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News iPad 2 Dual-Core CPU Rumoured

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by arcticstoat, 17 Jan 2011.

  1. eddtox

    eddtox Homo Interneticus

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    I, too, doubt the iPad 2 will have a usb port, mainly because apple makes a shedload of money off the back of the dock connector and I doubt they will want to give people a way to circumvent it.
    What they will do is offer a dock connector to micro usb lead, just like the usb one they currently provide, and that will plug into a eu standard charger.

    @maverik-sg1: The iPad is probably not for you.
     
  2. Yslen

    Yslen Lord of the Twenty-Seventh Circle

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    I assume that's directed at me. I just get annoyed being told how amazing Apple are all the damn time, so its nice to have bit-tech to rant to... chances are most people here are anti-Apple or indifferent anyway.
     
  3. maverik-sg1

    maverik-sg1 Minimodder

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    Why is that?

    I want to discover the reason why anyone would buy these things, maybe it is for me (I kinda want one), I find the tech interesting but the usefullness of them (where they fit in to be used) obscure..

    I can't see myself holding a 10" tablet to my ear and using it as a phone, or holding the same 10" pad infront of me to make a video or handsfree call, I can't use the touchpad keyboard for productive work (I have never tried playing games on one) nor hold the unit and read a book.

    I can't understand (but want to) why I would shell out £500 for a product that has niche uses (presentations, light games, music videos, maybe a film on the move).

    What do people use it for?
    What does it replace?
    Why is it better?
    What does it not do so well?

    Could it be that I just see the cost of £400-500 (I think the products with the specs I want cost this much) and that in itself is a turn off for a niche (inbetween) product? Maybe if said technology and desireable spec was half (or less than) the current cost - I could justify the purchase of it?

    Or maybe people can enlighten me as to what they do with there tablets, maybe there's a use or three that I am yet to discover or understand?
     
  4. eddtox

    eddtox Homo Interneticus

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    Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm planning to pre-order the iPad2 as soon as it's announced.

    I have a 1yr old daughter who will probably not be able to use a desktop/laptop computer for a few years, but there is every indication that the iPad is intuitive enough to allow her to use it by the time she hits 18 months (maybe earlier). I believe that this will help give her a bit of a head-start in understanding, using and being comfortable with technology.

    Now I realise that £500 is a bit much to spend on a "toy" for a 1yr old, but I am also hoping to get into app development for the iOS platform, so having one on-hand would be useful.

    Videocalling is quite interesting, as we use it quite a bit to keep in touch with the grandparents, and I hear there's a brilliant tesco app for iOS which will likely please the missus as their website is rubbish :p.

    I realise that doesn't seem like much, but I suspect we will find further use for it once we actually have it.

    As for the cost, it may come down in the future, but for now the absence of cheaper competitive products suggest that the price is about right.
     
  5. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    Tesco app is designed for iPhone to quickly scan barcode.

    for facetime calling, you need another Apple device on the other end.

    with iPad 2's rumoured PowerVR 543, i can't help but feel it's underpowered for games due to 4x the resolution of original iPad. i won't be buying until i see a game ported to the new resolution without any detail loss, to show that the 543 can keep up with this resolution.
     
  6. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    What will the Apple faithful do now that you won't have Jobs to use his "Reality Inversion Field" against them? Will they keep buying with the Master sidelined?
     
  7. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    Surfing the web, watching movies, writing/reading eMails in the train/bus on your way to/from work in a much more comfortably way then on your smartphone.
    The same as above while on the beach, in the park, etc, or just on the sofa at home.

    Games might be fun to play, but that's not the main-aspect of this device, whereas creativity-software is a totally new and good experience. Making music (tons of good apps like synthesizers, mixers, etc), painting with Brushes or SketchBook Pro or ArtStudio, and many other funny little apps to play around with.

    The iPad is definately not targeted at the person, who's driving to work with his car or at the person, who does nothing else then browsing the web or watching a movie.
    The iPad is a mobile device targeted at creative and unconventional people. People who don't wait for others to come by and tell them what to do with the iPad, but people who think of new ways to use it themselves and integrate it into their life in a fun way.
     
  8. maverik-sg1

    maverik-sg1 Minimodder

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    Any generic tablet product would suffice - yes I guess I am not one of those who would spend £500 on an item and then decide how to use it...... I might not even use a product the way other people do, but I like to have list of what I 'could' do with a tablet device which can therefore justify it's cost to me.

    In the same way as guy above says he'd let his 1yr old play with his tablet device - V-Tech do some great devices for 13% of the cost of the tablet device and I would be so much less upset if my 1yr old puked/shat/smashed/fed to the dog :0)

    I simply don't have £500 to blow on a device that I don't even know if I would like enough to use regularly, especially in the grim days of financial hardships we find ourselves in.
     
  9. M7ck

    M7ck Ⓜod Ⓜaster

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  10. maverik-sg1

    maverik-sg1 Minimodder

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    M7ck you miss the point - I want to believe that I would get good use from a tablet and that I would be satsfied with my purchase.

    I am asking if anyone can to present a reasonable justification as to why they own one, what they use it for and then see if the overall uses of tablet devices fits in with my lifestyle.
     
  11. Da_Rude_Baboon

    Da_Rude_Baboon What the?

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    Personally I would use it as a laptop replacement. I have my desktop PC if i need to do any intensive computing tasks or office tasks that require a lot of typing. I have a laptop that mostly gets used for web surfing from the couch, reading office documents and emails and looking at pictures, videos etc. The iPad is the perfect replacement for that, even more so if it supported flash. Its form factor is more suited for casual use, i'm a keen cook and quite often have the laptop in the kitchen while i follow recipes. The iPad again is a better form factor for that and I can also get food magazine apps with the recipes and video demonstrations on the iPad. I could also use it as a touch screen controller for my HTPC. Hell it even has games my cat can play!

    For me the price holds it back. If the iPad cost £150-£200 I would buy it tomorrow or if my laptop was in need of replacement I could justify the purchase but at the moment I cant.
     
  12. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    There's tons of information available of what you could do with a device like the iPad. Just do some research about all the software available etc.
    It's not the manufacturer who's to blame for, if the consumer buys the product without knowing what he's buying it for.

    It's like buying a Kart becuase it sounds cool and then realizing that you've got no place to go and drive it.

    Smartphones are a totally different thing, as you can allways use them as a phone, totally forgetting about the rest of possibilities. I'm not using my phones for anything else then calling people or writing a SMS. I've simply disabled all WAP and 3G-services and use my laptop with a USB-Stick instead for surfing etc while not at home.
    I'm not even using my smartphone for music, but carry a dedicated MP3-player around.

    So again, if you don't know yourself, what to use a tabletPC for, then these devices are simply not for you. And there's nothing wrong with this... people are just different. However, others can maybe tell you what they use their iPad for, but that might not be, what you would do with it. You've to know yourself, if you can make any use of the software available for it.

    Lol @ the £150-200. The Touchscreen of the current iPad alone costs $100 and the screen for the iPad2 is announced to cost $214. With OEM-prices this may be up to 50% less, but this would still make it totally impossible to get to the price you want it to be.
     
    Last edited: 19 Jan 2011
  13. eddtox

    eddtox Homo Interneticus

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    You can hardly compare the iPad with the things vTech produces - and they are not likely to be of any use to anyone other than my daugther.

    As for the £500 spent - if you don't like it you can always sell it on. I doubt you would lose any more than £100.
     
  14. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    As a college student, the iPad I bought replaced a laptop that I needed but couldn't afford.

    I take notes in class with it, while recording the lectures at the same time. I use it to browse the web, watch movies and listen to music while I'm on campus and away from my apartment. I use it to catch up on TED videos and read books (currently on Goodbye, Mickey Mouse by Len Deighton). I use it to play games when I'm bored. I use it as a GPS on road trips. When I'm not at my dying old laptop, I use it for almost everything that I use the laptop for, with 5 times the battery life and less than one quarter the weight. To me, that's worth the $700 I paid for it. A Macbook would have cost me $1300.

    When I bought the iPhone 4 a couple of weeks ago, I expected that I would be selling my iPad but I find that the iPad still has a place in my life, so I haven't. Books and movies, for instance, are way better, and I like the huge screen when I'm driving, as opposed to squinting at a phone. I love convergence, I love the fact that the iPhone 4 does so much so well, but the iPad is a brilliant product.

    Seriously, jrs77 was right - if you have use for it, the price (and its existence) are justified. If you don't, they are not. Why that becomes a reason for bitching and moaning about a company, a dying man, one's sexual orientation etc are beyond me.
     
  15. leveller

    leveller Yeti Sports 2 - 2011 Champion!

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    Poster above says it eloquently enough. There are a multitude of practical uses, but only to those who have those needs to be met. And then there are some where it might only meet a few uses and not be worthwhile. We still have a whole year of innovation and advancement to come from the other manufacturers and so we may get that iPad2 beater and we may see a new must-have tablet take the lead. But until then it is quite clear that the only tablet on the market worth getting is still the iPad(2).

    As for books, I thought I would use it more for books but it turns out I actually can't make that transformation. Music, videos and websites/magazines - yes, books, no.

    Side note: has anyone noticed how more mature the Apple/iPhone/iPad conversations are getting? I'm certainly not complaining! It's nice to see people discussing the subject rather than raging about it.
     
  16. maverik-sg1

    maverik-sg1 Minimodder

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    I think thats the point - for the cost of the insurance of your tablet device, your daughter could use indestructable V-tech learning aids without the risk of all your data/music/video/games getting lost if/when the tablet device takes a nose dive off the high chair onto the tiled floor and then buried by the bull mastiff in the back garden :)
     
  17. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    Only on BT. Almost everywhere else on the web, volcanos erupt when anything Apple-related is posted. Also IRL, my flatmates give me so much grief for owning both an iPad and an iPhone.
     
  18. Da_Rude_Baboon

    Da_Rude_Baboon What the?

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    You miss my point though. For all of us a product has to hit a certain price point before it becomes a valid purchase. As I have a laptop the price of an iPad is too expensive for me to to justify. If it was at a lower price I could justify the purchase. Weather it will ever reach that price point is irrelevant.
     
  19. eddtox

    eddtox Homo Interneticus

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    Yes and for a small percentage of the price of your car insurance you could get a bicycle, with a much lower risk of losing life and limb if you crash. That doesn't mean that a bicycle is superior to a car.

    I intend to get a ruggedised case for the iPad, and the little one will only use it under our supervision. If that is not enough, the insurance should cover physical damage to the device, and most of the data will either live on our home NAS or be backed up there.

    I am fully aware that there are risks involved, and that I may live to regret my decision, but hopefully things will work out.

    P.S: Here are links to the vTech product ranges for 6-18months and 18-36months. Which of the products listed would you propose as a suitable alternative to the ipad (bearing in mind that my daughter is currently 1)?
    http://www.vtechuk.com/age/6-18months/Default.aspx
    http://www.vtechuk.com/age/18-36months/Default.aspx
     
  20. maverik-sg1

    maverik-sg1 Minimodder

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    I don't see a 1yr old using either a bike or a car.

    Well actually the type of things you would use instead of a tablet pc are only suited above age5 - whats the age range for tablets again?
     
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