Scargill

Posts Tagged ‘new tablet’

You’ll be aware of the UK launch of the Apple iPAD TODAY, no doubt if you saw the news last night you’ll have heard that the unit is available from today and that they’ve sold a million in the states.

Poor old Beeb, that’s ancient news and a quick look on the web will add at least 50% to that figure! Also they won’t have enough units to keep up with demand so expect delays! If you’re planning a trip to the Apple store I’d ring first! There are 6 models broken into two sets, the first set of 16gig, 32 gig and 64 gig have WIFI and motion sensing only, the second similar set add 3g and GPS into the mix – and of course the cost rises accordingly. Prices will start at £429 (including VAT) for the perfectly capable 16Gig WIFI model.

Meanwhile the iTunes store is up and running, I have had the American version of the iPad since it’s launch over there and everything’s working a treat. If you want to keep up with the latest apps I suggest you take a look at AppShopper, a nicely laid out website that’s easy to use. It has both iPhone and iPad apps and you can select both or just iPad apps.

Apple’s PAGES Word Processor is now available (as of a few days ago) and you’ll be needing that if you want to do any word-processing on the unit.

If you’re thinking of taking the plunge, remember, this isn’t a laptop, it won’t run Microsoft software! It runs only what you can get in the iTunes App store – but as they have countless thousands of Apps in there, some free, some a few pounds, you should find just about anything you need.

Some pros and cons for those of you looking at this miraculous unit for the first time:

The iPad+ Apps CAN:

• View pictures, videos and play tunes
• Read Word, Excel, PDF and many more document formats.
• Read and write Emails.
• Play games (but only the countless games in the App Store).
• Talk to Bluetooth headsets and keyboards out-of-the-box.
• View YouTube video
• View the BBC iPlayer (new and VERY good quality !!)
• Handle TV (tvcatchup) and radio (tunein radio)
• Run Skype
• Provide weather reports (the weather channel)
• Search maps (google maps)
• Control your Sky+ box (Sky+)
• Share 3g/WIFI with many phones (Joikuspot on phone)
• Record audio
• Handle social networks (many Apps)
• Run for up to 10 hours without mains power
• Emulate iPod

The iPad CAN’T:

• Let you access all it’s memory like a disk. Memory is split up into application spaces and of course the place you store your videos, pictures and music. I’ve found no way to “see” this as a single disk drive.
• Run Microsoft software. It is not a laptop.
• Handle USB disks and cameras directly.
• Run FLASH video (though YouTube and iPhone are supported – see CAN).
• Run WiFi super-reliably (sure it runs WIFI but it breaks occasionally – soon to be fixed)
• Share WIFI with your iPhone (deliberate and stupid move)
• Take pictures or video (no camera)

I hope this information helps you make a decision. Am I happy I bought an iPad?  Most definitely YES. Would I pay the extra for the 3G version? No. Am I happy with 32Gig? Can’t even start to fill it up so the base model will do for many people. Music and video lovers with massive collections may opt for the larger models.

Peter Scargill

To order these units online I BELIEVE you go here http://store.apple.com/uk

p.s. If you want to know more about using the iPad, for example with a 3G dongle – see my other articles….

Comparing Android and the iPhone/iPad operating system

Using the iPad with a separate 3G source like an iPhone, MS Smartphone or dongle SIM