On launch day, I made the leap and bought an iPad 3G +WiFi after reading good reviews about the WiFi version of the iPad from the short list of technology writers and product reviewers I actually trust. After spending the weekend with the device, my favorable impression is only growing even with its somewhat rough edges.
Unlike the iPhone, I took the leap on the first product release and could see from my initial experience that Steve Jobs and Apple could well define the future of tablet computing much like they are doing with smartphones.
Setup was a breeze and my new iPad 3G + WiFi found my home’s wireless network without any major issues. haven’t setup the 3G side of the house yet, but plan to do that before my annual Mother’s Day road trip to go up and see my Mom.
My experience with applications was all over the map. Evernote’s iPad application is impressive –which is to be expected – and I expect to be using it a lot. Another impressive application is MindNode, a mindmapping application which beat MindJet to the punch to deliver an iPad ready Mindmapping app. Then despite the mixed reviews, I downloaded the iWork suite – Pages, Numbers, and Keynote – only to find out that the applications fit my expectations for 1st generation Office productivity apps ported to the iPad. The Google Mobile App is also fit for praise except for Google Reader which for some reason hasn’t treated me well performance wise on my iPhone these past few months.
One of my initial objections to the iPad platform was that I couldn’t use it to author documents. The more I delved into the device especially after testing out Penultimate and PaperDesk LT this device is more for idea capture and generation than anything else in my world.
On the entertainment side, I am not really much of a gamer except for skee ball on my iPhone so I’ve yet to try any games. I did watch an episode of Fast Forward on the ABC application while at home and liked the quality of the playback.
The first generation iPad does have some room for growth but is certain to shake up the tablet and slate computing plus netbook markets a shakeup as buyers seek an iPad like experience in their mobile computing devices.
What has been your experience with the iPad 3G + WiFi?
About Will Kelly