# Anyone underwhelmed with their iPad? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225 "2012-07-14T17:45:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/41 "2012-07-16T16:54:25Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Actually, given that, you may want to wait a bit for the Win8 tablets that will be coming out later this year. Ipads make a great media consumption device, but I’d think dumping docs would be easier in something that can accommodate thumb drives and such. I’ve been running the Win8 release preview, and it works really well on a tablet. Yeah, isn’t it supposed to have a keyboard and USB ports? I’m really thinking of getting one of these and dumping my iPad. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/42 "2012-07-16T17:47:51Z")
I ended up not using mine as much as I thought I would. It’s too big and heavy to comfortably read on the subway so I always just ended up using my ereader instead (and eventually I stopped carrying the ipad). For email and games my iphone was more convenient (again, the ability to hold it comfortably in one hand trumped the larger screen size of the ipad). I dont think ereaders are any good for pdfs though, and the iphone screen might be too small, so I would think the iPad plus something like dropbox would be the way to go. With something like dropbox you might not miss a USB port. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/43 "2012-07-16T17:50:25Z")
I just got mine over the weekend. Since I’ve had it less than 48 hours, I can’t really speak to how much I like it yet. However, I think I may find it more useful and neat than many others on this thread for one reason: I do not own any sort of smartphone. My cell phone is the dumbest of the dumb, basically, so I think that’ll increase the iPad’s utility a lot for me. That and my half hour train ride. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/44 "2012-07-16T18:24:51Z")
A tablet in general is a great browsing and gaming device. It’s so much more convenient than any laptop. I think the iPads are great hardware but their closed software environment gets on my nerves. It’s Android for me from now on, especially with nice hardware like the Google Nexus 7 coming out. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/45 "2012-07-16T18:28:48Z")
I just want to point out again that there are all kinds of great keyboard options for the iPad. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/46 "2012-07-16T19:34:41Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Also check out the Nexus 7 which has received stellar reviews. It packs in a lot of great hardware for $200 and the new Jellybean version of Android appears to be great. While the 7 inch screen means less room for media consumption, it’s much more portable and at a pinch even pocketable. I would totally check out the Nexus 7. I was lucky enough to get my iPad in a contest, if I actually needed to purchase something for myself, I’d definitely be looking at the Nexus 7. None of the locked up Android crap with the Kindle Fire and a fraction of the iPad price. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/47 "2012-07-16T19:51:51Z")
I’ve found it useful for taking along to small one-on-one investor meetings when all I need is to do show them a couple of slides. And by useful I just mean “less trouble to stuff in my purse and no time to boot up.” But that’s important because getting in front of a VC is hard enough and I don’t want to waste a single second. That said, it simply did not work out to be as useful a productivity tool as I thought it would be and its use as a business gadget is negligible since my business doesn’t function on one-on-one sales. My CTO occasionally tests on it but mostly it’s for my boyfriend to play Angry Birds while Netflix is streaming to the TV. I own about 17 different smartphones across Android, iOS, Windows and Blackberry but the one I use for myself is an iPhone. That’s what I started with and I really like it. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/48 "2012-07-16T19:55:23Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > No USB port on an iPad? Are they crazy? Like foxes. It’s for this, and other reasons, that I simply don’t use my iPads anymore. Apple makes you jump through hoops just to use their mobile devices for pretty much anything other than media consumption. Sorry, if I’m going to spend $500 and up for a device, it darned sure better do more than play movies and surf the web for me to consider it worth the money. If I get another tablet, it’ll probably be the ASUS Transformer Infinity TF700. It pretty much provides the benefits of the iPad with the ability to do actual work, and transfer files without third party software, if necessary, and yes, wonder of wonders, it has USB ports. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/49 "2012-07-16T22:25:34Z")
I have a Zagg folding keyboard case and iPad 2 that I bought about 15 months ago. It was supposed to replace my netbook, which had a crack in the main board by the AC jack. It was meh for THAT. iPad is NOT a laptop replacement. I don’t like taking class notes in pages, I can’t multitask as easily, its closed environment makes it annoying to organize files. I bought a 13" Sony Vaio laptop. If you can afford both, they are a KILLER combo. I don’t need to worry about killing another dozen laptop hard drives balancing a laptop on my bed. As well, I really like compartmentaling my life; my iPad is strictly for play, so it leads to less procrastination when I sit down to do work on the laptop! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/50 "2012-07-16T22:47:18Z")
I’m sort of meh. It’s useful to check the Internet from anywhere, but next to useless for anything that requires inputting data or anything more complex than looking at something. A Kindle or Nook is far better for reading, too (lighter, to begin with). ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/51 "2012-07-16T22:56:14Z")
Yep. The best quote I ever heard about an I-pad is that it is a fantastic tool for the consumption of information, but not so great for the production of information. You can use it for entertainment purposes, reading e-mail, etc., and it meets that niche fantastically. However, if you’re trying to type a 64-page report, inserting charts and graphs, you can’t beat a desktop unit. It all depends on what you’ll use it for. ---
**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/52 "2012-07-16T23:45:22Z")
I had an IPad2 (16GB Wireless) for about 6 months until my wife decided that our 8 y.o. granddaughter needed it more than I did. (Fair enough - I bought it for my wife but she never took a shine to it.) In that time I grew to love it. The only regret I had about it was that I could not get internet away from home unless I found a hot spot. I don’t (yet) have an iPhone so tethering was not a possibility. My thinking is that I’ll eventually get another, perhaps with 4G if the plan is priced right. I used mine mostly for entertainment, movies, games, surfing the web and email. It was great to use with Skype since you could walk around with it and show people where you are. iPhones do that too of course but I haven’t bought one yet…and the screen on the iPads is so nice and big, my old eyes appreciate the extra real estate. ---
**Author:** ![UncleNito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7cd45c/32.png) [@UncleNito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleNito)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/53 "2012-07-17T00:31:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I guess I’m thinking of it mainly as a very portable briefcase. Put all my docs in there, and I’ve got them handy for reference whenever. An iPhone could do that, but the screen is just too small. That’s exactly what mine is. I pretty much quit carrying a briefcase after I got my iPad. It’s not a very good laptop substitute, but it’s an excellent paper substitute. There are umpteen note-taking apps (I like Noteshelf) that work well with a stylus and export through any number of channels. Goodreader is a pretty powerful little PDF reader that can download documents or sync entire folders with several cloud services, and you can mark up or sign the PDFs the way you would mark up a paper document (and then sync the markup back to the cloud). I like to create a special Dropbox folder the way I used to make binders, and then sync just that folder into Goodreader, which then gives me offline access to the documents. And of course if you’re online, you can carry millions of pages around with you through the cloud service of your choice, and have a legible screen to read them on. I bought mine as a sort of consolation prize to myself (I had budgeted for Super Bowl tickets :() thinking it would primarily be a toy. I rarely use it as a toy but it’s become pretty much indispensable at work. I do recommend the 3G if you can swing it. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/54 "2012-07-17T02:00:50Z")
I have a first gen ipad. I’m somewhat ambivalent about it. I use it daily, but it’s not exactly indispensable. I use it for ebooks, watching videos, reading a few forums and sometimes writing notes or emails. My kids love games, but I use very few apps. If I had to replace it, I’d probably stick with my iphone and get a basic Kindle. I don’t usually travel with the ipad, as I almost always bring my laptop. The ipad isn’t essential, and it’s just a bit too big and heavy and expensive to be worth bringing on a whim. One tip: if you have a phone that provides a hotspot feature, consider just getting the wifi version and accessing the internet through your phone when you need it. I found I used 3G so infrequently that it’s just not worth paying for. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/55 "2012-07-17T17:26:48Z")
I’m in the “meh” camp too. I got mine to read personal e-mail at work during lunch and maybe show pictures to friends. My area has very spotty 3-G service, limiting it’s utility at e-mail. I rarely use it at home. I have a small apartment that I’m never more than a few steps from the big desktop computer. I moved toward the happy camp using my iPad as a second display on my Windows laptop with [iDisplay.](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/idisplay/id363500805?mt=8) Two screens on the road, just like at home. Wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/56 "2012-07-21T22:42:44Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > If you are not sure about the iPad, I would recommend waiting for Windows 8 tablets and see what they have to offer. The Surface has created a lot of buzz and there are some interesting devices like the Lenovo Yoga and Samsung Hybrid. > > Personally I don’t think the iPad or other similar tablets offer enough to justify a separate device. My Galaxy Note has a big screen and is pretty good for media consumption. I also have a laptop. I don’t see room for another device in between. > > What I would like is a laptop that I can also use as a tablet. And Windows 8 offers the promise of an OS that can do both reasonably well. The Hybrid, for example, has a screen with a detachable keyboard. Take the keyboard off and you can use it as a tablet mostly in the touch-friendly Metro mode. Plug the keyboard in and it should be a full-fledged Windows laptop. We will have to wait and see if it actually works but in principle that is the kind of device I want. > > Also check out the Nexus 7 which has received stellar reviews. It packs in a lot of great hardware for $200 and the new Jellybean version of Android appears to be great. While the 7 inch screen means less room for media consumption, it’s much more portable and at a pinch even pocketable. I’m so done with Microsoft, I really don’t even want to consider a Windows machine. But… I love your idea of the Hybrid! It makes so much sense. I wonder if Apple is considering something like that. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/57 "2012-07-22T12:39:54Z")
> [@echo7tango](#): > > A great use for the iPad is the Maps app. I prefer this to using a GPS. A GPS, while a great tool, gives you point-to-point directions but isn’t convenient for looking at your current location on a large-scale map. Looking at Maps gives me perspective of where I am, where I’m going, what’s around me and nearby, and where can I route myself when going from Point A to Point B. It is also continuously scalable. > > Maps requires a cell signal, but I’ve also downloaded OffMaps², which loads maps locally on my iPad so it works in remote areas. I explored Barcelona, Spain by scooter this way, and got around effectively on my first and only time there. > > I love the Maps, and the iPad’s large format is great for viewing them. The same can be said for Android tablets. In fact I believe the Google Maps app on Android is considered superior. There are also offline navigation apps for Android and Google Maps just added the capability to load offline maps. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/58 "2012-07-22T12:47:29Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > The same can be said for Android tablets. In fact I believe the Google Maps app on Android is considered superior. It is. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/59 "2012-07-22T13:24:25Z")
They’re being used where I work for a specialized application. I’ve been preparing and shipping out dozens of them. The end user walks around a facility doing what is basically a survey and entering data on the screen. Entry consists mostly of checking off boxes and choosing from drop downs. The portability makes it great for this and the way data is being entered means that the “clunky keypad” isn’t much of an issue. We also have some salespeople using them. They use them to show a company video to prospects and also for normal computer functions. They use an app (I don’t recall the name at the moment) that works like MS Office and will work with various MS documents. I haven’t received any complaints from any of the salespeople, but they also have Windows laptops so for all I know they only use the iPads to show the video. Personally I don’t care for the lack of an easily accessible file structure. I also find the onscreen keyboard to be clunky compared to a regular keyboard. They’re great for some applications, but I wouldn’t use one for a general purpose computer. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225/60 "2012-07-22T14:16:53Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > They’re great for some applications, but I wouldn’t use one for a general purpose computer. I think that’s been pretty well established. But then again, it took quite a lot of people many years to figure out what a PC could and could not do and make the necessary mental adjustments. I expect it will be the same with tablets. It is a niche tool, below PCs, on par with smart phones only with larger displays. Hell, at this point with the 4g connectivity, there’s really nothing stopping them from being used as phones except the proper software changes. For that matter, I’ve already spoken to several people who were using Skype on their iPads. I only have a wifi iPad and a Sprint non-smartphone, but I don’t see why I can’t sign into a Sprint Phone App on my iPad and use it as a phone when I’m connected to wifi. Or just change some settings to have a built in phone interface to connect to Sprint over wifi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-underwhelmed-with-their-ipad/628225.md?page=4)