iPad2 opinions?

Fr0dders · 4 Mar 2011 at 18:39

I think josh topolsky has hit the nail on the head here.

Apple's competitors have become obsessed with specs, much as in the same way desktops and laptops are compared on specs.

But for post pc devices such as tablets, its not about the hardware. All of this talk about graphics chips, graphics power, ram, overclocking processor clocks etc.. is completely pointless.

Its about the end experience.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/editorial-its-apples-post-pc-world-were-all-just-living/

quickshot89 · 4 Mar 2011 at 18:59

MrLOL said:
I think josh topolsky has hit the nail on the head here.

Apple's competitors have become obsessed with specs, much as in the same way desktops and laptops are compared on specs.

But for post pc devices such as tablets, its not about the hardware. All of this talk about graphics chips, graphics power, ram, overclocking processor clocks etc.. is completely pointless.

Its about the end experience.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/editorial-its-apples-post-pc-world-were-all-just-living/

agreed, 720p on a 10" screen is fine, you shouldnt be able to tell the difference to 1080p when the device is around 2 feet from your face

ipad 2 is not about specs, its about the experiance the user can have, and no android or win7 device can come near

MagicBoy · 4 Mar 2011 at 19:19

Got it in one. Generally speaking Apple kit has always been about the user experience. The majority of purchasers are not power users and don't give a fig about processor and RAM specs.

Apple only tend to wheel out the specs where they are of some value to the customer, like the Pro computers. The iPad is an appliance. You don't compare washing machines on the CPU speed do you?

photoshop · 4 Mar 2011 at 19:52

There wouldn't be a jailbreaking community if the Apple end user experience was that good now would it...?

Von Luck · 4 Mar 2011 at 19:55

You might as well ask why there is a rooting community for the supposedly open Android devices.

In other news, Samsung unhappy that ipad2 hasn't had a price bump: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/03/04/samsung-rethinking-galaxy-tab-10-1-after-ipad-2-unveiling/

MagicBoy · 4 Mar 2011 at 20:01

I've never felt the need to jailbreak any of my Apple devices. Some users such as the technical types prevalent on this forum will feel the need to tinker, but it's a tiny proportion of the userbase and unrepresentative.

hawker1986 · 4 Mar 2011 at 20:23

TBH im no apple fanboy, infact ive never owned anything made by them, and ive got no intention of going mac because I dont find it as flexible or fun from a tinkering upgrading perspective, not to mention cost jeez...But the Ipad is tidy tablet and from what ive seen gives a better experience than the other offerings. So im getting an ipad2 when im in america in 2 weeks, if this model is lighter and faster that can only be a good thing.

Hawker

VaderDSL · 4 Mar 2011 at 20:27

photoshop said:
There wouldn't be a jailbreaking community if the Apple end user experience was that good now would it...?

There wouldn't be an overclocking community if the Intel/AMD experience was so good.

Oh wait

Fr0dders · 4 Mar 2011 at 20:27

photoshop said:
There wouldn't be a jailbreaking community if the Apple end user experience was that good now would it...?

you mistake the small minority of tech enthusiasts like us with the rest of the general population.

Do you really think the FAA needs to jailbreak ipads in order to make use of them ? Click me

godinman · 4 Mar 2011 at 20:51

It does seem like the rest of the tablet makers are playing catch-up, at least in that final 10% of user experience. I wonder if honeycomb will even things up a bit.

Apple do have that trick of finding a 'must have' feature which users didn't even know they needed, adding it to their latest piece of kit and keeping one step ahead of the game.

Spit · 4 Mar 2011 at 20:57

What were people expecting!

Apple has made it thinner, sexier, faster, new features. On a second generation machine what else would they do?

I am happy to upgrade for all those extras. I use my iPad ten times more than I thought I would and really love the device. The iPad 2 is just going to make it more enjoyable.

Tute · 4 Mar 2011 at 21:43

I expect a right grilling for this but I just don't "get" the iPad.

It's not small enough to be a smartphone. But then it's not really big or comfortable enough to type on to be a Netbook replacement, especially now there's an 11" MBA.

I guess if you only use it for browsing then there's a market there but as I said, why not just get a Macbook and enjoy the extra space, keyboard, and a proper CPU with OSX?

VeNT · 4 Mar 2011 at 21:51

Pug said:
as it stands i wont upgrade from my mk1.

HOWEVER, knowing apple they will start crippling the iOS experience, saying how it needs the dual-core etc and will make everything slow and unwieldy to use. They'll then start making apps only compatible with 2, when 1 could run it etc... At which point i'll grab mk3 through frustration.

this, like every other product they release
apart from I'll not get mk3 either. best wait till mk4 or a different maker to release an android one so you're guaranteed support for years

Spyhop · 4 Mar 2011 at 21:55

Tute said:
I expect a right grilling for this but I just don't "get" the iPad.

It's not small enough to be a smartphone. But then it's not really big or comfortable enough to type on to be a Netbook replacement, especially now there's an 11" MBA.

I guess if you only use it for browsing then there's a market there but as I said, why not just get a Macbook and enjoy the extra space, keyboard, and a proper CPU with OSX?

Can't you see that it can be easier and more engaging to use?

Not a grilling, more of a light insult, but I don't see how anyone can be so short-sighted that they think normal laptops and their OS are "it", and be bemused at why people wouldn't want to use them for everything.

sarge78 · 4 Mar 2011 at 22:15

^ Generally tablets are considered best for content consumption and laptop/desktops for content creation. Quite a few people spend most the time creating and don't really need this current iteration of the tablet. (a iPhone/Macbook combo will have you covered)

MrLOL said:
I think josh topolsky has hit the nail on the head here.

Apple's competitors have become obsessed with specs, much as in the same way desktops and laptops are compared on specs.

But for post pc devices such as tablets, its not about the hardware. All of this talk about graphics chips, graphics power, ram, overclocking processor clocks etc.. is completely pointless.

Its about the end experience.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/editorial-its-apples-post-pc-world-were-all-just-living/

You do realise that Apple obsess/market/patent/secure new hardware more aggressively than anyone else.

Ironically, from all the recent tablets, Apple have the best hardware but ageing software

But hey, it's not about giving your (LG's) new display a name or banging on about the graphics power during a keynote anymore? Right?

http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/ Nope, no reference to hardware on Apple's site either

Fr0dders · 4 Mar 2011 at 22:46

does it quote the clockspeed for that A5 CPU ?

What about the graphics chip ? does it say what chip ? how much ram it has ? how many pixels a second it can do ?

etc..

Nobody is denying that apple have good hardware. But the marketing isn't about comparing fine details such as clock speeds. It says it all that they didn't even bother to mention in the ipad2 launch how much ram the device has.

Can you see any of the other tablets doing that ?

Look at the specs for the Motorola Xoom

http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/U...d-Services/Tablets/ci.MOTOROLA-XOOM-US-EN.alt

and the galaxy tab

http://www.samsung.com/uk/galaxytab/

all proudly displaying information such as RAM, graphics processor, CPU clock speed etc..

To quote the Rock.

"It Doesn't Matter !"

Stinky · 4 Mar 2011 at 23:00

ha looks like my missus has just talked me into going for the ipad 2 over the ipad one because she knows what im like with gadgets

happy days! i will be picking one up on the 25th

Phonesis · 5 Mar 2011 at 13:06

I wasn't interested in the iPad 2 until that GarageBand preview started! Now I'm almost certain I'll pick one up. Use my iPad more than any other electronic gadget I've ever owned so am quite prepared to fork out for what looks like a considerably better version.

Fr0dders · 5 Mar 2011 at 14:25

garageband is perhaps the ultimate demonstration of what can be achieved with a tablet and the uses a gyroscope can be put to.

Pottsey · 5 Mar 2011 at 18:33

ebilcake said:
Tegra 2 is last generation? what planet are you on? .

A SGX543 single core is more than double the speed of a SGX540. The Ipad has x2 SGX543 cores making it over x4 faster than the SGX540. Now up the clock speed of the SGX543 over the 540 and you gain the rest of the speed.

So yes the Tegra 2 is last generation as is massively lower specs and massively slower. Dozens of major companies have all said the SGX543 is over x4 faster than the SGX540. The videos that have been shown could not be real unless the chip really has a lot more raw power then the SGX540.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4179/ti-omap4-and-lg-optimus-3d-tested

As you can see the last generation SGX540 beats the Tegra 2. To simplify SGX543 is much faster than SGX540. The SGX540 is old generation and faster than Tegra 2. Hench Tegra 2 is last generation performance. Its not simple marketing BS. Tegra 2 is last generation that's a fact and it cannot even play the main HD videos formats most people use as it's too weak. It might be a none issue but it proves how slow the chip is. EDIT: You're the one that said "Android 3.0 tablets ahve better sepcs." Well from a specs point of view Ipad2 GPU is way better. Android 3.0 tablets have last generation GPU specs.

EDIT2: Lets assume worse case and the SGX543 is no faster than the SGX540. Let's also assume the SGX543 is the same clock speed as the SGX540 as no one bothered to bump the Mhz up. Then we are still in a situation where the SGX543 is more then double the speed of the Tegra 2 as a 2nd core adds over 95% speed for a Tile based chip.

sarge78 said:
Tegra 2 is certainly not 'last generation'

How do you work that out when it's slower or around the same speed as the last generation GPU's? How is it any match for this generation GPU's. Its way behind in specs and speed.