Hi Guys, I'm not sure how to begin this question as I really do not know much about them, but would be interested in getting one for Alice when we are traveling and she is needing something to do in the passenger seat.
I pad, tablet or what ever one calls then, are they a good investment for this particular reason, and what can one do with them, not really up with this sort of technology.
Are they useful just to do stuff on while traveling, or do you need to be hooked up wireless all the time.
Could someone please give me the pros and cons on such an item, and which one would be a good investment. or do i just leave them on the shelf.
iPads and tablets come in wifi and wifi plus 3G versions. Wifi needs a hotspot (or you can use your smart phone as a portable hotspot). Wifi 3G requires you to have a 3G plan (similar to mobile phones, you can also get prepaid ones, like phone).
iPads have their own operating system called IOS and tablets are windows or Android based operating systems. Main draw back of iPads is their lack of connectivity (no USB, card readers etc). Other tablets usually have them as standard. The other irk I have with iPad is the way they insist on using iTunes to sync photos and songs etc, whereas other tablet allow you to cut and paste straight from HDD or SD cards etc.
iPads and tablets don't have keyboards, (though you can get aftermarket KB for them), so not great for writing long emails, but ok for posting on IIS
Only iPad 2s have cameras built in, most tablets have them as standard now. Battery life is similar 6-8 hours.
There is a hybrid tablet called Asus Transformer which has a detachable keyboard, and has an extra 4 hour battery in it too.
Price wise, they cost 500 to 800 depending in HD capacity and features.
Finally iPads have very good screen resolution, although other tablets are catching up.
Bo
Leon, in most cases you don't need to be connected to WiFi or even to the Internet via 3G if all you're doing is playing games while travelling.
Of course, if you want to browse the web then you're going to need a connection and some games do indeed require a connection ... but not many.
My wife and I do use an iPad as well as our iPhones to amuse ourselves while travelling.
Probably the biggest issue is motion sickness. If you're prone to nausea while reading in a car or on a bus, you'll experience the same with a tablet.
We also use the iPhones and iPad for email and casual web browsing while we're away, but in reality we've found a small netbook computer to be more practical.
One thing the iPad excels at is as a book reader. I used to hate reading on a screen rather than a proper book but recently I purchased a book for the iPad and loved it. The interface is very comfortable and the experience was so good I doubt I'll buy too many "real" books in future ... particularly given the the electronic versions are a great deal cheaper!
I've had a good amount of both professional and personal exposure to tablets from a variety of vendors including Apple and Samsung and the experience has been that the iPad has proven the most reliable as well as being the easiest and most intuitive to use.
Glad I made sense Leon. iPads and tablets are great in showing photos, videos and playing back music. There are literally thousands of apps out there from astrology to astronomy, lots of games too to keep you amused and busy.
If you are in Melbourne, just pm me and I can do a show and tell with my iPad.
Bo
Thanks John and Petra, it will probably take me that long to work out how it all works, and the applications available, will do some research on it in the coming weeks.
I use my IPAD extensively for work as it suits my role perfectly and it is great.
When travelling it is fantastic for my son who is 9 and can play IPAD games, watch movies, listen to music, draw on the screen or type up some small notes or read an ebook
IMHO the ITUNES is not a real problem and the Application and Media libraries is the most extensive of any tablet (perhaps apart from windows tablets of course).
I highly recommend one and if possible wait for the IPAD 3 launch in March.
One word of warning though is that they are not a PC or Laptop so there are some limitations but if you are aware and happy with those limitations the IPAD is the way to go.
Not sure if you're aware that an iPad with GPS (which are called the "WiFi + 3G" models) make more than a travelling "games" machine, but also offer FANTASTIC fully-fledged 4WD-ready GPS mapping systems? My 4WD club (Landrover Owners Club) has quite a few of the members using their iPads to use run an application called "VMS" when out in the bush for 1:50k (and 1:25k in some areas) topographic navigation duties. They have all performed flawlessly. VMS covers Australia in its entirety.
Given that you're in grey nomad mode, I reckon you'd love your iPad for this. I certainly would.
Just bought a SONY Android Tablet but I'm still figuring out how it all goes. But I will say that the ability to connect to USB and having an SD card slot in the side is useful. I have only WiFi comms for home on it, no mobile connection which limits it's usefulness when mobile but I did not buy it for tha purpose. Has stereo sound and 5 meg cameras ( iPad is mono and 1 meg ). Plenty of free and paid software out there as well. Lot of rubbish as well.
Whatever way you go it certainly seems to be the way of the future for connectivity and mobilty.
The android tablets in slightly smaller sizes 7-10" can be had for much less than an iPad, apple will likely drop price on ipad2 when the 3 come sour, so good savings to be made.
I wouldn't be without the 3G connection in mine, I recommend this if you're traveling, costs me about $15/gb on Telstra (I buy in 10gb chunks), dearer if you buy less.
Examples of what I sue mine for
Navigation (I use sygic)
Web browsing (don't use my MacBook for this anymore)
iBooks reading PDF/books on any subject
Astro apps -senses your location & moves the display
Download photos & quick look browse
Games for the kids
I also use it to dial into work computer if I ned to help someone out
I have also started word processing on mine, though my wife uses hers more for this, she is also a big calendar user, I don't use this much anymore-though my current job doesn't require me to.
I find the calculator comes in handy also
I have just recently got an andrioid phone, android is getting closer to apple, & a good one is worth a look IMO-if you are not a big iTunes user
We have had the iPad2 for about seven months now and just love it.
As mentioned if you have a smart phone with 3G and you pay for say a gig of data you can connect to the iPad via blue tooth just by setting a wireless hotspot on the phone.
So you don't need the 3G sim card in the iPad, although we have that option and if you happen to have an iPhone and it died, battery flat, you can take the sim card from the phone and fit it to the iPad and it becomes a big iPhone.
Couple of drawbacks as mentioned but we don't even notice them really.
Mapping, compass, gyro compass, and app for just about anything you can think of and a lot you'd never think of.
Emails the touch screen keyboard is really quite good and the astronomy apps are just great.
Don't regret spending the dollars on it one bit. Good luck making your choice.
Any more questions just ask you're bound to get lots of help.
