Going to take it back :[

Don't get me wrong, the iPad I have is a great device, and I've been playing with it for about 10 days now, but I've come to the conclusion that it's a bit over priced for what it does for me. What with my iPhone 3G, netbook, laptop, and desktop, there is just too much overlap to justify $600 (have the 32GB).

I will definitely be upgrading my iPhone to the new HD or 4G or whatever they call it in a couple of months, and might pick up a 3G iPad down the road when/if another device craps out. Ultimately, I guess I've just been sitting home playing with it thinking I've got too much as it is.

Anybody else taking theirs back or thinking about it? Like I said, great device, just too much money for something that doesn't do much that's different than what I have.

dan828 said:

Don't get me wrong, the iPad I have is a great device, and I've been playing with it for about 10 days now, but I've come to the conclusion that it's a bit over priced for what it does for me. What with my iPhone 3G, netbook, laptop, and desktop, there is just too much overlap to justify $600 (have the 32GB).

Click to expand...

I would agree that with the electronic devices you have there is definitely overlap. That's why for many Apple fans...who have multiple Apple products...you have to really like the iPad for it's "newness & Gizmo" qualities.

I know some people don't like this...but the iPad is basically a large iPod Touch (just the bigger screen)...which I think is just fine. The iPod Touch is a cool device...and sometimes if portability is not a concern (like using the iPad on the couch)...having a bigger screen is better.

I guess sometimes we can't have all the toys in the toybox!

Thanks for the post,

- Nick

The iPad is NOT "just a large iPod Touch" -- but that's a good *starting point* of how to describe it. As numerous reviewers have said, the larger screen (and other factors) give the iPad experience an entirely different dynamic.

Well I wouldn't say I need one. I just want one. Period. Like I wanted an iPhone but didn't need one. Now, I don't know what I could do without it.

But I agree with you, it's overpriced for what you want to do with it. We are in the same boat. But at the same time, the more apps developers revamp/create, the more things I will be able to do with it you know what I mean? With my iPhone, at first I would only use it to.....well call and text, and use the GPS. Now, God, I do SO many things with it. But I'm concerned that there would be an overlap with my iPhone....and my MBP.

Let's talk lol.

chas_m said:

The iPad is NOT "just a large iPod Touch" -- but that's a good *starting point* of how to describe it.

Click to expand...

Sure it is!

Honestly...what percent would you say that the iPad is similar to an iPod Touch...and what percent is it different?

At this point some of the capabilities or possibilities of the iPad have not been fully exploited...but as it stands today...the iPad is a BIG iPod Touch.

Which I have said many times...is not necessarily a bad thing.

- Nick

I like the posts I have seen referring to the Touch as "iPad Nano" Makes me sound cooler than I really am with my setup.

Well, it went back. Have to give it to the Apple store, it was an easy process. Just took it in, a guy at the front of the store asked how he could help me, told him I wanted to bring it back, he said sure, opened the box and checked everything, scanned my receipt, printed out a new receipt with the credit back to my card, and I was done. Took all of 3 minutes. More stores need to look at what Apple does and how streamlined their process is.

Already miss it some. I'm posting this on my Dell netbook ($300 one) and thinking that the iPad was nicer for doing this.

So worth it!

pigoo3 said:

I know some people don't like this...but the iPad is basically a large iPod Touch (just the bigger screen)...which I think is just fine.
- Nick

Click to expand...

In deed it is just a large itouch...which is fantastic. After all if wise didn't matter then we would all be using 14" monitors on our desktop, 12" laptops would be the largest they come...and suburbans would be useless. There is a reason they say bigger is better. And the iPad is exactly that...bigger and MUCH better. Totally practical and useful when a itouch is only just barely tolerable.

Personally...I have tons of over lap. Yes it concerns me...and the iPad g3 is going to solve tons of problems and overlap. I am on the wifi right now laying down on my couch resting my aching back. The last thing i want to do is sit in a chair worrying on of three laptops in a three foot reach. And i definitely don't want to sit at the desktop another minute.

For me, i use a computer about 15 hours in a normal day. I teach photography in a computer lab. Even when i get home, I am usually back on the computer working on personal related stuff from my own personal photography, website management, responding to non-school related client emails, rent house issues, or school related computer stuff, and the list goes on and on. You get the idea..and I am sure many of you all are exactly the same.

I have 4 laptops in the house (not counting my wifes) that are all used regularly depending on the task. One is a 17" that I do most of my serious work that doesn't require sitting at the home desktop with 2 monitors, one of them being a 28" for culling through literally thousands of photos from an event. On the other end is the netbook which is pretty useless...except it has a big fat hard drive, and plenty of usb ports. I'll spare you the rest of the details of the other laptops.

At work, I use two desktops with two and three screens and a desktop Mac and two other single monitor desktops to facilitate the class of 24 student stations. I installed my own wifi router to help run the class including wireless cameras to monitor the class.

The point of all this is that there are tons of times l want the lightest possible device with the largest possible screen to monitor, check, follow and do exactly what I am doing right now and this laying flat on my back and reading and posting to various forums I follow to keep up with all of the stuff i do during the day.

The iPad is exactly what I wanted. And it is almost perfect. I do plan to return the wifi model tomorrow...and patiently wait for the 3G.

At home...it is exactly what I wanted it to be. Perfect for lounging around anywhere on my property and work a little...or share with others...like this.

Away from home, it is also awesome to be able to carry something so perfectly light. I did like the newton as i could actually put it in my pocket...but this will do.

At work, it is also awesome. I can actually take attendance, enter grades, take notes while walking around the room, etc. Awesome.

Awesome!

Sorry to hear you returned. I think the iPad can be very useful and even productive, but there's no denying that it is a luxury item and not a necessity when compared to other gadgets with similar functionality. Everything it does can pretty much be done with more affordable devices, but they just don't do it as well IMHO.

Regarding the "big Touch" argument: my only comment is that if it can do anything significant at all that the Touch cannot, then it is not simply a big Touch. And as we know, the iPad can do many more things that the Touch cannot. (iWork is just one example) That should really be the end of the argument. Otherwise one could argu that the iPhone is just a fat Touch, because they are mostly the same.

Sure the iPod Touch & the iPad are not 100% exactly the same. But if the iPad is 80%, 85%, 90%, the same as an iPod Touch...then the iPad is essentially a large iPod Touch.

The 10-20% difference (or less) is not enough to settle the "big iPod Touch" label.

As far as the iPod Touch vs. iPhone analogy. They are VERY similar...but the fact that the iPhone is a "cell phone"...is a wayyy different additional feature from the iPod Touch...making the iPhone significantly different. Think of all the things you can do with a cell phone...and that's why just that one feature makes the iPhone way different from the iPod Touch

The iPad does not have a single "out-standing" feature that really makes it that much different from an iPod Touch.

I definitely like the iPad (I will probably buy one in the future)...and my wife has an iPod Touch. So I like both devices.

Maybe some features or capabilities will develop in the near future for the iPad that will differentiate it more from the iPod Touch...but at this point in the iPad's "life"...it is really just a BIG iPad Touch...plain & simple! Which is still just fine for me...cause I will still purchase an iPad.

- Nick

I have to disagree. What all can you do with and iPhone that you can't do with a Touch? I think you can even use Skype on the Touch, which makes the calling feature even less of a differential. I guess you could claim the hardware difference in that the iPhone has a 3G antenna and camera, but then you could also say that the iPad has a much different, and faster processor, among other possible hardware differences I'm not familiar with. Will the 3G antenna on the new iPad be enough to differentiate the iPad/Touch like it does the iPhone/Touch?

To me, being able to run a full office productivity suite and being able to type at the same rate of speed I can on my laptop, not to mention all of the current and soon-to-be iPad only apps, are just as significant as making a call or taking a picture.

Ignoring all of the differences just to say it's a big Touch is forcing a generalization so big that one could say the same thing about a lot of other similar products. For example, couldn't you say that a Macbook Pro is just a big Macbook? It may be true, but what's the use in saying it? And to me, that's a much closer comparison than the iPad/Touch comparison anyway.

fleurya said:

I have to disagree. What all can you do with and iPhone that you can't do with a Touch? I think you can even use Skype on the Touch, which makes the calling feature even less of a differential. I guess you could claim the hardware difference in that the iPhone has a 3G antenna and camera, but then you could also say that the iPad has a much different, and faster processor, among other possible hardware differences I'm not familiar with. Will the 3G antenna on the new iPad be enough to differentiate the iPad/Touch like it does the iPhone/Touch?

Ignoring all of the differences just to say it's a big Touch is forcing a generalization so big that one could say the same thing about a lot of other similar products. For example, couldn't you say that a Macbook Pro is just a big Macbook? It may be true, but what's the use in saying it? And to me, that's a much closer comparison than the iPad/Touch comparison anyway.

Click to expand...

I do agree that using Skype on an iPod Touch does make the Touch & iPhone much much closer in abilities. Except that with the "Touch" & Skype you always need to be near a "Hot Spot" to make phone calls...versus being able to call from anywhere in your car with an iPhone. Also with an iPhone you have all of the GPS abilities. But sure...there are a lot of similarities between the iPhone & iPod Touch.

I would also agree that there really isn't a lot of "REAL" differences between a 13" MacBook and a 17" MacBook Pro. Yes there are CPU speed differences, video hardware differences, etc...but both are basically laptops.

Finally...comparing the iPod Touch and the iPad. Again...they are very very similar. At this point there really aren't any SIGNIFICANT ability differences between the two devices. Hopefully (eventually)...some significant abilities for iPad will surface that will differentiate the iPad more from the iPod Touch. But at this point...the iPad is really still just a BIG iPod Touch.

- Nick

fleurya said:

Sorry to hear you returned. I think the iPad can be very useful and even productive, but there's no denying that it is a luxury item and not a necessity when compared to other gadgets with similar functionality. Everything it does can pretty much be done with more affordable devices, but they just don't do it as well IMHO.

Regarding the "big Touch" argument: my only comment is that if it can do anything significant at all that the Touch cannot, then it is not simply a big Touch. And as we know, the iPad can do many more things that the Touch cannot. (iWork is just one example) That should really be the end of the argument. Otherwise one could argu that the iPhone is just a fat Touch, because they are mostly the same.

Click to expand...

Really, the reason it went back was because most all of it's "unique" features that differentiated it from a laptop are things I can do with my iPhone. The only outstanding feature that I'm missing out on is the large screen on a very light portable device. In that, it's better than a netbook by far, but it's also double the price of my netbook. I'm left with having a $600 tablet whose outstanding feature for me is convenient web-surfing, but with the slight downside of not being able to use flash, so ultimately that means it has not quite a full featured browser. Sure there are a lot of workarounds via apps, with more coming, but it's still a real issue. Everything else I can do on my iPhone, albeit with a much smaller screen.

Truthfully, I still want one, and will pick up one again down the road, unless some super spectacular android tablet comes out

dan, I could do on an iPad what I am doing now on an iPhone but I am sure that developers would make applications even more useful.

For example, I like reading comic books and because I didn't want to bother carrying the actual books (I miss the actual feeling of a book but ****) because it's cumbersome and heavy, so I tried reading them on my iPhone and it's not easy to do. So, I could read my comics on the iPad. Plus having books, PDFs that I also read on my iPhone but full-page, etc etc.

So, with an iPad, I could have all of those things into one device and this is what is great with the iPad (as overpriced one might think it is) and these are things not easy to do on an iPod/iPhone because of the size of the screen.

My 2cents...I don't even know why I started lol...

Nick -

Guess we'll agree to disagree.I have an iPhone and a MBP, but the usefulness of this for me is enough to make it different and useful beyond those other devices.

fleurya said:

Nick -

Guess we'll agree to disagree.I have an iPhone and a MBP, but the usefulness of this for me is enough to make it different and useful beyond those other devices.

Click to expand...

I think that where we differ mainly...is what each of us considers a "significant" difference or features that separate the two devices (iPod Touch & iPad).

This is how I like to measure things. If 100 folks familiar with Apple products (or maybe 100 average electronics users) were asked the following question:

"Other than the larger display...do you think that there are significant differences between the iPod Touch and the iPad?"

If a majority say "yes"...then the iPad is not just a Big iPod Touch. If a majority say "no"...then the iPad is a Big iPod Touch.

- Nick

fleurya said:

To me, being able to run a full office productivity suite and being able to type at the same rate of speed I can on my laptop . . .

Click to expand...

Really -- "full office productivity?" Typing the same as on your laptop? The larger virtual keyboard doesn't let you touch-type as on a physical keyboard. If you two-finger type on your laptop, then I get that, I guess, but I wouldn't say the iPad lets you type as fast as a laptop.

The iPad may evolve to a very convenient portable device, and I would bet money that it does only because Steve Jobs has a pretty good track record introducing things that change how consumers do things. I think being able to really access office productivity would be key to that. But that day is still in the future, and for now I agree that, for me, it's hard to justify a $600-$700 device that so heavily overlaps my iPhone, iPod Touch, laptop and desktop. Right now, today, the iPad is a cool device and early adopters are all over it, which is great. But the fact that the debate rages across the 'net about what niche it is supposed to fill indicates there is a good bit of confusion and/or disagreement about whether the iPad is something other than a "bit iPod Touch."

Voony said:

dan, I could do on an iPad what I am doing now on an iPhone but I am sure that developers would make applications even more useful.

For example, I like reading comic books and because I didn't want to bother carrying the actual books (I miss the actual feeling of a book but ****) because it's cumbersome and heavy, so I tried reading them on my iPhone and it's not easy to do. So, I could read my comics on the iPad. Plus having books, PDFs that I also read on my iPhone but full-page, etc etc.

So, with an iPad, I could have all of those things into one device and this is what is great with the iPad (as overpriced one might think it is) and these are things not easy to do on an iPod/iPhone because of the size of the screen.

My 2cents...I don't even know why I started lol...

Click to expand...

Oh no doubt. Like I said at the start, I'm not saying the iPad isn't a great device, just that I already have gear that can do most everything the iPad does. True, I won't be able to some things as well, and will miss out on some specific apps and functionality, but at this point what I'm going to miss isn't worth $600.

And so far as the big iPod touch debate goes, I think someone already said, it's a big iPod touch like a 50 inch TV is just a big 20 inch portable TV. That difference in size is a big deal.

Daddy Elmis said:

Really -- "full office productivity?" Typing the same as on your laptop? The larger virtual keyboard doesn't let you touch-type as on a physical keyboard. If you two-finger type on your laptop, then I get that, I guess, but I wouldn't say the iPad lets you type as fast as a laptop.

The iPad may evolve to a very convenient portable device, and I would bet money that it does only because Steve Jobs has a pretty good track record introducing things that change how consumers do things. I think being able to really access office productivity would be key to that. But that day is still in the future, and for now I agree that, for me, it's hard to justify a $600-$700 device that so heavily overlaps my iPhone, iPod Touch, laptop and desktop. Right now, today, the iPad is a cool device and early adopters are all over it, which is great. But the fact that the debate rages across the 'net about what niche it is supposed to fill indicates there is a good bit of confusion and/or disagreement about whether the iPad is something other than a "bit iPod Touch."

Click to expand...

Truthfully, I'm not impressed so much with the iWork apps, but what really will end up happening is something like Google Apps becoming fully usable in the iPad's safari browser. That'd really provide full featured office productivity. Though with the whole Google/Apple war heating up on the mobile front, who knows when that'll happen.

pigoo3 said:

I think that where we differ mainly...is what each of us considers a "significant" difference or features that separate the two devices (iPod Touch & iPad).

This is how I like to measure things. If 100 folks familiar with Apple products (or maybe 100 average electronics users) were asked the following question:

"Other than the larger display...do you think that there are significant differences between the iPod Touch and the iPad?"

If a majority say "yes"...then the iPad is not just a Big iPod Touch. If a majority say "no"...then the iPad is a Big iPod Touch.

- Nick

Click to expand...

I got it...made perfect sense to me and after previewing one at the Richmond VA Apple store and drew the same conclusion(s).