I does not own any apple stuff. And i hate itunes; So this is a no-no for me. Maybe in 5 years if i'm rolling in cash. ===> goes back to listen to music on Zune

Does this mean you can't watch them?

You were never a real Apple hater. You were more of a good argument lover.

I was thinking the same.

It says it can play HD movies. i.e. if you have a file that is a movie and it is formatted in 720p then it will play on the iPad. Nowhere does it say that it will play them at a resolution of 1280x720.

I think it would make a lovely "coffee-table netbook" to browse photos and the web with from the sofa.
In a hotel, it would be lovely to watch films on in bed, assuming it has acceptable sound.
It would be a lovely tool for showing off your sales brochures at sales meetings, or your portfolio to a client.

You don't need to type for this type of use, and an on-screen keyboard is fine for pecking out a few logins and URLs.

However, a netbook does more for less. My netbook has better resolution, probably better sound and a real keyboard. It offers 3G wireless, Flash, Java, any Windows or Linux software. It has 160GB storage, easily expandable. It has USB, SD and video connectors. It folds up to protect the screen when not in use.

The only advantages I can see for the iPad are:

1. It's more amenable to sharing around a coffee table
2. It's lighter and so probably more comfortable in bed
3. It has "Ooh Apple Shiny" appeal
4. It's locked down so your IT illiterate friends won't break it, so you won't have to fix it
5. The touch-screen interface is more intuitive for people not used to computers

Is it magical and revolutionary? No way!
Is the price unbelievable? No. It's no surprise that Apple build expensive shiny things.
Does it do anything a Netbook can't? Not really.
Do I want one? Yes, I'd love one. If money was no object, it would be a great little toy to have in the living room.

I think my Mum would love a 3G one to use Wikipedia in her living room, but even if I bought her one there's no way she'd pay what looks like a pretty expensive monthly rate. She'd be much better off with a Kindle, if it actually worked in Europe.


Heretic! Buy Pie!

Am I the ONLY one who thinks that this thing has a matt finish?

Hum, is it expensive?

What do other 10" touch screen computers sell for? That HP Slate for example that Steve Balmer demonstrated how expensive was that? I doubt the iPad will cost much more than rival products.



p.s. two of my girl friends have already fallen in love with it.

Costing the same as rival products doesn't stop it being expensive - it makes it the same as other overpriced things.

I don't follow. Surely a thing can only be expensive for what it is. I live in a cheap house. My friend has an expensive house. I can't call my house expensive just because I can buy a caravan for less.

If the two houses were similar then your friend comparing his expensive house to other similarly priced houses wouldn't stop it being expensive.

I'm probably not explaining very well

I think one of us using the wrong word. I think the word that you mean is "costly". A thing can cost a lot and yet not be expensive for what it is.

Most of Apples electronics are costly, some are expensive, some are not.

^

I could be wrong

Rusty, are you saying that if I went to M&S and paid £5 for a packet of deluxe, organic digestive biscuits, and you went to Waitrose and paid the same amount for deluxe, organic biscuits but had 5 more in the pack your biscuits wouldn't be expensive?

When Mr JV can go to Tesco and get some McVities for £1, making both seem expensive????

If so, I agree!

If not, please explain lol

Not misleading then? Maybe it shoud say "plays HD movies.... just not at HD resolution"

Your logic makes no sense to me. Your friend lives in an expensive house. Ergo, his house is expensive

Unless your house is tiny, I imagine it has more space than a caravan. The iPad has less space than my netbook. It's like a small Chelsea flat compared to a spacious house in the suburbs for a third the price. It's expensive, but convenient for the tube.

The touch feature is nice, as are other features of the iPad. However, they do not actually enable it to do any job that a netbook can't already do for a third the price. It also lacks certain features which would annoy me; for example - how do you transfer pictures and video from your camera to show off to everyone when it doesn't have SD or USB?

It's stylish, slick, shiny and expensive. It would be nice to have, but at that price it's an expensive luxury item which I can't justify.