My iPad 3G Impressions - It Is A Game Changer

You know by now I've been okaying with an iPad for a bit now. A month ago. Now, I am playing with an iPad 3G. More precisely, it's my Mom's iPad 3G.

It is a mixed bag as far as how I feel about it. First, my iPad is a month older. Not dated by any sense because the iPad is the same as the iPad 3G except the iPad 3G has a cellular antenna in there that provides wireless Internet from AT&T.

I have had sporadic access to the iPad because it doesn't quite belong to me. It's my Mom's iPad. She spent some time getting to know it but it was really my job to maker sure the iPad is configured as closely as possible to her iPhone.

Let me get to the 3G service first. Configuration was a piece of cake. I did it while i was participating in a live radio show on planetary and rocketry show. It took all of three minutes to get everything up and running.

The next thing I did was run the newly minted mobile service though few sites I visit on a regular basis. It was refreshing to seed the speed of the mobile Safari. It was exciting to see who fast the pages rendered thanks to the fast home grown chip Apple decided to use.

I went next with the Slingplayer. It worked as expected. The quality was decent but it's nothing to write home about. The fact of the matter is that. It worked well enough and I can't wait for the iPad specific version. I don't expect the quality of the video on 3G to improve markably as AT&T is probably throttling down the speed for this video streaming.

Aside from video, my mom is interested in making VOIP calls. And though AT&T gave the go-ahead for VOIP apps, there really hasn't been a flood of services and apps rushing to fill the voice need. Truly, it's sad. Truly, Skype...I'm talking to you.

Fring was subpar. It worked last night but in the morning, I got the warning signal that calls are only available through WiFi. But an hour after that, I decided to give it another try and calls started going through 3G once again.

Here's the changer for me: a very portable computer with perpetual wireless Internet connectivity. It has a long battery life that offers excellent UI with a huge library of apps. And to my surprise, the GPS in the 3G model is an added bonus.

I don't have the 3G model as you know. I really am amazed at those displayed superhuman patience by waiting an extra month.

-- Post From My iPad