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"This Best Selling Apple iPad 2 – 16gb WiFi Tends to SELL OUT VERY FAST! If this is a MUST HAVE product, be sure to Order Now at Amazon.co.uk to avoid disappointment!"
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What customers say about Apple iPad 2 – 16gb WiFi?
Very good, but a few cautionary points.,
I’m sure the vast majority of those buying an iPad 2 will be very pleased with it. For the most part it lives up to the hype and is a very seductive piece of kit. After downloading iTunes onto the computer and registering, setting up the iPad is a doddle as it’s simply a case of connecting it to the computer and the automatic ‘synching’ process does the rest.
Connecting to the internet via Wi-Fi with my ‘N’ router was as easy as entering the password and I have to say the response time of the Safari web browser was very impressive, with pages loading very quickly making web browsing a joy. The screen is a gem being bold and bright and large enough to be regarded as a serious web browsing monitor. The only slight criticism, which is often referred to, is how quickly the screen becomes covered in fingerprints. But I hasten to add the need to clean it only becomes apparent after you’ve turned the thing off and isn’t a problem during use.
Of course, Apps are a huge attraction and there’s a lot of fun to be had from browsing the App Store and downloading from the huge amount available, many of which are free and even the paid ones don’t exactly break the bank. And apps can be downloaded directly onto the iPad, there’s no need to sync them from the computer to the device.
If, like me, you enjoy keeping up with the news and catching up with missed TV programmes then apps like BBC iPlayer, Sky news for iPad, and the (currently free) Channel 4oD are obvious choices and are very impressive on the iPad. A YouTube app also comes as standard and there have been comments about losing Wi-Fi connection whilst using it which I did experience a few times. This may need to be fixed in a future update but it reconnected quickly and wasn’t a big problem.
Criticism is bound to be subjective but there are a few things I’d refer to. Firstly, it seems that most people don’t appear to have a problem with setting up their email account on the iPad, but for me it was a non starter. I have Outlook Express on my desktop PC and have never had problems setting up email accounts before. But my iPad just wouldn’t receive emails – sending emails, yes, but it wouldn’t receive them. I spent the better part of two days trying to beat this problem, but tech help both at Apple and my ISP along with lots of forum trawling couldn’t resolve it. I tried setting it up manually, then synching OE from the computer, but all to no avail. Others seem to have had no problems in this respect so maybe it’s just my bad luck.
The second thing is battery life. In just about every iPad review I’ve read, 10 hours seems to be the boastful claim and I notice other reviewers here are similarly impressed. Well, perhaps that 10 hours is possible with Wi-Fi turned off. But in my experience using the iPad with Wi-Fi turned on drained the battery in half that time. So, maybe time between charges depends on how much you surf the net. If not, then maybe mine had a substandard battery.
My third criticism is maybe due to the success of the iPad design. It’s a beautiful thing and deceptively solid and strong, which is a good thing, right? But it’s sleek, slim, highly polished profile makes for quite a ‘slippery’ unit. Using it on your lap or a table is fine but holding it as, say, an ebook reader (and iBooks, together with the Kindle app, are excellent by the way) can sometimes be a little frustrating as you try to work out the best way to hold it for any length of time.
Then there’s the lack of Flash support which means that if you’re someone who likes to watch video clips on the internet, or indeed any video content that requires Flash, then you’re going to be frustrated by Apple’s stubborn refusal to allow it to run on the iPad. There are a few apps and freeware programs out there which attempt to get around this issue but I wouldn’t put too much faith in them at present. But if Flash is of no concern to you then obviously this can be discounted.
And finally, there’s the price. Although the iPad2 is good value when compared to the original I think those of us in the UK still get legally mugged. To some extent we can thank the VAT hike to 20% which means that no less than a hefty £90 of a 64Gb iPad2 price is VAT. Of course, that’s no fault of Apple but it does make the overall cost an important consideration.
If price isn’t a concern and you don’t mind shelling out so much for something that will probably be superseded by iPad3 in less than a year – and you’re not frustrated by the email account problems I had and the niggles I refer to above then I’d say the iPad 2 is a serious contender for anyone looking for a tablet which, by all accounts, sets a standard in terms of design, build, and sheer usability that the ‘android’ competitors are still struggling to compete with.
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|Brilliant piece of kit.,
To be honest I wasn’t really in the market for a tablet. But after I found I was using my smart phone in which to check my mail, check the news and finding myself getting somewhat frustrated at the small screen size I decided; “What the heck” and did a trawl for the best tablet for me. Initially the I-Pad was out of the running simply because of the price. But after looking around at the competition it soon became very clear, that actually the I-Pad was the only worthy contender: Dual Core Chip, fantastic build quality, capacitive touch screen and best of all it is so intuitive in use.
I ordered off of Apple (Got the free engraving) and through their website was able to check its progress: China, Middle East,Germany,England. The I-Pad arrives fully charged, however if like me and this is your first Apple product you need to download I-Tunes in which to register the product. (No other-way to get it working)
Well, to turn it on, you depress the wee button on the top of the Pad, It’s up and running within seconds and I mean seconds. To access your mail touch the mail app (Ok,you do have to enter your e-mail details first) and again within seconds you are checking your e-mail. Check the internet, touch the Safari app (Safari is the Apple version of Window Explorer/Firefox/Opera etc) very smooth again within seconds I’m surfing the net.
The battery lasts around 10 hours and takes up to a couple to recharge.
Now I suppose the main selling point for a lot of people will be the applications (Apps) that are available. I simply bought a couple of pre-paid vouchers in town and entered them into my I-tunes account. Its as easy as that and you don’t have to enter any bank details anywhere. Every-time I purchase an app within a few days I receive a receipt (e-mail) from apple informing me of my purchase.
I’ve downloaded a backgammon app. (Ok) the Daily mail app (Don’t laugh as the app is really something else.) Which costs £[] for the year and as somebody who reads the Guardian on a daily basis and the Economist on a weekly one I will be purchasing it once the free period runs out in Aug. What I’m saying here is from what I’ve seen of the difference in Android and Apple apps. Apple wins hands down in the quality stakes.
I’ve downloaded the bookshelf app and currently have 4 books downloaded. To be honest I just wanted to know what they would be like and as the books were a lot cheaper than the usual paperbacks I purchase I thought I’d try them out. Well reading them is no different to reading a real book and you get the bonus of being able to instantly check out what any word means. Simply by moving your finger across the screen the pages move back or forth. However I can’t see myself giving up the pleasure of reading a real book any-time soon. For a start you never ever worry about a book.
I also purchased a plastic screen protector. Now having fitted a Zagg Invisible Shield to my phone I knew fitting one to the I-Pad would be a job and a half. Guess what it was. However I recommend buying one of the wee packs (3 or 6) in which to get used to fitting a screen protector without coming up with something that looks like an aero bar.
All in all, I am most impressed with the I-Pad, my only gripe is how anything connected to Apple is so damn expensive. On the other side of the coin you get what you pay for. At the moment the I-Pad2 is the best tablet on the market with the most peripherals, yes there are lots of competitors in the background. But if you want the best, then there’s simply no contest.
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|A ‘Magic’ device,
I recently bought an iPad 2 as a retirement present for my wife. She was a teacher and would not mind me saying that she was not always comfortable with the increasing requirement to use I.T. within that profession. In fact she could have been described as technophobic as far as I.T. was concerned. The reason that I describe the iPad as a magic product is that in a very short time it has changed all that completely. To illustrate I will point out that a key criterion for the suitability of a handbag is now whether or not it can accommodate the iPad! My wife and this little device have become inseparable.
I can readily understand why. The speed, ease of use and compactness of this little unit is simply awe inspiring. I had no previous experience of Apple but I must admit that I can now begin to understand what its legion of devotees see in it. One is not going to sit down with an iPad to write a thesis or prepare business accounts but for ‘surfing’ to access information quickly and for keeping personal material, such as a diary and photographs, for quick and easy access it is superb. The touch screen technology and the clarity of the on-screen image is brilliant. There is simply no loss of quality of either sound or picture when using it to view programmes on sites such as BBC iPlayer. Film buffs could certainly get tremendous enjoyment from downloading and viewing movies on an iPad, although of course they would need to invest in more than the 16gb version to do this.
If you can accept the slightly higher price compared to other copy-cat products and the occasional inconvenience of not being able to use certain devices, such as flash player, that are not part of the ‘World of Apple’ then this device is well worth considering. It is indeed truly ‘magic’.
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