After a week of usage, here are my thoughts

[Drag Bunt]

it's a friggin electronic device, not the cure for cancer.

That's #9 on the disappointment list.

 

[newfmp3]

The Internet is used as a research tool by everyone. it is good to have forums like these to have a way where we can express our likes and dislikes of a product. Companies can find this forum using google just as I did and if there is enough of a concern or demand for a certain change, you never know it might just get heard. We see this happen all of the time.

So do not think of someone's rants as useless nonsense, I have seen first hand how little forums like this can make a difference. No product is perfect.

Call me captain obvious, but some just don't seem to get this and take other people criticisms personally.

 

[G.P]

The Internet is used as a research tool by everyone. it is good to have forums like these to have a way where we can express our likes and dislikes of a product. Companies can find this forum using google just as I did and if there is enough of a concern or demand for a certain change, you never know it might just get heard. We see this happen all of the time.

So do not think of someone's rants as useless nonsense, I have seen first hand how little forums like this can make a difference. No product is perfect.

Call me captain obvious, but some just don't seem to get this and take other people criticisms personally.

Bravo...

 

[Stingray]

Thanks to everyone. This has been a very pleasant experience and the vast majority of you are very knowledgeable and tolerant. I agree that it's threads like these that help others make decisions.

Ok, permit me one more rant/question. And, this is not something I would have even thought about pre-sale. It IS a big disappointment and one that would have caused me not to purchase the iPad had I been buying it for myself. In other words, this is a showstopper.

I have a Droid Incredible phone. I do web surfing on it like most people do on their phones. Often times, especially with regular websites not optimized for phones, the web page is too small to read the print. So, I just use the normal multi-touch to enlarge the web page. The page enlarges and the text re-flows to fit the screen. It's easier to read and I'm a happy camper. This works the way it should on ALL web sites, not just ones optimized for mobile devices.

On the iPad it's different, unless you can help me with a setting. When I enlarge a web page on the iPad to make a web page larger the text doesn't re-flow to fit the new size. In fact, it's worse since the text now goes right off the right hand side of the screen. For every line I must drag it to the page to see the rest of the text and then drag the screen back to see the beginning of the next line. This is very annoying and bothersome and makes the experience of reading a web page just a pain. Sometimes I'll just read a few lines and then either shrink it down and squint or just give up on that page.

So, here's the question: Is there a setting that makes it flow properly to fit the screen size like the Droid does? Or is this just the way the iPad OS works? Is it this way on the iPhone also?

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Seadog]

You have a large range of sizes that you can expand the page to, and often if you just move to landscape view, it is plenty big enough to read. I have never had troubles with the font size and I am blind as a bat. I just need to enlarge short pieces at times. Of course, sometimes I will just enlarge sections to eliminate the advertising clutter on the sides.

 

[mac]

I'd be interested in that answer too.

Maybe I'm the only person on the planet who wants this, but I'd like a larger iPad. Maybe around 12 to 13 inches instead of 10. It'd be just as easy/difficult to lug around and those few extra inches of screen real estate would make a huge difference (at least to me) - and they might even be able to squeeze a little more power into the thing with more space in the guts.

 

[muyoso]

Yea, I was taken aback from the get go with the Safari Browser when I was able to enlarge it to the point of only having a couple characters on the screen. On my Windows Mobile phone using Opera, the text reflows automatically once you zoom in to your desired text size, so that all you have to do is scroll down. The iPhone HAS to have this feature doesn't it? How else would you read a website on an iPhone then, unless you were forced to visit the mobile version of every site? So can it be ported to the iPad somehow?

 

[Paul Gardiner]

That is very kind of you!

 

[Incog]

My love hate relationship with my iPad

The iPad totally rocks. If you have one you can't help but love it! However, it doesn't take very long to figure out that it is heavy and hard to hold while trying to respond to an email, watch a movie or play a game. Thank God I found a new product called ePillow. It changed the way I use my iPad!

 

[cookie40]

You go purpleorchid.....you guys really know your stuff....

 

[RAC]

Ok, guys. I don't dislike the iPad. But, I have my price. I'd like it a heck of alot if it were $150, had an SD card slot, USB ports and HDMI out.

I think that the time will come when I see all those things for $150 but it won't be made by Apple.

I agree that the most worrisome aspect is the "Walled Garden" mentally, so many unnecessary restrictions. I will definitely be be comparing the iPad to Android devices in a few years time and opneness will be an important factor.

 

[dupont2005]

Hey, I'd like Ferrari's if they were 30 grand
I don't even think the iPod Touch is $150 new yet

 

[FatalDesain]

Coming from an apple hater I think ur being to hard on the ipad. Typing will always suck on anything touch unless swype is on there and I still don't like that much. Second buy used u find much better deals. Just got my mom a 64gb for 550 and got my gf a 16 gb for 350 off craigslist. If I were to sell these now I would make a profit.

I will always prefer my laptop at home over the iPad but for her it's iPad all day. She badly touches her laptop now. What makes the iPad great are apps and jailbreaking. Trust me I wish android was closer to iOS as I would take it anyway. But I'm about to get a third iPad for me because everybody loves theirs so much I dont get time to play wit.

 

[Wakawaka]

You seem to forget this is a luxury item..

And you compare/complain about price. Either you need a higher paying job, or asses your needs vs wants.

Sorry, but you complaining makes me laugh a little..

 

[Macgirl]

I think it's the best thing since white bread