Apple iPad user reviews (16GB)

Pros Sleek neat design, bigger than the iPod touch, easier to read/view

Cons Limited, no real day to day use that makes sense (For me)

Summary First off I don't own one... I went up to the apple store after all the hyped had died down (love all the people who camped out all night and when I got there at Noon they still had stock and no more line) I played around with one for a good 30 minutes just because I was curious (I own a iPod touch) To me it's a limited device (and not due to the lack of multitasking) it's too big to carry around like my smart phone and too small and limited vs my laptop.... Now if I had $500 to just throw away I would but it but it would probably end up like my iPod touch after I got my smart phone... I love my iPod touch but once I got my smart phone (Hero on Sprint waiting for the Nexus one to hit Sprint) the touch is basically in my glove box hooked up via the cars USB port. at least with a netbook (Which you could get cheaper) you would have flash support and multitasking and could just load itunes on the netbook.... Overall neat "TOY" that for me has very limited applications for my day to day life.

Pros Had great screen and HD video playing.

Cons Email will not take attachments easily and working with documents in general is a pain. Learning to use the interface takes hours, if not days and weeks. Not very intuitive.

Summary We returned it. [and I am a hard core Mac user - $3,000 Mac Pro, $1,200 MacBook, $500 iPhone). They had the nerve to charge us a restocking fee of $50, even though it was my time wasted with this machine and they claimed it would be easy to use for business.

Here is WHY we returned it.
You cannot file documents like a computer and they only accessed form inside different programs. This is the same way you have to add documents. And, you cannot add them in groups or get them to sync all at one. The process for working with business documents is painstaking.

Let's talk email: You cannot attach documents to an email if you are replying to any one. Let me repeat, you CANNOT add any attachments to an email reply or forward. We thought we were doing something wrong, so we took it to the Mac Store. The guy helping us had to go ask someone in back. Finally came back and said, that sadly, there was no way to attach a document in a reply email. You could only attach an email if it is an original email, and you can only attach one item PER EMAIL. So, let's think about this. A client emails you and says, " can you send me the 3 documents from our meeting. You cannot email back and just attach. You have to start a new email, and then send one new email for every document you want to send. WOW! How productive?!?!? It makes no sense.

Pros The iPad 16GB model is the cheapest model you can buy. Over 4,000 songs,16 hours of video and thousands of photos. The screen size is huge, the web browsing is amazing, and easy to use. There are a lot of pros to this device and I cant list them all.

Cons There are very little cons. The only con I could thing about is paying for the software but that is pretty much all. Yeah the iPad may not have a camera but just wait for the 2nd Gen I am sure the 2nd Gen will have a camera.

Summary You may not think the 16GB not a lot of storage but it is. If you are just using the iPad for web browsing and watching a couple of movies, the 16GB is perfect for you. It will be the best $500.00 you will spend.

Pros Amazing screen that really does have incredible viewing angles, input/interface has to be used to be believed, wicked fast response, seamless user experience, beautiful design, battery lasts 12-14 hours of constant use, robust & high quality product

Cons Lack of integrated USB port or SD card slot, initial lack of iPad exclusive apps, lack or true productivity software (aside from iWork), lack of direct printing capabilities (their are apps to assist in this)

Summary I already own a PowerBook G4 15", a new MacBook Pro 13", and an iPhone 3GS. Most people have asked me what possible need I see in getting/wanting/having an iPad. While my 13" MacBook Pro is quite portable and very powerful and I do love it dearly for it's incredible design and battery life when it comes down to it, it's not quite what I want when I run out to a coffee shop on a whim and sit for a few hours or a few minutes. While my iPhone is supremely portable and a little swiss-army knife of a gadget the tiny screen does get cumbersome for extended use and pan and scanning is not my ideal way to view things.

This is where the iPad comes in for me. It's all about media consumption and light productivity on a level of freedom, flexibility, and ease of use that hasn't been introduced before. Sure, it's lacking features that most netbooks have and yes there are smart phones out there that are nearly as capable however, none of those devices manage to achieve all at once what the iPad does. When you are using the iPad to read a book, check and comose email, surf the web, plan out directions, etc. it just disappears. It becomes part of you and you become part of it (no, I'm not on Apple's payroll...). It really is a near perfect and very slick interface that allows the device itself to fall away into the background and the experience and the content really shine. This is what you want from a tablet device. You want something that can pick up and go with you whether for a quick trip or an extended stay. Something that is shareable and instantly understood by little kids to somebody's grandmother. I know from experience that this device can be used by people of any age instantly without any explanation as I experienced the other day as I had to pry it out of my friend's parents' hands who are in their 70's.

While the iPad may not appeal to somebody who is a hardcore, heavy-use, productivity PC person there are laptops and netbooks out there that will appeal to you but that is not what the iPad is about and it's not what it's trying to be. It is a solution for a problem people just didn't realize they had. We're always running around life with so much stuff; books, newspapers, phones, journals, laptops, netbooks, address books, check registers, etc. The iPad alleviates that clutter and provides an integrated and seamless solution for content consumption and light productivity. I actually look forward to going out for coffee now or taking a road trip on a whim because I know that wherever I go I can be connected to email, read my favorite books, surf the web, take care of banking, etc.

All I can say is that if you have not used an iPad in person yet before you lay judgement upon it go to a BestBuy or an Apple store or seek out someone who has one and try it for yourself. It really does need to be used, held, seen in person for you to truly "get" what the fuss is all about. I was actually set against it seeing it as a "want" item that I truly did not "need". I can't imagine my daily routine without it.