iPad3 - Need convincing

DominionZA

DominionZA

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So I caved and got an iPad 3 yesterday afternoon. As most know I love my Android stuff. I was keen to get an iPad 3 because of all the hype around it so eventually caved.

The hardware is excellent. Cannot at all fault it. The screen is simply wow. But... it ends there for me. iOS blows. I am struggling to enjoy it. Being such a long time Android user I am struggling to like iOS. I feel like I have been put in a little box with little room to move.

First thing that really got me was the inability to purchase games. What a let down.
Someone at the office jail broke it and installed Installous and some other app which now gives me a range of games to choose from but it is pirating. On Android I purchase all my software and have around a hundred purchased apps. I understand the reason why we don't get paid games in SA, and know you can do some iTunes USA hack to be able to pay. Why should I though... I paid a kak load for this tablet, but now I must either steal games or find a work around to buy them. WTF! And people punt this technology!

Widgets... where are my Widgets :( Are there any DreamBoard themes that enable me to use Widgets? I miss my weather, pulse, FB, etc... right on my screen.

Anyway... I feel like I have bought into a half baked technology that I have to find workarounds to fully use. I don't like it.
Early this evening I was about to place an ad to sell it, or trade for a quad core android tablet. I decided to not be hasty and ask you guys in the know what I may be doing wrong. What am I missing? I don't want to get rid of it to later find I was doing things wrong and could have actually enjoyed it.

Please guys... convince me. Such an awesome piece of hardware. What can I do to fill the void that iOS is? I am a n00b on iOS and MUST be missing something?
 
To add to the above, I am having constant connection issues via wifi. My notebook, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Tab and Asus Transformer are all hundreds on the same access point so the access point is fine. Anyone else have issues like this?

It is as if DNS is failing as different apps keep telling me they cannot connect. I try a few times then all is okay for a bit.
 
Love my iPad 3.

To fix the problems you are having just register a US iTunes account and buy vouchers to reload. I didn't even bother creating a SA based account as I did the research before even buying the device. Bought some sick EA games the other day for 99c (R8).

As for customization, I think we will have to wait a little longer. There are very few retina enabled themes available for Dreamboard and Winterboard but more will come. Downloaded one the other day that looks exactly like Gingerbread, it is excellently done but I won't use it because it doesn't auto-flip when switching orientation and only has horizontal mode. There are however widgets for it which look pretty sweet.

Here is a link for some current themes, but I think they are all pretty sucky (except the first one is okayish): http://jailbreakcity.com/home/5-new-retina-themes-for-the-new-ipad/

You're going to love the Plex app :D Way prettier than the Android flavour in my opinion.

Also a great thing is to have Airplay available for all media on the ipad without the need for an external app. I use this all the time to stream to my xbmc box and it's awesome!
 
bought an iPad2 last year. barely used it. know exactly that "stay in your box" feeling. while it might be great for those that are used to Apple tech, once you've experienced Android, Linux, you KNOW that you being sold a half baked experience with IOS.
I wait eagerly for the Surface tabs to , well .... surface!! I want to see how that 8 platform integrates with my 7 desktop. No complaints with Win 7 - stable, fast and great in the enteprise.

The 3rd Gen iPad is basically a prettier screen. People call it iPad3 - its not - its the iPad 2S. !!! No doubt the interface is very fluid. But the APPs, ease of the Play Store as opposed to iTunes/iStore is what makes the difference to me.

At the end of the day, look at an android tab that has HDMi & USB functionality without having to buy a connector (like with Samsung - that just peeves me).

SELL IT :-) or give it away.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
Love my iPad 3.

To fix the problems you are having just register a US iTunes account and buy vouchers to reload. I didn't even bother creating a SA based account as I did the research before even buying the device. Bought some sick EA games the other day for 99c (R8).

As for customization, I think we will have to wait a little longer. There are very few retina enabled themes available for Dreamboard and Winterboard but more will come. Downloaded one the other day that looks exactly like Gingerbread, it is excellently done but I won't use it because it doesn't auto-flip when switching orientation and only has horizontal mode. There are however widgets for it which look pretty sweet.

Here is a link for some current themes, but I think they are all pretty sucky (except the first one is okayish): http://jailbreakcity.com/home/5-new-retina-themes-for-the-new-ipad/

You're going to love the Plex app :D Way prettier than the Android flavour in my opinion.

Also a great thing is to have Airplay available for all media on the ipad without the need for an external app. I use this all the time to stream to my xbmc box and it's awesome!
Click to expand...

Do you think iOS 6 will bring more on the customisation front? I may wait a bit before flogging it if iOS 6 brings more to the table.

Never tried Winter board. Will give it a try.
on Dream board I tried a windows metro theme which was quite nice but still in beta so barely functional. Also tried a Honeycomb (Android) theme which was also quite nice. Neither of these supported rotation though so abandoned them. Springboard (think the default is called that?) is simply horrible.

Airplay I am going to okay with now. Thanks. Assumed it was only for connected Apple devices so never looked at it.

Plex I put on immediately :) As mentioned in another thread, I am always punting Plex :D Love it.

Where is the best place to buy vouchers? Still doesn't help me with that sinking feeling that I paid so much for this device and have to use work a rounds to fully use it though :(

Thanks for your constructive input dude ;)
 
KalAl said:
bought an iPad2 last year. barely used it. know exactly that "stay in your box" feeling. while it might be great for those that are used to Apple tech, once you've experienced Android, Linux, you KNOW that you being sold a half baked experience with IOS.
I wait eagerly for the Surface tabs to , well .... surface!! I want to see how that 8 platform integrates with my 7 desktop. No complaints with Win 7 - stable, fast and great in the enteprise.

The 3rd Gen iPad is basically a prettier screen. People call it iPad3 - its not - its the iPad 2S. !!! No doubt the interface is very fluid. But the APPs, ease of the Play Store as opposed to iTunes/iStore is what makes the difference to me.

At the end of the day, look at an android tab that has HDMi & USB functionality without having to buy a connector (like with Samsung - that just peeves me).

SELL IT :-) or give it away.
Click to expand...

Apps and play store is what does it for me too dude. iOS has such a clunky way of doing the same thing. Going to give it chance though. So far it ain't working out though. :rolleyes:

Very keen to get one if the new Transformers. Will give this iPad a chance though. You never know.
 
KalAl said:
bought an iPad2 last year. barely used it. know exactly that "stay in your box" feeling. while it might be great for those that are used to Apple tech, once you've experienced Android, Linux, you KNOW that you being sold a half baked experience with IOS.
I wait eagerly for the Surface tabs to , well .... surface!! I want to see how that 8 platform integrates with my 7 desktop. No complaints with Win 7 - stable, fast and great in the enteprise.

The 3rd Gen iPad is basically a prettier screen. People call it iPad3 - its not - its the iPad 2S. !!! No doubt the interface is very fluid. But the APPs, ease of the Play Store as opposed to iTunes/iStore is what makes the difference to me.

At the end of the day, look at an android tab that has HDMi & USB functionality without having to buy a connector (like with Samsung - that just peeves me).

SELL IT :-) or give it away.
Click to expand...

This is an extremely biased point of view. I will give merit where merit is due and I did a lot of research before getting mine. I have never owned an Apple device before the iPad so I was not at all swayed by any preconceived bias. The opposite may be true as I am a great opensource supporter and tinkerer and run Linux on all my PC's so one would think I would go towards the Android side.

I will however say that the catch for me was most definitely the screen, as you said it is absolutely stunning (thanks Samsung). Secondly the iOS app selection is just miles better than that of the Play Store (if you are not using a SA account that is). There are a ton of apps that are designed specifically for a tablet size display which is really where iOS wins my favour compared to Android.

As for USB and HDMI, I have not once found myself needing to use these features at all. This will be very dependent on the user however but Airplay and a wifi network do these jobs for me without the need for wires.

I'm going to stop now before I sound too fanboyish. I will end however saying that I too love Android and have a Android phone (which I love), but I wouldn't trade the iPad for and Android tablet just yet. The Nexus 7 is calling my name though :D
 
Nah, you're right. iOS blows. I must say I was surprised when I saw you had bought one reading your thread yesterday :erm:

I've been using my iPad 2 less and less so finally got rid of it yesterday. I traded for an iPhone for my wife (special occasion next Wednesday). So I've got a few days with this iPhone before I give it to her and this morning I thought I'll have a play with it. But of course, I can't activate it without a sim. Jeebus, how can anyone be arsed with this kind of tech I just don't know. I know my technophobe wife will be over the moon though :whistle:
 
I'm also in the market for a new tablet, but I think I will wait for the Google Nexus 7 tablet to makes it way to local online retailers (has it arrived yet?). Windows 8 tablets are also looking like a good possibility, but I've heard that battery life will be half that of Android and iOS tablets.

Waiting to see if Nokia will be releasing a Windows tablet. Expecting great things.. but they're taking ages!
 
Spizz said:
Nah, you're right. iOS blows. I must say I was surprised when I saw you had bought one reading your thread yesterday :erm:

I've been using my iPad 2 less and less so finally got rid of it yesterday. I traded for an iPhone for my wife (special occasion next Wednesday). So I've got a few days with this iPhone before I give it to her and this morning I thought I'll have a play with it. But of course, I can't activate it without a sim. Jeebus, how can anyone be arsed with this kind of tech I just don't know. I know my technophobe wife will be over the moon though :whistle:
Click to expand...

Lol... I never thought I would buy one either. I had an iPad 2 a while ago and did not like it at all.

It kind of got to this point by chance.
I won a R1 auction last Wed for an iPad 2 64GB 3G. Got it for R4k. It had scratches on the screen so I had it replaced with another one. Second one had fluff UNDER the screen. I got the hell in and paid in an extra R2k or so and got a new iPad 3.

I had no intention of keeping the won iPad 2. Was going to sell it again hopefully for a small profit. Suddenly I had an iPad 3. Sigh...
 
Saajid said:
I'm also in the market for a new tablet, but I think I will wait for the Google Nexus 7 tablet to makes it way to local online retailers (has it arrived yet?). Windows 8 tablets are also looking like a good possibility, but I've heard that battery life will be half that of Android and iOS tablets.

Waiting to see if Nokia will be releasing a Windows tablet. Expecting great things.. but they're taking ages!
Click to expand...

Wife has a friend who's boyfriend is in Vegas. He is trying to get me a Nexus 7 but struggling to find stock. Holding thumbs big time. Should know tomorrow.

Also going for a Surface tablet but will wait for the i7 Gen 3 one. Don't want an ARM based one. Mainly cause I want it to replace my dev notebook.
 
Mike Smit said:
Do you think iOS 6 will bring more on the customisation front? I may wait a bit before flogging it if iOS 6 brings more to the table.
Click to expand...

No, iOS 6 is not really going to change anything substantial interface wise. Bummer.

Never tried Winter board. Will give it a try.
on Dream board I tried a windows metro theme which was quite nice but still in beta so barely functional. Also tried a Honeycomb (Android) theme which was also quite nice. Neither of these supported rotation though so abandoned them. Springboard (think the default is called that?) is simply horrible.

Airplay I am going to okay with now. Thanks. Assumed it was only for connected Apple devices so never looked at it.

Plex I put on immediately :) As mentioned in another thread, I am always punting Plex :D Love it.

Where is the best place to buy vouchers? Still doesn't help me with that sinking feeling that I paid so much for this device and have to use work a rounds to fully use it though :(
Click to expand...

Here is the voucher thread that gets updated quite frequently: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/207444-Best-place-to-buy-Itunes-Vouchers

I used iEverything.co.za in the past, but they seem to be out of stock at the moment.

Thanks for your constructive input dude ;)
Click to expand...

Anytime!

Don't bother installing the Facebook app though, its the worst app ever created. I warned you :)
 
Last edited:
Mike Smit said:
Lol... I never thought I would buy one either. I had an iPad 2 a while ago and did not like it at all.

It kind of got to this point by chance.
I won a R1 auction last Wed for an iPad 2 64GB 3G. Got it for R4k. It had scratches on the screen so I had it replaced with another one. Second one had fluff UNDER the screen. I got the hell in and paid in an extra R2k or so and got a new iPad 3.

I had no intention of keeping the won iPad 2. Was going to sell it again hopefully for a small profit. Suddenly I had an iPad 3. Sigh...
Click to expand...

Lol, funny how it goes sometimes. But I wouldn't fret too much, there's no doubt it's a handy piece of kit for certain things. And of course they hold their value remarkably well.

Enjoy a few games and watch a movie or two in the meantime. Couple of months down the line there'll be someone looking to trade a Note 2 or something.
 
Spizz said:
Lol, funny how it goes sometimes. But I wouldn't fret too much, there's no doubt it's a handy piece of kit for certain things. And of course they hold their value remarkably well.

Enjoy a few games and watch a movie or two in the meantime. Couple of months down the line there'll be someone looking to trade a Note 2 or something.
Click to expand...

You seem to know me too well dude. Note 2 is so on my hit list. ;)
 
As already mentioned you must get a US iTunes account.The SA one is simply horrible.
 
Mike

As already mentioned US iTunes account is imperative, yes you will have to jump through a few hoops to set it up but once done that's it.... forever....

A few AppStore apps that are worthwhile:

1. Flipboard
2. GoodReader
3. Tapatalk HD
4. Dropbox
5. AVPlayerHD
6. Teamviewer
7. TuneInRadio

From a jailbreak perspective you will want to add the following repositories. Do this by opening Cydia, select sources>edit>add and add the following repos one by one:

http://cydia.xsellize.com
http://cydia.hackulo.us
http://apt.modmyi.com
http://ijailbreak.com/repository/
http://repo666.ultrasnow.com/
http://repo.insanelyi.com/
http://themeitapp.com/repo/

Each repo comes with it's own plethora of apps, tweaks, mods and themes.

Once your repos have updated you might want to look at searching and installing the following apps/tweaks:

1. Fakeclockup - animation tweaker speeding up the devices perceived responsiveness, awesome
2. Springtomize 2 iOS 5+ - plethora of settings altering the UI
3. SBSettings - handy shortcuts
4. Openssh - allows access to the device directory over wifi from a pc
5. Bytafont - custom fonts
6. Remove Background - Basically a task killer
7. Winterboard - custom themes
8. Dreamboard - custom themes
9. Weesearch pro for notification - from the notification center search using google, wiki, youtube etc etc etc
10. iFile - edit and access the devices directory
11. Barrel - change animations when swiping through homescreen pages
12. ProTube - alternative to Youtube,
 
I don't get widgets - at least on the iPad but that's probably just me. On the other hand I see much more of a use for them on a phone. Go figure.

I've also never seen a real need to jailbreak my iPad. I've tried it but always restored it within a few days.
 
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