Early iPad User Complaints: Weak Wi-Fi, Charging Issues

Happiness for all...

And William sounds like he sleeps just fine at night. Kudos to William! : ) (In all seriousness)

Thankfully William also sounds to be fairly self-aware and this likely prevents possible frustrations with product updates down the road.

He makes a good point about enjoying the product. There maybe a couple fewer features or some annoyances, but if a user enjoys the product, what is wrong with that?

I think William demonstrates that the world is made of all types. Keeps life interesting.

While many poo-poo the iPad and wait 2 years to buy one, William will enjoy 2 years of iPad fun. And it's hard to put a price tag on enjoyment.

I recently got an iPhone and wonder if waiting so long was a good idea. The iPhone is a great tool that can truly increase productivity and provide a lot of entertainment. In the last month, I've used my laptop less yet feel more organized with things I need and want to do. It's hard to put price on that, and I think I may have done myself a disservice in waiting so long. Huh!

Enjoy your iPad, William! You go. :)

I'm *way* too impatient to wait for 2nd gen, or rev B even of product. I look around my house and every single product I own was purchased the day it was released (pretty much). How sad am I?!

On the other hand I've had the opportunity to get the latest/newest product immediately and enjoy it the entire time others wait for rev B. I realise sometimes rev B has a few updated bits (which I envy hugely!), but I'm happiest having the first version of the product to enjoy, enjoy and enjoy.

Your attitude is one I envy, but what I'd really prefer is my attitude with so much money that I can buy v1 and every revision after! :D:D:D
 
My iPad WiFi works better than my Sony laptop, and about the same as my (rev. a) Black MacBook. That is to say, I can sit out on my back yard and still get a full signal.

I sync and charge off of my (rev. a) 2007 iMac without any issues. It charges to full in about an hour from ~80%. I haven't had the battery drop below 70% even with my wife and I using it for web browsing, book reading all day.

I probably could have been satisfied with a "6 hour" battery model at half the weight.

As a chronic rev. a. buyer, I have to say, I'm impressed with the iPad so far. I expected more quirks.
 
"I can't charge my huge iPad battery off my computer's low power USB port"

And the reason that the iPad comes its own charger/cable is??????

The average IQ in this country is shrinking as fast as polar ice.

:cool:

To be fair, people have grown accustomed to charging their iDevices by plugging them into USB ports. It's been this way for years now. It's not some damning indictment of the collective IQ of the public for them to try to do the same thing with their iPads. Good grief.
 
I have heard it's heavier than most have thought. Anyone else think this?

I haven't received mine yet (3G), but I got to play with a friend's for 5 minutes. My immediate thought was that it was heavier than I expected. I can see where it would be uncomfortable to hold it in one hand, or even two hands, without propping it on something.
 
Do'h Me Too

I noticed the charging problem right from the beginning. I plugged it into my iMac via a powered USB hub. When I connected directly to my Macmini, no problems charging.

I also started having WiFi problems today. It starts at full strength, but drops to one bar quickly. Today I was using the ABC app to watch something and it either paused or the connect to the Wifi dropped all together. I'm about 35' from the wifi here at work with several walls. I'll test at home where I'm closer and see what happens.

Still overall a great device except it shows all fingerprints.
 
It wasn't supposed to....it is a corporate warfare article designed to cast a negative light on the iPad and Apple.

Mission Accomplished...the brain dead public drinks the Kook Aid.

Yeah, who needs a wifi only internet device to be capable of reliably connecting to.....the internet. Well said.

Mmmm. "Kook [sic] Aid."
 
Yeah, who needs a wifi only internet device to be capable of reliably connecting to.....the internet. Well said.

Mmmm. "Kook [sic] Aid."

I don't think anyone is saying that it doesn't need to connect to the internet. It's just that the particular news article in question appeared to not have much of anything to do with the headline. It didn't really reach any conclusion.
 
Does your toaster or microwave require a computer to set up and use? IF the iPad was a completely stand alone device I wouldn't have any problem with it only charging off the wall plug. But, since you already have to bring a computer around to manage the iPad the wall plug is now another thing to carry around.

Lots of stuff connect via USB and don't charge off them.
 
One's a user issue in not reading the user manual and the other sounds to be a software issue. The former should be resolved by user experience and the latter sometime down the road by Apple. Both are minor issues.
 
I don't think anyone is saying that it doesn't need to connect to the internet. It's just that the particular news article in question appeared to not have much of anything to do with the headline. It didn't really reach any conclusion.

Ah. I think the point was just to note some issues people have been having? I'm not sure there really needs to be more to it? I dunno...
 
my experience with the wifi issues is that its a software bug... My wifi will just cutout and ask me for a new password or something like that. if I just hit the powerbutton to turn it off, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on, the wifi signal is fine again... I would assume that would me it may be a software bug...

Also another reason why i think its a bug: when it tries to reconnect to the network im in, it asks for the password.... even though ive already given the password and it has remembered it earlier.

It'll probably fixed with the first update....

The charging issue isnt really an issue for me... i just plug my ipad into my power outlet and treat it like a laptop... you dont charge your laptop on your home computer do you?

This may not be an issue going forward with new USB hubs being used with computers going forward...

We'll see... there are a few bugs with the iPad but I still love it so far!
 
In contrast USB 2.0 High Power can only manage 12 volts and 1100mA and regular USB 1.1 and 2.0 can only muster 5v and 500mA.

It does charge over a standard usb port - just not while you're using the iPad. You can power the device for use, or charge it, but not both, if you are using a 500mA USB port. And the 1A USB charging port is also a "standard usb port."

Please show me these 12v and 1000mA USB specs - I have the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 specs open, and 2.0 says that USB High-power is 5 unit loads (500mA) at 5v. USB 3.0 sets high-power to 900mA at 5v. (Specs here: http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/) USB 3.0 has a special "powered B" connector spec that does 1000mA, but that's also at 5v.


Well yes, but everyone is used to charging their iPods and iPhones through the computer USB port and that's what they wanted to do. Of course, iPad is a much larger device and requires more power. Not exactly Apple's fault that the standard USB port delivers around 5W. They did include a 10W charger for a purpose.

Reboot into Windows 7 Professional (via BootCamp 3.1). Same USB port, same dock, same everything, nothing has changed. Simply reboot into Windows 7.

So, I don't know if I buy the whole "your not using a USB 2.0 port" argument. We are talking identical hardware here, just different OS.

Is it possible that Apple is using a non-standards compliant USB port, and it's drivers will allow a device to request more than 5 unit loads? The Win7 driver might limit things to 5 loads.


Actually USB is only spec'ed to deliver around 2.5 Watts. It appears that Apples computers are able to send more power, but it is definitely not within USB spec.

This may be the same method they were using to power the external superdrive that the MBA has.

The MBA port is known to be non-standard and able to supply more than 500mA.

"the sole USB port has been boosted past its specifications to supply enough power to use the drive with just the data cable rather than a direct power connection"
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/23/macbook.air.usb.details/
 
http://www.usb.org/developers/devclass_docs

Look at "Battery charging"

Table 5-2 lists the currents.

Please show me these 12v and 1000mA USB specs - I have the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 specs open, and 2.0 says that USB High-power is 5 unit loads (500mA) at 5v. USB 3.0 sets high-power to 900mA at 5v. (Specs here: http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/) USB 3.0 has a special "powered B" connector spec that does 1000mA, but that's also at 5v.






Is it possible that Apple is using a non-standards compliant USB port, and it's drivers will allow a device to request more than 5 unit loads? The Win7 driver might limit things to 5 loads.




The MBA port is known to be non-standard and able to supply more than 500mA.

"the sole USB port has been boosted past its specifications to supply enough power to use the drive with just the data cable rather than a direct power connection"
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/23/macbook.air.usb.details/
 
...A second issue experienced by users has been difficulty with charging the iPad via USB. A number of users have discovered that their iPads refuse to charge when connected to USB ports on some computers, an issue that Apple has stated is due to the required power draw for the device. In a support document posted on the issue, Apple recommends that users charge their iPads by using either the included power outlet adapter or high-power USB 2.0 ports...

It's funny 'cause I had similar issue with an iPod (Touch) where the iPod would'nt charge when the computer was on Sleep Mode (or shutdown, of course!)...
 
Wifi fine here

I just had a couple of hours usage here with mine but have at least same as 3GS and better than first model mac book pro but that has never had any real good wifi
 
This is just one of the reasons why you never buy a Rev A product.

Good luck to all of those who just couldn't wait to get this big ipod touch. Hopefully yours are okay.

Funny that, my 2007 Camry Rev certainly later than A seems to have problems, its a killing machine for 50 odd people, so its lucky I waited past Rev A ... Just think once a device gets past Rev A there are NO problems.
 
No Problems here either

Maybe their wi-fi routers need to be adjusted. Especially if there are many others nearby. Just a thought.
 
It's a pretty serious problem when a wireless device is having networking issues.

Apple cannot obviously test for every possible setup, but there are reports of issues on their branded routers. Hopefully it's a firmware fix, but makes you wonder why they went back to aluminum rear panels after having reception issues on the first iPhone.

The USB charging issue really isn't that significant. But Apple should be more forthcoming in their explanation/description of the device's charging limitations.

Some of the members attacking the general public as stupid for being unaware of this USB limitation are hypocritical as they suggested earlier that a device like this are indeed targeted at a non-techie market. "It just works" remember?
 
That's my (and everyone else's) beef. If I owned the iPad and it had this problem with ANY of my computers (Mini and various PCs) I would return the iPad based on misleading advertising/defectiveness (however Apple wants to spin it).
It's neither defective nor incorrectly advertised.

ALL computers can charge the iPad via powered USB ports. Not all computers can charge the iPad while it's in use. Most computers made within the last 5 years can, but it's not a given. If you have a low power USB port, you can either use the wall adapter or put the iPad down and let it charge.

Not a big deal. USB wasn't designed for powering anything but small peripherals, but it's a minimum standard--as long as you maintain compatibility with the full spec, you can do whatever you want. Computer manufacturers have long allowed greater power output, so that more devices can be bus-powered, or high-power devices can use a single connector. It would be foolish not to allow charging on any computer because some don't support higher power draw.

Since the iPad does not require a high-power port, it's much ado about nothing.
 
Here we go again.

I love Apple to death, however their tendency to keep all details of a product secret until launch means that they have a very limited group of beta testers. Unfortunately, you Rev A people become the beata testers.

Ironically, yesterday I received a class-action settlement check of $37.50 for the scratching issue on my 1st-gen Nano that I picked up on day 1.
 
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