Some of you may know that I was lucky enough to have relatives pick me up an Apple iPad while on vacation in Florida last week. I initially planned to get the 32 GB WiFi model, but luck would have it that Best Buy had a 64 GB that had been returned hours after someone purchased it. The open-box unit was fully checked out and was approximately the same price as the model I wanted so that’s what I ended up with. I chose not to get the 3G version because I mainly see the iPad as a “coffee table device” and if I do want to have internet access when no WiFi is available I have a jailbroken iPhone to allow my iPad to get Internet access.
I’ve had a few days now to play around with my iPad, and I figured I’d post my initial impressions of the device in a quick blog post. I guess the first thing I can say to illustrate the usefulness of the iPad is to say my laptop hasn’t left my desk since Tuesday. No, it hasn’t replaced my laptop, which I use as my main computer, but any amount of Internet browsing I do is now being done on my iPad and with the help of an app I can now stream any video off my computer to my iPad no matter what the file format. That’s a good amount of my computer usage right there, obviously I’m not doing video editing, playing standard computer games, etc. on the iPad but when I’m watching TV or laying in bed the laptop isn’t following me.
Gaming is great. The expanded real estate is fantastic, and even lessens the annoyances of the games that use the “virtual joystick” control scheme.
The iBooks app isn’t out in Canada yet, but you can download it if you have access to an American iTunes account. It’s as cool as it looks in all those Apple ads, and the backlight adjustment option eliminates any concern over eyestrain. I’m still unsure how much I will use this as opposed to buying physical books, but I’m planning to read a book on this over the next week to give it a test run.
Anyways, I’ll be back in a week or so with a more expanded review, and I’ll go more in-depth with what apps I’m using. If you have any questions leave a comment or get in touch with me via Twitter.
