So now I have an iPad and have had a chance to have a play with it I can give a more accurate review.

Image – The picture quality on the iPad is quite stunning and HD video looks crisp and colourful, although the lack of a camera is annoying.

Sound – The sound comes through the speaker quite well…very clear and punchy, it’s not the best I have heard, but not too bad considering the size and the headphones are the same as the iPhone, so are also very nice.

Touch – The touchscreen, while fast can sometimes seem like it doesn’t register your touches or you have to touch something off center for it to register…the screen is also a huge fingerprint magnet, so carrying a cloth is a must.

Feel – Everyone says it's heavier than they thought it was going to be, but I disagree – considering what is inside it, I consider it quite light and I can hold it for quite a long period of time without too much stress on my arms.

Apps – Most of the current iPhone apps will work on the iPad and can be unscaled to suit the larger screen with only slight pixilation, the native iPad apps look great, but they are quite expensive, sometimes being 10x the price of their iPhone counterparts, there are more and more every day, with notable ones being: Real Racing HD, Mirror’s Edge, EBay and the 3 Office apps – Keynote, Numbers and Pages, which work brilliantly on the device.

To Summarise:

Positives – Crisp Screen, Much more storage (64gb), Faster response time, Most current iPhone apps will work on it and can be unscaled, Can use Apple office software – Keynote, Numbers and Pages, Some apps have been completely redesigned to suit the bigger screen….mail being of particular note, with it now resembling something more like a PC mail client.

Negatives – Touchscreen is sometimes un-responsive, you really see the fingerprint marks unlike the iPhone, It is just begging for an external USB port so you can transfer your own Video/Audio, Price of current apps is quite high, NO FLASH SUPPORT.

Additional: Apple have been quite clever with this device – While I and other IT people would be wanting something a little bit more technical, the typical end user will find the iPad easy to just pick up and use, which will help sales with the non-technical crowd, and although I still would not recommend it as a laptop replacement, I have enjoyed using it for quick internet sessions.

*Images from Apple

Chris Thursfield

The iPad was unveiled late last month by Steve Jobs at an Apple conference…it is a cross between an iPod Touch and a iMac, which I see as a problem….why is it needed?

Don’t get me wrong….it is a beautiful looking piece of equipment and if I can get one on a cheap plan, I will probably buy one….but I just cannot see the market they were going for…the beautiful thing about the iPod touch is how small and easy it is to take everywhere, while being very functional…if you want to do more serious work, you would take a laptop, so you have a proper keyboard and much more hard drive space (the biggest iPad being a 64gb version). I just cannot imagine using a virtual keyboard over a real one…especially if you are expected to hold the device and type on it at the same time. They also market this product as the best way to use the internet, yet (as of writing this) it doesn’t support flash…which is a major backbone of many websites….making it fairly useless as an internet device.

Specifications:

• Apple’s own 1 GHz Apple A4 chip
• 16 – 64 GB of Flash storage
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 802.11n wireless
• 10 hours of battery life (over 1 month of standby time)
• Speaker, microphone and 30-pin connector
• Fully multi-touch
• 9.7 inch IPS LED backlit LCD
• Half an inch thick
• Accelerometer and Compass
• 3G UMTS/HSPDA and GSM/EDGE data (optional)
• Assisted GPS and Digital Compass (3G version only)
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• VGA out support or AV out via dock connector and converter cable

The iPad will run most of the current 140,000 apps made for iPhone/iPod but there will be new apps made specifically for it plus it has it’s own bookstore (like an eBook reader) and will also run many of the programs made for the iMac such as Office, so it will not have a lack of software at launch.

The Wi-Fi version of the iPad is due to launch in Australia mid this year….the 3G version is unknown as Apple only announced it as available in the US and ‘selected countries’, but there is no reason to think it won’t arrive here at the same time as the Wi-Fi version.

The iPad is fairly expensive and as Australian prices are yet to be announced, I will list the American prices (Australian prices are usually the converted price + a little bit more):

*This is not including the data plan you would have to buy for the 3G version.

*Images from Apple

Chris Thursfield