I Got My iPad - AT LAST!
May. 5th, 2010 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elrhiarhodanA while back, I blamed my prolific flist for making me order the latest and greatest in Apple gear, since I was going blind reading your wonderful smut on my iPhone.
Actually, that was a cop out - I was planning on buying it anyway (as if you didn't realize that in the first place).
I got the shipping notice on Wednesday night, kept refreshing the FedEx tracking page all through Thursday and Thursday night, and again on Friday morning. I had pre-signed for it (since I wasn't sure if D was going to be home all day), and I was glad that I did. He wasn't home, but they left it in between the door and the storm door. I called D about 12, and he retrieved it for me.
It took great willpower not to rush home at lunchtime (doable), but I did leave work at 4 (about 2.5 hours earlier than normal). I made it through dinner, washed up, checked the mail, put up a load of laundry - all the while watching the package just sit there. Basically, I was teasing myself.
I did the whole unboxing photo set thing - and the package is typical Apple bling. I could go on and on about the sexiness of Apple packaging, but I'll spare you.
Anyway...the iPad itself is incredible. The first thing that impressed me was the speed. I though my 3rd gen iPhone was spiffy, but this thing is like Justin Gay, it's THAT FAST.
The screen quality is fantastic - of course, there's the whole fingerprint thing, but the oleophobic coating is better (i think) than on the iPhone. I've watched Star Trek IX on it - and I'm completely blown away. There are a number of apps I use that haven't gone iPad native yet, and most of them look pretty good, even the games. In fact, the only one I dislike in 2x mode i Journaler - it doesn't scale well at all. But since access to LJ through Safari is fine, I don't see any need to use it on the iPad.
Reading books on the iPad v. the Kindle. For me, the iPad is better by an order of magnitude. It may be that my Kindle DX has a bad screen, but the glare makes it unreadable at times. I haven't sat with the iPad in direct sun yet, and I suspect that it will not be a perfect experience, but the brighter screen has significantly reduced the feelings of eyestrain. And speed is a big bonus here too. One of the things I've hated about the Kindle has been the lag time in page turns (about 2-3 seconds per page). Since I read quickly, this has always been a problem (the more times the page is turned, the quicker the battery drains). The pages are "live" on the iPad - it's more book-like than the Kindle in that respect. Flipping back and forth is a pleasure. No wonky buttons, just a flick of the finger.
I still have to figure out how to get non-Kindle (Amazon's Kindle app is native for the iPad) and non-iBookstore books onto my iPad - the ebooks I buy from Samhain, etc. Stanza hasn't gone native yet...and the scaling is not perfect (similar problem with the Journaler app).
The iPad is on the weighty side - a few ounces more than the Kindle DX, and it feels a lot denser. Maybe because there is a minimal amount of plastic used in the construction??? Aluminum and glass are the primary case materials.
I am using the keyboard/dock right now - I was not a fan of the chiclet style keyboards that Apple's shifted to - but I'm getting accustomed to it (I prefer a keyboard with a more mechanical action).
I had bought the Apple brand case for it, but returned it. Since you need to remove the iPad from the case to use the keyboard, the Apple case was completely impractical - it was impossible to take the iPad out. I nearly tore it to pieces the one and only time I tried. I exchanged it for a rubber InCase one, which doesn't have any protection for the front, but comes with a nice stand. I carried the thing around in a ziplock bag for one day, then sacrificed only of my black on black Nagoya obis. The width of the obi was perfect for the iPad, so it just meant sewing three straight seams.
I'm not going to drone on about how much I love my iPad (but I do, so very, very much). It's perfect for what I want, and excatly what I need.
Anyone want to buy a gently used Kindle DX?
Actually, that was a cop out - I was planning on buying it anyway (as if you didn't realize that in the first place).
I got the shipping notice on Wednesday night, kept refreshing the FedEx tracking page all through Thursday and Thursday night, and again on Friday morning. I had pre-signed for it (since I wasn't sure if D was going to be home all day), and I was glad that I did. He wasn't home, but they left it in between the door and the storm door. I called D about 12, and he retrieved it for me.
It took great willpower not to rush home at lunchtime (doable), but I did leave work at 4 (about 2.5 hours earlier than normal). I made it through dinner, washed up, checked the mail, put up a load of laundry - all the while watching the package just sit there. Basically, I was teasing myself.
I did the whole unboxing photo set thing - and the package is typical Apple bling. I could go on and on about the sexiness of Apple packaging, but I'll spare you.
Anyway...the iPad itself is incredible. The first thing that impressed me was the speed. I though my 3rd gen iPhone was spiffy, but this thing is like Justin Gay, it's THAT FAST.
The screen quality is fantastic - of course, there's the whole fingerprint thing, but the oleophobic coating is better (i think) than on the iPhone. I've watched Star Trek IX on it - and I'm completely blown away. There are a number of apps I use that haven't gone iPad native yet, and most of them look pretty good, even the games. In fact, the only one I dislike in 2x mode i Journaler - it doesn't scale well at all. But since access to LJ through Safari is fine, I don't see any need to use it on the iPad.
Reading books on the iPad v. the Kindle. For me, the iPad is better by an order of magnitude. It may be that my Kindle DX has a bad screen, but the glare makes it unreadable at times. I haven't sat with the iPad in direct sun yet, and I suspect that it will not be a perfect experience, but the brighter screen has significantly reduced the feelings of eyestrain. And speed is a big bonus here too. One of the things I've hated about the Kindle has been the lag time in page turns (about 2-3 seconds per page). Since I read quickly, this has always been a problem (the more times the page is turned, the quicker the battery drains). The pages are "live" on the iPad - it's more book-like than the Kindle in that respect. Flipping back and forth is a pleasure. No wonky buttons, just a flick of the finger.
I still have to figure out how to get non-Kindle (Amazon's Kindle app is native for the iPad) and non-iBookstore books onto my iPad - the ebooks I buy from Samhain, etc. Stanza hasn't gone native yet...and the scaling is not perfect (similar problem with the Journaler app).
The iPad is on the weighty side - a few ounces more than the Kindle DX, and it feels a lot denser. Maybe because there is a minimal amount of plastic used in the construction??? Aluminum and glass are the primary case materials.
I am using the keyboard/dock right now - I was not a fan of the chiclet style keyboards that Apple's shifted to - but I'm getting accustomed to it (I prefer a keyboard with a more mechanical action).
I had bought the Apple brand case for it, but returned it. Since you need to remove the iPad from the case to use the keyboard, the Apple case was completely impractical - it was impossible to take the iPad out. I nearly tore it to pieces the one and only time I tried. I exchanged it for a rubber InCase one, which doesn't have any protection for the front, but comes with a nice stand. I carried the thing around in a ziplock bag for one day, then sacrificed only of my black on black Nagoya obis. The width of the obi was perfect for the iPad, so it just meant sewing three straight seams.
I'm not going to drone on about how much I love my iPad (but I do, so very, very much). It's perfect for what I want, and excatly what I need.
Anyone want to buy a gently used Kindle DX?
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 06:58 pm (UTC)1. Over-priced
2. Trendy
3. Ugly
4. They don't offer anything to me that I NEED.
I've used a new Mac and I really found that I didn't care for the styling or the keyboard. I know they say that Mac works better but I didn't really notice a huge difference between my 11 year old PC and the Mac, except for picture quality, which I like but I can live without.
Anyway, I hope you have fun with your new toy. :-D
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 07:05 pm (UTC)I'm going to disagree with you on 1 and 2, 3 is your own personal preference and you should never use a computer that doesn't give you what you need.
But we can still be friends, right?
Elr.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 04:34 pm (UTC)The only thing I don't like about the iPad is that it doesn't seem like you can edit google docs, and I pretty much live on google docs. I hate that I can't play with them on my iPhone, either.
Everything else about it... yum. Daniel teases me for not being able to tear myself away from them in Best Buy.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 04:49 pm (UTC)It's good news, since my dad said he'd help me buy a new computer for my birthday. (and I think he was even sober when he said that...)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 04:56 pm (UTC)Let me know if you do get an iPad.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 05:48 pm (UTC)There are other gdoc viewers but you can't edit from them.
:) Iphone rules!
Though I admit when I write on my iphone i just do it as emails to myself >_>
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 05:50 pm (UTC)For me when I was playing with them in the store I thought it was *heavy* :( and with my arm issues I find my iphone hurts my hands/arms if I am reading in bed too long on it :/ so i thought an ipad would be impractical.
Besides... I am really psyched about iphone 4.0 :D so I may have to break down and get that instead! Are you going to upgrade your iphone too when it debuts this summer?
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 05:58 pm (UTC)I probably will want it, just BECAUSE...but I'll be able to live without it,because I'll have the 4g software on the iPad by September anyway.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 07:05 pm (UTC)I'm also hoping that maybe there'll be something similar from Samsung (I'm a Samsung girl, almost all my electronics are Samsung :)
But I'm happy to hear you're having so much fun with your new iPad :D
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 07:13 pm (UTC)As for the Apple hype - I drank the Kool-aid in 1985. With the exception of a tiny netbook I need for work, I've never owned a PC (just used the ones provided by work).
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 08:22 pm (UTC)And I just saw that the iPhone actually has a Samsung CPU, so there's hope still.
I think my aversion to Apple products has mostly to do with unpleasant encounters with annoying Apple product owners.
I used to ride the train to work, and more often than not there would be someone who had an iPod (Nano, Touch, whatever) or later an iPhone and if they thought you were looking in their direction they'd sit up a bit straighter and fiddle a bit more obviously with it in that look-what-I-have-and-how-cool-I-am way (which I would roll my eyes at and if I got really annoyed pull out my phone with its very awesome slide-out key pad and check my emails). I've also met some very condescending Mac owners. So, not the best emotions associated with Apple...
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 08:30 pm (UTC)Even though we are, by nature, a super awesomely cool bunch.
:-D
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 08:50 pm (UTC)I try not to. It helps, that I'm meeting more and more nice Apple owners these days ^_~
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 08:54 pm (UTC)Yeah, like Surreal said I'm not an Apple fan, but those who are are incredibly devoted. I'm not a big fan of pcs either, but what else is there?
I'm happy you got your iPad!