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New iPad build quality poor in my opinion.
- Thread starter bkitchen0406
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This is my first iPad however I've only used Apple products since the Macintosh Plus. I spent ages reading posts on faulty iPads, and while I could see nothing obvious, ran all the suggested tests. I feel pretty foolish now; I was happy with what I had and I still am. I can find no faults with my new iPad save for it getting a little warm around the left hand corner. I don't consider this a fault as such and it may even be remedied with a software update in the future.
The only time I've experience real quality-control issues with an Apple product was with my MacBook Pro around 2007/2008. (I can't remember exactly when) Production I think had been shifted to China from Taiwan and there were a lot of rough edges and problems with the case fitting around that time.
The only problems I have with my iPad are based upon my own limitations; learning how to hold it and using it to enter text quickly. I also find it strange now when I pick my iPhone, it feels so small, or my hands monstrously large, in comparison!
The only time I've experience real quality-control issues with an Apple product was with my MacBook Pro around 2007/2008. (I can't remember exactly when) Production I think had been shifted to China from Taiwan and there were a lot of rough edges and problems with the case fitting around that time.
The only problems I have with my iPad are based upon my own limitations; learning how to hold it and using it to enter text quickly. I also find it strange now when I pick my iPhone, it feels so small, or my hands monstrously large, in comparison!
Haha, I have this same problem. Every time I use my iPad for a good amount of time and then move over to my iPhone it feels/looks so tiny.
Some people around here seem to specialize at being ass*oles.
The OP said "I love my iPad" and then mentioned some imperfections he found. He didn't say anything about closets, dark rooms or angles, yet he's being chastised as if he did.
You people either need to lighten up or learn how to read and comprehend better.
As for the iPad, if a number of people report perfect iPads then there's no reason for everyone to expect it. If I'm spending $700-$800 on a device I expect it to be perfect. Fortunately Apple has a very liberal exchange policy and urge anyone who finds imperfections to go and exchange it.
I think we as loyal Apple customers sometimes give them too much of a pass when our iDevices are not perfect. Apple charges a premium for their products and as such should be held to a higher standard since they themselves put quality as a top selling point.
The OP said "I love my iPad" and then mentioned some imperfections he found. He didn't say anything about closets, dark rooms or angles, yet he's being chastised as if he did.
You people either need to lighten up or learn how to read and comprehend better.
As for the iPad, if a number of people report perfect iPads then there's no reason for everyone to expect it. If I'm spending $700-$800 on a device I expect it to be perfect. Fortunately Apple has a very liberal exchange policy and urge anyone who finds imperfections to go and exchange it.
I think we as loyal Apple customers sometimes give them too much of a pass when our iDevices are not perfect. Apple charges a premium for their products and as such should be held to a higher standard since they themselves put quality as a top selling point.
Yup have not found anything wrong with mine:
-no dead pixels < check
-no backlight bleed < check
-no scratches, scuffs, lint or dust under screen < check
-no yellow tint < check
-flush home button < check
-no abnormal heating up < check
Feel free to add anything else I should check but I'm good so far.
I think it is you that needs to read the whole thing or learn to comprehend better.
When you purchase a car do you tear it apart and look in every nook and cranny to make sure it's perfect? This is a $15k+ purchase
When you go to restaurants does everything you order look as perfect as the picture/advertising? These purchases add up to a lot more than an iDevice.
I am not defending anyone here, but I love how everyone expects 100% perfect out of a device that is mass produced in China. Yes, it was designed by Apple, but in the end there are people making $1/day putting them together.
While there is certainly a large amount of uptight a$$holes here (like every internet forum), drawing a conclusion on an entire product line based on a single unit that seems to be vastly different than most other people's experience, kind of invites some kind of reply.
I feel badly for people who haven't learned to filter out the obvious OCD sufferers who frequent forums like this.
For the rest of us, it's rather amusing to see people write about checking for screen bleed in dark closets, argue with professionals about monitor color temperatures and whine about one stuck pixel in more than three million while demanding absolute perfection for -gasp- eight hundred dollars- as if that's some astronomical amount- and then see those people expect to be taken seriously.
It's quite amusing.
For the rest of us, it's rather amusing to see people write about checking for screen bleed in dark closets, argue with professionals about monitor color temperatures and whine about one stuck pixel in more than three million while demanding absolute perfection for -gasp- eight hundred dollars- as if that's some astronomical amount- and then see those people expect to be taken seriously.
It's quite amusing.
Yep well said. Find me a new car that does not have imperfections. These devices do not materialize out of thin air, they're manufactured by hand, so there is no such thing as perfection.
Holding your iPad on ridiculous angles, in pitch black rooms, with the brightness set high to find some sort of miniscule light bleed is grasping for straws. I also have better things to do with my life than play these games.
Return after return for moronic crap like that does ruin it for everyone, as it forces manufacturers to adjust their returns policy and drives up the costs (price).
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Tell me this isn't coming from someone who is paid to 'blog' (aka talk crap) on the internets.
Always have to laugh whenever I come across anyone, like a talk-radio host, that is paid to talk crap and assume they know it all.
I'd like to give you the benefit of doubt and assume that you are not in this category.
If you're a stickler for quality, you'll want to stay away from Apple since the products are meant for consumers. I could probably sell you a custom iOS tablet which will have an AMOLED Plus screen with almost the same guts as the 2012 iPad. I can also change out the back to be spaceship grade carbon fiber or platinum if you like a heavier case. Also, as an added bonus we can skip the Gorilla Glass and go straight for sapphire crystal. You can have all of this for USD$888,000 for the device. If you get me orders for over 10,000 units, I could lower the price by about $40,000.
So yes, there are ways to make the devices higher quality but it will cost you. IMO, Apple products are made really well for what they cost. The engineering is phenomenal and the build-quality is acceptable. Side mounted LEDs are going on the cheaper side but it's a sacrifice to make the device thinner. The other option is going AMOLED Plus for really thin screens but of course, that raises costs.
So yes, there are ways to make the devices higher quality but it will cost you. IMO, Apple products are made really well for what they cost. The engineering is phenomenal and the build-quality is acceptable. Side mounted LEDs are going on the cheaper side but it's a sacrifice to make the device thinner. The other option is going AMOLED Plus for really thin screens but of course, that raises costs.
Well I, for one, use my iPad at normal viewing angles.
And yes, I checked at those rediculous angles and yes, my iPad is perfect.
I have zero light bleed and one dead green subpixel, and I had to go looking for that. It's way better than my iPad 2, and better than any consumer electronics I've ever owned. There are no widespread build quality problems. If you're dissatisfied, there's plenty of stock: Exchange it.
Well said.
A titanium shell is significantly lighter and stronger but that alone would add about $1K. A HD AMOLED would probably add $2k to the price and deliver no light-bleed whatsoever. Unfortunately, it also uses 10 times more power to display white colors. We could add fuel cell to power the device, but that would add another few thousand. So the same iPad would go from $499 to about $7K.
All apple needs to do is adapt the warranty and returns policy of every other manufacturer and these guys are screwed. For most of them, even a few pixels dead is acceptable. No such thing as arbitrary returns and certainly not without a 15% re-stock fee.
For people who are rolling their eyes at people who check for light bleed in a dark room:
This is how many people, myself included, will watch a decent amount of letterboxed movies. If there's a significant amount, it will very much affect the viewing experience, even if the brightness isn't all the way up and the room isn't completely dark. I learned this with my first iPad 2, where there were spotlights all along the edges immediately noticeable the first time I watched a movie in the early evening. I exchanged it for a refurbished model that was greatly improved.
It is most certainly a legitimate thing to check for.
This is how many people, myself included, will watch a decent amount of letterboxed movies. If there's a significant amount, it will very much affect the viewing experience, even if the brightness isn't all the way up and the room isn't completely dark. I learned this with my first iPad 2, where there were spotlights all along the edges immediately noticeable the first time I watched a movie in the early evening. I exchanged it for a refurbished model that was greatly improved.
It is most certainly a legitimate thing to check for.
Others who are doing this check may never watch a movie on their iPad. They may only use it to browse the internet, play a few games, and send out some e-mails. If there are problems that affect the way someone uses the device, then I agree it is an issue. But if people just go out looking for problems instead of finding them naturally, then I feel this is B S.
Apple's Taiwanese vendor puts the bare minimum into the aluminum shells of the various devices, with a thin flash anodize (if any, I haven't bothered to pull out the Fluke meter) and soft F-condition alloys. Cost is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.00.
Those of us who are involved in manufacturing things can tell you the added cost of an stamped, bead-blasted, anodized beta-c Ti shell in the volumes involved would be around $17.00-18.00, so it would work out to about $60.00 at retail = again, on a cost basis. Mind you this would be a relatively soft alloy. There would be no real weight savings, the shell could be made 1/3rd thinner but would weigh about the same.
On a value basis, however, I imagine the price would be significantly more.
It is amusing to those who are blind to quality. It took me a while to get a decent iPad 2 last year and that experience made me sit out this release even though the buy it now urge is there. $800 is a lot of money for a lot of people.
You also need to factor R&D and retooling of machinery costs. These things cost a lot of money.
I was literally talking about a Titanium shell, which is extremely strong and light but is expensive to purchase and manufacture.
People forget that this is still a $499 device, which is basically what everyone else is selling their own for.
Anyone complaining about the iPad's quality needs to get their hands on a competitors device, as they're not even close to the iPad. I know this firsthand as I sell and have used a number of them.
You're just obsessively looking for problems and you'll never be happy, might as well just return it.
Yup have not found anything wrong with mine:
-no dead pixels < check
-no backlight bleed < check
-no scratches, scuffs, lint or dust under screen < check
-no yellow tint < check
-flush home button < check
-no abnormal heating up < check
Feel free to add anything else I should check but I'm good so far.
Ditto, same here. 16 GB AT&T Black