Model: 32GB Wifi-only
Why did I buy one at all?
The official justification is that this will totally replace my laptop (once I complete my degree in a few more weeks). That is a new-ish MacBook which will then become my wife's main keyboard, replacing her aging laptop. It's cheaper than replacing her laptop directly, and the more-limited functionality of the iPad should fit my post-degree home computing needs just fine. After all, I still have access to the Mac Mini that's part of our home media center, could leave an account on the MacBook that will go to my wife, and I still have my trusty iPhone, so I will hardly be computer-less.
The unofficial justification, and the reasoning my wife ardently believes is the real justification, is because I wanted one.
Why did I buy the model I did?
A fair question. My goal was to entirely replace my home laptop, once I was done with school. I have my work laptop I can use for work brought home, and I have set up an account on the Mac Mini we use as our media center that I can use to sync and manage my iPhone and iPad. For me, home use is largely recreational, news-related, and e-commerce, and I have found myself using my iPhone more often than my laptop for those purposes, though grabbing the laptop for anything I didn’t want to do on the small iPhone screen. So the iPad seems like a really good fit for my personal needs.
That said, most of my life is cloud-based these days. Music and movies are stored on a separate drive connected the Mac Mini, most (really, almost all!) of my files are in Evernote and DropBox or Google Apps. There is little on my laptop hard drive that needs backing up any more. So a 32 GB drive seems more than adequate for my needs. In fact, so far my iPad's hard drive is almost entirely empty. I’m not putting much music or media content on the iPad, but do want enough room to load a bit on there for travel if the mood strikes me. My iPhone still serves as my primary music system, since it goes with me and plays through the car as well.
Selecting 3G or non-3G was a harder decision, and I went back and forth several times before deciding to go without 3G. Bottom line for me was that I didn’t want to pay a separate monthly fee for 3G service (even the very reasonable fee currently set by AT&T) I will very rarely use with this device. Like my laptop, it will almost always be used within wireless server coverage and, again, I still have my iPhone 3G for those times when I need to go online without wireless. Without the iPhone, I would probably go with the 3G model of the iPad just so I could get connected where-mostly-ever.
What do I like about the iPad?
Almost the entire experience of the iPad. As others have already noted, the machine literally disappears when you use it and it really does feel like holding the Web in your hands. It’s very light and easy to pick up and use, and most of the applications I have used on it are stunning to view and use. There is an organic quality to the way one interacts with the device that is truly unique. It’s a perfect size and user interface blending and I really do believe this is going to change the way most folks use “computers.”
The onscreen keyboard is great, particularly in landscape orientation. I find I run in that orientation most of the time. I can home-row-position type with it as fast as I can with a traditional keyboard. There is a little adjusting to do, though, in an unexpected way. Because it is a nearly-full-size keyboard, the layout is more similar to a traditional keyboard than the default iPhone keyboard. However, it isn’t entirely the same layout. Some characters are visible up front and others are hidden behind the number or shift buttons, like the apostrophe key. It uses the iPhone OS, so autocomplete and autosuggest behaviors are the same, which does speed up keyboarding. So I have had remap my brain and fingers to something between a traditional keyboard and the onscreen layout of the iPhone. Minor adjustments, but they are there. I had initially planned to buy the keyboard dock when it comes out, but now do not think that will be necessary.
I have used the iPad to take extensive notes at an all-day meeting and it worked great. I was able to use it on the table-top, in my lap, and in a variety of positions, which minimizes the fatigue that usually sets in when you take notes all day.
Battery life appears to be as promised. 10+ hours on a full charge with full-out wireless and media-viewing use is, so far, a very comfortable assumption based on my testing over the past few days. I think the challenge with this things is going to be using it enough to run the battery down completely every month or so (as Apple recommends).
The iPad is both small and sleek, and at the same time very solid feeling. It doesn’t feel fragile in any way, though I still worry when I set it down (on its aluminum back) that I will scratch up that surface. Hasn’t happened so far, but I can see that a thin rubber-ish case to protect that surface and to add a little table-top resistance wouldn’t be a bad idea. I have also found that I need a case for the iPad. Carrying it around seems exposed and risky, like it is going to squirt out of my grasp while I walk.
Small application features are great as well. For example, Safari on the iPad allows you to keep the bookmarks bar visible at all times, just like the Mac version of Safari. I wish, though, it had real tabs instead of the multiple pages, which I find tedious to navigate and keep track of. With this device, there is onscreen room to accommodate tabs.
What don’t I like about the iPad?
There are a couple of shortcomings of the iPad that bear consideration, especially for anyone planning to replace a laptop with one, like I am doing.
First, there is a surprising lack of file import/access support for such a handy sized computer. If you plan to do work with this device, be warned that this may be more complicated than you want.
Pages is a good full-featured work processor for the Mac and for the iPad (I use it more than any other on my laptops), but getting files into the iPad for Pages to work with is more of a challenge than I like. You can use iTunes to manually select files from your Mac to import on sync to your iPad (and vice versa), but that’s a cumbersome way to share files in this day and age of cloud-based convenience. Pages on the iPad can save files to both MobileMe and to iWorks.com, but cannot open files from either service/location. DropBox’s excellent iPhone application has not yet been updated for the iPad (it’s coming, they indicate), and it remains to be seen if that version will allow more than view-only on the iPad
You can open files into Pages from Apple’s Mail application, which makes emailing files to yourself the best route for moving files in and out of Pages on the iPad (which can also email files out). It took me a bit of tinkering, though, to figure my way out of what felt like a blind alley while doing this. Because I use my iPad in landscape orientation most of the time, that is the orientation I had files open into in Pages. Pages, however, only presents its menus when in portrait orientation (landscape is for distraction-free writing, I guess). Until I happened to rotate the screen one time, after opening a file from email into Pages, I couldn’t find any way to close the document that I had opened and get back to my Pages file selector. Portrait orientation is your friend here: problem solved.
This brings me to another consideration when using Pages on the iPad. Pages (like most iPhone OS applications) stores all files you create (or import into Pages) within the application on the iPad. It auto-saves your work (there is no save button) as you use it. If you delete Pages off your iPad, you will also delete your saved Pages files. Your only recourse would be to restore from your last iPad/iTunes backup; note that is a complete restore to your last backed-up state, not file-level recovery. Yet another reason I would prefer using cloud-based file storage.
Google Apps is also a challenge to use on the iPad. I have not yet figured out how to get the iPad version of Safari to access the default Web version of Google’s services; it defaults to the mobile version just like on the iPhone, and that limits most file editing options, especially in Google Docs. If I can find a way to log into Google Apps with Safari using the same entry as on my laptop, this screen is large enough to make using Google Docs as viable as on any other computer. So far, that has me stymied. There are some 3rd party applications which purport to provide Google Docs editing, but I haven’t found any of them to be something I would want to use regularly.
The bottom line with this larger file in/out complaint is that the iPad is very much tied to iTunes as the primary means of managing its content. I believe this will change with both OS and application updates, but for now it is a limitation to be aware of. I should also note that these limitations apply to all of the iWorks applications (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). Also, only Pages allows for export into MS Office compatible file formats, Numbers and Keynote on the iPad do not (they export only in their native formats or as PDF). One other iWorks caveat on the iPad: they do not pack all of the functions the desktop applications provide, including a reduced set of fonts to work with.
Evernote has a beautiful first version of their software for the iPad (which is what I use for meeting notes and project/meeting content and tracking) and, of course, Evernote solves the file in/out issue by being an entirely cloud-based environment. I hope, though, that Evernote will increase support for file attachment support on the iPad (the ability to pass a file to iWorks for editing). As a paid Evernote account holder I can attach all sorts of files to notes in Evernote, and I find this especially handy when I forward Gmail messages with file attachments to my Evernote account for meeting use. On the iPad, you can view attached files within Evernote or you can email the notes (any attachments go with the note) to yourself, then open the attachment in Mail and load them into the appropriate iWorkapplication from there. That works, but it would be much easier if Evernote could pass the file directly to iWork.
Like other iPad users, I have found the wireless reception to be less powerful than on my laptop or iPhone. In brief testing around campus, I had a lot of trouble getting a strong enough connection in some places to maintain a reliable connection. I never could get the Cisco VPN configuration to work for me (though have only done very limited testing), even though it was configured using the same settings that work well on both my laptop and my iPhone. Captive portal wireless solutions may be the best way to go for this device in enterprise settings.
Summary
I guess the best way for me to sum up my iPad experience so far is to say that this device is nearly perfect for many home and personal-use Internet services users. It is beautiful and rewarding to use, simplifies the whole experience to the point that users simply need not worry about how their computer works, they can instead concentrate on doing what they want to do. Apple’s integration of their powerful iPhone OS and this new hardware platform creates a new form of personal computer that I think is going to be a big hit and, at the risk of using an over-used phrase, a true game changer.
For computer users who are hoping the slim device will replace most of their current laptop or desktop computer uses, my recommendation would have to be more cautious. With a few adjustments I think it comes close, but there are still some missing pieces that might leave power laptop users frustrated; too many small compromises for enterprise work. This is clearly designed as a consumer product. It can do light work-related tasks very well, but I couldn’t recommend it as a replacement laptop for the workplace at this point.
Why did I buy the model I did?
A fair question. My goal was to entirely replace my home laptop, once I was done with school. I have my work laptop I can use for work brought home, and I have set up an account on the Mac Mini we use as our media center that I can use to sync and manage my iPhone and iPad. For me, home use is largely recreational, news-related, and e-commerce, and I have found myself using my iPhone more often than my laptop for those purposes, though grabbing the laptop for anything I didn’t want to do on the small iPhone screen. So the iPad seems like a really good fit for my personal needs.
That said, most of my life is cloud-based these days. Music and movies are stored on a separate drive connected the Mac Mini, most (really, almost all!) of my files are in Evernote and DropBox or Google Apps. There is little on my laptop hard drive that needs backing up any more. So a 32 GB drive seems more than adequate for my needs. In fact, so far my iPad's hard drive is almost entirely empty. I’m not putting much music or media content on the iPad, but do want enough room to load a bit on there for travel if the mood strikes me. My iPhone still serves as my primary music system, since it goes with me and plays through the car as well.
Selecting 3G or non-3G was a harder decision, and I went back and forth several times before deciding to go without 3G. Bottom line for me was that I didn’t want to pay a separate monthly fee for 3G service (even the very reasonable fee currently set by AT&T) I will very rarely use with this device. Like my laptop, it will almost always be used within wireless server coverage and, again, I still have my iPhone 3G for those times when I need to go online without wireless. Without the iPhone, I would probably go with the 3G model of the iPad just so I could get connected where-mostly-ever.
What do I like about the iPad?
Almost the entire experience of the iPad. As others have already noted, the machine literally disappears when you use it and it really does feel like holding the Web in your hands. It’s very light and easy to pick up and use, and most of the applications I have used on it are stunning to view and use. There is an organic quality to the way one interacts with the device that is truly unique. It’s a perfect size and user interface blending and I really do believe this is going to change the way most folks use “computers.”
The onscreen keyboard is great, particularly in landscape orientation. I find I run in that orientation most of the time. I can home-row-position type with it as fast as I can with a traditional keyboard. There is a little adjusting to do, though, in an unexpected way. Because it is a nearly-full-size keyboard, the layout is more similar to a traditional keyboard than the default iPhone keyboard. However, it isn’t entirely the same layout. Some characters are visible up front and others are hidden behind the number or shift buttons, like the apostrophe key. It uses the iPhone OS, so autocomplete and autosuggest behaviors are the same, which does speed up keyboarding. So I have had remap my brain and fingers to something between a traditional keyboard and the onscreen layout of the iPhone. Minor adjustments, but they are there. I had initially planned to buy the keyboard dock when it comes out, but now do not think that will be necessary.
I have used the iPad to take extensive notes at an all-day meeting and it worked great. I was able to use it on the table-top, in my lap, and in a variety of positions, which minimizes the fatigue that usually sets in when you take notes all day.
Battery life appears to be as promised. 10+ hours on a full charge with full-out wireless and media-viewing use is, so far, a very comfortable assumption based on my testing over the past few days. I think the challenge with this things is going to be using it enough to run the battery down completely every month or so (as Apple recommends).
The iPad is both small and sleek, and at the same time very solid feeling. It doesn’t feel fragile in any way, though I still worry when I set it down (on its aluminum back) that I will scratch up that surface. Hasn’t happened so far, but I can see that a thin rubber-ish case to protect that surface and to add a little table-top resistance wouldn’t be a bad idea. I have also found that I need a case for the iPad. Carrying it around seems exposed and risky, like it is going to squirt out of my grasp while I walk.
Small application features are great as well. For example, Safari on the iPad allows you to keep the bookmarks bar visible at all times, just like the Mac version of Safari. I wish, though, it had real tabs instead of the multiple pages, which I find tedious to navigate and keep track of. With this device, there is onscreen room to accommodate tabs.
What don’t I like about the iPad?
There are a couple of shortcomings of the iPad that bear consideration, especially for anyone planning to replace a laptop with one, like I am doing.
First, there is a surprising lack of file import/access support for such a handy sized computer. If you plan to do work with this device, be warned that this may be more complicated than you want.
Pages is a good full-featured work processor for the Mac and for the iPad (I use it more than any other on my laptops), but getting files into the iPad for Pages to work with is more of a challenge than I like. You can use iTunes to manually select files from your Mac to import on sync to your iPad (and vice versa), but that’s a cumbersome way to share files in this day and age of cloud-based convenience. Pages on the iPad can save files to both MobileMe and to iWorks.com, but cannot open files from either service/location. DropBox’s excellent iPhone application has not yet been updated for the iPad (it’s coming, they indicate), and it remains to be seen if that version will allow more than view-only on the iPad
You can open files into Pages from Apple’s Mail application, which makes emailing files to yourself the best route for moving files in and out of Pages on the iPad (which can also email files out). It took me a bit of tinkering, though, to figure my way out of what felt like a blind alley while doing this. Because I use my iPad in landscape orientation most of the time, that is the orientation I had files open into in Pages. Pages, however, only presents its menus when in portrait orientation (landscape is for distraction-free writing, I guess). Until I happened to rotate the screen one time, after opening a file from email into Pages, I couldn’t find any way to close the document that I had opened and get back to my Pages file selector. Portrait orientation is your friend here: problem solved.
This brings me to another consideration when using Pages on the iPad. Pages (like most iPhone OS applications) stores all files you create (or import into Pages) within the application on the iPad. It auto-saves your work (there is no save button) as you use it. If you delete Pages off your iPad, you will also delete your saved Pages files. Your only recourse would be to restore from your last iPad/iTunes backup; note that is a complete restore to your last backed-up state, not file-level recovery. Yet another reason I would prefer using cloud-based file storage.
Google Apps is also a challenge to use on the iPad. I have not yet figured out how to get the iPad version of Safari to access the default Web version of Google’s services; it defaults to the mobile version just like on the iPhone, and that limits most file editing options, especially in Google Docs. If I can find a way to log into Google Apps with Safari using the same entry as on my laptop, this screen is large enough to make using Google Docs as viable as on any other computer. So far, that has me stymied. There are some 3rd party applications which purport to provide Google Docs editing, but I haven’t found any of them to be something I would want to use regularly.
The bottom line with this larger file in/out complaint is that the iPad is very much tied to iTunes as the primary means of managing its content. I believe this will change with both OS and application updates, but for now it is a limitation to be aware of. I should also note that these limitations apply to all of the iWorks applications (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). Also, only Pages allows for export into MS Office compatible file formats, Numbers and Keynote on the iPad do not (they export only in their native formats or as PDF). One other iWorks caveat on the iPad: they do not pack all of the functions the desktop applications provide, including a reduced set of fonts to work with.
Evernote has a beautiful first version of their software for the iPad (which is what I use for meeting notes and project/meeting content and tracking) and, of course, Evernote solves the file in/out issue by being an entirely cloud-based environment. I hope, though, that Evernote will increase support for file attachment support on the iPad (the ability to pass a file to iWorks for editing). As a paid Evernote account holder I can attach all sorts of files to notes in Evernote, and I find this especially handy when I forward Gmail messages with file attachments to my Evernote account for meeting use. On the iPad, you can view attached files within Evernote or you can email the notes (any attachments go with the note) to yourself, then open the attachment in Mail and load them into the appropriate iWorkapplication from there. That works, but it would be much easier if Evernote could pass the file directly to iWork.
Like other iPad users, I have found the wireless reception to be less powerful than on my laptop or iPhone. In brief testing around campus, I had a lot of trouble getting a strong enough connection in some places to maintain a reliable connection. I never could get the Cisco VPN configuration to work for me (though have only done very limited testing), even though it was configured using the same settings that work well on both my laptop and my iPhone. Captive portal wireless solutions may be the best way to go for this device in enterprise settings.
Summary
I guess the best way for me to sum up my iPad experience so far is to say that this device is nearly perfect for many home and personal-use Internet services users. It is beautiful and rewarding to use, simplifies the whole experience to the point that users simply need not worry about how their computer works, they can instead concentrate on doing what they want to do. Apple’s integration of their powerful iPhone OS and this new hardware platform creates a new form of personal computer that I think is going to be a big hit and, at the risk of using an over-used phrase, a true game changer.
For computer users who are hoping the slim device will replace most of their current laptop or desktop computer uses, my recommendation would have to be more cautious. With a few adjustments I think it comes close, but there are still some missing pieces that might leave power laptop users frustrated; too many small compromises for enterprise work. This is clearly designed as a consumer product. It can do light work-related tasks very well, but I couldn’t recommend it as a replacement laptop for the workplace at this point.
Student users? I think this will work very well for portable school needs. Taking notes in class, getting things done between classes and on the go, reading digital textbooks, even basic paper writing. I don't think it will be a sole computer for serious students. Too many library databases still use Flash for things like displaying citations (no Flash support on the iPad!), a bit too clunky about file management for peer collaboration yet, the lack of multitasking would make toggling between research and writing painful. But for packing to campus and using on the go, it is a brilliant and light--to-tote tool. I think we can expect to see many of these popping up in our classrooms.
For my use, I think it is going to work very well. I have only had it a few days and am already using the heck out of it: as the perfect wireless remote/keyboard for our media center Mac Mini, for email, surfing the Web, checking headlines, reading RSS feeds, reading books, taking to meetings for notes and Evernote reference, and for simply grabbing, whenever the urge strikes, to check something online.
For my use, I think it is going to work very well. I have only had it a few days and am already using the heck out of it: as the perfect wireless remote/keyboard for our media center Mac Mini, for email, surfing the Web, checking headlines, reading RSS feeds, reading books, taking to meetings for notes and Evernote reference, and for simply grabbing, whenever the urge strikes, to check something online.
Any questions?
1 comment:
Wow! Part 1 of 3! That's enough content to make a book! :) Thanks for sharing your iPad experiences. Now on to chapter 2 and 3! >>
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