The Apple I-Pad Reviewed
Apple’s I-Pad was released to the viewing public in January 2010 and will appear in stores in the UK from March 2010. It is a technology buff’s dream. Moving on from the already successful I-Phone and I-Pod touch, the I-Pad performs a whole host of tasks. Here are some of the selling points… Slightly smaller than a notebook, but much larger than a mobile, the I-Pad fills the gap between the computer and phone in a niche that Apple hopes will be in popular demand from the purchasing public.
PROS:
- Speed. It shows great speed and really enjoys changing through the applications that you choose to browse. It is perfectly adept at resizing web pages, loading them quickly and efficiently, showing good handling of maps with scroll and zoom capabilities particularly praised.
- It also provides a good technology platform with increasing appeal to developers in search of a new medium for a host of applications. This includes the Apple iWork suite of publishing mediums, similar in principle to Microsoft’s Office stranglehold. Operations are quick and easy and the suite offers a real alternative to the more cumbersome notebook devices.
- It is swift and well oiled in flicking through videos, images and music. The larger screen in comparison to the I-Phone is particularly well suited to this role.
- Apple’s new ibooks application, allowing the user to pluck numerous classic novels and bestsellers from the cyberspace shelves and read them at leisure on the I-Pad, is a promising addition to the gadget – however it is not without its flaws with regard to reading such material.
CONS:
- Alongside a whole host of seemingly boundless technology, one simply cannot help feeling that despite everything that the I-Pad has to offer, it fails to provide anything new. The I-Phone and Notebook already have most things covered between them and it merely appears that the I-Pad plucks some of the best features from both in a half-hearted combination.
- Unfortunately, the I-Pad does not support Adobe Flash software, rendering many sections of numerous websites un-displayable while surfing the web. The visual browsing is good, it’s just a shame that some areas of developed web pages don’t view properly due to this flaw.
- The I-Pad also shows a distinct inability to multitask. You simply cannot listen to music at the same time as typing an email to a mate and equally you can’t surf the web whilst speaking to an instant messaging contact. Inconvenient at best and infuriatingly frustrating at worst.
- The previously mentioned ibooks element appears, at first, to be a promising feature. The ultra-bright, LCD screen with its pin sharp clarity, however, has led some reviews to suggest that it places an uncomfortable strain on the user’s eyes during reading. In addition, there is only a reported 10 hour battery life… ideal unless you are away from a charging port.