[miffed]

But finally picked myself up an iPad 2 this afternoon !

Was totally an impulse buy , and much as I had promised myself that I would ONLY buy a 64GB 3G , I settled for a 16GB 3G as it was all they had in stock (realistically I don't sync any music , so it should be fine)
Do I really NEED 3G ? ...probably not ! With both my Android phone have AYCE data (as long as O2 never find out it's not an iPhone) and the iPhone 4 also being able to share it's connection , added to the fact wifi appears to be everywhere , it is probably overkill , but I like the idea that the iPad is self contained , and I won't find myself in a position where I am frightened of draining my phones battery while using it as a hotspot

So what's changed ? Only a few weeks back I was thinking about a 7" dell streak , moto xoom or HTC Flyer (or other android device) instead of an iPad ?

Well , I am going to be quite Frank here - everything else sucks ! I spent a morning playing with a xoom , flyer , vega ,and some others. , and they were ALL clunky and "mechanical" compared to the fluidity of the iPad (any version of the iPad ). Yeah of course they are packed with features. ,but all the features in the world don't make that clunky experience worthwhile - until another manufacturer understands this. ,the iPad is very safe at the top of the tree.

Here's another example of how great the whole iOS experience is. The wife has inherited my original iPad , - we got home at around 2pm , I synced the iPad 2 from the back up of iPad 1 , then deleted all the apps my wife DIDN'T want from the iPad 1 , swapped all her details over (via google accounts) then changed the iPads "name" in iTunes , chose all her music ,
To cut s long story short her iPad has her name , and all her info on it , my new iPad has all mine on it. , both devices are fully backed up and usable , ....and the whole process took less than 30 minutes with barely any intervention. Of course someone will pipe up and say aneroid would do the same - but I have not yet experienced it and remain dubious that it would be that smooth and hassle free (or quick)

So nothing new to see here - just another Apple product purchase giving total satisfaction and impressing me in the process ! I can see why some might get bored with seeing this same old story churned out over and over again ;)

....So just for a bit of balance I am going to sing the praises of another device I saw on my travels today. ... The HTC wildfire S. - amazing little device for the money IMO , and HTC deserve to clean up with it. , really does seem a far better quality device than the price tag suggests !

[miffed]

Oh , forgot to mention I got it from Three on the 15GB deal. - as an existing customer I paid £199 , and the kind gentleman offered to cap the contract for me , which I think is a bloody good idea ESP if you are buying one of these for your kids or someone who has no concept if how much data they use !
I agreed to the cap , not because I was worried about paying extra - but more to the point if I am using 15GB on the iPad I need a reality check to stop me wasting time on the net !

[blush]

I must admit having owned my iPad two for a good few months now I regret not getting a 3G version. I got the 64gb wifi only and I thought I would connect as required to an old Nokia E51 but the battery on the Nokia discharges so quickly I wish I had an all in one iPad. I tethered my Three PAYG to my desktop pc today just to see if I could and I was blown away by the speed. The old E51 with a Three sim sped along and put my Sky broadband which connects at 6mb download to shame. I streamed music and browsed a bit and was just overwhelmed that a rubbish old phone could beat a wired link into the house.

[3GScottishUser]

Oh , forgot to mention I got it from Three on the 15GB deal. - as an existing customer I paid £199 , and the kind gentleman offered to cap the contract for me , which I think is a bloody good idea ESP if you are buying one of these for your kids or someone who has no concept if how much data they use !
I agreed to the cap , not because I was worried about paying extra - but more to the point if I am using 15GB on the iPad I need a reality check to stop me wasting time on the net !

Yikes thats some impulse purchace!! By my maths thats £25 X 24 + £199 which is £1 short of £800! Not exactly the isle end type of impulse purchace I fall for!

I hope you get £800 worth of value from it.

[miffed]

LOL , I'm not being flippant , but I have plenty of friends who'll easily do that amount on alcohol and cigarettes in a month or two , As a non smoker /only very occasional drinker I am happy to part with £800 for the iPad and 15GB of mobile data per month for 2 years !

[3GScottishUser]

LOL , I'm not being flippant , but I have plenty of friends who'll easily do that amount on alcohol and cigarettes in a month or two , As a non smoker /only very occasional drinker I am happy to part with £800 for the iPad and 15GB of mobile data per month for 2 years !

Fair enough... £800 is a very nice week all inclusive somewhere for a couple or a nice 3D 40" top of the range LED/LCD TV. To some it's a decent second hand car that gets them around!

I personally could not justify £800 on a tablet of any kind. I would be looking for a top spec laptop with bluray playback (maybe rewriting) and all the bells and whistles a powerful PC dual core processor and 4 GB of memory could deliver!

[Ben]

Nice purchase, miffed, I hope you're enjoying it!

iOS 5 soooon ;)

[miffed]

I am thanks , very much so !

I am actually more impressed with the "upgrade" than I thought I'd be , everything is so much quicker on the 2 and typing feels like it is improved by the speed of the device - not that it was BAD on the 1.

I got one of the Microfibre smart covers, (the light grey one) , this is all well and good but I feel the back of the iPad is crying out for protection ! , when I put the iPad down , I instinctively either fold the cover flat & backwards so it is protecting the back , or I "close up" the cover & place the iPad face down on the screen ! I think a Zagg invisible shield may be the answer here - I will however look at cases as well ,I haven't gotten around to trying yet , but I suspect the smart cover in not very stable for holding the ipad upright - something the iPad 1's case did brilliantly for watching movies / slideshows etc.

Generally I am very happy - I have got more "upgrade" than I was expecting , my intitial desire to upgrade was simply based on the notion that iPad 1 would struggle with iOS 5 - but even on 4.3.3 it feels very much a "new toy".

[Ben]

It feels like a much bigger upgrade than a lot of Internet chatter gave it credit for, doesn't it. I know all Apple did was tweak, but in typical Apple style it's all about the refinement on top of refinement that creates such hit products.

I've got a slip case that goes over the whole thing when it's in my bag, but otherwise I place it face-down on the smart cover. Not'n wrong with that I say! I'd advise against allowing the microfibre surface come into contact with stuff other than the screen, though, as it might pick up scratchy dirt. Either fold it into the prop position furry-side-in or pop it off completely to lay flat on the surface you're working on.

The beauty of the smart cover is in the ease of removal and re-application. I often take it off when I'm holding the iPad for long periods of time as it's more comfortable without. Don't be afraid of taking it on and off! :D

[@NickyColman]

@miffed me too - I've just joined the iPad 2 Club.

I originally had iPad 1. I got it the same week iPad 2 came out mostly because I wanted to test the water to see if I actually liked the idea of an iPad.

Turns out I do! But the iPad 1 needed more ooomph. So I bought a black 16GB wifi model from Newcastle Apple Store.

To say I'm chuffed is an understatement. It's like a whole new product. So thin. So light. And so do fast. I challenge anyone to use one and not to be enchanted by the whole experience.

[miffed]

LOL , glad I'm not the only latecomer !

I too love the iPad 2 , the speed difference somehow makes the new one far more usable for me , and I am picking up my laptop less and less , not that I ever felt the lag of the iPad 1 was anything of a problem.

Funny how a few refinements can make such a big difference to the overall experience of the device