So who's getting an iPad 3 ???

[Kurt]

I got a email the other day offering me the 16gig unit mid march orderer for $530 or 4g 16g for $670 My wife and I are going the the US in a couple of months can anyone tell me what the RRP is over their. Considering our Au$ is around $1.06 us perhaps my wife should buy it then.?

Yep, buy the AT&T version in the US to save a little. Pick a state with no sales tax or low if you can like Oregon, each state is different.

For the 16GB 4G version:

Aussie pricing is AU$679 inc GST
US pricing is US$629 + sales tax (AU$590 as of today)

$90 less isn't to bad. Just thinking duty free would knock $67 off the price.

Kurt.

[voicecoils]

Yep, when I got my iPad 2 in the US, the price difference was $100, US$629 vs AU$729 plus the favourable exchange rate.

For buying in Aus though, it's nice to see the price gap closing. I always used to wait till I was in the US to buy Apple stuff, when prices where much different.

@Full-Throttle

I think the Android hardware and software is impressive and has better hackability, more standard I/O like you say. For my tablet uses, none of those things have been necessary and I'd prefer something that feels more solid & better built and holds resell value better.

It's also handy if you already use iTunes to have all your music, movies, apps, notes & books, contacts etc automatically transfer onto a new iPad or iPhone. My transaction from iPad 1 to iPad 2 was seamless which was nice. If you don't already use iTunes or hate it (I know lots of people do) then an alternative tablet might be more attractive. Android apps tend to be cheaper or free too if you plan to have lots of them.

[Sacman]

I think the Android hardware and software is impressive and has better hackability, more standard I/O like you say. For my tablet uses, none of those things have been necessary and I'd prefer something that feels more solid & better built and holds resell value better.

Amen to that!
I am a thru and thru PC/MS guy for the longest time. I hack, repair, and even admin and maintain the networks at work.

However, when it comes to mobile devices I just want something that works. I was skeptical when I bought my iPhone 2 years ago but changed my tune quickly after I found out how simple and elegant Apple devices are. They're so intuitive to use. They work as expected and no need to go searching for and installing drivers.

[MikeFairbanks]

I'm not impressed. And I'm less impressed with the measly 100 dollar price drop on the 2. It's still $400.

Even more unimpressive is their stubborn nature about mirroring. It should be wireless without having to buy the apple tv and have wifi, etc. just make it simpler.

I'm going to get the 2 and the apple tv, but go as cheap as possible.

Apple could have done better than this. There's not much they're offering and the price is too high for education.

If they're serious about schools and textbooks they have a lot of learning to do.


They are on the verge of giving amazon a huge blow, however. Soon people will be shopping for everything the same way they do for iTunes and apps. One button touch and you bought it. Kayaks, bikes, Viagra, pasta. Anything.

Apple is about to take over America.

[MikeFairbanks]

Which tablets, other than iPads, can wirelessly mirror?

[shock]

Yawn.

I heard it doesn't even have a charging port anymore, once it dies you just buy a new one. You can get them in a 10 pack for 15% discount.

The only good thing apple has is OSX, and I run that on PC hardware.

The only hardware I would ever consider buying from apple is the 17" macbook pro.

iPads just make me laugh, I work in I.T., and people are always trying to find a way to make the iPad fit into their job somehow to make it easier or more productive. 99% of the time it just ends up a big waste of time and the iPad ends up doing what it does best, filled with mindless apps and games.

[full-throttle]

I work in I.T.

I'm sorry to hear that..

So, let me ask you, what % of your work is MS/PC related?

[Dee Jay]

iPads just make me laugh, I work in I.T., and people are always trying to find a way to make the iPad fit into their job somehow to make it easier or more productive. 99% of the time it just ends up a big waste of time and the iPad ends up doing what it does best, filled with mindless apps and games.

I always wondered about this, too. are you being serious?

who here is gonna camp outside the apple store to be one of the first to buy one then jump for joy at the exit fist in the air

[rojitor]

[Dee Jay]

i know, right?

maybe we skeptics are all wrong and apple really is thinking way ahead into the future, beyond beyond, light years...and all that

but come on...we still have a bunch of hardwares that we treat like old friends so have a heart and keep yer feet on the ground cos we're not even close to traveling on spaceships with artificial gravity...

[shock]

iPads just make me laugh, I work in I.T., and people are always trying to find a way to make the iPad fit into their job somehow to make it easier or more productive. 99% of the time it just ends up a big waste of time and the iPad ends up doing what it does best, filled with mindless apps and games.

I always wondered about this, too. are you being serious?

who here is gonna camp outside the apple store to be one of the first to buy one then jump for joy at the exit fist in the air

I'm serious. It's not a productive piece of hardware. There's only so much that can be done with software, and with how closed off the software is, makes for a pretty useless productivity device. I'm very good at what I do, and although I repeatedly tried to help people and businesses with it, in the end it just too limited. Try getting a stable VPN connection on an iPad, printing a document, designing something, or entering large amounts of data, what a joke. I understand why people are trying to replace a PC with an iPad, and why they pay me to help. Doing anything productive on an iPad is no so simple as the commercials would have you believe.

[shock]

I work in I.T.

I'm sorry to hear that..

So, let me ask you, what % of your work is MS/PC related?

I'm not sure about a percentage, but I work with Microsoft, Apple and Linux on a daily basis. Just depends on what client I am working with. Don't get me wrong, I like Apple and the iPad because they keep me paid. People buy into it thinking it's so easy, but in the end still have just as many problems with setting it up. I know there are iPad guru's out there, but let's be honest, most iPad users are buying it because they fail on a PC to start with.

So to formally answer the question, no I will not be buying an iPad 1, 2 or 3. I have to use them too much making a living for any interest in owning or using one on my spare time.

[shock]

If one is so inclined, they can build a serious mac pro workstation for less $ than a fully decked out iPad. Granted it is against the terms of use, but I paid for the OSX software so am going to use it how I please.

Sad part is I could put a white apple sticker over the LG, tell an apple fanatic it's an iTV and sell it to him for $5,000

[full-throttle]

Um.. don't you think you're missing the point of a tablet??

ipad or android based, they're not to replace PCs, enter data or do CAD work - they are there to access data like photos, videos and web.

Personally, I don't really need USB and SD support, but the lack of Adobe Flash is annoying. Doesn't Ice Cream Sandwich have a blanket ban on Flash? [EDIT: looks like it's been resolved http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397772,00.asp ]

[MikeFairbanks]

^^^
The above point makes sense. But if a tablet is never going to be productive and is primarily for entertainment then the price is silly. Too expensive.

About the iPad 3: all they really did was enhance resolution. It's certainly not revolutionary.

[Ykick]

Web developers seem to have noticed 10's of millions of these things popping up and have made HTML5 more priority than Flash. As a working muso the iPad has revolutionized my work with scores and charts. No more stand lights, clothespins or waiting for copies from a printer.

Nope, orchestrator can send me charts in PDF, open in Forscore and with the Bluetooth footswitch I'm ready to go. Plus the recording apps and of course the ability to browse web/email much like a small laptop.

Convince your righteous selves its all POS if you must but it's been a revolutionary tool for me and many other working musicians.

Will I buy ver 3? Probably not, ver 1 still works fine for my purposes.

[MikeFairbanks]

You have a very good point about music. I love composing and recording now. I bought an Irig and can plug in a guitar, bass, anything. I even have my iPhone plugged into the iPad and I can take eight tracks in garage band from my iPhone and bounce it all to one track in GarageBand on the iPad (we have a 1) and effectively have 64 stereo tracks. Levels are easy, editing is easy.

Too bad I don't have crap for talent musically, and sing like a dork.

But the days of clipping, buzzing, popping and hissing are over.

My crappy song have never sounded so clear.

The best thing going is the 99 cent Moog synthesizer. Unreal sounds.

[shock]

It is pretty amazing. I was an obese unemployed loser until I bought the iCool app and plugged it into my iFit accessory, which then allowed me to effortlessly become a fit sex object with the swipe of a finger. How did people even exist before Microsoft invented the tablet concept in 2000?

[motorino magnet]

I'm getting one-never had the original and it will compliment my 4s since we don't get internet her....isther///

[Hillhater]

To be specific ....
..i dont believe its officially called the.. " IPad 3".
..Its just known as the " New IPad" . !

[voicecoils]

To be specific ....
..i dont believe its officially called the.. " IPad 3".
..Its just known as the " New IPad" . !

The iPad 2 also just reads 'iPad' on the back of the tablet. Still, 1 2 and 3 are an easy way of distinguishing them.

Personally, I would have preferred if they'd all been named 'Slate' instead of iPad as it was first rumored to be called.

[voicecoils]

I have my new 3rd gen iPad now, I picked it up on Friday when they were released.

Ended up getting the 32gb 4G model which gives me more room to upload photos when traveling. The screen is stunning as expected, 197x148mm with 2048x1536 pixels. The ability to play 1080p video displayed natively on something so portable is also sweet.

To set it up, all I had to do was connect to wifi, and it remotely downloaded a backed up copy of everything on my old iPad 2 from the iCloud servers.

The 5MP camera is surprisingly good although I can't imagine using it out of the house, except in desperation.

The extra weight & thickness do not detract from usability/portability and I'm happy to have a 70% bigger battery as a tradeoff. More lipo!

[dkw12002]

I have a PC and the newest I-phone. The I-pad falls through the cracks for me. It's too big to fit in my pocket and doesn't do what I want a computer to do. I think smart phones is where the growth and innovation will be. I hope so anyway.

[Sacman]

Nice! Well at least one person here bought one.
My friend bought and iPad3 too on Friday and we spent about an hour comparing it to my iPad2. We used lots of hi-res pics and videos to compared the screens and both came to the conclusion that the iPad3's screen IS much nicer and clearer but not by much. Most of the time we really had to be looking hard to spot the difference. When we brought out the magnifying glass that's when we could relly tell the difference. Colors on the iPad3 seemed to be softer and slightly less saturated too... I dare to say... little more natural.

I have my new 3rd gen iPad now, I picked it up on Friday when they were released.

Ended up getting the 32gb 4G model which gives me more room to upload photos when traveling. The screen is stunning as expected, 197x148mm with 2048x1536 pixels. The ability to play 1080p video displayed natively on something so portable is also sweet.

To set it up, all I had to do was connect to wifi, and it remotely downloaded a backed up copy of everything on my old iPad 2 from the iCloud servers.

The 5MP camera is surprisingly good although I can't imagine using it out of the house, except in desperation.

The extra weight & thickness do not detract from usability/portability and I'm happy to have a 70% bigger battery as a tradeoff. More lipo!

[thedarlington]

also remember the $250 asus memo pad is coming out this month or early next and it should give all ipads a run for their money at half the price, its also got that quadcore cpu, in my opinion some of this stuff like retina display should of come out in gen 1 but jipping customers into having to buy into the next model is a big reason why apple is so huge nowadays, and thats the funniest thing when u see those yuppie trendy dudes that are buy everything local yet theyre hardcore apple when apple is like the hummer of all pcs n stuff, that said i think its an awesome product but my main reason for not buying is i dont like to have too much resting on something i can easily wipe out with the common fall (try getting an otterbox for that!) im more a netbooks type of guy than having to be extra careful with something all the time, for anyone interested, the much cheaper china pads coming in these days go for something like $100-150 and offer the same experience as an ipad 1-2 for a fraction of the price, which is good for my first tablet so i get the hang of things, i bought the hyundai A7 cuz it was on sale for $100, however, the nicer china pad model alot of ppl go for is the Ainol elf or paladin (ips screen) which have an extra cam vs just 1 and has 1 gig ram vs 512 and both boast android 4.0 noteven available in anything sold in US so far, i would recommend either one of these or the Memo pad for someone whom the ipad is out of their price range, or dont wanna have to worry about having it mess up on them, but if u can afford it ipads a pretty nice product, ull definitely get ur moneys worth with any decent tablet im sure