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I think if it was just sitting in your office on a dock, you really didn't need it in the first place. iPad was designed to use in a variety of situations, most of them involving portability. I use mine a lot on the train to and from work, or when I want to get something done, but keep an eye on my kids at the same time. It's a great e-reader, great gaming machine, great bedside TV.

One thing I would NOT do with it is stick it on a dock and keep it in my office.

Using an iPad on the train in Boston with an iPhone 4S in my pocket would look slightly obnoxious and would probably attact the attention of young crooks looking for a snatch and grab.
 
This sounds like a recipe for a severely scratched back and an inch thick layer of finger prints on the screen.:eek:

Rear case easily protected with a clear skin from BestSkinsEver or Zagg or any of the others. Fingerprints on the screen are simple enough to clean. IMHO the point of an ipad is to use it, not as desk decoration. Each to their own though.
 
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Using an iPad on the train in Boston with an iPhone 4S in my pocket would look slightly obnoxious and would probably attact the attention of young crooks looking for a snatch and grab.

I ride a commuter train during rush hour to and from Chicago. Most people riding with me are wearing suits. In fact, they probably think I'M the mugger since I have no real dress code at my job and can wear whatever I want.

Needless to say, every other person on the train I ride usually has an iPad or eInk Kindle. (haven't seen any Fires yet) It is completely not out of place for me to take out an iPad. Besides, who cares how it "looks"? I'd rather read the news on The Daily on my big iPad screen than reading it on my iPhone on the tiny screen. I don't care how it makes me look--it's a much more enjoyable way to read. If I was standing up on the subway, that would be a much different story, but this is a rush hour Metra.
 
I use my iPad as my primary device and if I need to do stuff I can't I use logmein and remote in to my server.

I use the iPad on the bus/train too it's in a book book case like my iphone so I guess it's not so much on show. :D
 
I use my iPad as my primary device and if I need to do stuff I can't I use logmein and remote in to my server.

I use the iPad on the bus/train too it's in a book book case like my iphone so I guess it's not so much on show. :D

LogMeIn going free has been a godsend. I have been so close to buying it for iOS about a dozen times and never pulled the trigger. Glad I didn't.
 
I would rather sell my iPhone than my iPad. But....thats just me

Pretty much what I did.. Now that I have an iPad and wifi is nearly universally available I quit paying $30 a month for data I used so rarely and don't even use a smartphone anymore.
 
I ride a commuter train during rush hour to and from Chicago. Most people riding with me are wearing suits. In fact, they probably think I'M the mugger since I have no real dress code at my job and can wear whatever I want.

Needless to say, every other person on the train I ride usually has an iPad or eInk Kindle. (haven't seen any Fires yet) It is completely not out of place for me to take out an iPad. Besides, who cares how it "looks"? I'd rather read the news on The Daily on my big iPad screen than reading it on my iPhone on the tiny screen. I don't care how it makes me look--it's a much more enjoyable way to read. If I was standing up on the subway, that would be a much different story, but this is a rush hour Metra.

I take the Brown line to the Loop daily and the 40-minute ride goes much quicker with the iPad. I too have a pretty casual office and am probably on the more slovenly side of the dress scale even for a city train. The one thing I've noted through the years is that iPhone representation has been steadily increasing and probably 75% of the train has iPhones. There are 2 or 3 iPads in my general vicinity pretty much any time I'm on the train.
 
I think the OP made his purchase already believing that he really didn't need an iPad, and I guess thought that simply having it present would somehow insinuate itself as a useful tool.

I bought my iPad because I had specific needs and uses in mind for it, and it has far exceeded my expectations. I think it's silly to buy one just to complain about how you didn't need it, or as some have done, to proclaim it an "iToy" just because they don't need it. It's a useful tool if you have a use for it, and if not, you shouldn't buy it nor bitch about it either.
 
The iPad is a cool device but for me I don't see the point in having one. I have a nice droid Razr Maxx with a 4.3" screen and great battery life. I can do the same thing with the phone that I could do with the iPad. I think one reason Apple is keeping the iphone with such a small screen (3.5") is so people will still buy the iPad. I have my 13" MBP that I use all day and I find the MBP much more comfortable to use when on the couch or in bed to surf the internet then using a phone or iPad. I then have my desktop PC for the heavy stuff. I think a 13" MBA would be the perfect mobile device and may sell my MBP and pick one up when the new ones come out in June or July.

Because a 4.3" screen is an ideal ereader and Internet device? If it works for you then fine, but the "it's just a big iPhone" argument is long gone. They're very different devices.
 
I think the OP made his purchase already believing that he really didn't need an iPad, and I guess thought that simply having it present would somehow insinuate itself as a useful tool.

This is mostly true, but I bought it thinking it would be great to have on the couch given I have a stationary iMac in my home office and my phone is often charging when I get home from work. And for 10 months, it was just that....a "nice to have" device that bridged my use of the iMac and iPhone. But, if you read my original post, I did mention that the pixel density of the iPhone does make the iPad 2's screen look somewhat disappointing....especially for reading text. That combined with the fact that I could easily live without it, I chose to sell it and recoup some of the cost.

Now, with the iPad 3 expected to sport a Retina Display....the iPad becomes a lot more attractive to me and if finances allow me to purchase a "tweener" device for big screen web surfing around the house, I may dip my toe back in the water.

That said, iMac, iPad, and iPhone feels a bit overkill but we'll see.
 
yeah that makes sense. I kind of feel like that sometimes. I honestly use my iPad 2 quite a bit though. If anything my mbp never gets used except at work...
At home if I need to do something that requires a computer i use my desktop running mac osx and windows 7. Otherwise I use my iPad 2 for basically everything..
 
Because a 4.3" screen is an ideal ereader and Internet device? If it works for you then fine, but the "it's just a big iPhone" argument is long gone. They're very different devices.

The iPhone and iPad aren't different. They have the same specs. The only difference is the size and resolution of the screens. I'm sure the iPhone 5 will run the same specs as the iPad3.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I sold mine about 6 months ago for this very same reason. I don't need a tweener device. An iPhone and MBA are the perfect couple. The iPad is a third wheel for me. I prefer reading books on the kindle too.
 
Same here. I haven't purchased the iPad as I can't think of a use for it. At least not yet that my iPhone and iMac can't provide.
I believe you are right! I don't have, or need an iPhone, so the iPad fills a need. When on vacation, I can use my iPad as an alternative to my desktop to read e-mail, web surfing etc. I vacation in Mexico so the wifi use of an iPad is very good. Since I don't use cell phones, I am retired, the combination works. If I were still in business, and needed to be connected, I would definitely go the iPhone sans iPad route. I just makes good sense.:)
 
I'll be buying and then giving my iPad 1 to my Mon. As much traveling as I do, the iPad just makes it so easy to keep myself entertained with a book or movie. We take a lot of long bus trips for games, so this is an awesome device to travel with. It also makes it easy to video call people while on the road too on a bigger screen than the iPhone. It also gives me long-lasting battery life if we have those 6-9 hour trips across the Midwest.
 
The iPhone and iPad aren't different. They have the same specs. The only difference is the size and resolution of the screens.

You just contradicted yourself. They aren't different, yet they are different? Which is it?

Some people don't comprehend that the size allows for a very different usage with apps which take advantage of it. Reading / highlighting / annotating PDF case studies being one such area; sure you can do that on a Macbook, but using a touchscreen to highlight is far superior to using a trackpad.

That's okay. An ipad doesn't fit everyone's needs. But don't be ignorant and fail to realize the differences in usage capabilities created by display size.
 
You just contradicted yourself. They aren't different, yet they are different? Which is it?

Some people don't comprehend that the size allows for a very different usage with apps which take advantage of it. Reading / highlighting / annotating PDF case studies being one such area; sure you can do that on a Macbook, but using a touchscreen to highlight is far superior to using a trackpad.

That's okay. An ipad doesn't fit everyone's needs. But don't be ignorant and fail to realize the differences in usage capabilities created by display size.

They aren't different being that they run the same OS and have the same processor and internal specs as the iPhone. They both can do the exact same thing. Don't get me wrong the iPad is a cool device. Every time I visit my parents house my mother is always using her iPad 2.
 
I didn't get the point of the iPad when it came out. I ended up being more intrigued by the iPad 2, bought one and have cut my computer usage (MBP) down probably 90% in the year I've owned my iPad. That's not a toy or luxury item. There are definitely some tasks more suited for a computer, but I perform those tasks more rarely. Word processing is about all I do on my computer.
 
Ipad is great for sitting downstairs and checking out the internet that way...i rarely go upstairs and use the mac apart when my partner is home...but do when my partner is at work...think it is great to have and use it downstairs when others are watching TV.
 
Pretty much what I did.. Now that I have an iPad and wifi is nearly universally available I quit paying $30 a month for data I used so rarely and don't even use a smartphone anymore.

Same here. My iPhone became pretty much redundant once I got the iPad....
 
It's not so much that it does something my iPhone or MacBook pro can't (it doesn't), but the way it does certain things is much more pleasurable, and that to me makes me love my iPad. I preordered the original iPad when it was announced, because I knew it would be great for taking notes, and it was, it was lighter than my notebook, battery lasted waaay longer, and Evernote which is what I used was available from day one on it. Now I'm done with college and when I come from work it's great to lay back on the couch, read the news surf the web, listen to music and read a book. It's just more comfortable than a MacBook and bigger than an iPhone, it really does hit a sweetspot for certain tasks, but it's not for everyone. Buy and use whatever works and makes you happy :)
 
They aren't different being that they run the same OS and have the same processor and internal specs as the iPhone.

True - but the point is the differences lay not in the guts but in the usage. Which is, after all, what really counts. A basket full of the latest cutting edge parts is pointless if they don't work together to achieve something for their owner.
 
Which further illustrates the redundancy of the iPhone and iPad. Get one or the other, unless you find a use for both (which many still do).

I split my use between iPhone and iPad in

iPhone: Music / Phone / Mobile Apps (Skype, Twitter, Mail)
iPad: Movies / Gaming / Reading / Other Apps

So, I find plenty of use for both devices.
 
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