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Then YOU"RE doing something wrong. My 1st gen runs OS3 fine. As does my 3G. No speed issues here.

Sorry but his experience was exactly the same as mine. My 3G ran well enough on OS 3.0 (runs a lot better on 3.1.3) but was still slower than under OS 2.x and remains slower than OS 2.x using 3.1.3
 
The consumer decision should be based on "does this device do what I need/want it to do?" and not "does it have 256 or 512 MB of RAM?", because it is irrelevant when the first question is answered.

Yes and no. It does everything brilliantly except for a few things and the RAM is one of them and because of that it won't multitask well. However there is nothing else like the iPad so I'm getting one. It would be sweet if there was 512MB of RAM so then the next version would have 1GB!
 
All I'm trying to say here is simple. iPad comes with 256MB Ram. It is part of the iPhone OS family because it runs iPhone OS 3.2. Apple has the history of making the iPhone OS products run slower when they release a new software update. That $599 phone gets slower in just 12 months. iPad is suppost to be a netbook killer. Its less powerful than a netbook hardware wise. I really think its cool. I enjoyed using one yesterday at the Apple Store. I'm afraid if I spend $699 on a 64Gb iPad when my birthday comes around (November) it won't be long before My $699 computer becomes slower. My proof is going from 1.1.4 to 2.x and 2.x to 3.x on an Original iPhone, and iPod touch. Thats all.

@ the underlined: According to whom exactly?
 
Yes and no. It does everything brilliantly except for a few things and the RAM is one of them and because of that it won't multitask well. However there is nothing else like the iPad so I'm getting one. It would be sweet if there was 512MB of RAM so then the next version would have 1GB!

No one should be making buying decisions based on the speculation that if Apple ever allows third-party multitasking it won't work well. That's speculation on top of speculation.
 
256 Megs?
*Waits for Rev 2*
That's just puny. If this is supposed to replace a netbook, I'm not sure what they're trying to do. My MSI Wind can hold 2GB of ram.

An your MSI Wind I running a generic OS and software, whereas iPad runs OS and apps that are tailor-made for it. Hell, I wouldn't be one bit surprised if the iPad was more responsive them your netbook is!

The complaints are pointless and stupid. iPad could have 64megs of RAM for all I care. Why? Because specs do not matter, capabilities and performance do. And if Apple is capable of getting excellent performance and capabilities from 256 (or 64 for that matter) megs of RAM, great! Paper-specs are irrelevant, what matters is real-life performance.

Instead of staring at a number in a spec-sheet, look how the device actually performs. And everyone is saying that the performance is excellent. So who cares if it has 256 megs of RAM, and not 512? You are falling victim to number-specs, as opposed to actually looking how the device functions.
 
All I'm trying to say here is simple. iPad comes with 256MB Ram. It is part of the iPhone OS family because it runs iPhone OS 3.2. Apple has the history of making the iPhone OS products run slower when they release a new software update. That $599 phone gets slower in just 12 months. iPad is suppost to be a netbook killer. Its less powerful than a netbook hardware wise. I really think its cool. I enjoyed using one yesterday at the Apple Store. I'm afraid if I spend $699 on a 64Gb iPad when my birthday comes around (November) it won't be long before My $699 computer becomes slower. My proof is going from 1.1.4 to 2.x and 2.x to 3.x on an Original iPhone, and iPod touch. Thats all.

Show performance benchmarks to prove they get slower... right now its all opinion...

In the end - I don't really care if anyone buys an iPad, iPhone, etc.. buy whatever you like...

You're insinuating the company is purposely making the devices slower to get people to upgrade.. maybe they are - I have no idea - but right now - there's 0 proof...
 
And what if I say... that the PS3 only has 256 megabytes of RAM, and 256 megabytes of video RAM?

source: http://www.ps3power.com/ps3hardwarespecs.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3 (sidebar)

And that thing is amazingly fast...
The amount of memory is important, yes. But if you are a good developer, you can write your programs good, with a small amount of memory, or bad, where lots of memory are needed...

Have you tried surfing the net with a ps3 that tHing takes 5 minutes to load a webpages and it has 8 core CPU a faster gpu and the same ram so as you can see the two are totally irrelevant products. You can't compare them.
 
Dude what is wrong with you? I don't know what you're doing to make it so slow but I also have a 3rd gen touch and it's blazing fast at everything. 3.1.3

The third gen touch only came with OS 3.x so that isn't a fair comparison with an iPhone 3G that shipped with OS 2.0
 
No, I don't get it!


Why?
Sorry. Criticism Not Allowed?
:rolleyes:

No - criticism is perfectly fine - but everyone that has a device loves the speed of it - yet because its listed as 256MB of RAM - the device is going to be obsolete in a few weeks

So which is it?
 
Its simple. You are a fanboy. I'm just a customer. Why have 2 other people bitch and said their 3G isn't as snappy? Why is someone's wife iPhone now slower. Why is my brother's iPhone 3G slower with 3.x Its not really noticeable. But some people notice. TheSpaz can tell if an icon is a pixel off. I've been using iPhone OS devices since November 2007. I've gone from 1.1 to 3.1.3, and notice different speeds. My friend has an Original iPod touch that came with 1.1.2, and he is now on 3.1.3. he has asked me If I thin k it is slower, and asked why it is. Answer: Apple wants him to pay $199 for a new iPod touch.

Elegant genius. Just found my new sig :)
 
As long as all the applications are working; working with a more than acceptable speed?

Apple doesn't bother to advertise any device internal technical numbers anymore apart from the storage size (see iPod/iPhone/iPad) to avoid direct comparison with alternative products. They focus on the usability/ergonomy/design of the device => user-experience.

Fair enough:

At the moment, the power of most computers on the market are completely overblown for the usage of the majority of users anyway. It hardly matters if there's 2 of 4 GB of RAM or the CPU has 2.8 or 3.2 GHz of speed when you use a web-browser (apart from Flash though :) ), write an email, use a word-processor and so on. Only when using more specialised functionality like picture, film editing etc. additional technical functionality/power are necessary.
Of course the boundary will be moved over time, but the CPU speed for example doesn't increase as quickly as it did ten years ago anymore. (There are not too many mainstream applications that actually use multiple CPU cores at the same time either.)

The consumer decision should be based on "does this device do what I need/want it to do?" and not "does it have 256 or 512 MB of RAM?", because it is irrelevant when the first question is answered.


I agree, but how long will it be at that amazing speed? I feel cheated when my iphone slows down after a new major software upgrade 12 months later. Windows 7 is the same speed the same hardware Windows Vista came on, yet it has new features and improvements. Same for Leopard to Snow Leopard, but not 2.0 to 3.0
 
With more Ram, this wouldn't happen so easily:

****Disappointing also is the apparent lack of RAM in the iPad. I don't know how much it ACTUALLY has, but with no other applications open EXCEPT Safari, I would open e.g www.engadget.com, then a new tab with www.thesuperficial.com, and then another new tab with www.yahoo.com, and wait for them all to FULLY load. I then opened www.anandtech.com, and waited for that to fully load. Switching back to the first tab: www.engadget.com resulted in a FULL RELOAD of the page. Same thing for www.thesuperficial.com, and www.yahoo.com. By comparison, my iPhone 3GS can have all those tabs open AND more tabls, and not have to reload any of them when switching back and forth. So what's going on here, iPad? ****
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/888925/

Or take a look at this video (-> 11:26): http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/1300/72.266
 
You think this has all been criticism? Really? Because resorting to name calling, you know "fanboy" has everything to do with constructive criticism. Yeah give me a freaking break.

Well calling someone a fanboy when they defend Apple in every way sounds fine to me. someone who defends a company, and makes a poor excuse for lacking features= fanboy.
 
Well calling someone a fanboy when they defend Apple in every way sounds fine to me. someone who defends a company, and makes a poor excuse for lacking features= fanboy.

One can find the logic behind something without being a fanboy. :rolleyes:
 
I think its interesting how we were all hoping for a tablet computer (with all its functions. And then when the iPad was announced people started settling for a device that was almost a laptop. Then almost a netbook. Now its all about justifying 256 MB of RAM, justifying the real cost. Whats next?

Ill go with everything that shines isn't gold on this one.
 
All man made objects are flawed but 256MB of RAM is a joke.

Frankly I'm glad I didn't rush out and buy this thing like the gullible masses did. The information that is slowly leaking out doesn't paint a pretty picture.

1.
Developers are already reporting less RAM available than the 256 would imply. Solid speculation is that a good portion of the RAM goes to the frame buffer and OS. So in actuality you have less than 200MB available for user apps.
3.
Reportedly there is LESS FREE RAM THAN ON THE LATEST TOUCH. Read that again guys, I Pad is a step back for user apps.
4.
The noise in this thread about ARM code density is just that and means nothing. It is all about data and what structures you can keep in memory. It will be very interesting to see how the iWork software performs with respect to large or complex documents.
5.
Since virtual memory isn't a part of this devices OS the paltry amount of RAM will impact how apps are designed for the iPad. In some cases the lack of RAM will mean that apps that have potential will not be produced or will perform poorly when they are finally realized.
6.
Likewise all the reports about how speedy iPad is means nothing if you can't quantify the performance against real work loads. Sure Apps load fast, but honestly what did you expect, they are loading from Flash memory. The real question is this: can you take a complex Excel spreadsheet from work, load it into numbers and if that succeeds get reasonable performance? It is no wonder MS has declined to commit to Office on the iPad.
7.
Even worst for things like the iWork suite is how the apps will behave a release or two down the road as they become more feature complete. All that Flash memory is not going to do any good if you run out of code space for your app.
8.
That brings up an interesting idea. I'm wondering if Apple could implement a virtual memory of sorts for code segments only. Code being read only wouldn't not cause Flash wear like trying to page program data would. Or maybe they will implement libs for user programs.
9.
This brings up why many of us see the lack of RAM as a far greater issue than the use of a 1GHz processor. The processor is admittedly a good performer but it does not limit functionality the way the lack of RAM will. This really doesn't have anything to do with user app multitasking either, though the issue is related. Rather it is the stark reality of what sorts of apps can be written for iPad when it has less RAM than the current Touch for user apps.


Now there are many here that likely don't follow what I'm trying to say but in a nut shell this machine is a ripoff. It is way to expensive for what it delivers. Between the lack of RAM (cheap), the lack of Flash (also cheap) it really doesn't offer the user long term value. This doesn't even touch upon issues like a USB port, or and SD slot.

The iPad may do some things perfectly well but it is at a high cost for what you get. There is talk about schools issuing these to students, but I can hardly see where 16GB would be suitable for the average highschool student. Just loading the mandatory apps, books and other documents would tend to plug up the machines. Not to mention that no matter what iPhone OS 4 delivers it is likely to take up even more room on the device. In this case the comparison to early netbooks is stark as they too came with far to little flash storage.

I don't know about the rest of you but $500 for 16GB of flash memory and a fancy screen is a lot of hard earned cash to layout. We will see how sales go after the mad frenzy. I think many will step back and say hey what value am I getting for my cash. It is not like iPhone where that is easy to answer.
 
I agree, but how long will it be at that amazing speed? I feel cheated when my iphone slows down after a new major software upgrade 12 months later. Windows 7 is the same speed the same hardware Windows Vista came on, yet it has new features and improvements. Same for Leopard to Snow Leopard, but not 2.0 to 3.0

But when you purchased your iPhone it worked fine and it worked like it was supposed to correct? Apple never said your software/hardware from a year ago would work like it would with a new update. Nobody forced you to upgrade either.

Do you also feel cheated when say Adobe/Microsoft/Apple upgrades it's suite of software products and now it requires more system resources to run, yet the version you were using and purchased from day one worked fine? No one said you had to upgrade. In fact no one made you upgrade.

The product you bought on day one worked like it should of. Anything after that is on the end consumer.

Up until now, there really hasn't been an upgradable os software for a phone. With the exception of a few blackberry updates. And please go back and look at the forums and see how those went. Most of the time you upgraded your phone not the software.
 
Okay... yes, it runs great with 256MB of RAM. I've used an iPad, and I think it works beautifully.

But the fact that it works well now with 256MB isn't the point. Remember, this is a $500+ computing device from mid-2010, so why does it have the same amount of RAM as the mid-2009 3GS, and less ram than most middle-end smart phones from this year? Many of us expect the iPad to receive some sort of 3rd-party multitasking ability and other nifty features. True multitasking and other OS add-ons take RAM, and this applies to any mobile OS. How much would it have cost apple to add another 256MB, when 512MB would have allowed better implementations of multitasking or other features?

I don't think its unreasonable to expect Apple to maintain parity spec-wise with what their competition is doing. Arguing that the iPhone OS is efficient and therefore doesn't need more memory doesn't make low specs acceptable.
 
I think its interesting how we were all hoping for a tablet computer (with all its functions. And then when the iPad was announced people started settling for a device that was almost a laptop. Then almost a netbook. Now its all about justifying 256 MB of RAM, justifying the real cost. Whats next?

Ill go with everything that shines isn't gold on this one.

No we weren't. If we wanted that we'd buy Modbooks, and no one buys those.
 
Guys - look at what Apple is charging for this device - $499 for a base model with no 3G and only 16GB storage and a sadly paltry 256Mb of RAM. Then there are all those restrictions on use and lack of flexibility. If they were to charge $199 - it would have been justified to have these type of specs and limitations. As it stands, it's a rip off - magical not withstanding.

Even if iPhone OS 4.0 was to add multitasking - with this amount of RAM it would have to be limited to 3-4 apps at the most depending on various factors.

Even my N1 comes unlocked with 512Mb RAM and all the flexibility. Google should get a Giant Nexus One out - 1Gb RAM, Gobi, Dual Core Cortex A9 with Android and that could be something I wanna buy for $699.

Gen3 of the iPad will be somewhat more compelling - many will bet it will come with Camera, more RAM and may be some more goodies. Until then let the early adopters go thru their revision upgrades :D
 
...
Instead of staring at a number in a spec-sheet, look how the device actually performs. And everyone is saying that the performance is excellent. So who cares if it has 256 megs of RAM, and not 512? You are falling victim to number-specs, as opposed to actually looking how the device functions.

Except multitasking would perform better with 512. Would you like to hold one page of the internet in the palm of your hand or multiple pages? ;)
 
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