Breaking News: Apple Announces the iPad 3 March 7, 2012

[Peregrine]

It seems to me that they are undermining the iPad mini in two ways - the neither here nor there pricing as has been mentioned but also by also introducing an improved iPad in the same event. I wasn't really thinking about getting a mini iPad since my regular one does pretty much all I need, but they really seem to be pushing out a mini because they "had to" instead of their normal attempt to lead the market.

Have to say that new iMac looks pretty sweet though.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

It seems to me that they are undermining the iPad mini in two ways - the neither here nor there pricing as has been mentioned but also by also introducing an improved iPad in the same event. I wasn't really thinking about getting a mini iPad since my regular one does pretty much all I need, but they really seem to be pushing out a mini because they "had to" instead of their normal attempt to lead the market.

Have to say that new iMac looks pretty sweet though.

I'll be in the market for an iMac in the next year or two probably. I've had PCs 100% up until now, but my wife got a Macbook a few years ago and fell in love. We both have laptops for work these days, and likely will for the forseeable future, so when our current laptops have seen their last days, we're going to look into an iMac.

With all of that - the latest iMac looks REALLY REALLY nice, so that has me excited.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Seeing this pricing makes me even more glad I jumped to the Kindle Fire. As someone said on the last page, I can pick up the new HD version and have two Kindle Fires for roughly the same price as one iPad Mini.

[wade moore]

I'd consider the Fire except two things really scare me off.

1. I've heard from multiple that have used both an ipad and a Fire that the experience is noticeably diminished on the Fire. Touch sensitivity isn't great. Apps aren't as stable. Navigation isn't as good. Again, this is not from personal experience, but word of mouth. Those that only have experience with the fire seem to love it fwiw.

2. I'm so ingrained in the iOS ecosystem.

FWIW - bear in mind that I don't want to just consume media with a tablet. I want to use it for note taking and some other productivity stuff.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I'd consider the Fire except two things really scare me off.

1. I've heard from multiple that have used both an ipad and a Fire that the experience is noticeably diminished on the Fire. Touch sensitivity isn't great. Apps aren't as stable. Navigation isn't as good. Again, this is not from personal experience, but word of mouth. Those that only have experience with the fire seem to love it fwiw.

2. I'm so ingrained in the iOS ecosystem.

FWIW - bear in mind that I don't want to just consume media with a tablet. I want to use it for note taking and some other productivity stuff.

It's not the same, I'll grant you that. It's obviously different. I haven't had any touch issues and have had more app crashes on my Apple phone than the Kindle. The navigation is fine, but it's definitely not the same as the Apple products.

My main uses are reading, web, Netflix, and some apps that the kids and I use. I can definitely see how some people wouldn't like it, but for the price, it's extremely hard to beat.

[Pyser]

seems to me apple purposefully holds back features of every new product release. ipad didnt have a camera, for example.

so you get the initial crush of people just wanting to own things first, then in 6 months they release the next version of the mini ipad with retina display.

then you charge the same for it, and hey, now it's looking like a deal in comparison to the first release.

shady, but seems to be working pretty well.

[stevew]

The mini is a 4:3 aspect ratio. it should be 20% larger than the 16:10 ratio on the fire.

[Raiders Army]

Well, I couldn't resist and I picked up a 32GB iPad Mini. It's great. I really wish it had retina.

It meets all of my needs with the Amazon Kindle, Amazon Prime, and Comic Zeal apps, plus it's the perfect size for me. The iPad is a little too large.

[SegRat]

I need to go look at a mini.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I'd consider the Fire except two things really scare me off.

Kindle Fire is awesome imho - very little between it and the iPad imho ...

The integration into the amazon eco system is great - especially if you have 'Prime' as that allows you to stream various videos on the Fire for free (think NetFlix).

I've only the original Fire, from what I've heard the new HD model is even better ...

[wade moore]

FWIW, picked up a 4th generation ipad on Friday. Reminds me, need to bump the iOS apps thread.

[MizzouRah]

Just received my ipad mini today.. going to the iOS apps thread myself.

[stevew]

Looks like apple is going to be moving to a 6 month upgrade schedule next year. We got the daughter an iPhone 5. It's nice but entirely too small. I hope they make a retina iPad mini next year. I really liked the demo I saw.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by stevew

Looks like apple is going to be moving to a 6 month upgrade schedule next year. We got the daughter an iPhone 5. It's nice but entirely too small. I hope they make a retina iPad mini next year. I really liked the demo I saw.

My wife prefers the iPhone because of the smaller form factor. She finds the larger droid phones tough to hold.

[gstelmack]

Well, all my mobile future plans have been shot, because I'm getting an iPad Retina 64GB Wifi as a 15 year anniversary gift from work. Not complaining, iOS really does seem to be the mobile standard, so my checking out other OSes is more due dilligence and avoiding the inevitable. So now I'll get an up-close-and-personal look. Still going to buy a Win8 phone to check it out.

I've been keeping an eye on the iOS apps thread, but my question is on covers. I know Apple has a standard one, with some reviews talking about it breaking down / falling apart after a few months. For about the same price Kensington makes a couple of models that include a BlueTooth keyboard, which intrigues me for note taking at work (although I'd probably also get a stylus and see which works better).

Thoughts / suggestions / experience with covers for the current iPad?

[samifan24]

I have a Zaggfolio bluetooth keyboard case and I love it. I paid $70 on sale but I think they're normally $99. Light and portable with a full keyboard and case built in. I recommend it.

[GoldenEagle]

I am not so sure I like this new iCloud thing. My wife and I both have iPads under the same Apple ID. She was downloading games and they were also being installed on my iPad. No big deal, I would just turn off the auto download thing. But I downloaded a new app and I can not for the life of me figure out how to add it to my iPad.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I am not so sure I like this new iCloud thing. My wife and I both have iPads under the same Apple ID. She was downloading games and they were also being installed on my iPad. No big deal, I would just turn off the auto download thing. But I downloaded a new app and I can not for the life of me figure out how to add it to my iPad.

Open the App Store application - bottom has an icon which shows' Purchased' items; click on that and then on the 'cloud' next to an application to install it.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Thoughts / suggestions / experience with covers for the current iPad?

I've got a really nice "Brighton and Hove Albion' one for mine ...

More seriously most are pretty good, the 'iBook' ones look fantastic but are cumbersome for general use, I wouldn't touch the 'standard' Apple magnetic ones with a bargepole - I bought one originally and it kept falling off .... plus they give next to no protection at all to the device itself.

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Open the App Store application - bottom has an icon which shows' Purchased' items; click on that and then on the 'cloud' next to an application to install it.

Thanks. That worked.