iPhone/Android/iPad oh my!

[SSgtTrav]

Well the ipad turned out to be a giant terd in my oppinion. It is just an itouch with a 9.7" screen. No usb ports. No HDMI or video out at all. No SD card reader. No real OS just the itouch OS. Crappy little processor. Wow it is a ebook reader. My iphone can do that and my PSP, big deal. Really a 16gb hard drive are you serious. So it can't replace a laptop. It can't replace a netbook. So apparently I should carry this thing around with my laptop and iphone when I travel right. Way to go apple. They should have called it the newton 2. They will still sell a bunch to apple fanboys who would slit their wrists if Job's said it was the cool thing to do.

[Ainkor]

Well the ipad turned out to be a giant terd in my oppinion. It is just an itouch with a 9.7" screen. No usb ports. No HDMI or video out at all. No SD card reader. No real OS just the itouch OS. Crappy little processor. Wow it is a ebook reader. My iphone can do that and my PSP, big deal. Really a 16gb hard drive are you serious. So it can't replace a laptop. It can't replace a netbook. So apparently I should carry this thing around with my laptop and iphone when I travel right. Way to go apple. They should have called it the newton 2. They will still sell a bunch to apple fanboys who would slit their wrists if Job's said it was the cool thing to do.

If you look at it for what it is, it isn't too bad. The email looks nice, the calendar looks good and the iWork apps look pretty good. That right there is about 90% of what I do on my laptop daily. Combine in remote desktop to our server and that almost hits 99%. Printing is the last thing I really need to make it a full laptop replacement.

I do feel underwhelmed though. I was expecting something mind blowing, not something kinda meh.

I'll wait a bit after launch to consider buying one and see how the jailbreak community does with it. I'm sure they will do what they've done with the iPhone and iPod Touch which is turn it into the device it should have been from the start.

Just to set the record straight, I am in no way a fanboy. I just happen to look for tech items that enhance my ability to do my job and that I happen to enjoy using :P

[RRK]

Well the ipad turned out to be a giant terd in my oppinion. It is just an itouch with a 9.7" screen. No usb ports. No HDMI or video out at all. No SD card reader. No real OS just the itouch OS. Crappy little processor. Wow it is a ebook reader. My iphone can do that and my PSP, big deal. Really a 16gb hard drive are you serious. So it can't replace a laptop. It can't replace a netbook. So apparently I should carry this thing around with my laptop and iphone when I travel right. Way to go apple. They should have called it the newton 2. They will still sell a bunch to apple fanboys who would slit their wrists if Job's said it was the cool thing to do.

Blue Tooth and dock connector should allow most connectivity usb does. It does do video out through the dock connector. There is a memory card reader accessory. The OS is made to fit the current sweet spot for processors and battery life. 16, 32, 64g flash drives. iPhone SDK 3.2 allows VOiP over 3G. Should be able to print over wifi.

I won't be buying one any time soon but for us it doesn't replace phones because a big tablet is still limiting compared to the mobility of a phone. It could probably replace laptops for us but we don't have any. Basically next time we upgrade our computer it will be a mac mini to attach to the tv and a tablet rather then a "big" iMac.

[Mordred]

Pros:

- reasonable size and weight
- amazing (claimed) battery life
- reasonable price ($499)
- nice for web browsing on the couch, the patio etc.

Cons:

- No USB (really, why?)
- 16 GB memory on the basic model is pathetic
- doesn't replace a laptop
- more expensive than comparable netbooks but less flexible
- HUGE price increase for the 3G model
- made by Apple (and yeah, I'd buy the thing if it came with full Windows 7)

So, while it looks kinda nice, I think I'll pass, just like I did on the Iphone.

[adm]

It would replace a laptop for most of the work stuff I need to do. Would be nice to just take that to meetings and plug it into a projector.

Looks good for email, document review and minor editing (iWork is seamless with MS Office documents) and looks awesome for media viewing - great for on a long haul flight for instance.

But even the maximum 64G memory is pathetic. It really needs some form of seamlessly integrated "cloud" thingy so that you can have a virtual terabyte drive, with less used stuff on a server somewhere, while your current data only sits on the device itself.

It also needs a built in iSight cam for video conferencing via Skye, iChat etc...

Meh. I'll wait this one out for a generation or two. This is not a "game changer" for me in current state.

Still - it looks GREAT and I bet it's a blast to use.

[chadizzy1]

- No USB (really, why?)

When we were watching Keynote yesterday everyone was like, "Aw no USB?!?!", but when you think about it, what would you need it for? This device is a simple device, not supposed to be a full laptop or anything like that, and the things that you would need for such a device you can either bluetooth or use the 30-pin iPod dock on the bottom of it to hook up with.

[adm]

And you can't forget that the 30 pin cable will be a $30 item, rather than a $1.99 USB cable....

[Mordred]

- No USB (really, why?)

When we were watching Keynote yesterday everyone was like, "Aw no USB?!?!", but when you think about it, what would you need it for? This device is a simple device, not supposed to be a full laptop or anything like that, and the things that you would need for such a device you can either bluetooth or use the 30-pin iPod dock on the bottom of it to hook up with.

It's all about options.

A USB port gives me the option to connect a gazillion existing devices, be that a keyboard, mouse, camera, you name it. Hell, a lot of devices can be recharged via USB.

Worse than that, I think they omitted the USB port for exactly that reason. The most obvious thing to stick in there would have been a 3G modem. But then, who would pay the silly amount of money they ask for their own 3G version, eh?

Which brings me back to the beef I have with all Macs. They all use proprietary systems, making hard and software development a pain in the arse, not to mention that Apple gets to tell us which programs (or "apps" if you want to be hip) we're allowed to run on it. Say about Microsoft what you will, they've never done that.

[chadizzy1]

And you can't forget that the 30 pin cable will be a $30 item, rather than a $1.99 USB cable....

http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Charger.../dp/B000E3WM6I

How about $2.79 for the 30 pin cable? 8)

[Veganpunk]

Well the ipad turned out to be a giant terd in my oppinion. It is just an itouch with a 9.7" screen. No usb ports. No HDMI or video out at all. No SD card reader. No real OS just the itouch OS. Crappy little processor. Wow it is a ebook reader. My iphone can do that and my PSP, big deal. Really a 16gb hard drive are you serious. So it can't replace a laptop. It can't replace a netbook. So apparently I should carry this thing around with my laptop and iphone when I travel right. Way to go apple. They should have called it the newton 2. They will still sell a bunch to apple fanboys who would slit their wrists if Job's said it was the cool thing to do.

I'm with Trav on this one, just doesn't seem worth it. I hate how Apple is so exclusive. There's no universal at all. Ipods and there stupid cable that's not a normal USB.

[chadizzy1]

I dunno, I guess I'm too much of a brainwashed fanboy.

When I was a PC user, all I remember is how frustrating it was. How much of a headache it was to do ANYTHING. How little time I spent on my computer because it just pissed me off to use it.

But since I went Mac - Macbook, iMac, Apple TV, and now soon to be iPad, everything in my life has just been....easy. From the moment I first turned on my first Macbook and it just...booted. No BS, no popups, no errors, no taskbar with 20,000 icons, just a desktop and my dock. I knew Mac was for me.

Say what you can say about their business, business practices, etc... but Apple produces a product that makes everything so much easier, so much simpler. Not saying Linux isn't easy...blah blah...the same...blah blah..based off the same Unix...etc... I'm sure it works the same, but nothing is as easy right out of the box as a Mac. Plain and simple.

End fanboy rant.

[RedMacGregor]

the flip side of that is, you can only run apps that are "approved" by apple..

[chadizzy1]

the flip side of that is, you can only run apps that are "approved" by apple..

And I really have no problem with that. Been a Mac user for well over a year, and have yet to get mad that I can't use a program, or have to boot up a PC just to run a program. The Mac programs seem to be alot better than their PC counterparts (iWork, for example), and if there's a PC program I want, I can always find a Mac version that works just as good.

[lxskllr]

the flip side of that is, you can only run apps that are "approved" by apple..

YAY!! Closed source ForTh... Uh, wait...

[RedMacGregor]

umm... the difference is, i can sit down and write code for OS X that will run on any OS X computer, and give you a copy of it without Apple being involved, or getting Apple's blessing.

Apple specifically prohibits this on iPhones and iPads..