The iPad 2 lacks a retina display and Siri. I've found Siri to be quite useful on my Mini, and I've been surprised at how much I use it.

[mothershipconnection]

I just scored a Nexus 7 for Chrimbus. For $199, the thing is awesome. I really like its portability compared to my wife's iPad. It's big enough to work as a tablet, and small enough to be an E-reader and fit in a coat pocket.

[thebruce44]

The Nexus 7 is super awesome. That said, if you already have an iPhone it probably doesn't make sense to go outside of your current ecosystem unless you are interested in a switch across the board.

 

I got a tablet (Transformer Prime 10.1") last spring for my dad to use when he was in the hospital for a month. Once he got out, I took it figuring it was time to give one a shot. I was completely surprised at how often I used this "toy" over my desktop, laptop, or even phone. I also got the laptop dock so it has a keyboard and I can use it for work too.

[DHonks]

I had an Ipad to run my smarthouse when they came out. Never really used it as a tablet except for household controls. My fiance and I loved Ipad2's. I always craved something smaller and more portable. When the Mini came out I got it in LTE and its everything I've wanted in a tablet. It's with me all the time, and I love it.

[jjfanec]

Typing this from my Nexus 7. I love it. If I was iPhone/Mac user I probably would get an iPad but I am not. The Nexus does everything I want and the cost is amazing! A lot of my friends who have 10 inch tablets use them for the exact same things I use the 7 inch tablet for. I just don't know anyone who uses a tablet as as a primary. I am sure there are a lot people who do but when I use them they seem like a very useful toy but not a primary device.

[Godspeed]

I strongly considered getting a Nexus 7 for road trips for the kids, but went with the Samsung Galaxy 2 Tab 7.0 due to the microSD slot. Loaded up some movies on their and made the last half of the 4 hour drive tolerable. Not the biggest fan of Samsung's TouchWiz interface and it's associated bloatware, but for the price and what I needed it best fit my needs. A bit cheaper than the N7, but it evens out when you factor in the microSD card to even out or expand the memory.

 

I picked up an Asus TF300T for myself. I played around with the N7 and determined the 7 inch screen to be too small for viewing use, but the 10.1 seems almost too big for physical use. (Must be great swyping on 7 inches of screen horizontally.) Not sure why the sweet spot of 8.9 (Samsung released an original galaxy tab in that format) didn't catch on. The machine itself is nice, a step down from the Prime Bruce mentioned but pretty damn swift itself.

 

I never considered getting an iPad. All the mobile devices in my household are Android and my PCs are Windows, didn't see a need to introduce yet another environment into the mix. Their ridiculously pompous advertising doesn't help matters either.