Apple iPad 4 Wi-Fi only tablet review
I didn’t get the iPad at first. When the tablet was first announced, I was interested but couldn’t see the value to me. I had an e-book reader, I had a phone on which I could watch films while travelling and listen to music, and I had a laptop for everything else. Why, I wondered, did I need a tablet too? I was happy to take …
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I expected to read a review....
...not a three page justification of why the "reviewer" likes iPads.
Re: I expected to read a review....
It reads like a sermon ...
How the feck did such an iFanboi get a job at The Register?
Re: I expected to read a review....
Anything to rile people up now and then, I suppose!
I don't see how they can keep coming up with stupid names for these things. "The New iPad" then "iPad with Retina Display", even though "The New iPad" had a high-DPI display anyway.
All that said, I have no idea of the appeal of iPad 4 - just a lot faster (snore) with a connector that obsoletes all existing accessories.
Re: I expected to read a review....
Well if I were you, I wouldn't buy one then eh?
Re: I expected to read a review....
"How the feck did such an iFanboi get a job at The Register?"
Yeah, because regardless of how good anything Apple makes, El Reg should just slag it off.
Seriously?
You can pick up your pitchfork and lighted torch at the door.
Re: I expected to read a review....
>I don't see how they [Apple] can keep coming up with stupid names for these things.
Have you ever seen Linux? I'm not knocking it, but its applications have some bloody random names! At least Apple give their products names that hint at what they do. Linux software have names such as: GIMP, Helix, Ogle, Xine, Totem, Gedit, Kate, Gaim, Kopete, XMMS, Noatun, Xine, Grip, Gnome Toaster and Sound Juicer.
And they wonder why the general public hasn't embraced Linux for their desktop. Heck, its usually only biologists and physicist who employ this sort of humour for their naming conventions. My geeky heart approves, but I can see why others might be flummoxed.
Bought myself a new iPad (3rd generation) in May and very happy with it. I was quite surprised when Apple announced an upgraded quite so soon after.
But does it matter and it's not that different so no massively compelling reason to upgrade - the old one is perfectly fast, it has the older 'dock' connection - but so what? The problem is Apple can't win - if they bring out new / improved models after 12 months the competition has chance to catch up, if they do it every 6 months people say that they don't want to upgrade yet. I don't see this upgrade issue - my 3GS is still going strong, my iPad 2 still works very well - my wife has it now but she and the kids use it for a couple of hours every day.
How many different connectors have us non-Apple users had over the period that Apple stuck to their old 13-pin version?
And how many sensible docking solutions?
Personally I love a good Apple review on El Reg - I love the way it winds up the OSnobs who can't stand the fact that we have a choice with how we spend our cash
I will never buy apple again. I bought an ipad 3, 2 weeks later the 4 was announced. Fair enough, things move forward. But. The 4 is everthing the 3 should have been. As far as im concerned the 3 was a stop gap, that was released because they had to release it to please shareholders. Clearly they knew the retina was too powerful for the a5x, the screen has visible tears when scrolling but released it anyway. I dont mind companies updating hardware, but this update felt like it was taking the piss, beacuse it was so close to the original retina release.
Luckily i was able to send the ipad back, and now im looking at the nexus 10.
Hate to say it...
...but all IT products - hell, all products, period - are stopgaps. There is *always* something new and better coming six to twelve months down the line. I have bought 'old' models weeks before new ones. It happens. Live with it.
What does the iPad 4 actually do that the 3 doesn't? Nothing at all, so far as I can see. It'd be different if the new one came with loads of extra ports or something, but it doesn't: it has a nominally faster CPU - irrelevant to 95% of apps - and a Lightning port that's incompatible with all the accessories out there.
If you bought an iPads 3 a few weeks ago - speak to Apple and they may just swap it for a 4 - they have done with other people.
What happens when Samsung or whoever bring out a new model - will you dump them for the same reason and on to someone else?
Let's face it all changes now will be pretty incremental - different dock, higher res camera, faster CPU. It's just the same with PCs - do you have change your PC just because Intel announce a new CPU or replace your video card because there is one out a bit quicker. The answer is no (well for most people).
WTF?
"I will never buy apple again. I bought an ipad 3...The 4 is everthing the 3 should have been...i was able to send the ipad back, and now im looking at the nexus 10."
so let's get this right:
1. The iPad 3 was released and you thought wasn't good enough but you bought it anyway?
2. You were able to return it just because there was a new version.
3. You didn't want an iPad anyway?
And this makes you cross with Apple?
I've met people like you before...
Re: WTF?
1: Yes. But since apple released an updated version in an incredibly short space of time, they clearly didnt think it was good enough.
2: No. I had to lie.
3: I did, but not now.
whats your point caller?
Re: WTF?
"Yes. But since apple released an updated version in an incredibly short space of time, they clearly didnt think it was good enough."
Oh I'm sorry - I take it back. I assumed that you thought it wasn't good enough - I didn't realise that you thought it was OK until Apple decided it needed an upgrade at which point you suddenly weren't happy with it.
It's tech - buy what you want, when you want it. Accept that a newer/bettter version will come out and that your gadget will still mostly do the job you bought it for
"weeks later the 4 was announced"
Why didn't you just go back and swap it for free liek others have done? Or did you but it from Dixon's?
Re: WTF?
"2. No. I had to lie."
No you didn't but you are now. Apple give you a minimum 2 weeks no quibble return policy, with or without packaging. They, discretionary, extend this any time of the year to around a month (if you're not being a dick in store). And in the event of an upgraded product being released this they'll swap products brought in the last 4 to 6 weeks.
Re: WTF?
New tech comes out all the time - you buy it brand new and have to put up with the potential for bugs - wait too long and the new model will be out soon.
How long have you lived on Earth?
Re: WTF?
I guess that's why Apple Stores just pipped John Lewis and Richer Sounds to the post of offering greatest customer satisfaction in a survey of its readers by the Consumer Association's Which? magazine.
Re: WTF?
Apple are more than fair - do Samsung or others give you this 2-6 week return - no. Yes it's only been 6 months but so what - I see no issue in Apply having multiple tablets / versions - many people still buy the older iPhone 4S etc. as it's cheaper and does everything.
Guess what wait 6-12 months and another one will be out - is that suddenly wrong. Guess if you buy a new car and they announce a new model a month later you go down the dealership and kick off? Difference is Apple will probably take it back and give you a new one.
Mike Brown, if the 4 is what the 3 should have been, why in the hell did you buy a 3? No pleasing some people.
I just got one for work
I finally got an iPad 4 (16GB) for work, my first ever Apple product. I'm a front-end developer and every client was asking for iPad compatibility and touch functionality so it had to be done.
Coming from using Google Play on a Samsung Galaxy S1 I found the Apple App Store to be pretty hopeless. I can't seem to find a decent program to allow me get files, like pdfs, avis and cbr from my PC or NAS (and possibly stream them) via wifi. And none of the decent Google apps seem available like Sky, Maps and Reader. If you've never visited a walled garden before it does feel pretty limiting. I'm sure I'll find some apps that will solve my issues though, I've only had the device for 12 hours.
The good news is that I haven't had to install iTunes on my PC yet and the iPad is still up and running fine. The amazing news is the screen. I've never seen a retina display before and it is quite breathtaking. Coming from an early 80's 8-bit generation I've seen so many improvements in graphic resolution but this seems like it's finally all been solved. To me it's like there's no need for resolution specs any more once you get past certain figures.
Battery life seems amazing too. After a few hours on it last night it was still at 82%. Unlike my much smaller Galaxy S1 which can run out of juice in just over an hour. Build quality is great too but there's something about the touch scrolling in iOS that just doesn't feel right compared to Android.
Now I just have to work out what's the best app to read PDFs, and get them from my home-networked PC. The Register app is quite nice too.
So overall, if it was my own money I was only going to purchase one tablet every 5 years I would probably go for a much cheaper Android tablet in about year's time. I think that's when you'll get an ideal product both hardware and software. The App Store offerings do seem a bit corporate and rigid, and if you're quite technically minded and/or don't usually consume media via iTunes you may find it too limiting.
But it's still an amazing product. And if you're happy to spend a few quid once you've bought it paying for some decent apps and your media then I think you're be extremely happy with your purchase.
Re: I just got one for work
for browsing SMB shares/nas/clouds then GoodReader is all you need. Wouldn't go a day without it
Re: I just got one for work
WD2Go does me just fine to get CBZ, PDF et al files from my WD Nas box; streams vids and music too. Consult the maker of your Nas box.
There are plenty of media-streaming apps capable of pulling stuff across an SMB link: try OPlayer
Re: I just got one for work
Now *that* is a Review.
Take note.
Re: I just got one for work
All my pdf's appeared in iBooks and work rather well. You have to switch to "pdfs" from "books" in library view though I think.
"I can't seem to find a decent program to allow me get files, like pdfs, avis and cbr from my PC or NAS (and possibly stream them) via wifi"
Which NAS do you have? I have a Synology, and the suite of Synology iOS are superb - browsing, file access, surveillance cam control, torrent client control and more. I dont think it's any coincidence that Synology's smaller home NAS boxes actually look like iDevices...
Good call.
Thanks for the heads-up re Synology apps. But as luck would have it I have the Synology DS 207+ which is too old for DSM 4.1, and therefore too old for the video streaming functionality. The other Synology apps should work though.
Cheers!
How much...
.....have you been paid by Apple to be their pimp?
Maybe it wasnt the Raffle you won it in, and St.Jobs sycophants gifted it to you.
Re: How much...
Worried Google aren't paying the going rate?
Re: How much...
"....have you been paid by Apple to be their pimp?
Maybe it wasnt the Raffle you won it in, and St.Jobs sycophants gifted it to you."
Maybe it's actually not a bad bit of kit if you like the OS, get it for free, and don't have the same blind pathological religious-extremist style hatred for anything Apple that you seem to have?
Re: How much...
It was a good mini-review. Note that he stated at the start what he did, and what uses he might have for the device. He mentions the direction he is coming from, and some of the hurdles he hit.
Good review
Honest, transparent and no declarations of "love". As the author points out, choice is a good thing. Want iOs? Buy an iPad or iPad mini, want Android? Buy a Nexus 7 or 10.
If you want the excellent productivity apps by the iPad, if you want to watch videos buy the Nexus. If you want GPS buy the Nexus. If you want a near-enough no questions asked replacement policy at your Apple store buy the iPad. If you want to save money, buy the Nexus. If you want instant one sign in synch with your Google stuff (that's the reason I have a Nexus 7) buy a Nexus.
This frothing at the mouth allegiance to one or other OS is frankly pathetic, though to be fair so is the unquestioning praise heaped on iDevices of many journalists (read Charles Arthur in the Guardian for a good and slightly sickening example) which does the brand no favours at all amongst the more intelligent consumer.
Re: Good review
If you want people to think "oh wow he's got an iPad" buy an iPad.
Block out the thoughts that people really think your a massive knob!
If you want a device that does practically everything you need it to do, buy anything other than an iPad.
Accept the fact that your don't need to be molly-coddled and live in a fantasy world, your apps and security are your own concern.
No a very difficult choice, unless your a brainwashed fanboi.
Re: Good review
If you're going to insult people, at least do so with a modicum of correct grammar, it will make your opinion more convincing.
Re: Good review
Don't be a tit, you just the polar opposite of a fanboi and just as big a twerp.
Re: Good review
No, you be a tit. and as a big twerp! No important grammer is!
Re: Good review
"Me fail English? that's unpossible!"
Just like that time when I was caught out with fire thing - who would've thought that flammable and inflammable mean the same thing?
Re: Good review
"If you want people to think "oh wow he's got an iPad" buy an iPad.
Block out the thoughts that people really think your a massive knob!"
I'm fairly sure that being "a massive knob" is as unconnected with choice of mobile platform as "having a massive knob" is. As an example, you, for example, do not appear to own an iPad, yet are as egregious a waste of skin as has ever posted on the Reg.
Fanboi Tony
"But they’re Android devices and I don’t enjoy using Android as much as I enjoy using iOS"
You have no taste!
iOS is like a grandad, Jelly bean is like your little brother.
Tony must be an old man!
Re: Fanboi Tony
That's a disturbing mental image!
Incest: A game all the family can play...
Re: Jelly bean is like your little brother.
An irritating arse that steals and breaks your stuff and goes crying to mum if you don't do what he wants? Great.
Re: Fanboi Tony
Obviously!, dearie, did you forget to take your pills again?
Shock Horror
A bench mark test that has to be approved by Apple before being released into it's walled garden says that the performance is better than anything else on the market.
Re: Shock Horror
Curiously, Anandtech's benchmarks substantiate it. The latest iDevices are fast. Whether the software most people use needs it to be that fast is a different question.
A5X too slow? tear in the scrolling?
I think the person who complained about the A5X on the iPad 3 saying it tears when scrolling should have it returned. My pad is glass smooth on all but heavily GIFed or java scripted web pages. The only game I've downloaded so far which taxes it is the free Battleship Craft game, where you build a ship up in 3D out of Lego-like parts such as blocks, guns, turrets, propellers and so on and send it out. Once my ship approaches 1000 or so components, rotating it in 3D can get a little ropy. Besides that? No probs.
Re: A5X too slow? tear in the scrolling?
Ditto nanchatte... no problems here either.
I can't quite believe I'm posting this, but...
You do realise that both Apple and Android devices are 'walled gardens' right? I mean, you still have to go through the same rigmarole to get the latest fart app included on the respective market.
And besides, anyone who actually gives a fuck about installing 'non-sanctioned' apps (ie, pirated stuff), can do so on either platform with ease.
So, to put it bluntly, the iPad 4 is pretty fast, has a rather nice screen, and has more apps than Google Play.
The Android devices tend to be cheaper, and you can have a clock and a picture of Aunt Mary in a little widget on the front screen.
Right, now I understand everything.
@scott 2, I think you might be leaving out an important fact... With Apple, you are limited on form factor, but with Android, you can choose practically any shape device you want...
so long as it doesn't have rounded corners.
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