Jack of all trades but master of none?

B

Bryce Curdy

Guest
I have been very excited about the iPad launch and assuming amazon start selling it soon was in a position to buy one using mostly vouchers rather than all cash, but the more I read about it the more certain I am that this is not the gadget for me.

The things I was hoping to be able to do would be reading ebooks and newspapers while lying in the sun on holiday, internet browsing, and watching films on flights. I understand that the screen type, lack of flash, and aspect ratio respectively will result in significant limitations.

This is not meant to imply the product is useless or overrated, but is simply a recognition that for many activities it is not the best solution. I should qualify my statement by adding that I've still to see and use one 'in the flesh' and if owners think I'm being overly harsh I'd love to hear from them.
 
I agree it's not the master of all trades but in my opinion it is the master of many. I find it hard to see the screen properly outdoors and would prefer my Sony Reader. However, as a home device for web use, email and entertainment I am stunned by just how good it is. For work type activities (spreadsheets and so on) it's good, but not as good as a laptop.
 
I dont own one yet but put my name down for one and have held one. I dont think it is good for reading ebooks as they said on the gadget show the glare on the screen would make it hard to read where this isn't the case when reading books.
I surf the net a lot and how great it would be to have music stored on my iphone and books and magazines on my ipad. I dont play games on my iphone despite buying a few but had a quick play on the ipad yesterday and enjoyed playing air hockey because of the bigger screen.

Ipad is not essential but with a battery that lasts 10 hours video playback compared to around 3 hours on a laptop, no more over heating, viruses, a lot lighter to carry than a laptop and touch screen much nicer than keyboard you wont regret buying it. I dont think it is value for money, I would say it is about £100-150 over priced and shame it has no flash player but other than that it is a great bit of kit.
 
The things I was hoping to be able to do would be reading ebooks and newspapers while lying in the sun on holiday,

The only gadgets I have ever seen that are any good in the sun are the old Psion 3's, my original HP Omnibook and I would guess an e-reader like a Kindle or Sony. Anything backlit simply can't shine brighter than the sun.

I also doubt its wise to leave even one of these devices in full sun for any length of time as they are bound to overheat and the screen may suffer. I guess that's why there are paperbacks, magazines and newspapers.
 
An alternative could be to buy an ereader, and an archos video player, and brung your paperbased magazines, and a nintendo ds or ps portable, plus 3/4 chargers.

I think the compromise is worth it ;-)
 
An alternative could be to buy an ereader, and an archos video player, and brung your paperbased magazines, and a nintendo ds or ps portable, plus 3/4 chargers.

I think the compromise is worth it ;-)

:)Sums up my dilemma perfectly! I'll probably get one, but may hold off to V2 in case some of my concerns are addressed.
 
Is the data sim a sim in the traditional sense i.e linked to a contract and you get a bill etc each month or is it a pre paid type so you can use the data anywhere in the world and just pay the monthly fee or whatever on direct debit or is this uk only.
 
>may hold off to V2<

iPad needs something like the screen resolution of the iPhone 4. It's not quite good enough to replace magazines.
 
iPad needs something like the screen resolution of the iPhone 4. It's not quite good enough to replace magazines.

Seriously? Until 48 hours ago there wasn't anything with the screen resolution of the iPhone.

Or looked at another way until June 24 there isn't anything with the screen resolution of the iPhone.
 
I know what he means though, 1024 is good enough in isolation, but until I sent it back yesterday I was using a desire with a 480x800 res and the ipad can look quite blocky at times.
 
Flippin heck are you people for real? The iPad screen is not good enough to replace magazines and looks blocky?

PS. You can wait at the very least 12 months if not longer for V2....But by then the rumours of V3 will start and you might be better off with that one...
 
Wired magazine looks amazing on the iPad!

The new iphone res and therefore pixel density is astounding and will look better than print but does not make the iPad bad.

In fact the iPad will still be better as the screen size is larger. Pin sharp on 3.5" is still 3.5". Still need to zoom. Your fingers will not get smaller or more accurate.

Few if any commercial products have the pixel density of the new iphone.


iPad is good and in terms of 'master' it is by far the best portable web browser out there at the moment.
 
I love my Ipad!! (32gb wi fi)

For web browsing it is better then a lap top as it is smaller, lighter and does not require a fiddly mouse or touchpad. You can use it on the train or out in the garden or while watching TV!! The ability to view pages in portrait mode is a real plus as you can see almost page on one screen!

Moreover with instant start up of the device you can browse the internet or use other functions on a whim! You literally press a button, then touch an icon and you are browsing!!!!

But best of all is the that it is first practical alternative to print media. I been using it to browse magazines, newspapers and large university test books on pdf files. They look absolutely gorgeous. It so effortless to turn pages or zoom in for more detail and you can store hundreds, if not thousands of books and magazines.

The 10 hour battery life (it really is 10 hours) completely frees me from the fetters of a mains socket!! But even if you wanted to charge it up, you simply use a standard iphone cable attached to a mains plug. There is not brick to convert AC into DC!

I am going to Turkey next week and I am going to lots of magazines, books and movies on my ipad.

Of course there are weaknesses. You cannot multitask and PC functions and limited, no flash support and external storage. for these reason it does not completely replace onse lap top or desk top. But sooner or later it will be able to all these things. It also needs to be a little lighter to a true "book killer" but that will come as well!

I sincerely believe that the IPad is the future for "print" media. It will in time eliminate the for printed books (maybe not paperbacks) and magazines! Once a critical mass of tablet PC is being used by the general public you can expect full scale migration from print media to ebooks. Publishers will save money on print and from cutting out the middlemen such as retailers. Text books will be the first to move over to ebooks.

IPAD is the future!!!

(I have absolutely no association with Apple - the Ipad and a 3 year old IPod are my only Apple products)
 
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Agree with nuch of the above post, not sure about the end of print media bit though.

Have been very happy with my iPad, I was originally convinced I didn't need one, then the gadget bug hit me so ended up with a 32gb wifi one, am I gald I did, it's a simply awesome little thing.

Browsing the web is an absolute joy, the lack of flash has had no impact on my enjoyment or it's ease of use. Am able to use web sites the same as I do on my pc's but find the swipe scrolling a joy to use, prefer it mouse wheel scroll to be honest.

Reading books and magazines and especially comics is simple and the screen makes them look stunning, screen not quite bright enough to view in direct sunlight, but get a little shade and it's a pleasure to be out in the garden doing pc stuff ... I've never had so much fresh air :)

Some of the games available have been a revelation, easily on par with my DS and PSP, already have too many, and couldn't believe that the fighting fantasy books had been converted, remember buying the first one when I was a lad in 1982, used my lunch money in the school library and grew my obsession with RPGs, so was a real step back into good memories, and the conversion is very well done.

The BBC iplayer is great, movies / tv shows look terrific , downloaded a high def one just to test it and couldn't believe the quality.

Very very happy with it, looking forward to what the future will bring.
 
I only had a quick go on one in the apple store, I have to wait for them to get some in stock but dont know how long it will be :( People talk about video in HD but will the video on an ipad be in HD? I thought the screen display had to be at least 1280x800 to show 720p but I am sure I am wrong.
 
I only had a quick go on one in the apple store, I have to wait for them to get some in stock but dont know how long it will be :( People talk about video in HD but will the video on an ipad be in HD? I thought the screen display had to be at least 1280x800 to show 720p but I am sure I am wrong.

There is much debate about what HD actually is, but I think if we are being REALLY totally honest here for a moment, the iPad is not REALLY capable of what people know as the lowest form of HD which is 720p

Standard high-definition video modes

High-definition video - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

720p = 1,280×720

It's still good, and HD can technically mean ANYTHING above SD resolution, but we're playing with words then really.

Anyone into video would say 720p is really the least you could regard in today's terminology as HD.

Or put it another way, despite people here disagreeing with my comments above, if anyone here bid on a "HD" monitor, won the auction and a few days later received their "HD" screen in the post and found out it would only do 1024x768 I'd expect they could be moaning like hell that they have been conned by a misleading advert. (if we are being honest) ;)
 
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There is much debate about what HD actually is, but I think if we are being REALLY totally honest here for a moment, the iPad is not REALLY capable of what people know as the lowest form of HD which is 720p

Standard high-definition video modes

High-definition video - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

720p = 1,280×720

It's still good, and HD can technically mean ANYTHING above SD resolution, but we're playing with words then really.

Anyone into video would say 720p is really the least you could regard in today's terminology as HD.

Or put it another way, despite people here disagreeing with my comments above, if anyone here bid on a "HD" monitor, won the auction and a few days later received their "HD" screen in the post and found out it would only do 1024x768 I'd expect they could be moaning like hell that they have been conned by a misleading advert. (if we are being honest) ;)

Yes but there are some "HD Ready" plasmas out there that are 1024x768.
 
Yes but there are some "HD Ready" plasmas out there that are 1024x768.

In the distant past perhaps (not that I think anyone would be very happy with that now)

HD ready - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Older products that bear the label "HD ready" may not display the full picture resolution possible from an HD source. Most HD ready sets do not have enough pixels to give true pixel-for-pixel representation without interpolation of the higher HD resolution (1920x1080) &#8211; or (in rare cases) even the lower HD resolution (1280x720) horizontally (CRT based sets, or the plasma-based sets with 1024x768 resolution). This limitation has been removed for the "HD Ready 1080p" logo.
 
Why does it have to be a master of anything? It's a great, fun and cool gadget! I haven't found the lack of flash an issue at all. Too busy having fun with it!
 
I must admit that it mastered droning out 4 crying children on my ryanair flight today whilst watching avatar in 3d 720p :) to me that made my ipad priceless :)
 
Why does it have to be a master of anything? It's a great, fun and cool gadget! I haven't found the lack of flash an issue at all. Too busy having fun with it!

Must admit, lack of Flash had not been something that had bothered me till today.

Like everyone else, I knew it did not do flash, so there is no point going to funny flash video's web sites and having a moan, or going to Weebles web site that has vector animations (what flash is REALLY designed for) and moaning about it, as I know it does not support them.

No, it was only today that I thought I'd take a look at some normal news (yesterdays football disaster) so I went to the BBC's web site, only to be told I can't view the video's as I don't have Flash :(

So I went to Sky's main web site and they also had the football headlines, and again, I was also met with the same problem, I can't view the videos on their news site as I don't have flash.

Finally I thought I'd go to the Telegraphs web site (they only had still images of football) but went to the Snooker area and again, I can't see any video's as it's in Flash.

So, yes, today BIG TIME, lack of flash was very much "In My Face"

I don't know if there are currently any BIG Main UK news web sites that don't use flash for their video clips of news stories.

Apple have done a list in the States of iPad friendly news web sites, but I can't find any similar list in the UK.

So I'm left hoping that places like BBC, Sky, Times etc will offer news in an iPad viewable format, or else we can find equally good alternative UK news sites that don't use flash.

Anyone know of any?

To be honest, I don't care what format it's in, as long as it works.

Update: Just gone on the Guardian's main news website and looks like they are all Flash also.
Wonder why so many American main news sites are iPad friendly and UK ones are not.

Also tried "The Sun" and that seems to be Flash also (you can tell I'm getting desperate now!)
 
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How long did you guys have to wait before getting an e-mail from apple telling you that your ipad was ready to collect from the apple store? I put my name down last week on the waiting list but apple woudnt tell me how long it would be.
 
Isn't the Sky News app for the iPhone available for the iPad?
Plenty of video on there.
 

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