Apple iPad2 landed here two weeks ago and is about to go back, sadly, to Apple. We had fun testing it out while it was here though and surpise surprise this PC office may just be adopting an iPad in the future!

 

 

Darren, first thoughts on iPad are as follows:

For years now I have been a PC person. To put it bluntly I’ve always hated apple products, not because they’re apple, but because of the price and hype from people I knew thoroughly got on my nerves. If I wasn’t an apple owner I was nothing. Having the same equipment, which I could build myself, which I like, and it was half to one quarter of the price of an apple Mac or other Mac computer. And if I built it I could fix it myself too.

That was many eons ago.

Fast forward to 2011 or 2010, take your pick. Touch screens, smart phones, tablets are essentially just throw away items now. It breaks down you can send it back to the manufacturer but there’s no real guarantee it’s going to be fixable.

Last night, because of my partners disabilities, sometimes she gets migraines to the point where she is very sensitive to any kind of light at all and even down to the flickering of the television. For that matter some nights, because of my own problems with this Spina Bifida, I can’t stay still in bed and cannot sleep.

We got the TED talk app and found that was really useful for those nights. I could walk around and still watch the on-line media, I could sit by my partner and keep an eye on her but still not disturb her in any way while I watched TED, BBC News, iPlayer or any other entertainment show.

The iPad 2 is light enough that I could hold it, watch the shows, and not have any fatigue in my arms or wrists from holding it for long periods of time watching shows. You can lock the rotation into one place as well, so if you turn onto your side in bed watching a show the screen won’t kick what you’re viewing from the horizontal full screen view into the vertical windowed view like most devices will, those that are loaded with the Accelerometer functionality that is, these days.

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Cj; I’ve used both PCs and Mac computers though I will admit that the first time I was sat in front of a Mac I almost cringed. I’d heard all sorts of things, most often that they were “computers made for dummies”, from a previous partner back in the mid ‘80s. So when I Was confronted by an Apple computer, while in a college program found sound recording and design, I wondered where I was going. Soon I realised there are things that Apple/Mac are better at, and things that PCs are better at. Back then, the ‘90s, it as Pro Tools that was the music industry work horse for digital sound recording, nobody could touch its capabilities back then, but Pro Tools was built for Mac.

It is just a simple case of “The right tool for the right job”.

Mind you I’ve always had a problem with the cost of them. Like Darren I wondered why so expensive. At one time they had a good point, as the company jealously held onto control of all the parts put into their machines and did not allow third party makers of anything inside that white (or off white/grey) box. They wanted to keep the quality top notch, so they said.

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The iPad 2 is here now and, though not the first touch screen or indeed tablet we’ve had here, it is very different. First of all it’s the Apple iOS and not Andriod, new to us here. We don’t have an iPhone here and when we do receive iPhone apps to test we rope in a friend or two to help.

The iPad 2 is the latest incarnation of the Apple tablets and is thinner than the original. You can get it in two colours, black or white, has 2 cameras built in, front and back, plus several really fun and helpful preloaded apps.

 

 

You’ve got the Dual-core Apple A5 chip running the show too so it has plenty of processing muscle in there too. 

 

Accessories can include covers, a docking station, special cables for connecting your digital camera to the iPad, a Bluetooth keyboard and the Apple Digital AV adapter. We have the iPad Smart Cover which is easy to fit and not only keeps your iPad screen covered when not in use but also works as a stand when you want to watch a TED talk or YouTube video while leaving your hands free.

First of all if you don’t have an iTunes account you will need one. I signed up and one thing I liked straight off was it does not force you to provide a payment method to use it, only if you buy an application or piece of music that has a price tag attached will it then ask you to input this data. As it is you can download free apps all you like without ever giving your card details, if you select that option.

As for those of us who are disabled the OS is easy to use, the touch screen is just responsive enough for me, not overly touchy either so I did not get anywhere near as many frustrating errors in touching things to move a screen and getting apps starting up that I didn’t want to enable to begin with.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt with my mobile phone too many times to count.

We both liked being able to access TED, BBC iPlayer, and so many other on-line media streams from anywhere in the place. One option that did come along for the ride, our review unit, was the iPad Smart Cover which proved very handy in all sorts of ways.

First off for keeping the iPad screen safe, most importantlys, but also this little thing is magnetically attached in a way that you can then fold it in various ways to act as a stand for the iPad as you sit it on a table, bed stand, or desk so it stays upright and you can listen to your tunes or watch a video hands free. There’s another thing I noticed right off though as well, anyone who is arthritic and may have a difficult time holding something as slim as this will find it much easier with the Smart Cover folded up behind it. This way it gave even my extra long fingers a good grip on the iPad and it was comfortable too.

 

 

The LED-backlit display was very easy on the eyes and neither of us suffered eye strain from using the iPad no matter how long we sat watching videos, shows, or flipped through text or pictures. With iTunes loaded on my PC I was able to sync the iPad, keeping a safe record of all the apps I had downloaded, and I was easily able to load a music CD to the iPad for listening to via the headphone jack and loaded iPod app on the iPad.

Easy Peasy!

But then that’s what Apple has always done best, making things easy to use for everyone.

 

 

So, after testing the iPad2 out for ourselves for a day or two first, we asked one of those friends (Bruce) to come on over and have a look at this, for his expertise in the iOS field.

If you are a current iPhone user, either iPhone 3 or iPhone 4, and are looking at this tablet you’ll have no problem jumping right in and using it straight out of the box. A lot of the functions and look of the OS on the iPad2 are the same as your phone, with maybe a few extra tweaks to the look and feel as well as it being a much larger screen. Other than that the controls are all going to be very familiar to you.

App Icons, all those apps you’ll want to install, function in the same way as on the iPhones. If you want to move them you do the same thing as usual, touch and hold till they start to jump then move them between screens (or virtual desktops) as per usual. The little “X” comes up for delete as well here and will delete that particular app. I could not, however, find the way in which I could create a folder on the desktop to arrange my icons in categories (Games, News, Entertainment...)

**A new review on the apps will be published and the link added here so keep your eyes on this space!

Storage options, there are three, are 16Gig, 32 Gig and 64Gig. They do not come cheap, though comparing these to other brands of similar product this time Apple are not the most expensive out there. For example:

• 16Gig Wi-Fi usually starts at about £399  Wi-Fi + 3G £499

• 32Gig Wi-Fi unit is £479 while the Wi-Fi + 3G is £579

• 64Gig Wi-Fi will set you back £559 and the Wi-Fi + 3G £659

You do have the option of a few mobile carriers who are offering the iPad 2 with their services so look around and find something you can afford, it's worth it!

So now is comes down to the verdict:  If you do have the money to purchase this, we would go with the WiFi enabled. So we both say BUY the Apple iPad 2.

Here are the specs, with some of my own thoughts along with some of them.

iPad2 dimensions:

It is light and has a very good size screen for watching videos, writing notes to myself, checking on Twitter or reading the news.

• Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)

• Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)

• Depth: 0.34 inch (8.8 mm)

• Weight: 1.33 pounds (603.277 g)

With 3G the only thing that changes is weight, by a miniscule amount, from 1.33 pounds (603.277 g) to 1.34 pounds (607.813 g). Not a big difference and you won’t notice that. What you will notice is that with the 3G you will have to have a data contract with a mobile carrier who handles these and that can run you a further £25 per month. Is it worth it? I don’t think so, personally. I have the Kindle for instance, 3G and Wi-Fi, and I’ve not ever been so desperate for a book download that I couldn’t get it while at home and using my own Wi-Fi yet.

Wireless and Mobile (Cellular) Conectivity.

The iPad 2 with Wi-Fi:

• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

The iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and 3G however:

• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

• UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

• Data only

The Bluetooth will come in handy, and it is on both versions of the iPad 2, as there are Bluetooth keyboards and other items out for this that will expand the abilities and use of the iPad 2, making it easier to use in some circumstances.

The Display is clear, crisp, and easy on the eyes too.

• 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology

• 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)

• Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

• Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Processor is a 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 custom designed and high-performance, low power “system-on-a-chip” as they call it. We found that the iPad does respond quickly, apps load pretty fast, and everything we did with it went fast and smooth. We tried out all sorts of video, audio, pod casts, even watching TED talk and BBC iPlayer without a problem.

Cameras, photos, even video recording are all available for your creative moments.

• Back camera: Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still camera with 5x digital zoom

• Front camera: Video recording, VGA up to 30 frames per second with audio; VGA-quality still camera

• Tap to control exposure for video or stills

• Photo and video Geo-tagging over Wi-Fi

Power:

Wi-Fi:

• Built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

• Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video or listening to music

• Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

Wi-Fi and 3G:

• Built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

• Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video or listening to music

• Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using 3G data network

• Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

We had it, out of the box, charged to about 80% and it was still at 30% two days later. That’s under fairly normal use, I’d say, of watching a few video news bits before going to sleep, downloading some apps and testing them out, and watching some TV shows on the second day as well as a pod cast. So all in all in the first two days that’s 3 hours of streaming video, 2 hours of games, a good 3 hours of getting familiar with all the little preloaded apps and exploring, then an hour of pod casts and picture taking. So all in there is very good battery life in this.

Input/Output

Wi-Fi:

• 30-pin dock connector port

• 3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack

• Built-in speaker

• Microphone

Wi-Fi and 3G:

• 30-pin dock connector port

• 3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack

• Built-in speaker

• Microphone

• Micro-SIM card tray

Again the only difference between the two units available is the addition of a Micro-SIM card tray.

The 30-pin dock gives you the option of adding a few accessories out on the market now, the stereo headphone jack allows you to use any set of earphones/headphones that have the minijack to plug into the iPad 2 so you can listen to your shows or music without disturbing others. The microphone is there so that you can record notes to yourself or use for the sound portion of any video you may want to record using either of the two cameras.

Sensors

• Three-axis gyro

• Accelerometer

• Ambient light sensor

Location

Wi-Fi:

• Wi-Fi

• Digital compass

Wi-Fi and 3G:

• Wi-Fi

• Digital compass

• Assisted GPS

• Cellular

Audio Playback

• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz

• Audio formats supported: HE-AAC (V1 and V2), AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

• User-configurable maximum volume limit

• Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound pass-through with Apple Digital AV Adapter (sold separately)

Mail Attachment Support

Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Languages

Language support for:

English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan and Vietnamese

Keyboard support for:

English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), French (Canadian), French (Switzerland), German, Traditional Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Zhuyin, Cangjie, Wubihua), Simplified Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Wubihua), Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji, Ten Key), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Estonian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Latvian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian (Cyrillic/Latin), Catalan, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Macedonian and Cherokee

Dictionary support (enables predictive text and autocorrect) for:

English (U.S.), English (UK), French, German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malaysian, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan, Vietnamese and Cherokee

Accessibility

• Support for playback of closed-captioned content

• VoiceOver screen reader

• Full-screen zoom magnification

• White on black display

• Mono audio

Enviromental requirements

• Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)

• Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)

• Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing

• Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)

System Requirements:

Mac System Requirements

• Mac computer with USB 2.0 port

• Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later

• iTunes 10.2 or later recommended

• (free download from www.itunes.com/download)

• iTunes Store account

• Internet access

Windows System Requirements

• PC with USB 2.0 port

• Windows 7; Windows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later

• iTunes 10.2 or later recommended

• (free download from www.itunes.com/download)

• iTunes Store account

• Internet access

In the Box:

• iPad

• Dock Connector to USB Cable

• 10W USB Power Adapter

• Documentation

Environmental status report

iPad embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:

• Arsenic-free display glass

• BFR-free

• Mercury-free LED-backlit display

• PVC-free

• Recyclable aluminium and glass enclosure

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