UPDATED: First impressions with the Apple iPad
We got ours, did you get yours? The iPad landed today and ours arrived safe and sound from the friendly UPS man. We've unboxed it and taken a few quick snapshots for those that haven't had the chance to play with one yet. Our initial impression is that it is pretty heavy. It doesn't feel much different in our hand (and therefore our bags) than carrying around our six-cell HP netbook, which of course has a keyboard. It is definitely sleeker though, there is no doubt about that. The build quality feels top notch, as you would expect from Apple. As you can see from the pictures it is very shiny and reflective, but the screen is super bright to make up for the glare. The weight and smooth aluminum back make us feel very cautious when holding it, as if it's going to slip out at any point and we can already see that there is a huge selling point for case manufacturers with the iPad.
We haven't had a chance to really test it out yet because we're sans iTunes on our mobile computer right now and, well, you need to hook up to iTunes before you can use the thing. Check back later this evening once we've had some quality time with the device for a more in-depth hands-on with the iPad, and of course look for our full review very soon!
UPDATE
UPDATE
So, after some sign in issues and general iTunes problems we've had some quality time with our iPad. This thing definitely has a place in the market, but we're still trying to figure it out. We don't see how it won't be the best e-reader out there, and video has huge potential too. The Netflix and ABC Player apps are pretty great, but video quality is far from HD. The web browser is better than the iPhone browser simply because it's bigger and you have more real estate to work with.
The iPad is not without it's drawbacks, and it starts with design for us. So far it's been pretty uncomfortable to hold. It's great for watching videos or reading in bed, but its weight is very noticeable after holding it for a while. There's not a great way to hold it either, and oh man the fingerprints. It's very wide, which makes the keypad large but uncomfortable unless you have big hands. We were very accurate and surprisingly quick on it, but all the stretching left some fatigue. The lack of multitasking is very apparent as well, though we knew this was coming.
Of course we have much more to dig into, so stay tuned for our full Apple iPad review soon!
Our Apple iPad Review is now published - read it here.
The iPad is not without it's drawbacks, and it starts with design for us. So far it's been pretty uncomfortable to hold. It's great for watching videos or reading in bed, but its weight is very noticeable after holding it for a while. There's not a great way to hold it either, and oh man the fingerprints. It's very wide, which makes the keypad large but uncomfortable unless you have big hands. We were very accurate and surprisingly quick on it, but all the stretching left some fatigue. The lack of multitasking is very apparent as well, though we knew this was coming.
Of course we have much more to dig into, so stay tuned for our full Apple iPad review soon!
Our Apple iPad Review is now published - read it here.
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