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iPad Review

By Marlene Lennox, Head: Systems & Support
Review Date: 10 February 2011

1. iPad – Look and feel

The device is of excellent quality as one would expect from Apple. You could actually say that the iPad is something between an iPhone, iPod Touch and a MacBook. The iPad is a very sleek and well-finished device. You use only the "Home‟ button to interact with. Even with the screen protector, a compulsive person like me however, feels like wiping it all the time. As this is a touch screen device, the screen does get dirty very quickly. The multitouch screen display is LED-backlit.

Somehow it also does not feel right to just plonk it onto your desk/work surface without having some protection underneath. I have bought a durable plastic back cover to protect my iPad‟s surface and sides and a sturdy case to protect the whole. The quality is excellent, but the device still seems vulnerable and will scratch if not protected properly.

The 64GB iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G weighs in at 730gr which is heavier than some would expect. Used purely as a reading device, the iPad becomes quite heavy to hold in your hands for a long period of time unless you are sitting down at a table/desk. When sitting at a table/desk, the device can be laid flat on the surface or you can also stand the iPad in the docking station (available separately) and swipe your finger across the screen to move to the next page should you wish to read with the device standing upright.

Using the iPad while standing is also a bit of a challenge, as you need a hand to hold the device while trying to type with the other – not good when you want to quickly respond to a mail while on the go. Using it while sitting though is comfortable and the portability of it is great as this is a go anywhere-and-stay-connected tool which I love.

2. Buttons, Jacks and connectors

The iPad has a "Home‟ button to interact with applications, a volume control switch, screen position lock and power/sleep button and these is the only buttons on the device.

The iPad also has a 3.5mm audio jack for connecting to head phones and microphone. The iPad has its own external connector which can be used to connect the device to a laptop or PC and is also used to connect to the charger. A separate VGA connector to connect to a projector of VGA device can be purchased (this is not a standard cable received with the iPad).

It would be nice to have a normal USB port built into the device as there should be some port options and not only the standard dock connector.

3. Audio

The iPad has a single speaker at the bottom of the device. The audio quality on its own is not great but using headphones however, increases the quality and volume. The headphone jack is at the top of the device and this is a bit uncomfortable as the cord is then across the screen or draped around the back. The volume control switch is easy to find and control while listening to your favourite tracks.

4. What's inside?

As per the specifications on the Apple web-site, the iPad uses Apple's custom, PA Semidesigned 1GHz A4 system-on-a-chip, a single Cortex A8 core coupled with a PowerVR SGX GPU. RAM on the iPad is at 512MB. The iPad also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a digital compass, an accelerometer, microphone, and ambient light sensor. The 3G model has UMTS / HSDPA data along with an AGPS chip. The device tested has a capacity of 64GB.

The processor copes wonderfully with anything, from opening and browsing webpages to playing interactive games.

5. Visual display quality and features

I find the quality of the display very impressive. High resolution photos and images are displayed beautifully. Rotation, zooming and scrolling of images is easy and very quick. Images are sharp and colourful.

There is a lot of reflection on the screen when using the iPad outdoors (even with various screen protectors being tried out) or where there is a lot of direct light. This can cause a bit of strain on the eyes. As an outdoor reading device, the Amazon Kindle is definitely better. You do however have the advantage of colour with the iPad.

Because there is no Webcam hardware/feature installed on the iPad, it is sad that you cannot use Skype or iChat as this would be the perfect device to use because of its portability…

6. Virtual keyboard

The iPad keyboard is great in either portrait or landscape mode. However, the iPad keyboard is not as fast as a 10" Netbook keyboard, or a full-sized keyboard. The iPad is great for casual typing, but can get frustrating for large e-mails or reports – it takes a bit of time getting used to the virtual keyboard.

7. Media

7.1 iBooks

I find the user interface very simple and with good search capabilities. I love that so many of the older classics (by authors like Oscar Wilde, Yeats, Jane Austin, Aristotle, even Darwin) are free on iBooks. Samples can also be downloaded free of charge. The Amazon Kindle site however has a greater and better selection of books so I sync my iPad with my Kindle. The advantage of iBooks relative to Kindle is the fact that you can view books in full colour. This is really great! You can also set the brightness of a book within the iBooks application.

7.2 Kindle for iPad

Amazon was definitely thinking ahead when making the Kindle application available on various platforms. As a result, it is possible to buy a book from amazon.com on the iPad and bypass Apple. The Kindle application also allows you to, once you own a book; re-download it on as many devices as you want (PC, iPhone, etc...). You can also download samples before buying books. Kindle also allows you to make notes while reading, a feature not available on iBooks. Kindle has +/- 450 000 books to choose from whereas iBooks has +/- 60 000 books. I also find that Kindle books are cheaper than iBooks. It is fantastic have both the above applications available on the iPad.

7.3 Magazines/News

Some US/UK magazines are already available on the iPad, but samples are not readily available and subscription is more expensive than on Amazon Kindle. Downloads are also very slow. Most of the apps are free as are some of the contents. Obviously some require a subscription fee. Some magazines/news publications already available –

USA Today
BBC News
Wall Street Journal
Bloomberg
New York Times
Time magazine
News 24 (iPad edition)
CNN (iPad edition)
The Economist
Financial Times
The New Yorker
Reuters News Pro
MWEB News app
USA Today for iPad
Newsweek for iPad
The Sun for iPad
The Telegraph for iPad
And many more...

7.4 Business

There is a myriad of applications/reference books/tools available to the business executive. Below a list of some interesting ones –

Tools

Calculator for iPad (free)
Calculator Pro for iPad (free)
USB Disk for iPad (free)
Convert units (free)
Accu Weather (free)
Compass for iPad (if you are scared of getting lost)
Budgets for iPad (free)
Todo for iPad – To-do lists (Free)
ABC News for iPad (free)
Micro Strategy Mobile (Free)
WritePad for iPad - $9.99 -
Notepad for iPad (free)
Analytics for iPad – Google analytics (free)
Audiotorium notes for iPad (Text and audio notes) - $3.99
Twitter for iPad (free)
Facebook for iPad (free)
Numbers – Excel - $9.99
Keynote – PowerPoint - $9.99
Pages – MS Word - $9.99
Dropbox for iPad (This application allows you to share and send files via e-mail or share files with other applications) – (free)
And lots more...

Reference books

Dictionary! For iPad (free)
Dictionary.com (free)
Tips & Tricks - iPad secrets (free)
Wikipanion for iPad (free)
Free Translator for iPad
Speak like a CEO
Wikihood for iPad (Travel – free)
CNBC real-time for iPad (free)
Globe for iPad
Fox Business for iPad (free)
And lots more...

Other Applications

Quickoffice Connect Mobile ($14.99)
MultiG – Gmail and Google (free)
PDF Reader Pro Edition for iPad ($3.99) – Full support for PDF Forms – you can fill PDF forms directly on your iPad. PDF forms support for list fields, choice fields, text fields, checkbox, round- and push button. "Open in" – You can open PDF files with other apps that support PDF files
Printing for iPad Printer (free) – Prints documents, web pages, photos etc. wirelessly to your printer configured
Skyfire for iPad – free Browser
WebEx for iPad – business (free)
And lots more...

7.5 Entertainment

There are game applications, kids‟ entertainment – if you can trust the kids to play and not break your iPad they will have an absolute ball as there are excellent applications for kids – from books to art and education – loads of them interactive!, photography applications, music applications, books, personal and many more…. Below a list of some interesting ones –

Free books – 23 469 classics – free
All the classic – books - $0.99
Wonders of the world - $1.99
Facebook
Twitter - Tweetdeck
Free Piano with songs – if you want to learn and play the piano
Self-development Classics - $0.99
Clinometer – Level – If you want to check if something is actually level $0.99
Cool facts – 10 500 cool things to know – (free)
Holy Bible - $0.99 (this one should be free)
Guitar tuner + - $0.99
Wiki2 – Wikipedia reader - $0.99
One Planet for iPad – free
Jazz FM iPad edition – free (yay!)
TouchUp for iPad – Photography - $1.99
3D Drum Kit for iPad - $2.99
Grays Anatomy Premium - $9.99
Wine.com for iPad – Free (yay!)
My Movies for iPad - $6.99
Art in motion - $2.99
Radio – iPad edition - $0.99
Marvel comics - free
Guns & ammo – gun simulator game – free
Golfshot – Golf GPS - $29.99
8 step golf swing – free
Solar system for iPad - $13.99
Famous quotes for iPad – free
Golf monthly – free
Newspapers for iPad - $2.99
Pocket Universe - $3.99
Kindle Books – free
Best of French Cuisine – free (if you feel in the mood for cooking)
iBooks – free
World map for iPad - $1.99
Talking Tom Cat – sooooo cute and free
Super Sport.com for iPad – Free
Popular science - $2.99
The Elements - $13.99
Golf Digest – Free
Go Sky Watch Planetarium – free
Star Walk for iPad - $4.99 – stunning...
And loads more...

8. Video

The high resolution display makes watching movies/ television/video clips a pleasure and you could watch up to 10 hours on a full battery. Movies are bought or rented through the iTunes store.

8.1 Netflix

I tried watching a few movies on Netflix and it worked beautifully. The streaming movie resolution is a little inferior to the iPad's display, so things are not as sharp as they could be, but it's enjoyable enough to have a good time.

8.2 YouTube

Youtube has more high-resolution content so the quality is better, smoother and sharper. Watching a YouTube movie clip is a treat.

9. Music

Music playback basically works well, quality with headphones is very good - it's an iPod after all. Download your music with iTunes to your or iPod and sync to your iPad.

10. Software/Applications

The operating system on the iPad is identical to that of the iPhone and iPod Touch. You have pages of icons, a dock for your favourite applications (up to six), and a status bar displaying the time and other information. You can now add your favourite apps to a folder e.g. Entertainment and keep your desktop organised.

10.1 E-mail

The e-mail experience is comfortable because the Mail application user interface is tailored to a small display. With Outlook or Gmail, e-mails are easy to read and it's also easy to switch from one account to the next.

10.2 Calendar

The calendar is easy to glance at and very readable. Looking at a week's worth of appointments can be done easily. In two taps, you can open in Edit Mode and change the time and other properties of an event.

10.3 File management

When receiving files in a mail, MS Word etc. you have to "Open in" the appropriate Apple equivalent e.g. Pages, which will import the file and save it there. You can then change the file, save and retrieve it later. The same goes for PDF, with PDF – you need to "Open in" another application e.g. iBooks or USB Disk etc. where you can save it to retrieve it later. You cannot create folders to dump files or documents in otherwise. You can use Memeo Connect Reader (free) and Google Doc files to work around this. It works pretty well, but it's not just dragging and dropping to a folder. Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

11. Battery life

The battery is a 25-watt-hour lithium-polymer non-removable battery. You can use your iPad for around 10 hours if surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos or listening to music. If using 3G you will get around 9 hours. Reading will give you 11 to 12 hours of battery life.

12. Practicalities

12.1 Touch screen

For people not used to touch screen cell phones/smartphones for example, the touch screen of the iPad would take a lot of getting used to. Using it as a regular business tool especially for someone used to a laptop or keyboard and mouse, the iPad would be frustrating to use. However, if you are used to a touch screen phone, an iPhone or iPod Touch, the iPad would be wondrous to use as the touch screen keyboard is obviously so much bigger and therefore easier to use and you‟ll be productive right away.

It is predicted that by 2015 most computer devices purchased will be touch screen. For people requiring an external keyboard, iPad supports the Apple wireless keyboard or most other Bluetooth wireless keyboards that use the Apple keyboard layout. An Apple iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-sized keyboard is available.

12.2 USB charging incompatibility

The iPad cannot be charged from a computer USB port, unless it is a Mac computer USB port.

It doesn't work on most PC computers, or USB HUBs.

12.3 Windows and other requirements

PC with USB 2.0 Port
Windows 7, Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional with service pack 3 or later required
iTunes 10.1 or later (Free download from www.itunes.com/download
iTunes store account
Internet access (3G or Wi-Fi)

12.4 Business applications

Should you need to work on specific or specialised business applications eg. In-house systems, accounting packages or administration/line-of –business systems, the iPad can unfortunately not be the only device you will use. You will still require your PC or Laptop.

Overall impressions

For purely practical reasons, the iPad cannot be the only device I use so I still require my Laptop to access other business applications such as the INSight system and LaserFiche.

The greatest benefit for me is the portability of my iPad (larger than a mobile phone for easy readability but smaller and lighter than a notebook/laptop) which I take to all external meetings and even some internal meeting where I can stay in touch by receiving and then reviewing and replying to my e-mails on a sizeable device unlike a mobile phone. I can have documents and reports on hand and even project images/presentations on a light and practical device.

I simply love the iPad applications available as this makes it a business-, entertainment-, educational-, social-, media friendly- and most amazing tool around. It has been a privilege to use this fantastic device for the last 5 months. It‟s amazing...

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