Post by The Chupster on Jan 2, 2011 11:29:46 GMT -5
So, right out of the gate, let me say that I've never really had a lot of experience with any Apple products. At school I worked on old Apple IIe comps and occasionally on a Mac, but those were years and years ago and, as I didn't really enjoy the experience, I've never really given any other Apple products a chance- mainly because it really seems like they're usually overpriced as hell.
So when I first heard about the iPad, I was thrilled for one reason and one reason only- the idea that maybe, just maybe, I would finally be able to read my digital comics on the couch, on trips, in the bathroom- wherever, as long as I didn't have to do it hunched over the computer, or using the clunky touchpad interface on a shitty, cumbersome laptop.
With that little intro out of the way, let me begin: the iPad is just about the best goddamn gadget I've ever owned.
The screen is nice, big, crisp, and clear. That said, I definitely recommend a screen protector, but try to get one 'professionally' installed- you can snag 'em for around $4, but you'll never get one installed without the static from the thing attracting every dust mote from miles around. (Yeah, so I fucked up 4 of 'em trying to install my own.)
Backlighting is adjustable, so you can get a comfortable setting in any lighting situation. Battery life is pretty dependent on what brightness level you initially set, but I've played for hours and hours and haven't even gotten the thing down to 50% yet.
The touch screen is super responsive. The ability to turn the damn thing in any direction and have it auto-turn the screen is wicked cool and comes in handy for both reading comics (2-page spreads!) and playing games where you have to tilt the screen.
Typing on it is a breeze once you get used to it; you can turn the screen for a wider or slimmer keyboard and just hammer at it with your thumbs. I was Facebooking and posting and chatting all last night with it.
That's nice, Chups, but what the fuck can it do?
Shit, just about anything.
It runs iPhone and iPod apps as well as its own, and you can pretty much find an app for anything you might wanna do, in addition to what the iPad does on its own.
Basically, out of the package you're looking at gaming, email, movies/shows/etc., web browsing, a YouTube-specific app, a GPS, address book, a notepad for noting stuff to yourself (and I think you can record short voice memos with that), and probably more junk I'm forgetting.
Add a few apps and you can read comics, ebooks, emags, whatever. In addition to being a hell of a comic reader, it's PERFECT for PDFs. I HATE the PDF format because the reading interface on any PDF reader (especially Adobe's) is complete shit, feels unnatural and clunky, and I just HATE it. With the iPad and CloudReader (free, btw) app, I've fallen in love with PDFs all over again- they read just like any comic or ebook in my library. I can't even say enough good things about it.
And if you have a good video conversion app (*COUGH* DVDFab *COUGH* not free but epic stellar best converter evar *COUGH*), you can convert blurays, dvds, and just about any other video file you want to iPad-optimized m4v videos quickly and easily, and MAN does The Dark Knight look good on it! (Alternately, there are video streaming apps that you can use to stream stuff from your PC to the iPad, but I haven't messed with that yet.)
And the games!!! Addictive, fun, CHEAP as HELL, and some look GORGEOUS (particular 2D stuff, but Infinite Blade in particular- SO PRETTY), but overall, using touch and tilt controls are quick, easy and simple. Just good, good stuff.
Some games even have virtual buttons and control pads onscreen, and a lot have free demo versions- the Ultimate Spider-Man game in particular uses a layout like that and it's a great 3D brawler with tight controls that looks better than the old Playstation versions of Spidey, which ain't saying a lot, but considering that this isn't a console- great stuff.
Overall, iPad does just about anything and does it well.
And the funny thing is, I still haven't explored all of the stuff it can do- I've only had it a couple of days, but I'm in love with it. The $499 starting price tag is pretty steep, but DAMN if it's not the coolest gadget I've ever seen! I don't typically mess much with gadgets- I've seen too many people that get obsessed and spend a fortune on their iPod or PocketPC or whatever- but this one's something that the whole family can enjoy, and it has so many things that you can do while actually sitting on the couch and relaxing, or out on the go, that I can't help but give it my highest possible recommendation for anyone that likes doing anything mentioned above!
So when I first heard about the iPad, I was thrilled for one reason and one reason only- the idea that maybe, just maybe, I would finally be able to read my digital comics on the couch, on trips, in the bathroom- wherever, as long as I didn't have to do it hunched over the computer, or using the clunky touchpad interface on a shitty, cumbersome laptop.
With that little intro out of the way, let me begin: the iPad is just about the best goddamn gadget I've ever owned.
The screen is nice, big, crisp, and clear. That said, I definitely recommend a screen protector, but try to get one 'professionally' installed- you can snag 'em for around $4, but you'll never get one installed without the static from the thing attracting every dust mote from miles around. (Yeah, so I fucked up 4 of 'em trying to install my own.)
Backlighting is adjustable, so you can get a comfortable setting in any lighting situation. Battery life is pretty dependent on what brightness level you initially set, but I've played for hours and hours and haven't even gotten the thing down to 50% yet.
The touch screen is super responsive. The ability to turn the damn thing in any direction and have it auto-turn the screen is wicked cool and comes in handy for both reading comics (2-page spreads!) and playing games where you have to tilt the screen.
Typing on it is a breeze once you get used to it; you can turn the screen for a wider or slimmer keyboard and just hammer at it with your thumbs. I was Facebooking and posting and chatting all last night with it.
That's nice, Chups, but what the fuck can it do?
Shit, just about anything.
It runs iPhone and iPod apps as well as its own, and you can pretty much find an app for anything you might wanna do, in addition to what the iPad does on its own.
Basically, out of the package you're looking at gaming, email, movies/shows/etc., web browsing, a YouTube-specific app, a GPS, address book, a notepad for noting stuff to yourself (and I think you can record short voice memos with that), and probably more junk I'm forgetting.
Add a few apps and you can read comics, ebooks, emags, whatever. In addition to being a hell of a comic reader, it's PERFECT for PDFs. I HATE the PDF format because the reading interface on any PDF reader (especially Adobe's) is complete shit, feels unnatural and clunky, and I just HATE it. With the iPad and CloudReader (free, btw) app, I've fallen in love with PDFs all over again- they read just like any comic or ebook in my library. I can't even say enough good things about it.
And if you have a good video conversion app (*COUGH* DVDFab *COUGH* not free but epic stellar best converter evar *COUGH*), you can convert blurays, dvds, and just about any other video file you want to iPad-optimized m4v videos quickly and easily, and MAN does The Dark Knight look good on it! (Alternately, there are video streaming apps that you can use to stream stuff from your PC to the iPad, but I haven't messed with that yet.)
And the games!!! Addictive, fun, CHEAP as HELL, and some look GORGEOUS (particular 2D stuff, but Infinite Blade in particular- SO PRETTY), but overall, using touch and tilt controls are quick, easy and simple. Just good, good stuff.
Some games even have virtual buttons and control pads onscreen, and a lot have free demo versions- the Ultimate Spider-Man game in particular uses a layout like that and it's a great 3D brawler with tight controls that looks better than the old Playstation versions of Spidey, which ain't saying a lot, but considering that this isn't a console- great stuff.
Overall, iPad does just about anything and does it well.
And the funny thing is, I still haven't explored all of the stuff it can do- I've only had it a couple of days, but I'm in love with it. The $499 starting price tag is pretty steep, but DAMN if it's not the coolest gadget I've ever seen! I don't typically mess much with gadgets- I've seen too many people that get obsessed and spend a fortune on their iPod or PocketPC or whatever- but this one's something that the whole family can enjoy, and it has so many things that you can do while actually sitting on the couch and relaxing, or out on the go, that I can't help but give it my highest possible recommendation for anyone that likes doing anything mentioned above!
