xoom now, but considering ipad 2...

[milkmilklemonade]

I'll start by saying the only loyalty I have product wise is to my money, and I want it to go towards the best product for me. My phone is an evo 4g, but I have every iPod of the new lineup with the exception of my 2nd Gen iPod touch. I actually like iTunes, and having never had an ipad I was ready to shell out the money and get one. However best buy was sold out and having the ability to demo the xoom there, I had no problems purchasing it and evaluating it over the return window. There's not much I dislike about it to be honest, but the lack of apps is bothering me a bit right now, and I have a feeling finding third party accessories for it will be a problem in the future with all the other android tablets coming out. I feel ipad is the safer bet, but after spending time with the xoom I'm left wondering how the ipad 2 handles some of the xoom's functionality..

Off the top of my head right now (I'll think of more later) -



1. Skyfire browser supposedly shows some flash videos, how is your experience with it? I'm particularly interested in gametrailers and ebaumsworld videos, can they be viewed in anyway (frash?) through the ipad 2?

2. There's a website where I browse sheet music in PDF format - can I go online and
directly download and view the files through the ipad 2? On the xoom its seamless quick and easy - how would I do it on the ipad 2?

3. I browse a lot of forums, I love using the full website rather than an app like tapatalk - would that be doable on the ipad 2?

4. My main interest is website viewing, I want the best possible most complete experience in non mobile mode - what's your day to day viewing like?

5. If anyone uses Symphony Pro - is there any problem with the ipads screen size and placing notes on the staff or editing?

Again, this post is directed towards mature people who are not defined by what product they own, people who realize how utterly insignificant what tablet they own will be once were all in our graves at the end of our life. Those are the people I want responding.

 

[Thphilli]

The iPad should do what you want fairly well. The only thing that might not work as seemlessly as you want is downloading something and viewing it through a separate app. Apple has created an OS where each OS has their own folder and cannot see anything in any other folder, so to view a PDF in say Goodreader, it has to be in the Goodreader folder. This makes downloading things and using them a little wonky at times. Also, I don't think Safari has the ability to download at this point, so you will need a third party browser like iCabMobile.

As for flash browsing, yea it exists but its frustrating and kind of horrible. Skyfire is pretty good but doesn't work with anything other than video. iSwifter works pretty well for video and other things, but is an AWFUL browser overall. Puffin is raved about by some but I find it kind of mediocre.

Also, if you are looking for a tablet that will have accessories and support in the Android ecosystem, you will probably want to look towards Samsung products. I have a feeling they will be launching in massive quantities. No Android tablet will have the awesome selection of accessories that the iPad and iPad2 has though, just for the simple reason of how many millions there are out on the market.

 

[SporkLover]

1. Both of those websites worked great in skyfire and safari for me.

2. You can open in safari, or download into iBooks or other PDF editing apps.

3. I am doing that now. I don't use tapatalk at all. Lack of physical keyboard slows down typing though.

4. I don't come across very many websites that arent iPad friendly. It has pretty much replaced my laptop for around the house surfing.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions

 

[milkmilklemonade]

1. Both of those websites worked great in skyfire and safari for me.

2. You can open in safari, or download into iBooks or other PDF editing apps.

3. I am doing that now. I don't use tapatalk at all. Lack of physical keyboard slows down typing though.

4. I don't come across very many websites that arent iPad friendly. It has pretty much replaced my laptop for around the house surfing.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions

So the videos played on each site? The gametrailers didn't play videos in the store, but all they had was safari and I didn't know if it was current or not.

 

[volcanopele]

1. I don't use Skyfire. Keep in mind that the Flash video situation for the iPad has really improved over the last year as more websites, including Gametrailers and eBaumsworld, add support for HTML5. These upgrades allow you to view videos from these sites using the built-in Safari browser. I just tested Gametrailers and eBaumsworld and both display video just fine in Safari, but Gametrailers doesn't do it inline like most other sites I've seen. GT works just fine though otherwise. You will still find websites that don't support HTML5, like ESPN3.com, but they are slowly being fixed either by adding that support or by released a dedicated app.

2. You can view downloaded PDFs in Safari, and you can also have it opened in your favorite PDF reader (Goodreader is my favorite).

3. Browsing forums in Safari works just fine. Apps like Tapatalk or iPF are needed when you want to upload a file to a post.

4. Browsing is pretty nice. There are only a few sites that annoy me, like Google Reader and Google Calendar, where you are stuck with either the mobile version which doesn't look very good on a tablet, or try to use the desktop version that doesn't work very well due to their multiple frames. You may also have some websites read the iPad as a mobile device, like Gizmodo and Twitter. A few though do have tablet-specific versions, like Yahoo.

 

[SporkLover]

1. Both of those websites worked great in skyfire and safari for me.

2. You can open in safari, or download into iBooks or other PDF editing apps.

3. I am doing that now. I don't use tapatalk at all. Lack of physical keyboard slows down typing though.

4. I don't come across very many websites that arent iPad friendly. It has pretty much replaced my laptop for around the house surfing.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions

So the videos played on each site? The gametrailers didn't play videos in the store, but all they had was safari and I didn't know if it was current or not.

Yup worked fine. I tested on my ipad1 and ipad2. As the previous poster mentioned, gametrailers isn't inline, but it works great.