iPad Review

Originally Published April 2010.

Not since the time of Mosses has there been this much anticipation and talk about a tablet. Many would say / have said / continue to say the iPad is nothing more than a big iPod touch, and while that is true from a certain perspective those people really miss the big screen picture.  When comparing the iPod Touch to the iPad, the iPod touch would only be able to fit the first two commandments and maybe part of the third on its screen. Where as, the iPad could comfortably fit all ten on the screen.

 

I don’t want to get into trying to tell you whom the iPad is and is not for. I think that would be a fool’s errand. For some people the iPad makes a nice media device to complement their current computer, for others it will become their main computer. I hope this review will help you decide if the iPad fits into your computing needs.  For full and fair disclosure with regards to this review I want to point out I have nothing to disclose, I purchased my iPad with my own money, it was not a unit given to me by Apple. 

 

What you get in the Box:

When you purchase your iPad, be it the 16, 32 or 64 GB version, in the box you get the following: 1. The iPad.  2. The power adapter with USB cable.  That is it (well actually you get a couple of Apple stickers). I found it rather cheap strange on Apples part to ship a media device without headphones or even a cloth to clean the touch screen for that matter.  Granted when you buy a laptop from Apple it does not come with headphones either, but for the iPad it is the first iPxxx product not to ship with headphones. Note: The iPhone 3GS headphones will work in the iPad including the volume control and the pause button – so getting a pair of headphones that are compatible with the iPhone 3GS is recommended.

 

Setting up the iPad:

Note: If you don’t plan to sync your iPad to a computer at your home, then you should go to an Apple store and let them know you plan on using the iPad as a stand-alone computer. This can be done, but it is best to have the folks at the Apple store help you set it up before you leave as you do need iTunes to get it set up. You could also use a friends / relatives computer if you ordered online. 

 

For everyone else what you need to do when you get your iPad home is to connect it to your computer and use iTunes to activate it. If you have ever used iTunes with an iPhone, iPod or iPod touch than you are already trained on how to activate the iPad. The iPads integration with iTunes really is a key differentiator to other “competing” tablet devices that are or will be coming out. Getting the iPad set up was really very easy.  It took just a few minutes, and then I started syncing the various media files, which again was very easy to do. (Note “easy” does not mean “fast” – as my 4,000 plus pictures and videos in iPhoto needed to be optimized for the iPad and that took a couple of hours.) 

 

Adding in an email account to your iPad for a Gmail account was as simple as giving your Name, email address and password. That was it, nothing more was need for me to send and receive emails. No adding in pop account id’s and outgoing server configuration.  It was both very easy and very fast to get set up for email at least with a simple Gmail account.

 

Benchmark Tests – 2G vs. 3GS vs. iPad:

The geek in me really wanted to know how fast the iPad is from processor speeds compared to the iPhone. I looked at the load times for three different apps and took the average load times for each app on an Original iPhone 2G, an iPhone 3GS and the iPad.  The three apps were Blowfish, Crazy Hamster and Pocket Ants, all are games and each takes some time to load. Below are the results of those tests.

 

 

App:	BlowFish			Crazy Hamster			Pocket Ants
Device:	2G	3GS	iPad	2G	3GS	iPad	2G	3GS	iPad
Avg. Time: (secs)	17.7	7.0	5.1	14.9	9.7	8.3	24.9	13.9	12.3

 

 

As was already known the 3GS is considerably faster than the iPhone 2G (FYI - The iPhone 2G and 3G use the same processor). The iPad as can be seen above tested faster than the 3GS, although the gap in performance between the iPad and the 3GS is not as great as that between the 3GS and the 2G. However these tests only tell part of the story, as the feel of the iPad seems to be much smoother than the 3GS which already felt fast. It is actually difficult to describe how great the interface feels / works on the iPad without coming off as a total Apple fan boy. 

 

How long does the battery really last?

When Apple announced the iPad in January they said it would have 10 hours of battery life playing video.  Many bloggers said no way. Some even said it was impossible to get to 10 hours of video with that size screen in a unit that weighed only a pound and a half. This was the first real test I wanted to do with my iPad and what better way to test the battery life claim of 10 hours than to have a Torchwood marathon. These are TV shows downloaded from iTunes. On the iPad I turned off WiFi and Bluetooth and set the video brightness to the 50% mark and turned off Auto-brightness. I wanted it to be as close to how you would have it set when on an Airplane. The results were much better than expected. After 4 hours and 9 minutes the iPad showed 75% charge left. After 7 hours and 20 minutes the iPad was at a 50% charge. After 10 hours and 36 minutes the iPad was down to a 25% charge and the iPad finally ran out of juice after 13 hours and 24 minutes of continuous video playback. Please note if you are streaming video from Youtube over Wifi the battery life will be less – probably right in that 10 hour range Apple claimed. The test above was done with those in mind that travel on long flights and don’t have access to power outlets. For regular or even semi regular international or bi-costal travelers the iPad is in my opinion a must have device.

 

I was also going to do some temperature testing – but feeling the iPad after 10 hours of continuous use and I found it was barely above room temperature. A key “feature” of the iPad compared to my MacBook – no need for a fan - hence no fan noise. Plus no keyboard – so the next time I am in bed next to my wife I will be able to surf the web and tap out emails in complete silence. Trust me if you knew how cranky (And justifiable so) my wife can get at 1:30 AM after I wake her up with fan noise or keyboard noise from my Macbook, you would know right there the iPad is worth the purchase.  Silence is as they say Golden.

 

Once the iPad was completely drained the next question was how long would it take to recharge the iPad to 100%.  Using the power charger that comes with the iPad it was back to 25% charge in 52 minutes, 50% charge in 1 hour and 47 minutes, 75% charge in 2 hours and 44 minutes and 100% charge in 4 hours and 13 minutes.  That means you can basically use it all day long and charge it while you sleep and then repeat. I should point out if you have it connected via USB to older Macs and most PC’s it will not charge while operating.  You will see a message saying it is “Not Charging” in the upper right. This also happens when connected through most USB hubs. As they do not have enough power to charge the iPad while it is running. However once you put it to sleep it does start charging the iPad regardless of what it said when powered on – which is causing lots of confusion as people are reporting that the iPad can not be charged by PC’s, when really it is that the iPad when in use, cannot be charged by PC’s, older Macs and most USB hubs.

 

Some Apps are missing:

The iPad comes with some Apple created apps pre-installed. iBooks is not one of them – not yet at least – you will need to download that App (It is free) if you want access to the iBook store. There are also a few other apps missing that are on the iPhone and iPod touch. Voice Memo, Stocks, Weather and Calculator are the Apps that Apple did not include with the initial launch of the iPad. Considering how the other apps such as Photos, Youtube, Mail have been specially redesigned just for the iPad it is likely those missing apps will be introduced to the iPad in the near future.

 

There has a been a lot said about the iPhone OS and hence the iPad not supporting flash and that you can not get video on the iPad.  While it is true that it does not support flash – the part about not being able to get video on the iPad is false.  The iPad comes with a Youtube App that allows you to see most youtube videos.  So if you want to see the latest viral video – no fears you can see Charlie biting his brothers finger or Marina telling you the meaning of your favorite word.  For most users the lack of flash will be a non-issue, just as it is for most iPhone and iPod touch owners.

 

In addition to the Youtube app that comes pre-loaded there is the free App for Netflix – however it does require a roughly $10 a month Netflix account. Once you have that you can stream any of the Netflix instant play videos to your iPad. Setting up the app was as simple as putting in your Netflix username and password. After that you could start streaming videos from the instant queue / Watch now feature. I tested it out with an episode of Torchwood and it looked just as good as the episodes I purchased from iTunes. If you are a Netflix subscriber the iPad is in my opinion and from feedback from many of my listeners already a must have device.

 

 

One Paper Cut:

 This is minor but still a paper cut when it comes to the interface.  Apple has trained me these past 1000+ days on the iPhone that the return key is at the bottom right next to the space bar and the delete key is next to the M key right above the return key.  Now with the iPad the Delete key is moved to the top right next to the P key and the return key is right below it and next to the L key.  This is a paper cut as in I keep hitting the return key when I mean delete – which can get embarrassing when it sends out an IM when you had something you wanted to change.  It is minor – but will require some extra grey matter to get used to – since I am still using my iPhone.  This is a case where Apple should realize that it might be best to keep it consistent across the iPhone OS. 

 

If you are on the fence on whether or not to get the 3G or Wifi only model I did a post at http://bit.ly/dtQJ5h that goes over the total cost of ownership of the iPad with 3G and AT&T and Wifi only and then going with Verizon, Sprint or Clear for a mobile hotspot.

 

Per my household I see the iPad serving as my Wife’s primary computer and for me as a complement to my Macbook especially late at night when I need something that is quiet but has a larger screen than my iPhone. At the beginning of this Article I talked about the Ten Commandments so in closing, it is only fitting to say if you purchase an iPad there is a good chance when you show it to your neighbors that they will break the 10^th commandment – “Thou shall not covet anything that is your neighbors”