26.05.2010
Apple iPad Review - Really a Magical Revolutionary Product?
iPhone, iPod and now iPad this is the latest offering by Apple Inc. According to Apple this is a magical revolutionary product at an unbelievable price but actually how much this is revolutionary we will talk about this later. First thing comes in mind of many of you, what is iPad?
iPad is a LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology which allows you to read books, watch videos, listen music, surf the web, read emails, play games, use as digital photo frame, record voice/dictations and it is 9.56 inches high, 7.47 inches wide, 0.5 inches thick, and weighs 1.5 pounds (Wi-fi model) and 1.6 pounds (Wi- fi + 3G model). iPad comes in three storage sizes and Wi-Fi model costs (16GB for $499, 32GB for $599 64GB for $699) and Wi-fi + 3G model costs (16GB for $629, 32GB for $729, and 64GB for $829--pay-as-you go for the data subscription). Currently iPad is available only in USA and will go on sale in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and Britain on 28th May 2010 and later in the other international countries.
iPad runs the famous iPhone OS, which you can find in other Apple Products (iPhone, iPod). And if you are familiar in working with the other Apple products then out of box iPad looks immediately familiar and maybe that’s the reason iPad doesn’t comes with any manual in the box but you can download the manual in eBook format from Apple App store.
 There is nothing new in design in comparison to other apple products; iPad design is also simple and sleek. The screen is made of oleophobic-coated glass as the iPhone 3GS and behind the glass is a LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS (in-plane switching) technology which gives impressive viewing angle of up to 178 degrees and 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi). Excellent accelerometer rotates the screen as you rotate the iPad in Portrait or Landscape mode which shows there is no right or wrong way to hold this gadget. iPad contains the onscreen Qwerty Keyword on which typing is very easy and almost similar to physical keyboard, thanks to screen.
Till now we have done lots of blah-blah, so, let’s talk about the things which really matters – pros and cons.
 Screen of iPad is so good, multi-touch is amazing and colors are so vibrant that working on boring tasks also becomes enjoyable. You can just wipe out the screen to remove the finger prints but working in the sunlight is not easy. iPad contains the safari browser (you will miss the firefox and addons) and screen size is perfect for doing internet work and adjusts the pages accordingly so you don’t get a horizontal scroller and at the same time text size also not looks small so you have to do less zooming and scrolling. But downside is iPad doesn’t support flash, so all your favorites flash website will show a blank area on the page. Don’t know why Apple is so against the Adobe Flash (may be Adobe don’t give proper updates on time or some other unknown reason) and Adobe have to claim in latest print ad that they love Apple but it don’t loves anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it and what you experience on the web. But saving grace is iPad supports the HTML5 which is next big thing and Apps loads fast because of 1 GHz Apple A4 processor.
You can’t add the attachment in the emails (without paid third-part apps), and you can open only few selected extensions in attachment using built-in reader but can’t edit them without third party apps. Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel). But you can share/email the photos as an attachment from built-in Photos app or use Dropbox application to email the link of file to download but there is no option of sending anything attached in email, in fact attach buttons get disabled in yahoo and hidden in Gmail when open in the browser and there is no place of opening the zip, rar or compressed archives.
There is also no USB port or Webcam in iPad. So, you can’t do a video chatting or connect your phone or any other device to transfer the data. But you can add Bluetooth Headset, keyboard or do it peer-to-peer networking for gaming.
Another downside is you can’t install the software of your choice which is not made by apple or especially not made for iPad, using jailbroken tools like “Spirit” anything is possible but that can void your warranty. And till now only jailbroken iPhones, iPod Touch and iPad have been affected by malware. There have been no instances when a non-jailbroken iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad getting affected by a malware or a trojan. But why you need to jailbroken the iPad when more than 200,000 apps are available in the App Store and paid versions of the Apps also not costly. You can also run some apps, games which are designed for iPhone and those are marked as “+” inside iPad app store but specifically designed apps/games for iPad having an amazing quality and feeling. Keep this in mind those apps promoted by Apple on there website is 90% paid ones.
You can’t do real multitasking on iPad, you have to close the current app before moving to another app, but when you open the previous app again opens at same position where you left out before like in apps - notes, calendar, browser, email but hope future OS upgrades allows us to do real multitasking.
If you using the iPad outside the home then 3G version makes more sense and also gives extra capability of assisted-GPS, allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and find restaurants/hotels in that area. But remember iPad having a Micro-SIM card tray, so if micro-sim is not available easily in your country then you can’t use the 3G. But always there is some turnaround way of everything… if you are using a 3G connection on your mobile phone then using Wi-Fi tethering app you can connect to internet via WiFi or you can use 3G / Evdo Router to connect the internet.
According to Apple, iPad gives upto 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music and iPad easily gives this amount of backup but charging is available when connect the iPad via power adapter, connecting to the computer using USB not charges the iPad if your motherboard latest drivers are available then it charges from USB too, after updating my Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard drivers there is no problem in charging but still power adapter is recommened because that is faster charging process..
The iPad seems to have better speakers than iPod touches or iPhones do, but otherwise, it's hard to see what makes this a superior experience for music. In terms of video iPad Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable but from laptops you can output 1080p content to a monitor or HDTV.
In the box, you will get obviously iPad, Dock Connector to USB Cable, 10W USB Power Adapter and one page documentation which explain how to start the ipad first time using iTunes. There is no other accessory in the box, if you need a case or cleaning cloth then you have to buy separately.
So, if you think iPad will replace the laptops, then that’s a bold statement to make because in some areas laptop is clear winner but if you talking about portability or bridge between smartphones and laptops then iPad is a sure shot winner. It doesn't do everything and doesn't do most things any true geek would want. Yet, it's an absolute delight for what it does and performance is rock solid. Due to some limitations, it’s not a magical device and yes it’s available at unbelievable price (too high). If you own this gadget then you love this from your heart but not from brain and if you don’t own it then you will always find a reason to criticize.
So, if you are that type of person which read lots of books while travelling or reply to lots of emails then go and buy this. And if you are true geek then postponed your buy until Apple gives more power of customization/personalization in our hands. (In India you can buy the iPad from grey market for price around Rs. 36,000 for 32GB Wi-fi version and those bought from grey market before already aware that you will not get a warranty).
Apple iPad Rating: 3.5  by Ashish Rastogi, CGArena
|
|
|
