Finally I’ve bitten the forbidden Apple and got myself an iPad . Like many at first I thought it to be one large iPod Touch but within my 15 days of usage it has negated all my earlier thoughts and is proving to be one of my most favorite gadgets .
iPad is minimalist , both in button options and packaging . The box of iPad itself looks like a large hard bound book , open it and be greeted by the iPad right on the top with the 10W USB Power plug charger ( it supports 110-240 volt ) and a USB Sync cable same as supplied with iPod and iPhone , you can also use the cable from iPod or iPhone if available .
On the first start it will ask to be registered through iTunes , I don’t know if you need an iTunes account to register or not ( I had one so I didn’t need to create it ) but if it does need an iTunes Account , a credit card is necessary , fortunately iTunes is available all over the world and even me sitting in Pakistan , a country where PayPal does not work , I can easily create an iTunes account .
Your ( and mine too ) iPad experience will not get complete without the applications and Apple has made sure that plenty are available to offer an enriched iPad experience . I’ll recommend getting only HD marked Apps from the iTunes store as the regular apps which work on iPhone or iPod will not do justise to the larger screen of iPad and even at 2X the size ( it magnifies the application ) a lot of things like resolution etc looks amiss
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My recommendation is to start with the free apps available at iTunes store . Many apps already have their Lite versions available free of cost at iTunes which you can download and try before purchasing the application. Like iPod and iPhone , paid applications prices vary from $0.99 all the way to $300 and above for specialized applications with most of the applications available at less than $10 range .
Some must have applications which I got were iBooks , Keynote , Pages and Numbers as official Apple applications which covers most of the business side of my life , I’ve also installed WordPress for the blog , Angry Birds HD an addictive must have game and TVU for watching international TV on the iPad
For those worried about how I type on the iPad , we’ll it has a full featured keyboard , again it’s not your usual laptop keyboard and needs some adjusting to . I don’t have the iPad cover with stand so I have to resort to keeping the iPad flat on the table and type which is very very cumbersome . The alternate I hold the iPad on the palm of my left hand and type with my right ( I’m a one finger typist so I ‘m very much used to it ) , given the weight of the iPad , I can easily churn out a couple of hundred words before my hand starts hurting .
iPad is not all fun and games , as I’ve mentioned I’ve gotten Keynote for presentations , Pages for Word processing and Numbers for spread sheet beside that the inbuilt email client is a great utility . My emails never looked so great , the colors are rich and iPad can open most of the attachments . The Safari browser , shows the websites as they are meant to be seen and with full Pinch and Zoom support ,there is nothing comparable to it .
To run it all iPad has a 10 hr battery life with full usage , I’ve managed to pull much more out of it given my mix usage from WiFi and movies to plain listening to podcasts .
Like everything in life , iPad also got some negative aspects , the screen is a finger print magnet , despite the oleo phobic coating I can see my finger print on the screen , blame it on my greasy palms but I’ve seen it on many others too .
There is no File System , I’ve installed a couple of PDF readers for trials and for everyone I’ve to upload the same file seperately , why can’t I have a common drive or folder where I can copy my documents for the applications to access , although transfer is a breeze through iTunes but still how many copies of one documents should I carry .
Bluetooth sync , Apple please please enable Bluetooth sync for iPad , it does not charge on my HP’s USB 2.0 ports so there is not need to have it tethered to the laptop , enable Bluetooth sync isn’t that what wireless connectivity means
So folks this is the iPad first thoughts , I take my words back that it’s a oversized iPod , except a few glitches I’m loving it and it has taken the place as my primary regular work computer for emails and browsing and regualr office work , now what I need is something to be able to print the documents and access my corporate network so I can store the files there instead of Google Docs
What do you think does these initial thoughts make you buy one ? Do you want to see more on the iPAd and want to know more , do let us know .
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