Apple iTablet/iSlate/iPad (NDA lifted)

[Cylus Maxii]

hehe - which model did you get?

[Mr. Fed]

Now looking for a case.

[Cylus Maxii]

Now looking for a case.

Did you find an IPad in stock in town?

[Mr. Fed]

Now looking for a case.

Did you find an IPad in stock in town?

Not yet.

[Mr. Fed]

Last night. It's 10:00 p.m. We're watching TV.

Me: . . . . so.
Wife: So. Wait . . . what?
Me: It's just . . . I love our kids. They're great. Don't you love our kids?
Wife: We're NOT HAVING ANOTHER ONE.
Me: No, no. It's just that they are great, and we should try to make them happy.
Wife: What. Have. You. Done.
Me: Well, you know they love my iPad.
Wife: Yes. So what? You're not going to give them . . . oh. Oh MY GOD.
Me: The firm's buying it! I deserve it! I work hard!
Wife: You lasted, what, a week?
Me: It's just so beautiful.

[Skinypupy]

Here, this should help justify your purchase.

Baldur's Gate coming to iOS this summer.

[Carpet_pissr]

Last night. It's 10:00 p.m. We're watching TV.

Me: . . . . so.
Wife: So. Wait . . . what?
Me: It's just . . . I love our kids. They're great. Don't you love our kids?
Wife: We're NOT HAVING ANOTHER ONE.
Me: No, no. It's just that they are great, and we should try to make them happy.
Wife: What. Have. You. Done.
Me: Well, you know they love my iPad.
Wife: Yes. So what? You're not going to give them . . . oh. Oh MY GOD.
Me: The firm's buying it! I deserve it! I work hard!
Wife: You lasted, what, a week?
Me: It's just so beautiful.

Now why would you even go through that (and I have been there MANY times) when your firm is going to buy it?! No need to receive even an arched eyebrow in this situation if you ask me (and you could, because I apparently and unwittingly married Nega-Techmistress, Defender of the Family Budget and Hater of all things Techhy/Gadgety).

[YellowKing]

That Baldur's Gate announcement literally sent a thrill up my spine. SO. AWESOME!!!

I know it sounds crazy but my iPad has almost overtaken my PC as my primary gaming platform in terms of pure time spent. It's just easier to pick up a game on the iPad while sitting on the couch or whatever vs going upstairs to the office and getting on the PC. Obviously we are not to the point of having full-blown modern console-quality games on iOS, but if you enjoy indie, retro, and casual titles (like I do), then it really does offer an enormous amount of low-cost gaming goodness.

[Mr. Fed]

Okay:

1. Lift Test: It's lighter than my old iPad 1. Also slightly more compact, to the point that my favorite case flops around on it.
2. Screen Test: Wow. That's nice and sharp. It's like the difference between old iPhones and the iPhone 4. Very noticeable.
3. Processing test/Connection Test: probably mostly the processor, but web sites -- and apps that access content, like Cracked and The Onion and Fark -- snap open in a satisfying manner. Much, much quicker.
4. Reliability: a few crashes-to-homescreen on programs always prone to do so (Safari, Cracked), but not more than usual.

[Mr. Fed]

Now I need a case. This Otterbox Defender looks good. Anyone use it?

[hepcat]

Here, this should help justify your purchase.

Baldur's Gate coming to iOS this summer.

oh dear god.

[Kurth]

Here, this should help justify your purchase.

Baldur's Gate coming to iOS this summer.

oh dear god.

And I thought Sid Meir's Pirates on the iPad was trouble . . . this will be the end of me.

I can't wait!!!!

Edited to add a little more great news: They're doing BGII, and both the enhanced version of BG and BGII will include the expansions:

Looks like there will be enhanced versions of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II, including expansions, lovingly enhanced by a team that includes folks that worked on the original titles. Both games will use an udated version of the Infinity Engine with "a variety of modern improvements".

[Skinypupy]

Now I need a case. This Otterbox Defender looks good. Anyone use it?

I've had an Otterbox on my iPhone for about 18 months, and had been fairly pleased with it. Right up until it fell about 2 feet (from my lap to the floor) last week, and the hard plastic simply cracked in half.

Needless to say, I'm shopping for a different brand now.

[Exodor]

Now I need a case. This Otterbox Defender looks good. Anyone use it?

I use it on the iPad1. It adds a LOT of bulk and weight but also makes it nigh-indestructible.

It also makes it pretty kid-proof - I'd recommend one or something similar if you're giving your old iPad to the kids. The iPad1 version is $14 on Amazon.

[Isgrimnur]

Now I need a case. This Otterbox Defender looks good. Anyone use it?

I've had an Otterbox on my iPhone for about 18 months, and had been fairly pleased with it. Right up until it fell about 2 feet (from my lap to the floor) last week, and the hard plastic simply cracked in half.

Needless to say, I'm shopping for a different brand now.

Sounds like it did exactly what it was supposed to do, sacrificing itself to protect the phone.

[Skinypupy]

Now I need a case. This Otterbox Defender looks good. Anyone use it?

I've had an Otterbox on my iPhone for about 18 months, and had been fairly pleased with it. Right up until it fell about 2 feet (from my lap to the floor) last week, and the hard plastic simply cracked in half.

Needless to say, I'm shopping for a different brand now.

Sounds like it did exactly what it was supposed to do, sacrificing itself to protect the phone.

True, but I don't get terribly excited about spending another $50 every time it drops 2 feet.

[ydejin]

So I said to myself "fuck it, my name's on the door."

[Isgrimnur]

Now I need a case. This Otterbox Defender looks good. Anyone use it?

I've had an Otterbox on my iPhone for about 18 months, and had been fairly pleased with it. Right up until it fell about 2 feet (from my lap to the floor) last week, and the hard plastic simply cracked in half.

Needless to say, I'm shopping for a different brand now.

Sounds like it did exactly what it was supposed to do, sacrificing itself to protect the phone.

True, but I don't get terribly excited about spending another $50 every time it drops 2 feet.

Given that it's been protecting the phone for 18 months, I don't consider that a problem. Now if I had just put it on, dropped it 2 feet and had the same thing happen, then I would be upset. But those things go through an awful lot of stress in 18 months.

[Carpet_pissr]

Or if you go leather, you don't have to worry about breaking it. Mine has also been dropped from 2-3ft, wrapped in a folio type leather Sena case...and no problem whatsoever. In fact, it's happened more than a couple of times now.

[hentzau]

Here, this should help justify your purchase.

Baldur's Gate coming to iOS this summer.

oh dear god.

I may never leave my bathroom again...

[Tommy20]

I may never leave my bathroom again...

Um...

[hepcat]

I may never leave my bathroom again...

Um...

I'm sure there's room for two in his bathroom.

[EvilHomer3k]

I like the pad & quill cases. I haven't purchased one but I like the folio style and the rubber corner bumpers.

[Chaz]

Consulting the hive mind:

I currently have a decent-not-great laptop. I also have a solid desktop. The laptop is mostly used for couch web browsing. I was planning on using it for travel, but most of the time, decide it's too heavy to travel with, so I leave it at home.

Today, the possibility arose to sell the laptop to a friend for $300, which I could then put toward a tablet, which I think would be much better for the travel and couch browsing that I want a portable thing for. I'd prefer a 10" Android tablet (I have a droid phone), but frankly, none of them have managed to be much competition for the ipad, so if I was to go tablet, it'd probably be the ipad.

Now, it looks like my choices in that arena are a $350 refurb 16gb ipad2, or $500 for a 16gb ipadNEW. I'm really torn. It seems like most portable electronics, especially Apple stuff, start to bog down under software updates after a year and a half, and the ipad2 is already a year old. The screen on the new one is also really really nice, but it is a $150 premium to get the new hotness.

So: worth saving the $150 and getting the ipad2? Bite the bullet and get the new one? Hold out for a 10" Kindle Fire to be announced? No, I definitely don't need more storage space on the tablet, since I live in the cloud and don't go crazy with installing apps. Thoughts?

[hepcat]

I would wholeheartedly recommend NOT going with anything less than 32 gig in size.

[WYBaugh]

Chaz, you can get a heck of a deal buying my iPad 2 64GB.

[Chaz]

Hep, I know that's what everyone says, but believe me, I'm very cool with not paying the huge amount more for the extra space. I'm not planning on putting any music or video on it at all.

WYB, what kind of heck of a deal?

[WYBaugh]

I have had it on the trading forum for awhile. viewtopic.php?f=8&t=81447

Looking for $430 shipped, insured, etc.

[hepcat]

Hep, I know that's what everyone says, but believe me, I'm very cool with not paying the huge amount more for the extra space. I'm not planning on putting any music or video on it at all.

I have zero movies and music on my 32 gig iPad2 and I have a little over 5 gigs left on it. Apps and books have chewed up all the other space. Once you get going, it's tough to stop. I too thought I would never fill up a 16 gig system, let alone a 32 gig.

[Chaz]

Sure, but for an extra $100, I'm willing to bet I can control my app-loading impulses. I'm most interested in figuring out if the new hotness is worth the extra $150 over the old hotness.

[Exodor]

I would wholeheartedly recommend NOT going with anything less than 32 gig in size.

Why, if he's mainly going to use it for couch surfing?


I'm not even close to running out of space on my 16 gig iPad3.

[hepcat]

I would wholeheartedly recommend NOT going with anything less than 32 gig in size.

Why, if he's mainly going to use it for couch surfing?


I'm not even close to running out of space on my 16 gig iPad3.

the 3 in the name tells me all i need to know about your situation.

[Malificent]

I find that with my 50 GB Dropbox account and 50GB Box.net account, I don't come close to using 16GB of space on the iPad. Helps that I don't keep my music on it (that goes on my phone).

[RunningMn9]

Hep, I know that's what everyone says, but believe me, I'm very cool with not paying the huge amount more for the extra space. I'm not planning on putting any music or video on it at all.

WYB, what kind of heck of a deal?

Not everyone. I had a 32GB iPad 1, and never came close to needing the space. So I got a 16 GB new iPad (although I did that because they were sold out of the 32 GB version ).

I have more space free than hepcat does.

It's all in how you use it. I don't put any media on it. I only need to keep the book that I am currently reading on it. And I don't bother with having 872 apps. If you know how you are going to use it, you'll figure out how to manage it with only 16 GB, I promise.

[Chaz]

I'm pretty much set on getting a 16gb refurb 2. I usually really prefer to get the newest hardware, but I can't justify the $150 above the cost of the refurb 2, and I definitely don't see myself needing more than the base 16gb of space on it. Net cost of $50 out of pocket for an ipad isn't too shabby.

I'm already putting together a list of games I'm going to want. There's gonna be a lot of board gamin' on this thing. That'll be especially nice when me and the gf go on trips.

[hepcat]

Games (mostly boardgames) are what's taking up most of my iPad 2's hard drive space. That and rules for boardgames.

[YellowKing]

The space thing is simple. If you plan on putting a lot of apps (particularly games on it), you will eat up space. If you don't, then you won't need that much room.

[Boudreaux]

I'm pretty much set on getting a 16gb refurb 2. I usually really prefer to get the newest hardware, but I can't justify the $150 above the cost of the refurb 2, and I definitely don't see myself needing more than the base 16gb of space on it. Net cost of $50 out of pocket for an ipad isn't too shabby.

If you happen to have a Microcenter in your area, they're selling iPad2s new for $359. I was going to go the refurb route as well until I found that deal.

[Chaz]

I'm pretty much set on getting a 16gb refurb 2. I usually really prefer to get the newest hardware, but I can't justify the $150 above the cost of the refurb 2, and I definitely don't see myself needing more than the base 16gb of space on it. Net cost of $50 out of pocket for an ipad isn't too shabby.

If you happen to have a Microcenter in your area, they're selling iPad2s new for $359. I was going to go the refurb route as well until I found that deal.

They are? Shit, that's interesting. The only hesitation is that if I'm willing to wait about a week, I can have my gf who lives in NH order it for me, which means no sales tax. So basically, am I willing to pay $30 to have it a week or so earlier...

[Isgrimnur]

730 Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA, In-Store only