iPad Breakdown

Well, 45 days have pasted since I got the iPad WiFi and I still have not written a review. That is not entirely true. See, I wrote a nice 1200 word review 30 days in and then it came time to put pictures with the blog post. Since everyone and their brother had already written reviews, and the pictures seemed like a pain in the butt, I decided to write a simple review on my iPad and back it up with video.

To put it simply, the iPad is awesome. I can use it to read books, watch movies, get any information I need at my fingertips, and use it to do actual work. Since getting it, I find I have used my work laptop at home just twice, and that was when I needed to put in about three hours of hardcore work. See I am a network engineer and I have to remotely support routers, switches, and firewalls. To log in and make simile changes, the iPad works like a champ and there is no boot up time or connection time. So I can many times have simple changes made before I would even get my laptop connected. Typing in the iPad works well, and it is simple to use.

When it comes to the price justification, I think it is well worth it. I wanted an eBook reader because Lisa and I were fighting over the Kindle. Personally I think it is a better reader than the Kindle as long as you don’t try to read in direct sunlight. The screen is the same size as the Kindle DX which runs $459 so for $40 more you get a much better device.

The web browser (Safari) is wicked fast and displays pages beautifully, as long as you are not viewing Flash.Video is very pretty and the speaker is surprisingly loud. In fact, last weekend we took a lengthy drive in my truck which has nothing in the way of video to keep the kids occupied. Lisa brought up Horton Hears a Who and wedged the iPad between the driver and passenger seats and the girls were pacified for a while. If you hold the iPad about two feet from your face and use a good pair of wired or bluetooth headphones, it’s like watching a 50″ TV from 10 feet away. Games are great on the device and there are a ton of useful free or cheap apps. News is an incredible on the iPad and it may be the savior of the newspaper industry.

My only regret is that I didn’t get the 3G version. At the time I bought the WiFi iPad, I thought you would have to sign a two year contract for the 3G. Turns out, the 3G is month by month and you can order it in the fly when you need it. So I’m selling a 64GB 3G for less than retail price if anyone is interested.

All in all, I don’t want to sound like a drank the Cool-Aid, but I have. I think the iPad is an incredible device and worth the money. A disclaimer to that statement is that I am a true gadget fiend and I spend a lot of time figuring out every possible use for the devices I buy. Watch the video for my rundown of my favorite apps.