iPad Air - any user feedback?

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Looks good on paper - not sure about the very small connector plug (bad memories of those small firewire plug/ sockets...)
WiFi and 3/4G....

[acropolite (Phil)]

The dinky small (lightning) connector has been around for a while now, the latest iphone 5 has that connector. I doubt that Apple intend these devices to last longer than 3 years.

At just 3 years old, my iPad 1 is barely useable, sluggish, unresponsive and crashes a lot, most likely due to increasing demands on insufficent resources.
That said, I'd like a new one, although I'm tempted to get a W8 or Android tablet this time.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

I suspect part of the rationale for the switch to the lightning connector, other than cost, was that the 30 pin is asymmetric but not obviously so, and the lightning is symmetric. Lightning connectors first appeared on the iPhone5 and the iPad4.

My iPhone4 and iPad3 (both iOS7) are cranky when plugged in to the laptop, but I'm not sure if is the cables, sockets, or iTunes getting more and more flakey. They started mucking up while running iOS6 so I can't see it being iOS7 that's the problem.

I'm in the process of persuading SWMBO I need an iPhone 5S and iPad Air.

[Octane (Humayun)]

The 5S is lovely.

Do it, Andrew.

I'd like the new mini with Retina Display.

H

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

"" 5S"?????
My wife is still using the iPad 2 and "looking" at the latest as a possible upgrade..
She has a 3G telstra chip which seems to work, most places...

[Exfso (Peter)]

My Ipad, the latest up until the "air" has the lightning connector, no problems at all with it. Definitely not as bulky as the previous incarnation.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

I have the previous one. It felt much faster than the one the preceded it, and feels great under iOS 7. The Air in store feels faster but I personally feel it's more subtle, whereas the benchmarks say quite the opposite. The most noticeable difference is the feel and (less) weight. If you've used a iPad mini, it's just more of the same - just bigger

The lightening connector uses a lot less real estate (more important on the iPhones) but is less fiddly to hook up and actually feels a more robust connector.

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Merlin66

"" 5S"?????
My wife is still using the iPad 2 and "looking" at the latest as a possible upgrade..
She has a 3G telstra chip which seems to work, most places...

Had a play with the iPad Air today, definitely worth the upgrade from the iPad2. So much faster/smoother to use, the screen is just gorgeous, the resolution boost over the 2 is instantly noticeable. It is a *lot* lighter in the hand too, much more so than I expected. The lightning connector is great in that you can plug it in either way around, and is easier to plug in that then older wide connector. It feels pretty sturdy too, despite the thin-ness.

The thing really flies in operation, it will be interesting to see what new apps can take advantage of the extra grunt. If coming from the previous retina iPad the performance boost is still quite noticeable, but not as 'smack you in the face' so. Coming from the 2, it would be hard to go back, it is a big boost.

The only reason I would hesitate to buy it, is that the upcoming mini has the same resolution screen and the same processor. So if you wanted a smaller format, it might be worth waiting for. If you want the full-size screen though then she will be very happy with the air.

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by acropolite

The dinky small (lightning) connector has been around for a while now, the latest iphone 5 has that connector. I doubt that Apple intend these devices to last longer than 3 years.

At just 3 years old, my iPad 1 is barely useable, sluggish, unresponsive and crashes a lot, most likely due to increasing demands on insufficent resources.
That said, I'd like a new one, although I'm tempted to get a W8 or Android tablet this time.

Well, the original ipad was released early 2010, so it is over 3 years old. Any hand-held device of that vintage is going to be very sluggish trying to run current applications. I think the devices themselves are designed well, and I'm sure they make them to last, but advances in processor/graphics etc. will pretty much ensure that older equipment will run sluggishly on current apps.

Check out a comparison of the CPU performance here:
http://www.iphonebenchmark.net/cpumark_chart.html

I keep looking at the Android tablets, but to get one that has the same performance actually *running* apps, they are the same money or more, in heavier/thicker form factors often with worse battery life in practice.
Sure, paper specs may favour the android models, but using them side by side, app performance is better on the iOS tablets.

Maybe it is because of the huge range of Android devices, that software isn't optimised for the tablet resolution and hardware, I don't know, but the apps I use run better on the air than on any android device we have at work.