Apple iPad, iPad 2 comparison

The iPad 2 has now been announced and is scheduled to start shipping on March 25th in Australia. The iPad 2 is interesting for a couple of reasons. We could largely have predicted it would be light, faster, and have two cameras bringing up to the similar level of technology as the iPhone 4. The iPad 2 didn't get the new retina screen sported by the iPhone 4, but we half expected that as well.

I did read one article which said Apple haven't advanced the situation as it had done in the past and to a large extent that is true. I don't think that matters because Apple has produced a solid product and I don't get that feeling with Android based systems and Microsoft doesn't have a presence. Blackberry and HP have still to play their hands so Apple really didn't have to up tha ante just yet and so I suspect the retina display will be kept for the next release along with some other goodies to keep us interested.

For me personally I find the iPad/iPad 2 to be an incredibly tempting device. So much so I was in the Apple store and about to hand my money over, but as I played with iPad on display I thought to myself, "why am I buying something that doesn't do all the things I need it to do".

The sites I develop have a text tip which I took days to develop and the text tips don't display well on the iPad or iPhone. No biggie for Apple, but for me that was important.

When travelling overseas I used a netbook. That battery life of the iPad would have been wonderful. But overseas the iPad would have only been useful half the time. To connect to the internet I would use wireless sometimes but some hotels only provided wired facilities in the room and that wouldn't have worked with the iPad. The netbook gave me what I needed and the iPhone gave me the portability.

My applications and those of my clients for the foreseeable future are Microsoft based so even if I took an iPad with me, I'd still have to take a netbook.

Many sites require the use of Flash and without Flash I need to use a Windows machine. One site I use all the time doesn't use Flash but doesn't work on the iPhone so I doubt if it will work on the iPad. The site is a Google service so until the big boys make their services compatible with the iPad that makes it hard to use an iPad as a primary computer, whereas a netbook even though they've gone out of fashion, still provides everything I need.

I also found when travelling I need to take files with me and my experience with the iPhone suggests this wouldn't be happening with the iPad. I can't even upload a picture from my iPhone to my blog because iOS 4.2 doesn't allow it.

However that's me. I love the device, but love alone is not enough. I need it to do what I need it to do. I can see a future where the services I use change and as my usage evolves the iPad and I may just finally end up getting together. It may even happen earlier if I decide for certain situations the iPad is enough.

The iPad 2 is nearly here and as I read the technical specs I thought that's new, and that's new, but then when I reread the iPad specs it wasn't new at all. I just didn't recall things like the iPad doing wireless N, and didn't realise the wireless only iPad was missing the GPS whereas the wireless + 3G includes the GPS. Personally I don't get why the GPS isn't included in all models as I'm sure it would be very useful on the wireless only model. The parts difference as cost between the wireless and 3G is supposedly only about $20 so it could be included if Apple wanted to.

The following is a comparison of the iPad 2 to the iPad. The iPad 2 is on the left and the iPad is on the right.

Overall the iPad 2 appears to have taken all the features of the iPhone 4 and added them to the iPad 2. In a sense this does make it largely a catch up with Apple's own current technology and isn't a major step forward from that point of view. For those looking for an iPad I'm sure will get value out of the extra features such as the cameras

The major differences are thus:

• Front camera

• Read camera

• Weight

• Processor now dual core

• Three axis gyro

• Appears to charge from computer

But I probably should mention it now also comes in white. I like the black to frame the contents but it will be interesting to see what the white looks like.

- Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au