Hands-On Impressions of Apple's New iPad

[Peace]

1. webpages, or parts thereof;
2. app descriptions (where copy/paste does NOT work);
3. other apps/functions where copy/paste does Not work;
4. pics & graphics from the web/Safari I want to save or share;
5. zap pics of my homescreens as a backup reminder of which apps I want where (in case they go haywire when syncing, etc.)

I LOVE being able to zap the screen anytime & I do it a LOT. It's one of my fav features on iPhone.

A camera does none of those. It's the simple "screen grab" that's been in OSX and the iPhone for quite a while.

This is not to say that screen capture is a function on the iPad. That I don't know. I'm guessing by holding the home button and the power button at the same time you would get a screen grab.

 

[beegie]

Well Glory Be! Thank you again, NT! That is great news. I knew I can take "pics" of the screen on iBook via the apple (or command or option key, I forget) + the 3 and/or 4 keys. So I was wondering how the iPhone did it. Glad to hear it's not related to the camera. But you're right. iPad should have a camera anyway & would be worth waiting for.

I mean, what's the big deal about holding up a bigger gadget to take a pic? If you want a pic bad enough, you would. I also think it SHOULD have VIDEO & camera, like iPhone. I haven't used them much yet, but that doesn't mean I won't in the future, so I like having those options included.

I use the screenshot feature on my touch all the time, its not reliant on a camera. That said, a camera on the ipad front & back would have opened up HUGE potential for developers. This is one thing I realistically see being added in rev b

 

[beegie]

Thank you, Peace! I see "screen grab" & "screen shot" or "screen capture" are the more correct terms for what I love doing on iPhone, lol.

Since it's a feature of the OS & not the camera, I would think we could "safely assume" it's also on the iPad. (Then again, "assuming" anything is always risky.)

A camera does none of those. It's the simple "screen grab" that's been in OSX and the iPhone for quite a while.

This is not to say that screen capture is a function on the iPad. That I don't know. I'm guessing by holding the home button and the power button at the same time you would get a screen grab.

 

[SimonMW]

VGA was "revolutionary"... in 1987.

It makes sense to have VGA on the iPad because it is designed so that people can output presentations from Keynote. Many office based projectors don't have HDMI or DVI input.

That said I would have preferred Mini Display Port because it would output any standard.

 

[sOwL]

i don't get why people are bitching about the lack of an hdmi output... Would you ever put full HD content in it? Why? Just for the rare occasion that you actually connect it with a bigger screen? The reality is that the storage options are not the best, and having a 1024x768 resolution to play with i don't think there's much of a point to put anything better quality than that.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Based on what I see about the device, I do think in future models we'll see the following improvements:

1) A 1600x900 IPS display, which means the iPad will be able to show widescreen TV shows at true full-screen resolution, especially 720p HDTV.

2) Increases in storage capacity as the price of solid-state memory storage comes down. Don't be surprised that we get as much as 256 GB of solid-state storage within two years, very necessary if you're going to store 720p HDTV movies downloaded through the iTunes Store.

3) Mini DisplayPort out with optional Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter.

4) IR port. Apple should have included the IR port because it would have made it potentially the ultimate home theater system remote control.

5) True multitasking, something that could be implemented with the iPhone OS version 4.0 that may be unveiled at WWDC in June 2010.

 

[blybug]

Imagine doctors in a hospital carrying iPads. iWorks has that phenomenal chart system. All patients charts there. You can't flip through charts and enter in new data (doctors can't haul laptops around to do that!). And think of all the medical apps that already exist that could be put on the iPad--bigger, better. Doctors could email information to each other. All information shared, updated, calendar for surgeries, X-rays, test results....

You're right about these being great for medical professionals, I've been dreaming of exactly this form factor for quite some time. The Windows-based tablets they have tried to introduce to our clinics have been nothing short of laughable and completely contrary to busy workflow.

However most medical settings have already transitioned to some form of electronic medical record, most based on Windows software and some even on proprietary operating systems. No doctor's office or hospital is going to chuck their established EMR and reinvent the wheel on Numbers for iPad. Nor is there enough inherent security to meet federal EMTALA regulations to create one from scratch on the platform.

What I realistically envision for myself, is running the Citrix client app on my iPad, which already works on the iPhone but is not practical for actual usage due to the screen size. From a functional point of view the iPad will be running Windows. VNC or RDP apps for the iPad platform perform similarly.

 

[MWPULSE]

Based on what I see about the device, I do think in future models we'll see the following improvements:

1) A 1600x900 IPS display, which means the iPad will be able to show widescreen TV shows at true full-screen resolution, especially 720p HDTV.

2) Increases in storage capacity as the price of solid-state memory storage comes down. Don't be surprised that we get as much as 256 GB of solid-state storage within two years, very necessary if you're going to store 720p HDTV movies downloaded through the iTunes Store.

3) Mini DisplayPort out with optional Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter.

...

I think those are a realistic set of goals for the next release. And if you think about it could fully happen in a years time. Along with a camera. So I probably won't get one this revision. Seeing as the next one will umpteen times better

PTP

 

[Romitis]

iPad for doctors

Yes, I agree, that is one field where iPad would suit really well. But then it has to have the ability to communicate directly with other equipment, connect directly to cameras, x-ray storage, USB disks, etc. None of this is possible.
Then iPad would need to have camera and the ability to scan barcodes or whatever the technology is named. Again it is not possible.
Therefore iPad is solely meant for the home user which is sort of daunish, because in the hospital it could really make a difference.

 

[little.pm]

1) A 1600x900 IPS display, which means the iPad will be able to show widescreen TV shows at true full-screen resolution, especially 720p HDTV.

Well, thats like predicting higher monitor solutions back in 1987, when 320x200 was common.
Sure, we will have higher resolution screens sooner or later.

2) Increases in storage capacity as the price of solid-state memory storage comes down. Don't be surprised that we get as much as 256 GB of solid-state storage within two years, very necessary if you're going to store 720p HDTV movies downloaded through the iTunes Store.

Oh boy, within two years, apple will probably ship the 20TB TimeCapsule.
But we don't know if there will be SSD anymore or anything else, but much faster. A 256GB SDD costs today like, what, $600? And it has the size of a 2.5" HDD. Great, but even if i agree to that trend, i don't see 1" drives with 256GB within 4 years.

3) Mini DisplayPort out with optional Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter.

I dont see that one - never. It is rather fixed to some technology and consumes a lot of space for the outlet and does cost money. I would love to see someone produce an HDMI-connector for the 30Pin dock. They could if there is a VGA-connector for it, no?

4) IR port. Apple should have included the IR port because it would have made it potentially the ultimate home theater system remote control.

I do fully agree, because you could put the iPad on its stand and control it with an apple remote (or use it as one).

5) True multitasking, something that could be implemented with the iPhone OS version 4.0 that may be unveiled at WWDC in June 2010.

That rumor never dies. In fact the OS does allow multitasking and without it would not be possible to listen to your music while browsing the web or watching photos or reading emails. However, there is no public(ly known) API that would allow to send a process to background, so no developer could use multitasking except Apple. The reason is probably just simple protection for the user. Allowing a developer to send a process to background means allowing a malicious software to log input, to read email, contact lists whenever the user interacts with those applications.

You as the user will never notice nor be able to tell maybe except from that fact that your battery goes down a bit quicker. When you start an application, fine, but to leave an application you'd press the home button, to wich the app would disappear, but you could never be certain that it quit and does not continue to spy on you.

And that reasoning makes a lot of sense to me as the review process for the app store does not include code review and hence could not find code that would behave that way.

With Multitasking to everyone whether the IPhone nor the IPad could ever be used in a situation, where someone is at least remotely concerned about security.

Having that block in place and allowing WPA2 encryption of WLAN connections makes IPad a fit for companies and the above mentioned doctors.

 

[pr5owner]

Again, I said playback (obviously limited to the iPad's screen size, resolution and aspect ratio):

"iLounge also reports that while the iPad's 1024-by-768 display isn't quite capable of displaying 720p videos at full resolution, the device can play 720p H.264 video files (albeit downscaled to the native resolution of the iPad's screen), so I'm curious whether it'll be possible to rent and watch an HD movie on the iPad itself."

you have no issues paying $500+ for a device but your concerned that it *might not* play 720p but here are devices out there for $300 that can do 1080p? do you realize what kind of illogical thinking you just displayed here?

Steve said netbooks were slow in a previous Keynote, so... what category does this tablet fit in? as far as price is concerned the tablet is invading higher end net book territory with less power and functionality than a $200 netbook

Um, you forgot the [/sarcasm off] tag.

You were joking, right?

brlawyer does not joke, hes a full fledge 100% serious apple supporter, that goes with *LTD* too.

It makes sense to have VGA on the iPad because it is designed so that people can output presentations from Keynote. Many office based projectors don't have HDMI or DVI input.

That said I would have preferred Mini Display Port because it would output any standard.

why mini? how about just a regular display port? same argument for the micro sim, im pretty damn sure this device can FIT a regular sized sim, if the iphone can do it, why cant this?

the macbook air even has a USB Port, a DP connector is not much taller (wide yes but width really isnt an issue)

anyways, how is the macbookair sales doing? it might be an indication of how well this thing will do.

 

[cmaier]

keep in mind that the pornography industry has often set the technology standards in media formats for some time.

That must be why HD-DVD won the high def optical wars.

Oh, wait.

 

[cmaier]

4) IR port. Apple should have included the IR port because it would have made it potentially the ultimate home theater system remote control.

As someone who had a home theater, let me tell you that home theater remotes do not use IR. They use RF or wi-fi in combination with boxes thy convert to IR or RS232. You don't want to have to poin your remote at each component. You want a single button to trigger actions for multiple components without having to wave it around.

iPad will make an excellent high end hone theater remote in it's current form.

 

[pr5owner]

Based on what I see about the device, I do think in future models we'll see the following improvements:

1) A 1600x900 IPS display, which means the iPad will be able to show widescreen TV shows at true full-screen resolution, especially 720p HDTV.

the smallest 1600x900 display ive seen is 16" on a sony vaio, i doubt they will do that on a 9" most ppl have seeing problems as it is, they dont want text to be smaller,

2) Increases in storage capacity as the price of solid-state memory storage comes down. Don't be surprised that we get as much as 256 GB of solid-state storage within two years, very necessary if you're going to store 720p HDTV movies downloaded through the iTunes Store.

well they may increase the storage but they will never allow you to be able to upgrade, this is something i really dont understand with apple fans, you all want larger capacity storage but you are ok with buying things that arent upgradable. how does that make any sense? why not get a netbook and throw in a 1TB HDD? or a 512GB SSD?

3) Mini DisplayPort out with optional Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter.

be prepared to pay for standard equipment in the form of a dongle. same as above, why do you keep wanting standard connectors found on every other laptop or netbook out there?

4) IR port. Apple should have included the IR port because it would have made it potentially the ultimate home theater system remote control.

apple will say IR is a thing of the past and tell you to use bluetooth

5) True multitasking, something that could be implemented with the iPhone OS version 4.0 that may be unveiled at WWDC in June 2010.

apple fans....... still wanting multitasking yet you keep buying the products without it. steve said something in between a smartphone and a laptop, now lets see

both android smartphones and WM smartphones can multitask, WM phones could multitask back in 2002 in fact my TouchPro can run Android OS, WM OS and blackberry connect, 3 phones in 1

obviously laptops can multitask, netbooks can too, atoms had hyper threading (2 logical cores) since the beginning, and now with the new ION Netbooks they have true dual cores (4 logical)

not much of a "Jesus" pad if you ask me
Laptop > Netbook > Real Smartphones > Dumb phones > a smelly old rock > iphone/ipad

 

[appletastic]

There have been lots of complaints about the iPad, which I suppose is a good thing. At least Apple seem to stir debate with their products.

The iPad has only been described by Apple for about an hour, and on about 5 web pages, and all of it as far as I can see is pretty logical and clear. They have picked out the key elements of the product and shown us what it can do. Now the arguments start when peoples wish-lists were not fulfilled, the disappointment sets in and people start to complain. Apple never mentioned that it would do anything other than the things they state. It is just that people cannot help but get carried away before the product is even launched. This starts an Apple backlash that seems to have been ignited by the people themselves, rather than Apple.

It is a shame really, I think Apple are becoming a victim of their own success, almost damned if they do and damned if they don't. There are some very upset people out there who probably never had any intention of buying one in the first place, but have somehow been drawn in to the whole iPad debate. Apple clearly need to take heed from other manufacturers like Sony or Dell and produce many many substandard products, but just make sure that they keep them low profile, so nobody notices them. You know.. nothing groundbreaking, so not to upset anyone.

In a way I am happy that I have so many colleges and friends all slagging off the iPad, all these people also don't have Macs at home either, which is good. To be honest I hope I am one of the only people in my group of mates to get one, that way they can carry on using the other products that make them happy. I can carry on using Apple products that make me happy too.

I think the second and third generation will improve, which is a given, but I also know that this is well priced and I think I will get one, maybe when it improves I will flog it on ebay and upgrade to V2, i'll probably lose a couple of hundred quid over 10 months which really isn't a big deal.

So the gist of my story is that the iPad is not the same for everyone, some people will like it, while some people won't. But don't blame Apple because you're an unfortunate soul they've left out of the party.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Thanks for all the comments--I think.

But seriously--

1) 1600x900 on a 10" display is actually a doable goal, especially given the quantities Apple wants for future iPad production. But if that is not practical for price reasons, they could get by with using the same sized display as most netbooks--1366x768 resolution at 10" size, which has an aspect ratio of 1.78 to 1, the same as television widescreen flat panels.

2) Okay, the 256 GB goal is a but unrealistic, but two years from now, it's not as far-fetched as some people think. 128 GB is definitely within reach, though.

3) When the iPad can play back true 720p video on the player, then the Mini DisplayPort out with optional adapter to HDMI makes sense. This would allow movies loaded on the iPad to be played back on any TV set with an HDMI 1.3 input.

4) We're forgetting a lot of remotes still use IR connections. As such, I'd still like to see the iPad offer IR connections so it can become the ultimate home theater remote controller.

 

[Dicx]

From way-back

Here are the comments from this site on when the iPod first was introduced. It is quite entertaining to see that you could copy and paste some of them into this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.500/

 

[SpaceKitty]

Here are the comments from this site on when the iPod first was introduced. It is quite entertaining to see that you could copy and paste some of them into this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.500/

Proved that people will say the same things no matter what Apple releases. I've only been coming to this site since the first iPhone was released and I heard the same comments from people on anything Apple has released during that time.

If we listen to these people, Apple has never done a single thing correctly.

 

[ChazUK]

Here are the comments from this site on when the iPod first was introduced. It is quite entertaining to see that you could copy and paste some of them into this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apples-new-thing-ipod.500/

Will be very interesting to see where the iPad ends up in future like the iPod.

It's not for me but the biggest surprise I got when entering work the day after the announcement was the amount of non-gadget enthusiasts were talking about it. Despite the issues I have with it, I'm sure it will do very well!

 

[HiRez]

I can see Sling Player being a "killer app" for this thing, hopefully they'll make it native for iPad. That way, if Apple takes their sweet time about wrangling television content providers I can just stream it all from my current cable connection and TiVo.

 

[pr5owner]

Thanks for all the comments--I think.

3) When the iPad can play back true 720p video on the player, then the Mini DisplayPort out with optional adapter to HDMI makes sense. This would allow movies loaded on the iPad to be played back on any TV set with an HDMI 1.3 input.

why such a low resolution for such an expensive device?

the Asus Oplay Air is $120, it can play back

1080p of any format mkv, xvid, divx, h264 you name it
its got wireless AGN, hdmi, USB, ESATA, optical, and regular composite + LR RCA

all netbooks based on the ion platform can do 1080p most of them under $600
all neo based netbooks that i know of can do 1080p most of them are under $500

the ipad isnt even released and it might not even be able to output a high bitrate 720p video

it seems like apple set the bar under ground with the ipad

 

[gwangung]

why such a low resolution for such an expensive device?

Serious questions: Can humans detect the difference between the various resolutions on a screen that small? Or are we just tech wanking here?

 

[cmaier]

Serious questions: Can humans detect the difference between the various resolutions on a screen that small? Or are we just tech wanking here?

No they can't. However the device supports external displays, and you'd possibly notice on an external display (depending on its size).

 

[pr5owner]

Serious questions: Can humans detect the difference between the various resolutions on a screen that small? Or are we just tech wanking here?

well lets see

nintendo dsi 480x272 (looks like absolute crap)
iphone screen is 480x320
sony x1 screen is 800x480
htc touch pro is 640x480

compare the 4 with a high res image and you will instantly notice a difference, the smaller the individual pixels are, the CLEARER the image, it is possible to get to a point where you can no longer distinguish the pixels since they are so small (the touch pro is close to this level)

 

[charliehustle]

why such a low resolution for such an expensive device?

the Asus Oplay Air is $120, it can play back

1080p of any format mkv, xvid, divx, h264 you name it
its got wireless AGN, hdmi, USB, ESATA, optical, and regular composite + LR RCA

all netbooks based on the ion platform can do 1080p most of them under $600
all neo based netbooks that i know of can do 1080p most of them are under $500

the ipad isnt even released and it might not even be able to output a high bitrate 720p video

it seems like apple set the bar under ground with the ipad

why buy ipad when you can get this..

Here's the pitch: a 10-inch, almost-pocketable computer running Snow Leopard, the latest, greatest version of OS X. It costs just $300. Sound good? Here's how to make your own.

http://gizmodo.com/5389166/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-10v-into-the-ultimate-snow-leopard-netbook