First iPad 2 Reviews: Evolutionary, 512MB RAM, Thinner, Faster

[mikeapple]

The camera is poor because its not meant to replace your phone's camera or digital camera.... its too awkward to hold for casual shooting.... its obvious that the iPad 2's camera is there for Apps to utilize the image capturing....

For examples: Barcode Scanners, augmented reality, facial recognition, etc...

 

[425]

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LOL! I love it. True though. Very true. And the 3GS still performs, too. Although currently, I believe Apple computers have a better shelf life than their iproducts at the moment. This may change with their A4/A5 processors being able to handle more aggressive programs. The iPhone 4 may last 3-4 yrs before being retired.. not that I'll wait that long! iPhone 6 here we come!

Yeah, I would definately get an iPhone (3G or later) if I actually needed a smartphone. I'm 14, why do I need something that advanced and portable? A lot of people at my school have iPhone 4s (of course most of them broke because they brought them camping without cases), and they mostly use them for games...

I would like to point out that I'm 14, and my iPhone 4 is my primary computing device (until my iPad 2........), and I rarely use it for games.

Then again, I'm about the only 14 year old in America with 4 news related apps...

 

[Surklyn]

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I would like to point out that I'm 14, and my iPhone 4 is my primary computing device (until my iPad 2........), and I rarely use it for games.

Then again, I'm about the only 14 year old in America with 4 news related apps...

Not true. My 15yr old has about 7-8 on his iPod Touch. I've found games on the iPhone/iPod Touch are just novelty items that wear off real quick. I use mine for productivity apps. I find I use it less and less since my iPad 3G takes the brunt of the web browsing, gaming, productivity now.. 512 meg of ram will help my spreadsheets! (ipad 2)

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Umm, the iPhone 4 has 512MB of RAM.

The iPad 2 has 512MB of RAM "and" a dual-core processor. How is the iPhone faster again?

They have equal RAM but the iPad 2 trumps the IP4 in the processor area.

They may both have 512MB RAM but the bus speeds on the RAM is different [iPad 2 is much faster] and the bus architecture is double on the iPad 2.

In short, the pipes are shoving down twice as much data now spread across multiple cores and threads, not to mention a newer GPGPU with OpenCL that makes the entire experience faster, more efficient and capable of a more graphic intensive experience in the iOS 4.3 APIs.

 

[Eye4Desyn]

Tempted...but I will try and hold tight for iPad 3

Will be ordering online Friday for the Mrs. (as she wants to upgrade to White iPad 2 3G 16gb from identical iPad 1). So I'll have one in the house to evaluate for myself if I really want to take the plunge. If not tempted, I'll be waiting for iPad 3 to upgrade so be it in September (rumored) or a year from now. Respectable screen resolution bump or Retina Display is what I'm hoping for in the next hardware update. Anything else will be icing on an already delicious piece of cake. Besides, I'll be upgrading from my white 2007 iMac 24" as soon as the new iMacs are available.

 

[singhjeet29]

Need Clarification

I'm likely mistaken, but would like some clarification, but I thought the iPhone 4 had the A4 chip and 512MB of RAM and the iPad (1) had the A4 chip and 256MB of RAM. So how exactly did it get a higher geekbench score than the iPhone 4. I would have assumed that the iPhone 4 would have the better score.

And would it be safe to assume that, that jump seen in the geekbench results for the iPad from 1 to 2 are what we can predict for the iPhone 4 to 5?

 

[Surklyn]

I'm likely mistaken, but would like some clarification, but I thought the iPhone 4 had the A4 chip and 512MB of RAM and the iPad (1) had the A4 chip and 256MB of RAM. So how exactly did it get a higher geekbench score than the iPhone 4. I would have assumed that the iPhone 4 would have the better score.

And would it be safe to assume that, that jump seen in the geekbench results for the iPad from 1 to 2 are what we can predict for the iPhone 4 to 5?

I believe the A4 in the iPad is clocked at 1Ghz while the iPhone is clocked at 800mhz.. correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[bluemonkeyguy]

Ive used a xoom. It is a piece of #$%@. Better specs.. sure (barely). Frankly, honeycomb sux, at least in this iteration. There is nothing about having a Full OS experience I want on a tablet. Crap: on my computer I just want to run my apps and be done with it. Guess what. iOS does that, too.

Exactly, Apple's mentality is that it is not about the specs but the overall user experience. Something they are exceedingly successful in and something other competition should heavily learn from.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Ive used a xoom. It is a piece of #$%@. Better specs.. sure (barely). Frankly, honeycomb sux, at least in this iteration. There is nothing about having a Full OS experience I want on a tablet. Crap: on my computer I just want to run my apps and be done with it. Guess what. iOS does that, too.

You're in the extreme minority to state that the Xoom is garbage. I haven't read one review that has stated anything of the sort. Same for Honeycomb.

 

[vincenz]

Well they sound as expected. Evolutionary would be a good word for it.

 

[lilo777]

512MB Ram should shut up everyone now..... ALSO gotta love uncle walts reviews lol, the guy never wants to just call it like it is with apple at times

Why? Some Android phones (Atrix) already have 1GB RAM. And yes, I know the answer - it's all about the experience.

 

[faroZ06]

Not true. My 15yr old has about 7-8 on his iPod Touch. I've found games on the iPhone/iPod Touch are just novelty items that wear off real quick. I use mine for productivity apps. I find I use it less and less since my iPad 3G takes the brunt of the web browsing, gaming, productivity now.. 512 meg of ram will help my spreadsheets! (ipad 2)

Yeah, there are people who don't use it for games. I was talking about my school as an example. Don't worry, I didn't ignore the others. Also I do recognize that the iPad is way more of a work device than the iPhone, so I was talking about the iPhone. I see iPad users at my school, too, and they rarely use it for games. Of course, it's not good to play games at school, but more people do it on the iPhone.

I actually have an iPhone 1 that was thrown away but picked up by my brother. I JB'd it. I use it for mostly utilities. I have a few games (including my beloved GBC emulator), too.

But is my school the minority or the majority for teenage iPhone users in terms of how they use their devices?

 

[faroZ06]

You're in the extreme minority to state that the Xoom is garbage. I haven't read one review that has stated anything of the sort. Same for Honeycomb.

The Xoom is first of all $800 minimum. I've heard horrible reviews from asking around. The only good review...a review site.

And review sites are actually the MOST biased I think. Look at Consumer Reports hating on Apple! And there are also reviewers who overestimate how "magical" Apple's stuff is. It goes both ways but usually against Apple. Why? It makes them money. Who would buy a magazine about how good the iPhone is? Most people already know. Even if you look at the raw facts (usually specs), you still can't produce a good review. You have to ask someone who has used both and isn't getting paid in money or publicity for their review.

I'm gonna laugh when the Xoom dies. I make the assumption purely on the history of most iOS wannabes, but I can bring in more evidence if I feel like it.

 

[Xeperu]

Right that's it, I need one!.

Unfortunately I cannot be made to pay 1000$ to reschedule a flight to go tomorrow to the states, so I'll have to wait a few more days .

 

[AppleScruff1]

The Xoom is first of all $800 minimum. I've heard horrible reviews from asking around. The only good review...a review site.

And review sites are actually the MOST biased I think. Look at Consumer Reports hating on Apple! And there are also reviewers who overestimate how "magical" Apple's stuff is. It goes both ways but usually against Apple. Why? It makes them money. Who would buy a magazine about how good the iPhone is? Most people already know.

I'm gonna laugh when the Xoom dies.

The reviews I have read are from respected sites and not one portrayed Apple in a negative way. The good sites are not anti or pro Apple or anyone else. I wouldn't even read a Conumer Reports review for a technology product. They'd rate a Ferrari poor because it didn't have any luggage space.

 

[marksman]

The Engadget comments have predictably exploded.

The usual complaints that Topolsky is an Apple shill, the Xoom is so much better, etc etc.

Honestly, I don't know why I even bother reading the comments on Apple reviews anymore. It's just depressing.

Is the xoom still for sale?

It's because he gave it a 9/10 review, which is absolute nonsense. It should be 8/10 max.

the best tablet in the history of the world should only get an 8/10 review?

 

[shartypants]

I can't wait to get my hands on this device... then there will be this few month wait for apps that actually take advantage of the power .

 

[1984]

The camera is poor because its not meant to replace your phone's camera or digital camera.... its too awkward to hold for casual shooting.... its obvious that the iPad 2's camera is there for Apps to utilize the image capturing....

For examples: Barcode Scanners, augmented reality, facial recognition, etc...

All of which work much better with a sensor with better low light capabilities not to mention more megapixels, especially the barcode scanners. Even ignoring this and acknowledging that an iPad is not something you buy specifically for it's picture taking there is simply no reason to use such a crappy camera. Just to save a buck? Literally a buck? It's like decade old webcam quality. It's bad enough on the iPod touch but on a 9.7" screen it becomes all the more obvious.

 

[cvaldes]

Are there really people out there who want to take a picture with an iPad? I get video chat i suppose, but I don't think they've made cameras this large in decades.

Maybe I'm just missing a use case?

Informal document scanning, maybe scanning barcodes for inventory, some augmented reality applications or non-critical medical imaging.

Heck, the camera is probably good enough for insurance claims adjusters, etc.

Not a primary snapshot camera for consumers, but plenty of specialized uses where dSLR-quality imagery isn't mandatory.

It's bad enough on the iPod touch but on a 9.7" screen it becomes all the more obvious.

It's worth pointing out that the resolution of the iPad (1024x768) isn't that much different than the Retina Display on the iPod touch 4 (960x640).

 

[faroZ06]

The reviews I have read are from respected sites and not one portrayed Apple in a negative way. The good sites are not anti or pro Apple or anyone else. I wouldn't even read a Conumer Reports review for a technology product. They'd rate a Ferrari poor because it didn't have any luggage space.

I don't see any sites as "respected" as long as they make money off of their reviews, not to sound like a hippy .

But when you think about it, nothing that gets money for reviews can be trusted as unbiased.

 

[1984]

Why? Some Android phones (Atrix) already have 1GB RAM. And yes, I know the answer - it's all about the experience.

The iPad experience would be that much better with 1GB though.

 

[johnnymg]

The iPad experience would be that much better with 1GB though.

How would you know that?

 

[faroZ06]

Informal document scanning, maybe scanning barcodes for inventory, some augmented reality applications or non-critical medical imaging.

Heck, the camera is probably good enough for insurance claims adjusters, etc.

Not a primary snapshot camera for consumers, but plenty of specialized uses where dSLR-quality imagery isn't mandatory.

It's worth pointing out that the resolution of the iPad (1024x768) isn't that much different than the Retina Display on the iPod touch 4 (960x640).

The iPad is more of a work device since it is not pocket-portable. The iPhone is a personal...computer (?) so it has a good camera. The average person can carry around an iPhone instead of a camera, iPod, phone, and gaming device.

 

[faroZ06]

How would you know that?

He would know that if it would have 1 GB... Nah just kidding

More of a joke about how Droid users only care about specs

 

[Gatesbasher]

The reviews I have read are from respected sites and not one portrayed Apple in a negative way. The good sites are not anti or pro Apple or anyone else. I wouldn't even read a Conumer Reports review for a technology product. They'd rate a Ferrari poor because it didn't have any luggage space.

You think you're kidding? I gave up on Consumer Reports when they rated the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon "unacceptable" because—get this—when you're barreling down the road at 50 mph with your hands off the wheel, then suddenly jerk it 90 degrees and let go, they would "oscillate and eventually run off the road". (They also rated one color TV that was the best by their own criteria "unacceptable" because the knobs were too easy to swallow!)

I just assume they know as much about computers and smartphones as they do about cars.