Anyone thinking of buying an iPad?

[wmrcomputers]

If you have been considering buying an iPad, consider this...
The version with only a 16gb hdd, 1GHz processor costs £450+ (best deal on eBay at present).
It's not a PC, and if you are like me you'll HATE anything Apple related due to expensive apps. A free app downloader? (I bet there's no APP for THAT!)

Now then.... try a VERY similar device. The great Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1Gb of RAM, a 160Gb hdd and it's a genuine PC running Windows 7 ultimate - all for less than the iPad at just £385

WELCOME TO THE ePad!

PS - If anybody buys one I'd love to see it in action please

 

[tek-monkey]

Been watching the android ones myself, can be had from £85! Quality looks shocking though admittedly, there are a few well made ones appearing such as the Archos and the Dell but AFAIK only the Dell has full access to the marketplace at present. The Dell is also only 5", but there is a 7" due soon.

There were a fair few shown off at a trade fair in Japan last week, so hopefully more are due soon.

 

[Mr X]

Why is it that tablet PCs have been around for ages now but hardly anybody has bought one and very few are on the market? As soon as Mr Apple releases his inferior yet overpriced version there are suddenly a load of rivals appearing on the market!

 

[tek-monkey]

Because the apple advertising machine has now convinced people they need one, so people can make better products in competition as they can use the marketing budget on R&D.

 

[Timeflies]

To be honest i'd be a bit dubious of laying down that sort of cash with someone who has a support email of goodbargain168@hotmail.com....

T

 

[wmrcomputers]

To be honest i'd be a bit dubious of laying down that sort of cash with someone who has a support email of goodbargain168@hotmail.com....

T

with a 97 % positive rating it's unlikely you'd be dissapointed. I've purchased from the same seller before without problem. Plus you've got a guaranteed refund via Paypal if it all goes wrong anyway - that't the good thing with eBay.

 

[db]

Why is it that tablet PCs have been around for ages now but hardly anybody has bought one and very few are on the market? As soon as Mr Apple releases his inferior yet overpriced version there are suddenly a load of rivals appearing on the market!

because tablet PCs up to now (well, still now if you ignore the ipad) have been inch thick beasts that weigh about 3kg! they're basically just laptops with the screen on the wrong way round..

the problem with ipads (or rather, the perception of ipads) seems to be that some people just don't "get" the concept, and when you try and offer an explanation of why it's a great device, you get accused of being a fanboy lol..

 

[Wormella]

I have an iPad - I'm unimpressed

 

[shoes]

I think it's a cool device and I'm sure will act as a fine replacement for a laptop for many people, it certainly looks the part and carries an apple logo instantly making your cooler than the person sitting next to you on the train, however I think it lacks the oomph that many people will require.

What has unimpressed you wormella? I think thus far you're the only person here who has one - I'd be interested to hear your 'real world' review.

 

[db]

I think it's a cool device and I'm sure will act as a fine replacement for a laptop for many people...

that's the thing though, it's not designed to be a replacement for a laptop! all these people comparing it to a tablet PC/PDA/touchscreen phone/etc. have missed the point (not saying you're one of them, shoes)..

What has unimpressed you wormella? I think thus far you're the only person here who has one - I'd be interested to hear your 'real world' review.

ditto!

 

[shoes]

True, it's not meant to be a replacement for a laptop, but having furnished the majority of my family with laptops in the last few years, almost soley with the requirements of 'cheap, internet, email, looking at photographs auntie such and such has sent over' I think the iPad would suffice. Not to mention the battery life is (allegedly) astounding.

One thing which occurred to me was the scope for special needs use. My grandparents have two conditions between them which I think the iPad (or similar) would be more useful than a regular laptop. My grandfather's sight is decreasing so the large screen with large buttons to navigate around is ideal, my grandmother suffers with Parkinson's - again I imagine the larger icons/buttons available on the iPad would be a useful feature over a normal keyboard. Presumably apps have been/will be developed for this kind of user.

EDIT: HOLY MOLEY!!!!! I was just looking at the price of these things, staggering! I was assuming they started at around the £300 mark....err no lol

 

[Wormella]

I have one to do with a project in work - It's limited to say the least -but I'm no Apple fan girl and my life isn't apple-fied (I have an ipod only because it was a gift).

It's a lovely bit of kit, don't get me wrong, pretty, slim with great battery life, better then my Dell netbook, but it's just so limited - can't do anything with the tiniest bit of flash on it, with rules out a lot of uploady things - even though I've got the dropbox app - so I've have to keep resorting to my netbook for things.

It's ace for browsing the web, but we could only afford the £500 for the 32gb Wifi one, so it's pointless unless there's wifi -work's doesn't play nicely with apple products so it's confined to the house to be of any use.

Ebooks work well with it - one of the things we were looking into as part of the project - but it isn't as nice to read off as the Amazon Kindle or the Sony E-Reader

I'm sure I could play around with more apps, and I suspect I could bend my life around it - but I don't have the time, money or inclination to do that.

 

[wmrcomputers]

An excellent report Wormella (in the detail I mean rather than an excellent product). Thanks.

 

[My Name is URL]

I think when my netbook breaks (hopefully not too soon) I will look at an Android tablet as an alternative.... I think the Android versions will be much better....

I do agree that the iPad seems very underpowered - what are the specs like? Surely they could have stuck a 1GHz Snapdragon or even a 1.6GHz Atom in it, they are cheap chips.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Surely they could have stuck a 1GHz Snapdragon or even a 1.6GHz Atom in it, they are cheap chips.

I agree with you. I'm not sure what processor it is but I know it runs at 1GHz, so I'd have thought the Atom would have been better suited.

I'm not sure about Android tablets myself, purely because I'm a very "Windows" biased person. That's why I'm contemplating trying a Windows 7 ePad from hong kong instead (when I have the funds!)

 

[Timeflies]

Surely they could have stuck a 1GHz Snapdragon or even a 1.6GHz Atom in it, they are cheap chips.

I agree with you. I'm not sure what processor it is but I know it runs at 1GHz, so I'd have thought the Atom would have been better suited.

I'm not sure about Android tablets myself, purely because I'm a very "Windows" biased person. That's why I'm contemplating trying a Windows 7 ePad from hong kong instead (when I have the funds!)

I believe its a custom Apple A4 chip clocked at 1GHz.

T

 

[wmrcomputers]

I don't know much about Apple's "operating system" so therefore a 1GHz running their system might be equal to the 1.6GHz atom running a PC - then again I suppose it could be worse!
Would be nice to get some feedback from somebody who has used an atom powered netbook and an iPad

 

[shoes]

It's difficult to say as they don't use the A4 in anything else currently do they? My macbooks both have intel chips in them.

Android based tablets sound like a good idea though, I'm loving my andorid phone/pda. Even though I keep breaking it lol

 

[Timeflies]

It's difficult to say as they don't use the A4 in anything else currently do they? My macbooks both have intel chips in them.

Android based tablets sound like a good idea though, I'm loving my andorid phone/pda. Even though I keep breaking it lol

I think they have put the A4 into the iPhone 4 but i guess that doesn't really help as you cant get hold of that yet!!!

T

 

[My Name is URL]

Ah, I thought the iPad had a slower processor for some reason.... 1GHz isn't too bad I suppose.....

I do think that Android tablets will be better then the iPad though just because the choice of hardware will be a lot less limited (i.e. with the different manufacturers we should get a selection of screen sizes, USB ports on the device, wi-fi and mobile connectivity for a reasonable price etc...