I ordered my 16gb WiFi on April 19 and it arrived 10 days later. Pretty quick turn around considering it had to be made in China, then shipped overseas to me in Texas. I don’t really understand how it went to Tennessee before coming to Texas, but anyways…
Being a fan of Apple products (not a fan boy mind you…there’s a difference) I was pretty anxious to get my hands on an iPad. Eager to know as much as possible before actually getting it I spent a few days listening to iPad themed podcasts that discussed the overall usage experience, app reviews and general iPad news and info. One of the most common raves I heard had to do with the unbelievable battery life people were seeing from their iPads. One reviewer said they were using it “non-stop” for 3 days and they still had 64% of his battery charge left. Others said they had used it every day for over a week and were still above the 20% mark. Rrrriiiiight!
10 Hrs, eh? Not quite…
I some how managed to drain it to below 50% in just a day and I didn’t even use it very much! I downloaded some apps, tried (frustratingly so) to watch a few episodes of Modern Family on the ABC player, surfed the internet some, messed around on the Maps app and let my daughter try out the Color & Draw app for 15 minutes or so…that’s about it. How is that enough activity to drain it more than half way from a full charge?!
What’s with all the bugs?
Another huge source of frustration was the bugginess of the ABC player app. Last night their servers must have crashed because the app wasn’t working at all. It kept saying something to the effect of “Cannot connect to server. Please check your internet connection, restart the app, and try again.” After a quick Google search I found a couple of forum posts from people having the same issue which let me know it most likely wasn’t MY internet connection. Today the app managed to work enough for me to watch 2 1/2 episodes of Modern Family. While watching the 3rd episode it started crashing. The iPad would completely lock up. The only way out of the app was to reset the iPad by pressing the Home button and Sleep/Awake button for 5 or 10 seconds. That was a big let down.
iGouge App Prices
$9.99 for an app that’s almost exactly the same as the $1.99 iPhone version…seriously? I can understand slightly higher prices for iPad specific apps since its increased computing power thanks to the Apple A4 processor gives developers some elbow room when it comes to utilizing the extra capabilities I have a hard time justifying a hefty price increase for an app that’s basically just been re-sized to take advantage of the extra screen real estate. Yay capitalism!
How are you supposed to hold this thing?!
I have pretty good sized hands…large enough to palm a basketball without struggling to do so. Having said that, I cannot manage to find a comfortable way to hold the iPad! If I try to rest it in the palm of one hand it doesn’t feel very stable. The weight of the iPad combined with the fear of dropping my new $500 device to the floor makes me very leery to use it that way. I also tried holding it with two hands but that wasn’t very comfortable either. Then I tried holding it up with one hand between my fingers and thumb the way you would prop up a single sheet of paper you wanted to read. No good. It’s too heavy to do that comfortably as well. I found that I had to apply so much pressure using thumb that my hand started to cramp.
A good idea for a case would be to include an adjustable strap on the back side of the iPad so you can securely attach it to your hand. Or maybe even a case with an attached glove or finger loops.
A Few Good Things
The iPhone’s biggest crutch when it comes to comfortably browsing the web is its small screen size. While it’s a very nice size for a mobile phone, it is a little small for surfing the web. That’s where the iPad clearly excels. Its bright, clear screen is plenty big for the internet and its touch screen interface is really intuitive and natural feeling when using it to browse web pages, photos or Google maps.
Final Thoughts
All in all I do like the iPad. I think over time it will only get better. Apps will improve, accessory options will make it more comfortable to use, and I myself will just get more used to using it. When a solid jailbreak solution comes out I’m sure I’ll begin to enjoy it much, much more.
5/7/2010 Update: The Marware Eco-Vue case has a nice strap on the back and is available on Amazon.com!