Sid’s Blog

I broke down and purchased an iPad. It was a case of instant gratification. I happened to be in Best Buy and overheard the folks on the sales floor talking about how many they had left.  I had been checking with my local Apple store, and checked the stock online a few times at Best Buy.  I guess I just got lucky that they had a handful left, so I walked away with one on Sunday.

I’ve had it about 24 hours and I have so say that they live up to the hype (so far). I told my wife I’d lose the Netbook if I got an iPad (as the eeePC was a constant presence with me around the house and usually was wedged between the couch pillows).

I went with the 64GB WiFi Model.  I don’t really think I’ll need the 64GB, but it was the only model they had left. I figured I’m fine with the WiFi as I already have a Verizon Wireless MiFi, so I didn’t need the 3G and I am ditching AT&T anyway as it pretty much sucks and our new home has NO AT&T coverage.

The lack of multi-tasking is obvious, but I think that’s due to certain apps (if you need to go to another app to cut and paste something … say into a tweet when you reopen the app you wanted to work in, you may have to navigate back to where you were). Regardless, multi-tasking is coming up in a few weeks so it will be a welcome improvement. Lack of Flash is not as obvious unless you are trying to watch video in some random website (like Comedy Central or TPM (on the opposite end of the spectrum) that hasn’t grasped the whole youtube phenomenon) or online gaming (like Yahoo Chess which I am totally addicted to).

I didn’t think I would notice the native iPhone apps versus the iPad apps, but it’s very noticeable and quite annoying that even expanded the apps are pixlated.  The lack of a decent Twitter app is my biggest headache.  Tweetdeck has a native iPad app, but it crashes if in landscape and just seems like a rushed job.  I am waiting for the Twitter (Tweetie) app as that was by far my favorite iPhone Twitter app.  Ironically, I use Tweetdeck on the computer and if it didn’t crash all the time it would be an excellent iPad Twitter application.

Typing on the iPad is fast.  Not as fast as a keyboard, but faster than a QWERTY phone and much faster than the touch screen interfaces.  I typed two blog entries on the iPad, one using the WordPress Dashboard running in Safari and another using a WordPress app.  Both allow you to post text, but lack any ability to post images, edit images, and due to multi-touch using the WYSIWYG editor isn’t possible.

I’ve only had it for about 48 hours now (I started the post a while back) and battery life is great, screen is crystal clear and bright, it feels good in your hands, and is fast(er than an iPhone). It’s a bit heaver than our Kindle and I do have some books on it, but haven’t really had the marathon reading session yet to see if the weight and/or screen is an issue however, late last night I was playing with it and my wife asked me to turn off the light which I couldn’t have done with the Kindle (future post about the new 2.5 Kindle OS).

Favorite app so far is the Netflix app which allows you to watch your “Watch Instantly” queue. I watched a few episodes of Friday Night Lights and was very impressed with the streaming video through the app. Email is nice on the larger screen (than the iPhone) and may actually be more than just a crutch (which is how I feel about e-mail on an iPhone or Crackberry).

So this was a pretty rambling review of my first 24 (ahem 48) hours with the iPad. So far, I’m digging it.  Great new addition to the geek family.

Sid Boswell Blog, Life Apple, Apps, iPad, Reviews