alandail said:

Spinlight said:

Surely there's something more useful to spend your money on.

Can't thing of anything that I'd get more use out. I use the iPad more than I use my car. [Edited 3/7/12 17:28pm]

But 11 of them? I guess I just can't imagine, but good for you being able to afford $5000 on tablets, haha.

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Vendetta1 said:

alandail said: Really? I haven't seen the price drop.

http://news.cnet.com/8301...re-killer/

$399 iPad 2 a Kindle Fire killer?

by David Carnoy March 7, 2012 3:08 PM PST

Apple is continuing to sell the iPad 2, dropping the price for a new 16GB model to $399. You can also pick up a refurbished 16GB unit for $349.

The iPad 2 is sticking around--but only the 16GB models (click to enlarge).

(Credit: Apple)

In recent weeks there's been speculation that Apple would continue selling the iPad 2 after the new iPad came out to further amp up the pressure on competing 10-inch Android tablets, which were having a hard enough time competing with the iPad 2 at Apple's entry-level price of $499.

Well, it turns out the iPad 2 is indeed sticking around, and it's selling for what people thought it might: $399. But only the 16GB models will continue to be sold new.

If you're willing to go the refurbished route, you can shave off another $50, as Apple is selling the 16GB Wi-Fi-only unit for $349 (the 32GB model is selling for $449). That's pretty enticing and a mere $150 more than the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, both of which retail for $199 and are smaller devices with only 8GB of built-in memory (the Nook's memory is expandable while the Kindle's is not).

True, you can also get a refurbished Kindle Fire for less, but by moving into sub-$400 territory with the iPad 2, the choice for consumers gets a little trickier. Just a $100 price chop can make a big difference psychologically and, as I said, $349 for a refurbished iPad 2 will be really tempting for a lot of folks who don't want to drop $499 for the newest iPad.

Ah! Thanks.

Just looked at the new iPad on the Apple site and while it's pretty, I don't think I'm ditching mine. I do kinda wish I had waited til the price dropped though.

Not that I'm surprised, but ......

No usb support, no thunderbolt support, no native AVI support, pretty much locked to i tunes (imusickiller), no SD slot, siri that is pretty useless outside of the US.

I waited, but it looks like I'll be going with the Asus Transformer Prime all the way. Its an ipad spanker.

alandail said:

Genesia said:

Y'know...since I got my iPhone, I really feel no sense of urgency about getting an iPad. I know lots of people who have (and love) them, but I just don't know what I'd use it for. I have the iPhone, a Nook that I use if I want to read, an iPod, and a laptop. What else is there, really?

If I had 500 clams to piss away, I guess I might go for it. But I don't so...

When ours arrives next Friday, we will have bought 11. For ourselves, for our kids, for use at work. They are all used daily and we already have the need for the 3 we are replacing. We actually could use a couple more.

dang! and I cant even afford one!

SquirrelMeat said:

Not that I'm surprised, but ......

No usb support, no thunderbolt support, no native AVI support, pretty much locked to i tunes (imusickiller), no SD slot, siri that is pretty useless outside of the US.

I waited, but it looks like I'll be going with the Asus Transformer Prime all the way. Its an ipad spanker.

there is an adapter for USB and SD support.

http://store.apple.com/us.../MC531ZM/A

[Edited 3/7/12 18:38pm]

alandail said:

SquirrelMeat said:

Not that I'm surprised, but ......

No usb support, no thunderbolt support, no native AVI support, pretty much locked to i tunes (imusickiller), no SD slot, siri that is pretty useless outside of the US.

I waited, but it looks like I'll be going with the Asus Transformer Prime all the way. Its an ipad spanker.

there is an adapter for USB and SD support.

http://store.apple.com/us.../MC531ZM/A

[Edited 3/7/12 18:38pm]

Yeah, but it sucks to have to pay $29 extra for another gadget for it when it should've been built-in in the first place.

alandail said:

As an Apple fan I'm quite satisfied with what I have now, a year old computer, an old iPod ( five years is old to them ), a nano and my phone. Anything else would be indulgent and I can't afford it anyway. Que sa ra se ra.

alexnvrmnd777 said:

alandail said:

there is an adapter for USB and SD support.

http://store.apple.com/us.../MC531ZM/A

[Edited 3/7/12 18:38pm]

Yeah, but it sucks to have to pay $29 extra for another gadget for it when it should've been built-in in the first place.

they're not gonna build in that stuff because it would thicken the tablet, and ruin the whole simple lightweight appeal of it's aesthetic. Plus they're pushing towards complete wireless connectivity and no more physical media. This new one is interesting in that it's now a real bonafide HD movie viewer unlike the previous ones (I think).

ufoclub said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Yeah, but it sucks to have to pay $29 extra for another gadget for it when it should've been built-in in the first place.

they're not gonna build in that stuff because it would thicken the tablet, and ruin the whole simple lightweight appeal of it's aesthetic. Plus they're pushing towards complete wireless connectivity and no more physical media. This new one is interesting in that it's now a real bonafide HD movie viewer unlike the previous ones (I think).

Form over function again.

Sleeker tablets have a mini usb on them already. The only reason they aren't putting one in there is to keep you locked down.

As for HD. The Asus transformer prime is native 1080p, (1920) where yet again, apple HD is non standard and will require conversion for best results.

There marketing department is doing a stella job pushing sub standard kit.

SquirrelMeat said:

ufoclub said:

they're not gonna build in that stuff because it would thicken the tablet, and ruin the whole simple lightweight appeal of it's aesthetic. Plus they're pushing towards complete wireless connectivity and no more physical media. This new one is interesting in that it's now a real bonafide HD movie viewer unlike the previous ones (I think).

Form over function again.

Sleeker tablets have a mini usb on them already. The only reason they aren't putting one in there is to keep you locked down.

As for HD. The Asus transformer prime is native 1080p, (1920) where yet again, apple HD is non standard and will require conversion for best results.

There marketing department is doing a stella job pushing sub standard kit.

Not sure what you mean by locked down, seems to me that they're trying to move towards no physical connectivity. As usual, they're trying to push you towards a more progressive concept and instigate similar evolution in all third party peripherals through the power of their popularity.

And also not sure what you mean by HD non standard, a 1080p window wil fit fine within the larger screen, and look perfectly smooth. This is just like having a high resoultion computer monitor on which you might view smaller 1080 p media. If you think scaling up will distort the image, then you should realize that you don't have to scale up, or you can also fit to window proportionally on most every media player app from VLC to Quicktime. The new Ipad screen is better than the Asus.

And Apple has always led the way with function, in introducing features and combinations of functionality from day one. They were the first to include higher end graphics cards and firewire ports and disc burners built in as part of the basic tower/laptop package, the first to release the monitor and the computer into one system... etc etc

So I don't get where you say that they don't pay attention to function. Seems like they are successful and mimicked because of success in function fused into form.

I think the Ipad is designed as a handheld "picture frame" gateway to media and simple tools. Basically taking all the extra potential functions of an iphone (outside of phone calls) that have proved so useful to consumers and combining it with the chatting ability of laptops to make a communication/information/entertainment device that is still seperate from a workstation like a laptop or tower computer. It is a luxury device, but an ingenious one. Two reasons I haven't gotten one so far is that they are expensive and I would rather have a workstation like a macbook pro (because I do a tons of graphics and video work) and the screen was not HD or bigger. Now that I see the screen is bigger than HD, I'm tempted. I would end up using it to browse the web (probably on the table while I work on a computer) and the dream... watching movies in bed or a plane in full HD without the cumborsome bulk of a laptop with an HD screen.

http://www.suntimes.com/11126370-417/apple-unveils-the-new-ipad-with-retina-display-4g-lte.html