We, apparently, need an ipad. Not sure why, but I'm told we do. Given the threads discussed here in the past, I can see what they're good for, but what size HD? The basic model is 16GB which is tiny compared to modern PC sizes. Having said that, does an ipad need a large HD? The size options seem to be 16, 32 and 64GB. The antique desktop I'm typing this on has 228GB.
The display on the iPad is its real selling point though, I have the nice Asus pad and an iPad and the Android one spends most of it's time in the cupboard because the iPad is just so pleasant to use.
Whats so special about the display, that it's got some bullshit "Retina" branding? It's just a IPS panel with a specific pixel density (264 Pixels/Inch to be exact) that many other tablets have already exceeded (for example the Samsung Galaxy Note II)
The Nexus7 is only a little behind the ipad3 pixel density (at 216 PPI), and my Xperia S smartphone (342 PPI) far exceeds it and the iPhone5's (PPI326)
formatting link
take away the bullshit Apple branding and look at the raw pixel densities, and yes the Apple products are OK, but there are several that are better, and the Nexus7 costing half the price and being far more functional is a total steal.
I'm not sure why anyone would want an Ipad. no flash so how can it be used to stream anything? its also overpriced compared to other models from what I can see.
Thanks for all the comments. I think Tim has summarised perfectly. Wifey and son have decided 'we' need a family ipad, and I seriously doubt that Samsung or anything else will be an acceptable substitute.
Yes, I agree, it is all about marketing. An Apple ipad is the device to have, apparently. There comes a point where disagreeing with the family is beyond me - life is too short.
Start saving because in a couple of years time, Apple will have stopped updating your iPan, family will want "that latest must have app" and your iPad will need replacing. I admit to being a "PC/Android not Apple" person but it's the deliberate obsolescence which annoys me most - perfectly good hardware unable to do anything because Apple don't support older hardware for very long.
I bought an iPad about 6 months ago for similar reasons. (Family, kids etc!) I have used android tablets and (on the type I used at least) found them slow and clunky to use. I assume more recent ones are better in this respect.
I bought the 32GB 3G ipad as I figured the built-in mobile and GPS reciever would be useful.
6 months on the kids love it, wife uses it a lot for everything from Facebook to recipies in the kitchen to watching the F1 in bed! I use it for quick surfing and email mainly, but I have found it very useful when out-and-about with a cheap PAYG sim in it, and with navigation software such as 'NavFree'. It has made my netbook redundant. I bought a French Orange PAYG sim in the summer for 3 weeks in France, which came in handy many times.
I disagree with the comments above about having to constantly pay apple. There are very few apps I've paid for, most are free, with the occesional £2 and under one.
Don't have one but was amazed to find with a pal's one there is no easy way of printing from it. Apart from emailing to a proper computer. We found this out when wanting to print off a boarding pass.
I have Galaxy S2. It was much cheaper and superior to the i-phone - display and ease of use is better. Android is UNIX based and stable with more apps available. The Galaxy range is still superior to the i-phone range despite the new i-phone 5. The Galaxy 4 is coming out in a matter of months and promises to totally outstrip the i-phone. Samsung are very secretive about the 4.
It is true about being locked into Apple. They are vertically integrated in hardware and software. You are their mercy.
This stirs up the whole religious debate about Apple vs others, but the real question is what you want to do with it. Personally, I've always thought of the whole concept as an elegant solution looking for a problem, but would still rather like one (!) I know quite a few people with iPads (fewer with other variants) and I've never heard any of them complain about storage limitations. Many of the people I work with use them to take documents to meetings, create things on the go etc etc, but this doesn't really require much storage. If you're thinking it would be good to have a full set of music and movies on one, then you'll fill the space very quickly, but they are really designed to work alongside a host machine where the bulk of everything is stored. My gadget-boy son has an iPad and even he has never whinged about storage. He seems to use it more for web browsing though, with all his music on his iPhone. As previously mentioned, printing etc from an iPad can be a bit of a faff but then there are many WiFi printers around now.
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