The [iPad Thread] is coming soon to a Verizon Wireless retail store near you

superspork

Storage isn't as big of a concern for me. That said if I can get a lot more space for less money why not. The main reason I'm having trouble making up my mind is the fear that some fun app won't work right or well (or even at all) because of less RAM or older hardware. Or that there are awesome things I can do with the cameras or annoyances with web browsing or other stuff because of the more limited memory. I'm basically wanting to know if people can give me some first hand info on how much of a difference (or how little) the newer hardware of the iPad makes when it comes to using it. Even if its not a use I mentioned above it'd be nice to hear because I might find myself doing stuff with it that I hadn't thought of or wanted to do before I got one.

Big Red Tie

if it's just the tradeoff between the space vs. performance (and cameras and form factor etc) with the same prices

definitely ipad 2. especially for more intensive games you will notice a difference, and some games support improved ipad 2 graphics due to the hardware. also for web browsing, you can hold more tabs and have a snappier experience using the device overall

the form factor of the ipad 2 is also way more comfortable to hold than the ipad 1, and smart covers are really useful (and got updated recently)

plus most content can be accessed remotely, so the need for that space is pretty unnecessary (i use my ipad 2 for web, video streaming, games, videochat and skype etc) and 16 gb has easily been enough

rockmonkey

I would go with the ipad 2. The hardware difference is just going to show more as time goes by. Plus the form factor of the thinner lighter ipad 2 is not to be dismissed lightly.

Honestly I'm storing several movies and episodes ON my 64GB ipad 2. I'm talking over a dozen movies and probably as many episodes and the thing isn't anywhere near full. Granted I don't have 20k songs or anything, but I do have quite a few apps, pics, and probably 1k songs on their as well and it's not anywhere near full so the smaller capacity ipad 2 should work just fine for you.

syndalis

iPad 2 all the way.

I used one briefly, and it made going back to my iPad 1 feel fucking godawful for like a week or two, it is that much snappier.

Monoxide

You definitely want the iPad 2. The iPad 1 is 18 months old at this point. Unless you plan on replacing it with an iPad 3 in April, it's going to feel slow now, and only get worse as time goes on.

superspork

Ok, so a resounding yes to the ipad2. Any rservations about getting a refurb? Any recommended accessories, etc. (besides the smart cover)? Might as well get most of what I need for it at one time.

admanb

Apple refurbs are pretty reliable, from everything I hear.

RBach

Besides, Apple's refurbs have the same warranty as the new stuff (and are still eligible for AppleCare).

Septus

I very recently read that when the battery in an iPad dies, they don't give you a new battery, they just give you a new iPad, but the stated reason was that Apple can't(or more likely won't?) replace the battery. This would indicate that to me that a refurb has an old, unremovable battery? Any ideas if this is true?

Mr_Rose

Where did you read that?
As for refurbs and batteries, of course they can be removed; you just need a soldering iron and somewhere a bit cleaner than the genius bar to do it. The refurb guys have the gear and the labs to fit a new battery, but the guys in the stores who actually have to take in pads with dead/dying batteries simply don't. In the long run it's chaper to give a customer a new unit and send the old one back for refurbsishing than to set up every Apple retail location with a solder station and a stock of new batteries.

Djeet

Apple states that they put a new battery and chassis on each refurb iPad. Quote: All refurbished iPad models also include a brand new battery and outer shell.

Septus

Yeah, I can't remember where I saw the link, and I was making an assumption about refurbs because of it.

Gihgehls

Big Red Tie wrote:

the form factor of the ipad 2 is also way more comfortable to hold than the ipad 1, and smart covers are really useful (and got updated recently)

A what what?

syndalis

Gihgehls wrote:

Big Red Tie wrote:

the form factor of the ipad 2 is also way more comfortable to hold than the ipad 1, and smart covers are really useful (and got updated recently)

A what what?

Brighter colors, the interior color matches the outer color on all models, and they dropped orange from the list.

Sharp10r

So...I don't know when this changed, because I had read/heard that wifi syncing required it to be plugged in. But- I am currently syncing while it isn't plugged in. Not too worried since I have 93% battery, but I just had no idea it was possible. I opened iTunes on the mac and hit "sync."

elevature

Sharp10r wrote:

So...I don't know when this changed, because I had read/heard that wifi syncing required it to be plugged in. But- I am currently syncing while it isn't plugged in. Not too worried since I have 93% battery, but I just had no idea it was possible. I opened iTunes on the mac and hit "sync."

It only needs to be plugged in once to set it to sync over wifi, then it never needs to be plugged in again (unless you're doing a restore or something). It should sync automatically when the iPhone/iPad is plugged in and connected to wifi and the Mac is on and iTunes is open. Or you can, as you did, force a sync even when it's not plugged in.

Edit: You meant plugged in to the wall, not to the computer. I'm dumb. But yeah, you can sync it wirelessly if it's not connected to power, but it won't automatically sync unless it's plugged in.

Mr_Rose

It...never changed?
At least, that's always been the case for the consumer release of iOS5. IIRC you can do it from Settings on the iDevice too.

Edit: I think it also auto-syncs when iTunes first opens for the day, but I can't be certain.

Sharp10r

Ah K. Works as Designed then. Cool. My bedroom gets spotty wifi so it usually doesn't like to sync when I charge it for the night. Good to know I can force it like this- even if it is STILL syncing (I purchased an HD episode of Walking Dead, so most was file transfer).

superspork

Welp, I ordered a 32GB iPad2 this morning. Should be getting it in next week. Gonna be fun to play around with.

Big Red Tie

man i fucking love air video

Mr_Rose

Rejoice, iPad Classic users! iOS 5.0.1 is here, and enables gestures on the original!
It also allegedly fixes some 'battery life issues' and a couple other things that may or may not have more to do with the iPhone than iPad.

Anyone noticed a difference yet? :P

elevature

I'm so glad gestures are back. I had enabled them before through Xcode, but iOS5 broke that and I kept futilely swiping out of habit and nothing would happen.

Mr_Rose

I gotta say this OTA delta update stuff is pretty boss. Sometime this morning, my pad beeped at me and offered the install option; I set it going, went back to what I was doing and by the time I checked back it was done and had even restored the last app I was using.

BobCesca

Still not been able to download the update. Keeps saying the connection timed out or something. Blergh.

EDIT: Finally managed to get it by downloading OTA rather than through iTunes. Loving the gestures

Dhalphir

hi guys

my wife's parents are thinking of buying my wife and I an ipad 2 (or possibly an ipad3 in march) as our xmas present. We've been talking about buying a Kindle Fire for our trip to Europe in June 2012 so that we have some mobile internet access while over there, as well as a portable entertainment device.

They've suggested they buy the ipad as it would fill the role better than the Kindle Fire - I agree with that much - however it is MUCH more expensive. Even though I'm not buying it myself, and even though its an awesome gadget and I want one so badly - I'm not sure what i actually want it FOR.

I'd feel a bit bad having them spend that kind of money on us solely for use in six months time when we travel. As much as I want a cool gadget like the ipad, I really don't want to have it and then just have it sitting on our coffee table for six months because I can't figure out something useful to use it for.

I don't (currently) have any practical business use for it. Sometime in the future I will probably be on the road as a sales executive a lot, and I can see the appeal of it then, but for the foreseeable future (6-12 months) I'm not going to have any business use for it in the office.

I would have zero use for the iPad as an e-reader as I currently already have a Kindle 3 Keyboard, and the Kindle is better in every way for that purpose (better screen, better book options, better battery life, more portable).

I have no use for it as a gaming machine.

Basically my question is - is it worth getting an iPad when I cannot actually think of a reason to use it yet? Am I going to suddenly discover a whole range of uses that I never thought of once I have it?

T4CT

Short answer is yes

Long answer is that you'll find your use of the PC for basic functions diminishes considerably; browsing and checking emails and the like are way easier to do on a device that you can carry around the house than a device you have to be in a room to use.

My biggest example would be that since we haven't record a new podcast episode in a week, my MacBook pro has been dead. For three days straight. I haven't had to use it becaus my iPads do everything I need.

Drez

Can someone explain iCloud to me? One app that I use a lot - iA Writer - just updated to be compatible with iCloud. iA Writer is a word processor and I do make considerable use of it, so iCloud support would be pretty awesome.

Do I have to do anything particular to enable iCloud to back up documents created/edited in the app? I think I already set up an iCloud account back when iOS 5.0 came out.

But to be honest I'm confused by the whole thing.

Mr_Rose

Go into Settings.app and set up your iCloud account if you haven't already; if you have an iTunes store account this will basically become your iCloud account too.
Once that's done, you ought to see iCloud as an option for storing documents in iA Writer.app, next to the local store and Dropbox (if you have that; it is highly recommended for all sorts of purposes too).

Anyway, once the diddly bit is out of the way, it seems like the iA Writer folks have decided to let you just write directly to iCloud like it is another storage device, giving you probably a couple of gigs of space to keep text files.

Drez

Mr_Rose wrote:

Go into Settings.app and set up your iCloud account if you haven't already; if you have an iTunes store account this will basically become your iCloud account too.
Once that's done, you ought to see iCloud as an option for storing documents in iA Writer.app, next to the local store and Dropbox (if you have that; it is highly recommended for all sorts of purposes too).

Awesome, thanks.

I do have a dropbox account, but how does that work? I don't want/need all the documents in my dropbox to be in iCloud or on my iPad. Does it just dump stuff there too or does it fully sync with dropbox?

Mr_Rose

Looks like its again just another 'drive' to keep stuff on. I don't know for sure how much is backed up with iA Writer as part of the regular backup but I don't see any synchronisation with Dropbox directly.

syndalis

As much as I wanted iCloud to replace it, Dropbox is still the bomb when it comes to keeping the files on your Mac available to your iDevices.

rockmonkey

Dhalphir wrote:

hi guys

my wife's parents are thinking of buying my wife and I an ipad 2 (or possibly an ipad3 in march) as our xmas present. We've been talking about buying a Kindle Fire for our trip to Europe in June 2012 so that we have some mobile internet access while over there, as well as a portable entertainment device.

They've suggested they buy the ipad as it would fill the role better than the Kindle Fire - I agree with that much - however it is MUCH more expensive. Even though I'm not buying it myself, and even though its an awesome gadget and I want one so badly - I'm not sure what i actually want it FOR.

I'd feel a bit bad having them spend that kind of money on us solely for use in six months time when we travel. As much as I want a cool gadget like the ipad, I really don't want to have it and then just have it sitting on our coffee table for six months because I can't figure out something useful to use it for.

I don't (currently) have any practical business use for it. Sometime in the future I will probably be on the road as a sales executive a lot, and I can see the appeal of it then, but for the foreseeable future (6-12 months) I'm not going to have any business use for it in the office.

I would have zero use for the iPad as an e-reader as I currently already have a Kindle 3 Keyboard, and the Kindle is better in every way for that purpose (better screen, better book options, better battery life, more portable).

I have no use for it as a gaming machine.

Basically my question is - is it worth getting an iPad when I cannot actually think of a reason to use it yet? Am I going to suddenly discover a whole range of uses that I never thought of once I have it?

I am still amazed at how much my wife and I use our iPad 2s on a daily basis. I'm never on my desktop like I used to be. It's way easier to just grab for a minute than a laptop. I wasn't specifically thinking of games when I got mine either, but you would be surprised by some of the games it has, not just the shallow cheap fun games like you are used to on a cell phone, but real full bodied games.

I browse the web while watching tv, clean up my inbox or sent emails to family while sitting on the couch. Watch netflix or hulu plus in bed. I don't even use my 1st gen ipod touch for music much, I'll plop my ipad on my ipod speakre dock and listen to mp3s or the radio (TuneIN app) while in the kitchen. It's great for recipes while in the kitchen as well.

If they get you an ipad2 then I suggest you go and buy a smart cover, infinitely handy.

I honestly don't take mine out of the house with my unless we are traveling and then I can watch videos or read or play games. My 2.5 year old loves watching her disney/pixar stuff.

Dhalphir

i hunted in the options of our new ipad but couldn't find this - is there a way to reverse the direction of scrolling? like, moving my finger down scrolls down, instead of the fancy iphone style where its expecting you to treat the screen like a physical strip of paper that you are sliding up and down

Professor Snugglesworth

What programs do you guys recommend for the following:

1. Downloading files from my PC to the iPad. Dropbox has a paltry storage limit, Box was working for me for a while but for some reason won't display files now.

2. Remote accessing my PC, say for selecting Steam games while I sit in front of the big TV with a gamepad. An Apple rep suggested iTeleport, which is a pricey app ($19.99), but so far the free alternatives have been rather laggy.

3. Turning my iPad into a virtual keyboard for my PC (like say, if I wanted to add extra keyboard commands for games, or to use it to chat with friends on Steam).

Naturally, I'd like the free alternatives first, but if the stuff that costs money is worth it, then I'll look into those too.

admanb

Is TeamViewer in the list of laggy ones?

I don't think there's a way to remote access a desktop from an iPad without it being laggy, tbh.

Abracadaniel

iTeleport is pretty good, though if you can score LogMeIn's app on sale (Christmas) it has the added benefit of web-based remote access.

Magic Mouse is an app that might be able to do some of the secondary keyboard/touchpad stuff for you.

Re Dropbox: I've got nearly 11GB of free storage and haven't paid a dime. Get people to use your affiliate link to sign up and you get bonus storage. Do their survey thing on the site and you get more. Or bite the bullet and pay for their incredibly awesome service.

Weretaco

I use Splashtop for remote connections to my home PC. It is.. oddly fast, on wifi it's fast enough to watch video over or interact with a flash page. I believe it's even what monoxide used to play fallout on with a 360 gamepad in a separate room.

I use remotemouse (paid version) for simple keyboard/trackpad style controls and it works nicely.

Professor Snugglesworth

Smart Hero wrote:

iTeleport is pretty good, though if you can score LogMeIn's app on sale (Christmas) it has the added benefit of web-based remote access.

Magic Mouse is an app that might be able to do some of the secondary keyboard/touchpad stuff for you.

Re Dropbox: I've got nearly 11GB of free storage and haven't paid a dime. Get people to use your affiliate link to sign up and you get bonus storage. Do their survey thing on the site and you get more. Or bite the bullet and pay for their incredibly awesome service.

Can't find Magic Mouse on the app store. Got a link?

Abracadaniel

Sorry, Mobile Mouse.

Dhalphir

so I'm using the twitch.tv app for my ipad, and it only displays in one orientation. Is this a thing with some apps? Is there a workaround to force it to rotate as I change the ipad orientation?