Initial hype has ended. Time to check how many people actually bought an iPad? If you are a user - what do you think about it? Would you buy it again today?
Yes, love the thing. Great for web surfing, surprisingly great for running iPhone apps (but BIGGER, great for older folks), fantastic for watching videos, mail is great.
Not so good for running IM type apps where you want them to background. Not so great for a lot of typing, since the keyboard is a step back from the iPhone, with keys moving around inconsistently, and various weird foibles (shift key coloring? WTH?).
The iPad was rushed out with 3.2 as a stopgap, and it shows. It's a great device, but it needs iOS 4 and a camera badly.
Yes, absolutely. And I think I'd buy the same model of 16 Gig Wifi/3G that I bought this time. Thus far, with some music and a good selection of HD WWDC 2010 videos, I'm still only at 8 Gigs used.
Watching these videos (I8n, UIScrollViews, CoreText so far) in a comfortable setting whilst feeding the baby have been the killer app so far.
The iPad is not a laptop, it takes up much less space, much easier to handle, doesn't get hot, doesn't have a fan. Though more limited, its relationship to laptops is similar to how much of a jump my 20" iMac was over a regular PC desktop. Less space, less noise, less heat.
I know I would. We (my gf and I) use it for ebooks, browsing, and playing games (Yatzee, Scrabble, etc), amongst other things. The only thing I dislike is the battery life - typical tasks (browsing, ebook reading etc) tend to draw power faster than the charger can fill the battery.
It probably works out to that but because of typically sporadic use it adds up. Games (any, not just graphics-intesive ones) seem use battery life faster though. It does have great "stand-by" battery life though.
I use mine every day and it gets the full 10-11 hours most people are getting for non-gaming activities, somewhat less for gaming activities, and charges way faster than I can drain it (though I haven't tried this while gaming I suspect it'll still be true.)
Something is definitely wrong with your iPad, and you should take it into an Apple Store to have it checked out.
Wife and I both bought one. Use them extensively to surf, read, etc from our roofdeck (right now actually). She has great luck propping up in kitchen while cooking and baking. I use mine at work to go outside and brainstorm away from my desk and other distractions.
I pre-ordered mine (64GB 3G) when they became available for pre-order in Canada.
It has very nearly replaced my computer for casual computer use, leaving my computer for work, occasions where I need to do especially tab-heavy surfing, and the odd bit of Flash usage. My hours of daily casual computing have moved from the office to the living room, kitchen, and deck, something that hasn't happened before even with both a 15 inch and an 11 inch laptop in the home. My girlfriend loves it too, and will grab it from me to pull up a recipe, do a quick search, etc.
It has also proven to be a more-than-capable gaming device running everything from casual match 3 games through light strategy (Strategery is a must) on to board games we can play together (Small World and Carcassone are also musts.)
On the work side, I use it often for background reading (the Apple HIG from front to back, for example, and that isn't a short document), quick bits of research, etc. whether at the desk or as a chance to get away from it for a little while.
One of the best things about it has to be its ability to disappear during use, leaving you sitting or standing with the application in your hands, not a device. Or at least it seems that way, and that is certainly not something that laptops or desktops (or even handheld or living-room-bound game consoles) do particularly well if at all. That you can then set that application down on a table for a moment or hand it to someone else so naturally is something that you will have heard about the iPad but really must experience for yourself a few times to truly understand it. It seems like a small thing but it fundamentally changes one's relationship with computing and the computer.
The iPad can't and won't replace traditional computers for everyone, but from what I have seen and have heard from other purchasers it is certainly proving itself as a device that can replace most 'casual'/'personal' usage of traditional computers for most people most of the time.
I use it for email, reading (news, books, Instapaper), surfing the web, watching netflix, scrabble, etc. I also use it as my todo list, calendar, notepad, and doing mockups while in meetings with clients.
I imagine I will always have something in this form factor going forward.
Oh, and the 10 hour battery life is great. I don't feel tethered to a power outlet and never feel the need to conserve power on a cross-country flight.
Yep - It replaces my laptop about 40% of the time. And it's great.
But... it's a work in progress. No flash means a lot of sites don't work. (The thing seems like it was made to obsess over google analytics, but no dice.) Safari in iOS is, well, not quite up to snuff. In genreal, the software all needs a little more refinement. People just haven't figured out how best to use a device like the iPad, and the software shows it. I expect this to change dramatically in the next year. It has tons of potential once developers get a chance to fine tune the UI.
In a nutshell, I'm very happy with it, but 2-3 more generations from now is when the magic will happen.
Safari just need more polish. There are weird rendering bugs like fine lines between divs. large sites get cut off instead of becoming scrollable. Sites that use drag and drop or hover don't work right.
Overall, the UI on the iPad feels like the iPhone, which isn't really optimal for a larger device. It needs more thought, which I'm sure is happening right now as developers get a feel for the iPad.
Yeah, it's Safari. And yes, if there is a web app that requires a hover or drag, you're kind of screwed. It's not often, but between the Flash issue and the less than awesome Javascript, and the lack of certain common ui elements (drag and hover), it's not all that uncommon to find problems with the iPad Safari.
Bought one about a month ago in France. Use it for browsing everywhere a laptop isn't comfortable (while eating breakfast, while cooking, in bed, etc). I absolutely love it!
It dawned on me that in the near future, people won't buy laptops and ordinary computers. They'll buy devices like the iPad. Only developers will use PCs.
Also, don't underestimate the "future factor" when using an iPad. It might sound a bit funny, but when I use the iPad I feel like I'm actually in the future that I imagined when I was a kid. I mean, it was only a few years ago that I saw THE INCREDIBLES and the hero got an iPad like mail -- I thought that looked awesome. Now I've got one in my hands.
I'd absolutely buy an iPad again. In fact, when it's released in Norway, I might get an additional 3G version.
I'm browsing on one right now. It's a great device and I think the email and web browsing on it are top notch. I would most certainly buy it again right now. It really makes bringing a PDF outside to read very enjoyable though in direct sun the screen gets washed out. Most of the videos on the web have been converted into a format that works natively on the iPad so the lack of flash does not hurt all that much. It's great to have next to my bed for morning browsing / checking email. Overall I love it.
3G 32GB. Love it. I take it almost everywhere instead of a laptop. Great for surfing, e-books, even a little code. Makes my Blackberry look like a pathetic piece of @(%&@#.
Funny, I never even considered eBooks (ok, besides my Safari account, but that's not me paying) and now I'm in love with the iPad's Kindle reader. Actually feel a bit guilty because I spent like 50 euros on Amazon in the first day I got the Kindle app.
I have a 32GB wifi-only model. I use it daily, and I would buy it again. I use it for surfing, watching videos off iTunes U, reading (via Kindle app), checking mail, etc. It basically replaced my Kindle DX and ThinkPad but, not my iMac or other desktop.
Sometimes I wish Safari could be a little more stable. I'm finding that when I go to a page (like The Big Picture) that has lots of large images on it, Safari on the iPad will crash.
The way I use it:
1. A makeshift Apple TV with video hookups
2. As a radio running Pandora (speakers are great)
3. GPS - the best GPS I've ever used (GPS Drive Motion X)
4. All the standard web browsing/emailing/IM'ing..
Areas still lacking:
1. Multitasking!
2. Browsing the app store on it is painful and clunky
3. I still prefer tabbed browsing. The switching animations in Safari are overblown.
I got one and use it a lot for web surfing, reading ebooks and papers, and referencing things alongside my desktop computer and/or gaming console. I was skeptical at launch time, but I have to say that the iPad is really very nice. I also plan to develop for it, which was initially why I got it.
I only use mine because I got it free through my former job - definitely not worth the $750 to buy. I've used it for cooking, reading in bed, and a replacement for my Macbook Pro which is being repaired right now... and for the first two tasks my iPhone is fine, and for the latter, the iPad isn't good enough to replace the laptop.
Not to mention, it seems all the freakin apps cost $10, due to all the developers who heard how well the iPhone apps were doing and jacked up the price of the iPad apps.
Macbook Pro + iPhone are a good enough combo, an iPad doesn't add anything new. Perhaps if you didn't already have the first two.
32GB WiFi. Haven't missed 3G yet. iBooks w/PDF support + Amazon Kindle app = bye bye Kindle. Would buy it again. Will probably buy at least one more by Christmas for my family, so I can have mine back.
64GB here, haven't used even 16gb yet but still love it. Couch, bed, car, DMV, bank, anywhere there is a wait it comes out. It even made sitting in front of TV for an entire 30 minutes bearable.
I'm actually thinking of getting an iPad for the purpose of e-books reading but I'm not sure if its well worth the hundred of bucks to buy an e-book reader.
Are there any Android/Open-source powered tablets that are slated to be released soon?
Your thinking seems outdated. 2GB may not be enough for a desktop or laptop but an iPhone/iPad doesn't need 2GB. The question isn't how much ram does it have but does it run well and fast? The answer is yes.
Not so good for running IM type apps where you want them to background. Not so great for a lot of typing, since the keyboard is a step back from the iPhone, with keys moving around inconsistently, and various weird foibles (shift key coloring? WTH?).
The iPad was rushed out with 3.2 as a stopgap, and it shows. It's a great device, but it needs iOS 4 and a camera badly.