wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

thinking of getting one, could do with some pointers on whether they are any good or not???

cheers in advance

mamoon2

Never buy 1st generation Apple products. The 2nd and 3rd generation will be miles better with way more features (usb?)

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

If you want one NOW and I mean now as in for xmas then go ahead, you will love them. The model you get depends on your use and what you are willing to spend in terms of monthly data plans. Buy the wifi only, pay the upfront price, job done. Buy the wifi and 3G and you will have to pay for the monthly charge on top of the purchase price. Both have their cons and pros but they are fab products.

BUT if you want to wait until the first qtr of 2011 then the second generation will be out, faster, better screen , more memory and cameras. Also there are rumors of the fabled USB connection

bigredrob

got mine free when they did my chratarach, good old NHS!!!!!!!!!!

oldsplice

We love ours!

The Dogs B******s

But you don't count

MMT WRX

Just for me, what's a chratarach?

oldsplice

Ooh, where's the boob flash smiley?

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Coulld not live without it now

Infact the desk top and laptop are redunant now

Get the basic modle for £429 unless you want to take it places but then the costs go up
So quick and easy instant switch on for web and great photos capacity

You won't regret it ,they are that good

oldsplice

That's what I love about it......it's instant. We run the stereo off it. It's just really nice to use. And I just got an ipod touch for my birthday!

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

worries me that they dont have usb?? but i suppose the only thing i would use usb for is my camera, phone download or printer, does it have bluetooth?? so i could download via bluetooth from phone, and possibly a wireless printer?? that just leaves my camera to sort as that doesnt have ability to download without lead.

bigredrob

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light into the eye.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

would also want it portable so i could get online anywhere, i notice there are different memory sizes, am i going to go far wrong with a 16gb model?? i only really use my laptop for surfing web, forums and the like, emails word documents etc etc, dont do any downloading of music or films and dont play games. take quite a lot of photos so would be good to not run out of space for them.

Snazy

Handy fun but sometimes over praised and over priced for what they do.

Have a look at other options on the market, galaxy tab, archos etc which are a more realistic price.

You can get PAYG data sims which is what I use in my 3G, which works out far better, biggest monthly spend has been a fiver. Nice to have the 3G option just i case if the budget allows. Hence no fixed monthly obligation.

In short, if you are not short of a few quid and want something of this size iPads are not bad. But I would look around first.

Snazy

16gb will do you fine in that case mate, don't believe the hype that you will use all that up quickly lol.
I started out wanting the 16gb wifi only, ended up with a 32gb wifi/3G after believing all the scaremongering lol.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

im a bit of a computer no go area if im honest, i love my gadgets but dont know a great deal about them if that makes sense, whats the difference between wifi and 3g?? i have seen that 3 do a mobile wifi thing that you can use anywhere for internet purposes, would this allow me to go anywhere and use internet on the wifi only model or do i need a 3g model and contract??

thnaks to everyone for their advice so far

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

1. you asked about photos and connecting your camera. You can do that with an iPad camera connector, job done

2. wifi and 3G . Well obviously wifi is free on the ipad, 3G is not and requires a data plan, be it monthly or PAYg sim plan. The iPad comes in 6 models, 3 in each . Because the ipad does not have usb you cannot plugin a 3G dongle

boxst

I think the are great toys and am typing this from one.

The battery life is great, the applications very good, email is good and it'll play all your music and videos. You can even do quite a few things you can do on a laptop if you sync your documents with dropbox and use DocsToGo.

Dislikes? It is expensive, a bit on the heavy side and the thing that annoys me most is that there is no visual email notification. I just want a little flashing envelope or something in the top bar so that I can see I have email whilst doing something else.

Summary is that I use it much more than I thought I would as it has the ability to be instantly on and if I wander aimlessly around is much more convenient to take than my laptop.

Jaybird-UK

UK telecoms Three, Orange and T-Mobile launch subsidized iPad plans

Markus

As possibly said by others, unless you need one right now, then I'd wait as the second generation iPad should appear within the next few months. Spec is rumoured to include a retina display (same type of deal as the iPhone 4, double the resolution) and a front facing camera to allow for facetime. Not too sure about rear facing camera, you would look very odd taking a picture with an iPad.

USB is an odd one, as all the Apple kit uses the dock connector, perhaps the new iPad might be the first to switch to micro / mini usb. I recall there being some European law about devices having to use micro / mini usb, mainly I think so charging and connection is unified between different devices. Part of me finds it hard to think that US-centric Apple would bow to the pressure of little ol europe, they'd probably simply create a dock connector to micro / mini adapter to get round it.

I don't mind iPads, though I am somewhat "meh" about them these days, but this simply comes from working with them all day. I did used to read on one (guess the app ), and they are great for that, but I did find it a little bulky, and I favour my eReader these days (guess the eReader - double ). It's not a bad portable device, but I do find myself wondering what real world use I'd get out of one.

Yes, they are smaller than a netbook or laptop, but I'm not overly keen on the on-screen keyboard, and it's an iOS device, so it's locked down in respect to not having the Finder and such like. Maybe I need to borrow one for "testing" purposes over the holiday Oh, I hope iPad 2 has IR on it, it'd make a perfect home cinema remote with IR and the right software (would not be shocked to find a dock connector IR module already exists)

scooblee

Don't listen to people saying wait for 2nd gen etc etc, the iPad is a great bit of kit, no bugs or problems, do you really need to wait for it to have a camera? My iPhone connects to the iPad and so operates as a camera if that's what you really need from an iPad, as far as web searching and the apps associated with it's it's simply awesome and the best on the market for what Its designed to do.
Only pedophiles need a web cam.

Jimpreza

I am thinking about getting my 10 year old daughter one for Xmas. Could she use word and excel on it.

boxst

DocsToGo allows you to create excel and word documents. I can edit quite complex spreadsheets but I would hate to create them on the iPad.

Jimpreza

Cheers boxst. I may not bother then as her homework's often done on word and excel. She just wants a laptop for homework and surfing the net. I didn't realise how cheap you could get the bottom of the range one for.

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Had mine 6 months and hardly used it. I think mainly because I still use my iPhone for most things. If I didn't have my iPhone, the iPad would get alot more use than it does. They are awesome for browsing and viewing YouTube, etc.

Hence, it's for sale in the for sale section if you're interested?

belliott69

iTrader: (3)

new one comes out after christmas.

Markus

No bugs or problems? I beg to differ. There was a well know wifi issue with some of the wifi devices. It would say it is connected to a network, but wasn't. I'd consider that a bit of a problem. Can't recall if that was hardware or software though.

It took a very long time for 4.2 to come to iPad, meaning it was lacking multi-task for a while and that is a rather handy thing to have. Thankfully iPhone and iPad share the same iOS version, handy for developers too.

I'm not saying the iPad isn't rather good, but unless you have an absolute need for it now, and I'd like to know why, apart from a present for someone, then you should wait. Let's say the new iPad is announced at the Keynote in January, and it'll be launched in April (as the original was), yes, it a few months away, but as with many things, sometimes it's better to wait for the new model if it's not that far away. I'd certainly wait until the keynote to see if anything is mentioned.

scooblee

I guess any issues were when it first came to market with the wifi as I have not heard of it, what I'm saying is if you buy one now unless it's a one off there will be no issues with it.
It's only a toy anyway as it's not exactly something you would rely on for all your work/home needs, like it needs updating so have to connect it to my laptop anyway also for iTunes etc.
If a new one comes out and it's significantly better than this then I will sell and buy that, they will still command a decent price second hand, I just don't think it will be that much better to hold out for.
When the iPhone 4 came out I bought that as I thought it would be better than my 3GS, sadly this was not so as it was riddled with issues so sold it and kept my 3GS which has been faultless for over a year now.
Anyway buy one don't buy one it can only be your decision as they are a lot of money for what you will use it for.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

well, I've been and had a play with one this morning at our local purveyors of all things computer related and I've got to say that I'm well impressed, the quality of pics and vids is excellent, it was seamless when browsing etc etc so think I'm goung to plump for the 16gb with wifi only and buy a 3 mobile mifi device so I have internet everwhere I need it

scooblee

Was going to get the 16gb myself but in the end went for the 32, if you want to download and watch a DVD and store pictures etc 16gb will fill up quickly, you can get 100gb online storage and you can also connect USB memory sticks to it if you get the camera attachment that plugs into the charge slot, not all will work and I think there is how to's on YouTube.
You can also jail break it and use the 3G through your iPhone so I'm told, also on YouTube.
Think that would void your warranty mind.