Apple Ipad

[Abrak]

Well I just went to MBK and bought on.

16GB versions are pretty well everywhere on the 4th floor. It looks like prices have already come down - I was offered them for Bt25k before negotiation - is still pretty expensive but getting more reasonable.

The problem is (1) finding higher capacity 64GB in particular and also (2) an even bigger price premium. I paid Bt33,500 for 64GB ( and bought two) - the only other shop that had them wanted Bt35,000. I suspect that premium will come down eventually. The problem I find is that as it plays video well you get through the GBs pretty fast. I have filled over 50GB without even trying (music limited to playlists, video to stuff I havent seen.)

By the way, I dont know if someone has already mentioned this but MyWi works like a dream. Great for surfing/email but presonably totally useless for downloading media.

Given that tethering is free the 3G version is probably unworkable, unneccessary and a waste of money. But then again, who am I to speak, I just spent 40% extra on the wifi ipad.

I do have one minor gripe with it. The sound is pretty piss poor. Reminds me of when the first iphones came out. To a large extent this is a media playing device. You would think that you could put some music on and listen to it in your hotel room. Well I guess you can if you stand very still and listen carefully.

[Somtamnication]

33k for the 64 is ok, for the first week. I gather they will be around that anyway once they are launched here. Keep us updated on what you like and do not like.

[negreanu]

Strange that you think the sound is not so great. Most reviews I have seen online say the sound is good and loud from the built in speaker.

[Abrak]

33k for the 64 is ok, for the first week. I gather they will be around that anyway once they are launched here. Keep us updated on what you like and do not like.

Well here as some first thoughts..... (really it is for itouch and iphone users)

First of all the rather strange thing about the Ipad is that it doesnt have a manual. You get a little envelope with 3 pieces of paper in it. (1) One is comprised of two stickers of a big white apple. I assume these are meant for your children as you wont be playing with them that evening (2) Well this one does actually run to 7 pages - you know submersing your ipad underwater may materially effect its performance (3) This single 6" by 4" card is the important one. On one side it shows a picture of the ipad with on/off, screen lock, vol up/down and home (if you do not have a product in your box that resembles the pic you are in trouble). On the other side they have only used half the page with instructions - namely 1. download itunes (please note this is an important one) 2. connect your ipad 3. follow the instructions.

Bottom line is that if your 80 year old grandmother cannot work out how to use it I think you should feel no guilt in sending her off to a nursing home.

The good news....

(1) The screen really is incredibly good, far better than you have seen on anything. Now the important thing about the screen (apart from PSL) is that although it is small (and possibly even smaller than you might imagine) it is still the right size. Rather like a paperback you dont feel the need for it to be bigger because the quality is so good.

(2) I have a UK account and they already have about 700 apps for ipad up on it. No ibooks there yet and some of the good ones missing but plenty to be getting on with.

(3) The battery life is incredible or maybe I should admit that the iphone 3GS battery is crap. I am still at 70% and I have been fiddling with it for 24 hours. (For some reason it doesnt seem to charge off my notebook.) I mention this, in particular, because Apple has a habit of claiming great battery lives which then dont really turn out to bear much resemblance to reality.

(4) It has been described as an iphone on acid and that pretty much sums it up.

a. With an app soundhand you choose a song from your library and it plays the video full screen (if you like) to go with it.

b. I really like the newspaper magazine apps (Time, GQ, WSJ) all great. I just subscribed to the free (non premium version) of the WSJ and stopped counting at 50 pages. Waiting for something like the Times.

c. If you say use the Bloomberg App on the iphone the Bloomberg ipad (real time prices inc Thai stocks) is 3x better.

(7) The mail app is 3x better than iphone mail. It is far more like windows mail with emails and contents on different sides of the screen but the big plus is the virtual keyboard...

(8) Look the virtual keyboard is not as good as the real thing. If we gave the real thing a 10 and the iphone keyboard a 2, this is pretty much about an 8 or a 7 if you call a notebook keyboard an 8. On the other hand multitouch navigation is much better than those pads they have on a notebook. Answering emails on an iphone is a joke - this is just fine.

(9) MyWi is hassle free and works great for surfing and email.

(10) a criticism is that the speakers are at the bottom so can be muffled on your lap and the earphone point is at the top so the wires can flop over the screen - simply rotate the screen 180 degrees.

(11) Another criticism, the rather thick black bezel round the screen also serves a purpose. If it wasnt there you would always be activating something on the screen when you hold it.

Ok the negatives (again this is just my experience)

(1) I dont find the thing super fast. I might be being a bit unfair - carried away by some of the press or say the speed of the iphone. When you boot it up from complete shut down it takes 13 seconds and our phones occasionally achieve that and our pcs never do. Apps dont really seem to open super fast to me.

(2) The lack of multitasking is rather more irritating than you might imagine. You stare at the screen while it takes 2 minutes to download the WSJ knowing that if you do something else imbetween it wont download. (Of course you could just get a cold beer or something.)

(3) I am not really convinced by the greatest surfing experience ever claims. The main problem is no tabs (although there is a tabs App I havent tried).

(4) As I mentioned before the speakers arent great.

So to sum it up. 16gb ipad isnt going to cut it with this machine as a personal tablet - it maybe good for the boardroom. If you are planning to watch videos, series etc I think you need 64GB and I suspect you will end up needing more. MyWi works well over wifi but that is an iphone toy. I havent been able to tether over bluetooth which is sort of annoying for some phone owners (and of course there is no USB.)

My feeling is that it will be a game changer in the same way as the iphone. It does lots of things better than a netbook/notebook, speed, boot up, return from sleep (0.5 seconds), photos, videos, apps, battery life, size, screen quality - a few things as least as well surfing, email and it is bound to fail I suspect on things like spreadsheets, documentation creation etc.

But at the end of the day these things will become ubiquitous in the boardroom, toilet, living room, children's playroom, bedroom and many road warriors will be dumping their notebooks. Those road warriors who fiddle with their laptop on the plane - if you look carefully all they are really doing is playing minesweeper and solitaire.

@Negreneau. Well a lot of the sound quality is slightly dependent on how you view the machine. I am sure it is better than netbooks and even the majority of notebooks. It isnt good enough to switch on a playlist in a decent sized room and here some decent sound though. For that you will need an external pair of bluetooth speakers like the Soundmatters FoxLv2.

[negreanu]

Well a lot of the sound quality is slightly dependent on how you view the machine. I am sure it is better than netbooks and even the majority of notebooks. It isnt good enough to switch on a playlist in a decent sized room and here some decent sound though. For that you will need an external pair of bluetooth speakers like the Soundmatters FoxLv2.

Yeh dont really think that they are intended for that purpose. Although good enough for gaming and decent enough to listen to music while using the ipad for browsing etc. i gather.

Multi tasking will be coming in Summer 2010 for ipad and iphone so not a deal killer.

[TheLaughingMan]

Ok caved in and went to MBK to buy one. Had to WALK from Asok to MBK to get it.... thanks military parade heading towards the red shirts that had the BTS closed and no taxis in sight..... I really wanted my dam_n Ipad. So after a long hot sweaty walk with loudspeaker propaganda being blasted in my ear half the way I finally arrived at MBK and bought a 32 gig for 28k. I flucking love it.

Biggest complaint..... I use a Japanese credit card and I cannot buy pages and numbers which was the entire point of buying an ipad, to work on my documents. I will have to wait until next month when they release the ipad in Japan to finally actually use the ipad for the purpose it was purchased for. Unbelievable that apple needs to control every little detail of my life and restrict me from buying their software. I hope they die in a fire.... but keep supplying me with the electronic gadgets I am so addicted to.

[sniffdog]

Just saw a Tuk Tuk on Silom Rd with an ad on the back selling iPad's for 18,xxx Baht

fuc_k me...

No worries...I'd wager that if you went to the advertised shop, you'd find that the box had the Apple logo in the wrong colour and the manual was in really bad Engrish. It's didn't take long for Chinese sweatshops to start turning out iPones. Or should that be iPhoneys.

Bet they have an advert set up in the booth that goes something like:

Today of the Mobile computing of splendid iPat enjoy the world. Your life never for the second time is not the same!

Probably they advertised the IPid ....

[hughden]

Ok caved in and went to MBK to buy one. Had to WALK from Asok to MBK to get it.... thanks military parade heading towards the red shirts that had the BTS closed and no taxis in sight..... I really wanted my dam_n Ipad. So after a long hot sweaty walk with loudspeaker propaganda being blasted in my ear half the way I finally arrived at MBK and bought a 32 gig for 28k. I flucking love it.

Biggest complaint..... I use a Japanese credit card and I cannot buy pages and numbers which was the entire point of buying an ipad, to work on my documents. I will have to wait until next month when they release the ipad in Japan to finally actually use the ipad for the purpose it was purchased for. Unbelievable that apple needs to control every little detail of my life and restrict me from buying their software. I hope they die in a fire.... but keep supplying me with the electronic gadgets I am so addicted to.

Have to admire your tenacity! You can buy US Store gift vouchers from eBay and set up a US iTunes store account (you have to give an address, but any address will do).

[hughden]

33k for the 64 is ok, for the first week. I gather they will be around that anyway once they are launched here. Keep us updated on what you like and do not like.

Well here as some first thoughts..... (really it is for itouch and iphone users)

First of all the rather strange thing about the Ipad is that it doesnt have a manual. You get a little envelope with 3 pieces of paper in it. (1) One is comprised of two stickers of a big white apple. I assume these are meant for your children as you wont be playing with them that evening (2) Well this one does actually run to 7 pages - you know submersing your ipad underwater may materially effect its performance (3) This single 6" by 4" card is the important one. On one side it shows a picture of the ipad with on/off, screen lock, vol up/down and home (if you do not have a product in your box that resembles the pic you are in trouble). On the other side they have only used half the page with instructions - namely 1. download itunes (please note this is an important one) 2. connect your ipad 3. follow the instructions.

Bottom line is that if your 80 year old grandmother cannot work out how to use it I think you should feel no guilt in sending her off to a nursing home.

The good news....

(1) The screen really is incredibly good, far better than you have seen on anything. Now the important thing about the screen (apart from PSL) is that although it is small (and possibly even smaller than you might imagine) it is still the right size. Rather like a paperback you dont feel the need for it to be bigger because the quality is so good.

(2) I have a UK account and they already have about 700 apps for ipad up on it. No ibooks there yet and some of the good ones missing but plenty to be getting on with.

(3) The battery life is incredible or maybe I should admit that the iphone 3GS battery is crap. I am still at 70% and I have been fiddling with it for 24 hours. (For some reason it doesnt seem to charge off my notebook.) I mention this, in particular, because Apple has a habit of claiming great battery lives which then dont really turn out to bear much resemblance to reality.

(4) It has been described as an iphone on acid and that pretty much sums it up.

a. With an app soundhand you choose a song from your library and it plays the video full screen (if you like) to go with it.

b. I really like the newspaper magazine apps (Time, GQ, WSJ) all great. I just subscribed to the free (non premium version) of the WSJ and stopped counting at 50 pages. Waiting for something like the Times.

c. If you say use the Bloomberg App on the iphone the Bloomberg ipad (real time prices inc Thai stocks) is 3x better.

(7) The mail app is 3x better than iphone mail. It is far more like windows mail with emails and contents on different sides of the screen but the big plus is the virtual keyboard...

(8) Look the virtual keyboard is not as good as the real thing. If we gave the real thing a 10 and the iphone keyboard a 2, this is pretty much about an 8 or a 7 if you call a notebook keyboard an 8. On the other hand multitouch navigation is much better than those pads they have on a notebook. Answering emails on an iphone is a joke - this is just fine.

(9) MyWi is hassle free and works great for surfing and email.

(10) a criticism is that the speakers are at the bottom so can be muffled on your lap and the earphone point is at the top so the wires can flop over the screen - simply rotate the screen 180 degrees.

(11) Another criticism, the rather thick black bezel round the screen also serves a purpose. If it wasnt there you would always be activating something on the screen when you hold it.

Ok the negatives (again this is just my experience)

(1) I dont find the thing super fast. I might be being a bit unfair - carried away by some of the press or say the speed of the iphone. When you boot it up from complete shut down it takes 13 seconds and our phones occasionally achieve that and our pcs never do. Apps dont really seem to open super fast to me.

(2) The lack of multitasking is rather more irritating than you might imagine. You stare at the screen while it takes 2 minutes to download the WSJ knowing that if you do something else imbetween it wont download. (Of course you could just get a cold beer or something.)

(3) I am not really convinced by the greatest surfing experience ever claims. The main problem is no tabs (although there is a tabs App I havent tried).

(4) As I mentioned before the speakers arent great.

So to sum it up. 16gb ipad isnt going to cut it with this machine as a personal tablet - it maybe good for the boardroom. If you are planning to watch videos, series etc I think you need 64GB and I suspect you will end up needing more. MyWi works well over wifi but that is an iphone toy. I havent been able to tether over bluetooth which is sort of annoying for some phone owners (and of course there is no USB.)

My feeling is that it will be a game changer in the same way as the iphone. It does lots of things better than a netbook/notebook, speed, boot up, return from sleep (0.5 seconds), photos, videos, apps, battery life, size, screen quality - a few things as least as well surfing, email and it is bound to fail I suspect on things like spreadsheets, documentation creation etc.

But at the end of the day these things will become ubiquitous in the boardroom, toilet, living room, children's playroom, bedroom and many road warriors will be dumping their notebooks. Those road warriors who fiddle with their laptop on the plane - if you look carefully all they are really doing is playing minesweeper and solitaire.

@Negreneau. Well a lot of the sound quality is slightly dependent on how you view the machine. I am sure it is better than netbooks and even the majority of notebooks. It isnt good enough to switch on a playlist in a decent sized room and here some decent sound though. For that you will need an external pair of bluetooth speakers like the Soundmatters FoxLv2.

Thanks for taking the time to give feedback. Was going to wait until they were officially released, but reports like yours are making it difficult!

[TheLaughingMan]

Ok typing this review very quickly from my iPad, it really is amazing, typing as fast as a regular keyboard.

Oh my god...... Ok that's not good lol, just typed a big review and got curious about the "undo" button on my keyboard.... fuc_k me I just deleted my entire review. Figured it deleted the last word...... Well I ain't typing it again, here's the points:

The wifi seems great, no problems or speed issues whatsoever.

Photo app is incredible

IBook app, this is what reading books was meant to be like in the year 2010.

Videos are crisp and clear even for low quality videos.

Email is super easy and fun to use.

Browsing the Internet is a dream, although even with this big screen was a little disappointed, it's not as big as I'd hoped, still good, just not as big as I'd imagined.

[ThanonFarang]

There is an instruction manual built in to Safari - it is one of the links. I have found no need to look at it yet though.

My battery life is not as good. Wonder if I got a lemon. I get probably four hours of use in a charge, mostly email/surfing. I have my brightness cranked all the way up though.

[HDRIDER]

First of all its Apple that’s why the battery don’t last, but let me give you the advise I always get here when I have complained about iphone battery life, turn everything off and it will last for a couple of days, or buy an extra battery, ohhh sorry you can’t change battery, is that why you buy something there can do “everything”????

[nikster]

There is an instruction manual built in to Safari - it is one of the links. I have found no need to look at it yet though.

My battery life is not as good. Wonder if I got a lemon. I get probably four hours of use in a charge, mostly email/surfing. I have my brightness cranked all the way up though.

return it. websites report 10 - 11 hours normal

[Abrak]

There is an instruction manual built in to Safari - it is one of the links. I have found no need to look at it yet though.

My battery life is not as good. Wonder if I got a lemon. I get probably four hours of use in a charge, mostly email/surfing. I have my brightness cranked all the way up though.

You should definitely get at least 10 Hours of email/surfing.

However screen brightness is by far the most sensitive battery issue. even on my iPhone I can get 3x the batter life by adjusting screen brightness. I read one iPad review that said someone got 6 hours usage at 90% brightness and 9 hours usage at 60% brightness. So I would be pretty sure it is your screen brightness level.

Why you would want to set the screen brightness at 100% I don't know. It won't give you a sun tan.

[negreanu]

Have to admire your tenacity! You can buy US Store gift vouchers from eBay and set up a US iTunes store account (you have to give an address, but any address will do).

Best places for Itunes US cards with ultra fast delivery been using these for 2 years now never a problem would recommend one of these over any ebay seller. at least these are not fake and will not get your itunes account banned.

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[ThanonFarang]

It won't give you a sun tan.

Lies! Does too! My iPad also makes excellent coffee, tells me I am handsome once an hour and doubles as a fantastic pillow!

[Abrak]

Well good news for everyone who is thinking about buying an iPad in Thailand but thinks the price is a bit of a rip off.

I am currently in Dubai, having in an Ozymandias moment. The first shop I walk into.has a stack of 50 ipads from 16GB up to 64 GB. Well, there was not even a queue. Still the 16GB was Bt38,000 and the 64GB and equally impressive Bt55,000. I was so chuffed by this highly imaginative pricing that I asked at two other places (16GB only) and the cheapest was Bt36k.

From that perspective prices at MBK look like a bargain.

They have done wonders with the traffic here.

[TheLaughingMan]

Sweet! Now I can feel like I got a bargain at 28k for the 32g! hehe, I can be happy until they are released in a couple of months for 17k, then I can be sad, but for now...HAPPY!

[TheLaughingMan]

Just like to say I'm pleased to discover the iPad is a fantastic magazine and comic book reader. The perfect size for this. There are numerous apps to do this, most cost money, but I found one that is free and lets me upload my digital comics and manga to my ipad and read them, perfect. Although the paid for versions do make it easier and more enjoyable to read comics, the free one does the job well enough.

[Abrak]

Sweet! Now I can feel like I got a bargain at 28k for the 32g! hehe, I can be happy until they are released in a couple of months for 17k, then I can be sad, but for now...HAPPY!

Actually my theory is that the bummer on the pricing is going to come with the 3 G version (I am not convinced this is that relevant to Thailand users.)

You see what is going to happen is that the telcos are going to sell the 3G + GPS version for the same price as the wifi version to anyone who signs to a 2 year data contract.

If you think about it this is very likely because 1. Telcos always subsidize hardware 2. apple are charging US$130 more for 3G and GPS chipsets worth US$20. So unlikenthe iPhone they are taking their telco margin up front rather than out of the subscriber revenue.

I also think this little game is behind the delayed launch of the 3 G model.

[negreanu]

Don't think there will be a contract on the 3G version same as USA. I would imagine Apple will be discussing the data package options with Dtac and True so the product will be the same as the US product.

IF they are going to sell the 3G version here or stick with the Wifi only model which is a distinct possibility.

[Crushdepth]

You need a 3G network to use the 3G connectivity. We'll probably have that by 2050, don't worry.

[Somtamnication]

And that 3g is not compatible to the one here in Thailand. So, buyer beware if you buy one in the US and bring it over.

[negreanu]

Got 32gb in mbk today for 27k. From my regular shop most places asking 28k-30k.

Probably because iam a handsome man.

ref 3G pretty sure Apple IF they release the 3G ipad it will be on true with a similar non contract as the US 3G deal.

Enjoying surfing at 3G speeds here in Bangkok using TRUE 3G and mywi on iPhone 3gs.

Bliss....

[TheLaughingMan]

Theyve already got a jailbreak for it, but Geohot wont release it until firmware 4.0 comes out to keep apple from patching it with 4.0, that is in a few months... I would rather have the jailbreak now and worry about a new jailbreak later.

[negreanu]

The 1 major issue: Wifi weakness. Seen it on 2 ipads on 2 different routers. dam_n.

Seems i am not the only one judging by the 35 page thread in the apple support forums. Hope they get a fix soon.

(written on iPad in landscape mode using two hands, just as quick as my normal typing on a real keyboard)

[TheLaughingMan]

I must have a nice wifi network because I havent noticed a weak wifi signal, but I did read about it.

[negreanu]

I must have a nice wifi network because I havent noticed a weak wifi signal, but I did read about it.

As far as I can tell its defo a range thing within about 30-50ft of the router it's fine. I would imagine a firmware upgrade will sort it out.

Now the hard bit: Choosing a case. Don't like Apples offering - prefer a slip case kind of cover although a stand would be nice. hmmm.

[negreanu]

For the user with the questionable Battery life. I can also replicate that poor life with max brightness music playing wifi on browsing/email and occasional html5 video.

As stated earlier by another poster i do not think you have a defective unit. It's down to your screen brightness selection. Remember this is a IPS panel they consume a lot of power more than a TFT panel (2 transistors per pixel instead of 1).

However in return you get a awesome screen with better colours/viewing angles and clarity. I do not think you should need to run at full brightness even if you knock it down to 60-75% you will dramatically improve your battery life.

[TheLaughingMan]

I couldnt find a screen protector... so my ipad is still in its plastic wrap! hehe, better than nothing. Let me know if anyone finds a screen protector.