Apple iPad 2 4/5*
Something we have all become familiar with one way or another. I can safely assume that most people who have wandered into an Apple/PC World/other tech store will have stopped to have a play, even if that meant swiping through the home screens and back because you didn’t know how to work it.
Regardless the tablet trend has swept over us and we are now comfortably immersed. The iPad was one of the first tablets with some real power and use. Since then many competitors have come along such as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Asus Transformer but many still believe the iPad is the daddy! The only King!
There are thousands of iPad reviews across the web but I wouldn’t be able to call part of this blog a techy review place if I did not review my own iPad 2!
The Stats
- 9.7inch screen
- Dual-core A5 chip
- Front & back cameras
- iOS 5
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
- Wi-Fi & 3G option
- 680g
- Silver back, white & black front options
- 16GB, 32GB & 64GB options
Touchy Feely
In your hands the iPad 2 feels light and comfortable, but nothing revolutionary. Yes it’s light, but holding it in one hand still makes your arm ache after a “short” period of time. Realistically the iPad can only be used when resting against something, i.e. sitting in your lap, on a cushion, a table, and/or using a stand. Holding it up in two-hands while playing a game is comfortable and quite easy however holding it in one hand for reading or use is not going to happen much. Unless you’ve got crazy big forearms.
There are very limited cosmetics. Two cameras. 3.5mm headphone jack. Volume control, locking button, switch to lock rotation or mute. The standard Apple port.
NO SD card slot or USB port. If you want to plug anything of the such into your iPad you need to buy an adapter, if there even is one. The SD card adapter is £25! No small fee. To combat this you have the iCloud and the brilliant resources of the internet, Dropbox & google docs, etc.
The Touch Screen
Frankly it is fabulous and works exactly as expected. (So it should!) Typing is quick and smooth however mistakes are still easily made as you do not actually feel the keys you are pressing unlike a keyboard, so therefore typing on a screen with speed takes some getting used to and I am still yet to master it. (FYI this blog is wrote on my laptop, not on the iPad as I just couldn’t type accurately for this length on the pad). I’ve used and typed on my brother’s Asus Transformer recently and I found it so frustrating that the screen seemed really slow and less responsive compared to my iPad. However playing Fruit Ninja on the iPad, iPod Touch & a Samsung Galaxy S I noticed no difference with game speed and touch screen response, other than the colours and resolution seemed much cleared on the iPod Touch 4th Gen, surprising!
Don’t be completely wowed though. As I said, mistakes are made when typing and during general touch use and not everything is perfect. Problems are very rare. But don’t expect 100% flawless touching. Sometimes you press a button and it doesn’t work the first time or it thinks you have pressed a nearby button etc etc. However it is still superior to anything else I have used, but my experience is limited.
The screen is as much a fingerprint magnet as any other touch device! I’ve read many reviews saying the iPad is brilliant at keeping away fingerprints, however I think they were using a different iPad to mine! The fingerprints are not noticeable until you lock the screen or are on a particularly dark image and then they show up like a smack in the face! Wiping with a normal cloth does not really do much except smudge them, however a successful formula is a little bit of hand-sanitisation gel on a tissue and voila! Fingerprint-dissapearo.
Gaming is fast and clear. The screen is bright and colourful and a range of games are enjoyable on the iPad. Nothing more needed to be said.
Internet use
I use the internet daily through apps and safari. Webpages load exactly as you would see them on a computer, unless the website provides an iPad option such as WordPress does! Something I love! However you can always choose to see the full-site. Reading text on a website is clear due to the screen size and although sometimes text is a little small, the pinch-zoom technique is easy and clear and I rarely find a need to use it. I have a wi-fi only option and web pages and apps always load and respond at a respectable/quick speed. This will depend on your broadband connection. When connecting to my phone’s Mobile AP I have had mixed results. Sometimes I can use the internet fine, if not a little slow, and other times it simply fails to work, even though the wi-fi is clearly connected. Again this depends on your mobile signal strength and internet connection.
Apps
I am really on the fence with Apple Apps and they bring out love and hatred in me!
Yes the Apple market is HUUGEE! Not quite as huge for iPad apps but still vastly compensating! You can get an iPad app for almost anything! I stress on the almost.
However so many of the best apps are at a price! An unnecessary price considering you’ve just forked out £400-£660 on your iPad! Angry Birds is a brilliant example! Free on Android phones. Free on Android tablets. Apple want £0.69 for Angry Birds on the iPhone and £2.99 on iPad for the HD version! Justification? Doesn’t make sense to me.
So many apps I see free on Android are priced on Apple and this is my first and largest niggle with the Apple store. You pay for Apples brilliant device, but you may as well add £10-50 on top of that price to compensate for what you’ll pay on apps, depending on your iPad use. If you are a regular documents user/creator then the Pages app, a must have for document editing, will set you back £6.99.
Don’t be completely put off because there are a lot of free apps. Adequate free apps! Many of your useful, everyday apps such as facebook, twitter, wordpress and shopping brand apps are free. Plus the selection is phenomenal and you’ll always find something you want. Whether you’ll get everything you need for a price or not, only extensive searching can tell you that. However it’s unlikely that anyone can own an iPad without splashing out on a £0.69 app at least, but it is also possible that completely free app iPad users do exist.
Cameras
The iPad 2 has a front camera situated in the top middle and a rear camera, situated top right.
Brace yourself for this, the front camera is claimed to be a whopping 0.3MP, able to shoot videos at 720p HD at 30fps. The rear camera is supposedly 0.9MP, shooting videos at 1280x720p HD at 30fps.
So the video stats are pretty good but the mega pixel count is atrocious! This section wont take long as I find the cameras absolutely useless! In video calls using the front camera the quality is terrible and still photos are laughable. Using the rear camera for photos or videos is also a joke and I find the quality embarrassing. I’m aware that there are good reviews of the video quality of the iPad 2 but I’m just not seeing it. It’s probably best that you try it first and come to your own conclusion.
Regardless, I have my own digital camera for stills and a Flip HD for recording so why I would want to use my iPad for photos/videos is beyond me. If you’re an iPhone user for videos & photos the iCloud allows you to transfer your images easily across Apple products.
Battery
Apple claim 10 hours and this is probably about right, if an understatement. I haven’t recorded the battery use of my iPad but I estimate that I generally charge it every 2-3 days. My daily use of the iPad is roughly a couple of hours in the evening looking at social networking, playing games and some video viewing. At the weekend I’ll have it on standby for at least two days and use it at regular intervals without needing to charge it until Sunday night. If you sit and play a game for a long period then you’ll see the battery life drop but it doesn’t run away dramatically. I would estimate the iPad can last for about 8 hours of constant/almost-constant gaming. Charging takes quite a long time but you can use it on charge without effecting the charge too much. It differs based on personal use and perception.
Everyday use
Everyday the iPad is comfortable, easy and enjoyable to use. My iPad sits perfectly between my phone and laptop in the usage range, allowing me to browse websites, view and update social networks, research topics, short periods of typing and keeping on top of organisation. As the iPad is the only apple device I own other than an iPod Classic I cannot comment on the syncing use of the iPad to an iPhone or iPod Touch, but I expect it to be very useful, if it works successfully.
Syncing is available with Google for your mail and calendar, as is other platforms such as hotmail, so it is not completely Apple exclusive. Apps provide a range of useful tools and some iPad apps are the perfect size as a larger screen is needed.
The screen is quite reflective and is difficult to use in bright sunlight or bright weather outdoors. However most apps or webpages consist of clear, bright colours and don’t cause a problem, but you do have to have the screen tilted at the right angle.
I use my iPad in a folding sleeve case (not Apple brand) which increases the weight but keeps it protected all over. After owning my iPad for merely a day I placed it down on my chest of draws and pushed it along slightly which caused quite a large scratch on the back of my iPad! This is very unimpressive as I expected it to be a little more durable,especially as the surface of my draws is not rough, and a case was bought immediately that protects the back as well as the screen.
Niggly dislikes
- The price of apps
- The Apple exclusive club – this device is not easily compatible with other devices, even connecting to a windows computer/laptop has it’s problems. Bluetooth does not work to any devices other than selected Apple ones.
- Lack of widgets/ability to customise
- Cameras are near useless
- Not one-hand usable – light, but not feather light
Overall
The list of cons are minute and easily ignored, depending on your desired use! I’ve never regretted my iPad decision and I simply couldn’t live with a less responsive tablet screen such as that on the Asus Transformer. I want something quick and responsive for every day use. The apps I have are fine for me and many are free. I use my iPad for shopping, reading, social networking, typing, financing, organising, gaming and a whole range of daily essentials and enjoyable tasks. It saves me powering up my laptop for simple internet tasks that cannot be done on a phone and provides a quick go-to source of information when at home. If fits discretely in my medium/large sized handbag so can be taken out with me for the day or for over-night stops.
I have a 32GB and it is far substantial. I download a weekly film, have a handful of music albums, a mediocre selection of photos and around 50 apps and the memory is only 1/3 full. 16GB is likely to be enough for any average user with the exception of those heavy on music/films.
This is not a comparison review so do not read this only and think that the iPad is the best. Many tablets are competing and placing the iPad 2 as the benchmark to beat so therefore aiming higher. Many Android users will find the iPad a completely unacceptable choice due to the lack of customising and syncing and therefore the decision can be made on operating system alone.
Get out there, get hands on, and try them all our for yourself before you decide!
Take note that I have owned and used my iPad for 6 months now, unlike review companies who will be limited to a short time period with tech before reviewing.
The views and comments expressed in this post are completely the authors own and in no way reflect those of Apple or other mentioned brands and software manufacturers.
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I have always been a terrible runner! Always. I’m quite fit. I’m quite active and healthy. But I cannot run more than a few hundred metres without stopping, hand clutching a killer stitch, gasping for air.
