My views : iPad 2

Dolby

Dolby

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Now that I've had the device a few days, I have a clearer understanding :

The App Store - locked down according to where in the world you are ... stupid! Getting a US account gives you all the media - but then there's the billing issue. Kenya gives a decent balance of paying by card per app - with a fair number available. Also noticed prices are different - Kenya offered one app at 8.99 and US offered the same app at 5.99 .... another app was the other way : US was more expensive than Kenya.

The 20MB 3G limit - Everyone laughed at BB with their 5MB, but this isn't much better. I feel like I'm back in the 90's with stupid limits imposed. So right now my 10GB cap on my wifi has been reached - but I have on my Vodacom. Try to download and I'm told to go to wifi ... which I can't. Although I have data now - I need to wait until month end.

The Newsstand bug - I battled downloading a magazine the other day and used 1.2GB and an extra R300.00 to get a 400MB issue. The issue kept starting from a random point in the download (Ie I'd be on 340MB ... change from 3G to wigi and it jumped to 210MB) and wouldn't download in the background! I bought a 2nd issue and no one can find it - even the die hard Apple fans at work. They say I should contact support ...

Software - software is pretty decent, but in the last few days I've had to restart twice because of a glitch in the App store. Once loaded you get thumbnails of each app and you're supposed to click to get a full screen of the app. Although I could still download, enlarging refused to happen to happen twice. Lucky a reboot is 30 seconds or so. The pass code glitch is still there too ... despite being made public. While tiny glitches don't really bug me - it's interesting to know they do exist of 10 years of having 'secure and bug free' software shoved down my throat.

Flash - this doesn't bug me as much as I thought. Perhaps it's because I don't browse many sites or it really isn't as important - but it's not a train smash. During my research, I did - however - notice there are many porn sites that use Flash ... so porn freaks can't be using their iPad. Also noticed not all video's are available through their Youtube app, so the occasional video can't be watched at all ... ever.

miniSD - After using the iPad, I'd still prefer an option in order to load my own photo's to the device for viewing. Much faster and more convenient than going through the whole iTunes/syncing way. One basically needs a PC to do anything on the iPad - whether downloading, transferring or any other task - you need a PC! Needing to plug it in makes having a fancy tablet rather useless.

That said - I won't be selling the unit. I love screen, I love the ability to read books and magazine from bed, I love the ability to pick it up at any point and check the news or update myself on the forums.
 
Yea, I will have to ...

But for users looking between iPad and Android, at least they can see there are some disadvantages. Decent product ... but things like a 20MB limit and the Newstand bug frustrate the crap out of me

Others I can live with - but interesting to note
 
I will comment on each heading: not to flame or cause a war but because i can :P

The App Store - Cant blame apple. Blame the SA Gov!

The 20MB 3G limit - Yes i agree with you on this, although this is more from the Cell provider side! It wont bug you after a while once you have the majority of the apps you want/need!

The Newsstand bug - Havent used it so cant comment but i assume it will be fixed sometime!

Software - Havent come across that bug, but again should be pluged!

Flash - Doesnt bother me either, RE YOUTUBE, you dont have to use the app, you can go to the website which will play video in HTML 5 which should allow you to view them ALL..

miniSD - You'll get over it, get a card reader or a 500GB seagate wifi drive
 
Freaksta said:
The App Store - Cant blame apple. Blame the SA Gov!
Click to expand...

Freaksta said:
The 20MB 3G limit - Yes i agree with you on this, although this is more from the Cell provider side!
Click to expand...

Did you say that on purpose? ;)

Dolby said:
Yea - blame Flash developers, blame the networks, blame the user, blame the government ... ;)
Click to expand...

The 20MB limit IMO is the most dumb control they've implemented. I can't download the 300MB (via Vodacom 3G) onto a 16GB device - but hopping to my wi-fi and downloading it there (via Vodacom 3G) is alright? Why would this be a network issue?
 
Dolby said:
Can't find this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYmidM7fMSs :/

Pretty sure it's not the only video either ...
Click to expand...

I'm not a fundi when it comes to YouTube but when I open it in the browser it says "The content owner has not made the video available on mobile" so I assume that maybe tHis has to do with the uploaded, but I get what you are saying..

As for the 20mb, I also don't get it but It should be able to disabled by the user!
 
marine1 said:
Lol and I am so happy with my Motorola xoom, only issue is the screen is not as bright as ipad 2, that's about it.
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His issues are small and stability will improve when they release 5.1. Major releases do occasionally come with tiny hiccups.

But the big iPad advantage is the apps. You won't find garageband grade stuff on android tablets, at least not yet. For now he is guaranteed all the best apps from all the best companies.
 
jak3 said:
His issues are small and stability will improve when they release 5.1. Major releases do occasionally come with tiny hiccups.

But the big iPad advantage is the apps. You won't find garageband grade stuff on android tablets, at least not yet. For now he is guaranteed all the best apps from all the best companies.
Click to expand...
I guess.
 
Once it gets released for IOS 5 do a jailbreak to get around the 20meg limit. I'm no expert, because I've only ever used a wifi iPad, but i think i once read about a cydia app called my3g or something. Maybe others will know more.
 
It iNsane ...

I battle to comprehend why this device the best thing since sliced bread. It's got so many limitations, it shouldn't sell! It's taken 3 days and I have website it can't do, a Youtube video it can't do and a host other things it cannot do.

I like my iPad - but I think any advantages I see are simply a tablet advantage and not an iPad advantage.
 
Dolby said:
It iNsane ...

I battle to comprehend why this device the best thing since sliced bread. It's got so many limitations, it shouldn't sell! It's taken 3 days and I have website it can't do, a Youtube video it can't do and a host other things it cannot do.

I like my iPad - but I think any advantages I see are simply a tablet advantage and not an iPad advantage.
Click to expand...

Normally when you view a YouTube video it opens in the video app. Why doesn't yours do that? The store thing is easy to overcome. And it's not limited to the apple store.
 
Dolby said:
It iNsane ...

I battle to comprehend why this device the best thing since sliced bread. It's got so many limitations, it shouldn't sell! It's taken 3 days and I have website it can't do, a Youtube video it can't do and a host other things it cannot do.

I like my iPad - but I think any advantages I see are simply a tablet advantage and not an iPad advantage.
Click to expand...

Summary of your "major issues"...
  1. iOS doesn't support flash and never will, hence any media not specifically converted will not play (youtube included)...
  2. 20mb limit for downloads over cellular; in the US the cellular providers insisted on this (have you seen the cost of cell data in the US), hence the limit. Also possibly because Apple felt some users needed a set of safety wheels e.g. I want to sue Apple, because I have a ~$5,000 cellular bill for downloading games, HD movies, etc...
    • I agree the better approach would be to create a setting that users can switch on or off. Apple isn't unfortunately always consistent; I'd suggest you log your issue with Apple and hopefully this gets fixed.
  3. Newsstand; I agree it's crap. The problem isn't however what you think it is; the problem imo is that Apple placed to much development flexibility in the hands of the magazine / newspaper companies and incorrectly assumed they would do a good job.
    • The background download is linked with security; and depending on how you develop the app you either end up with something that downloads in the background or stops when the screen is locked.
    • The security models are there to provide an additional layer of protection and would require you to authorize those apps that can download in the background (even whilst locked).
    • Taking into account the complaints, you could reason that many of the apps have got it wrong. For me, having tested this functionality for the past few months, I believe this is an area where Apple should have taken a more controlled approach; one to ensure a single workable standard and two to avoid the unnecessary bloatware with many of the magazine apps.
    • For example popular science monthly downloads are ~330Mb, and the application controls are all over the place -- I'd honestly would have preferred something along the lines of Zinio (maybe that's something you should have a look at).

As with anything, make your comments known to both Apple and the app developers and hopefully the crap will be fixed...
 
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