IPad disappointment

[Superbike81]

Well, his may be 19 seconds just because of a slower Internet connection in general.

But I too have noticed that everything from web pages to YouTube videos load up faster on my computer than they do my iPad, although that is expected. Using the Atomic web browser improved load times a little, but that browser had it's own problems, like not being able to post on a forum like this one.

So far trying several different things to get YouTube videos to stream faster has not worked. The iPad loads websites faster than my phone, but YouTube videos load WAY slower on the iPad for some unknown reason.

 

[graywolf]

I agree with the OP. I think the iPad does a pretty good job for a portable device, but compared to my desktop PC I would guess it is at best 50% as fast at rendering web pages. That being said, comparing the iPad hardware to my PC I think that is pretty good. I think the real bottle neck with the iPad is the extremely small amount of system RAM. I am betting the next generation will address that issue.

According to CPU teardowns, the iPad has 2 gb of ram. But 3/4 of it is usually taken up by springboard and if you don't clear out your multitasking bar it has significantly less. So yes, the iPad 2 needs more ram

 

[graywolf]

Well, his may be 19 seconds just because of a slower Internet connection in general.

But I too have noticed that everything from web pages to YouTube videos load up faster on my cell phone than they do my iPad. Using the Atomic web browser improved load times a little, but that browser had it's own problems, like not being able to post on a forum like this one.

The YouTube app automatically tries to stream videos in HD so they take longer. Your phone will use SD.

 

[Superbike81]

When I did the tests, I didn't use the YouTube App on the cell phone for that reason, I set my browser to think it was Firefox so I could select the quality. I selected the highest quality available (which was 720p on this particular video) and the phone had it completely loaded and playing before the iPad was even 1/3 of the way loaded.

Same thing on my PC. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the iPad rendering videos, it seems to be the iPad streaming the data slower for some reason which makes no sense.

 

[Demandarin]

Its probaly ur connection speeds that are slow. My ipad loads the pages verryy fast. Faster thn desktop or laptop. Wrks just fine over here ;-)

 

[Superbike81]

There is no way your iPad loads that website faster than a desktop computer. If it does, your computer is either seriously old or has a serious virus.

 

[Demandarin]

There is no way your iPad loads that website faster than a desktop computer. If it does, your computer is either seriously old or has a serious virus.

U right, lmao! The pc i have is a dinosaur BUT ive compared it to current generation laptops etc...and loads it just as fast ;-). Plus ipad boot up times are light years faster thn laptop or desktop. Still even faster thn the macbook air.

 

[DaveSt]

I agree with the OP. I think the iPad does a pretty good job for a portable device, but compared to my desktop PC I would guess it is at best 50% as fast at rendering web pages. That being said, comparing the iPad hardware to my PC I think that is pretty good. I think the real bottle neck with the iPad is the extremely small amount of system RAM. I am betting the next generation will address that issue.

According to CPU teardowns, the iPad has 2 gb of ram. But 3/4 of it is usually taken up by springboard and if you don't clear out your multitasking bar it has significantly less. So yes, the iPad 2 needs more ram

The iPad does not have anywhere near 2GB of RAM. It might have a 2GB ROM for the operating system (not sure about that just guessing) but it has 256MB of RAM, just like the iPod Touch. The iPhone 4 by comparison has 512MB of RAM. I am betting that the next generation iPad will have at least 512MB and more likely 1GB of RAM to work with which will help with web browsing because entire pages can be loaded into memory instead of half pages like you get with intense sites right now.

I think the iPad actually does a pretty good job at web browsing considering the fact that it is basically cell phone hardware with a big screen on it. It doesn't render pages anywhere near what my PC does, but then again I can't put my PC on my lap without some serious discomfort.

 

[Superbike81]

There is no way your iPad loads that website faster than a desktop computer. If it does, your computer is either seriously old or has a serious virus.

U right, lmao! The pc i have is a dinosaur BUT ive compared it to current generation laptops etc...and loads it just as fast ;-). Plus ipad boot up times are light years faster thn laptop or desktop. Still even faster thn the macbook air.

For most situations, this is true, but if you have a computer with a high quality SSD hard drive, it boots just as fast or faster than the iPad. From a cold boot both my MacBook Pro and my HTPC boot faster than my iPad does, not by much, but it's faster. This is essentially the reason I don't use the iPad much anymore and mostly just use my MBP.

The iPad does not have anywhere near 2GB of RAM. It might have a 2GB ROM for the operating system (not sure about that just guessing) but it has 256MB of RAM, just like the iPod Touch. The iPhone 4 by comparison has 512MB of RAM. I am betting that the next generation iPad will have at least 512MB and more likely 1GB of RAM to work with which will help with web browsing because entire pages can be loaded into memory instead of half pages like you get with intense sites right now.

I think the iPad actually does a pretty good job at web browsing considering the fact that it is basically cell phone hardware with a big screen on it. It doesn't render pages anywhere near what my PC does, but then again I can't put my PC on my lap without some serious discomfort.

Yup, the half loading webpages and not showing images until you scroll down to that part of the page is annoying. I'm tired of scrolling down and seeing the little cross-hatch pattern because the iPad doesn't have enough RAM to load a complex webpage.

 

[Thphilli]

OK, I just did a little test. Tested several times to make sure.

Engadget.com measured in seconds until completely loaded.

Desktop (Chrome): 2.2, 2.5, 2.3
iPad (safari): 13.8, 13.1, 12.4
iPad (iCab): 18.3, 17.9, 19.1
IPad (iCab w/adblock): 12.0, 10.9, 12.1
Epic4g (browser): 11.5, 10.2, 9.6

The iPad was rebooted before running the tests. Nothing else was running. There was nothing open in the background. My internet connection is 30/30 FIOS fiber optics. My router is spectacular. Neither my cell or my desktop were restarted. All were running on the same network.

So we learn a few things today. Chrome is the best browser in existence. Nothing loads websites faster than a desktop. The iPad and the Epic4g, which use pretty similar hardware are very close to each other using the stock browsers, with the Epic4g being around 20% faster, probably due to having twice the amount of RAM. Flash does not slow down the browser in Android when you have it set to Ondemand. iCabMobile sacrifices speed for usability but can compete with safari if you enable ad filtering.

 

[scott_R1]

Anyone who thinks an IPad is going to be as fast as a regular PC or Mac, you need to get a reality check. The IPad is not supposed to compete on speed. It is supposed to provide an alternative for those who need to perform productivity tasks and social activities without being tied down to a workstation or a laptop. They want something small that is light and doesn't need to draged around. The IPad allows freedom to pay bills, and any other things which doesn't require a full PC. In the future this will change, but for now it is what is is. It works well for what it was intended. Don't try to make the IPad what it is not. Down the road it will be as we go forward, but it takes time. That is technology. We all want more which is natural, and one day it will be there. When it is we want more again.

 

[rogatsby]

LMAO. The two resident Android trolls, Superbike and Thphilli, back at it.

 

[Mbradley0121]

I went to link from forum and it took about 5 secs and I use a router with my Alltel data USB. We don't even have 3g yet here. AT&T will be here in a few weeks.

 

[Superbike81]

LMAO. The two resident Android trolls, Superbike and Thphilli, back at it.

Back at what? Pointing out that a desktop will load a page faster unless it's ancient? Where did I mention Android anywhere? If you wanna start something, might wanna make sure you have your facts straight first.

 

[Demandarin]

LMAO. The two resident Android trolls, Superbike and Thphilli, back at it.

Lol