So maybe I’m a little late to the game considering the iPad 2 came out in March but not everyone had the cash to run out and snatch them up the day they were released. But now that I have mine I’m really happy with it and fully think it was worth the wait. Of course its not a device that everyone needs but it has a lot of practical uses as well as fun ones. As of now I don’t have a functioning laptop, just a desktop, and while its great for everything I need at home there are plenty of times I would like to access the internet or be able to type something up while I’m out.
My biggest reason for wanting the ipad (aside from how cool it is) was that I’m going back to school in the Fall and I prefer to take notes on a laptop because it’s faster and my handwriting can get pretty sloppy. The ipad seems like it’s going to work really well on that front. The touch screen keyboard is actually a decent size for typing, you can turn on built in auto-correct, and it knows the difference between a keystroke and wiping something off the screen (so if you brush off a piece of dust you don’t get a random stream of characters typed into your document). It takes a bit of getting used to because you can’t actually feel the keys under your fingers but if you already have a touch screen phone then you’ll adapt to it easily. You can also connect a wireless key board to the ipad 2 if you want, I have one but haven’t tried it yet because I simply haven’t felt the need to do so. As of right now I have the Evernote app (bc it’s free) for typing things up, like this blog for example. It works smoothly and synchronizes across your computers but it’s simplistic. For real word processing power like writing lengthy papers and articles I’m going to buy Pages App ($9.99) and use Dropbox (free) to synch my documents to my home computer.
The next big thing I use the ipad 2 for is web browsing, and let me just say that its great. Your surfing speed obviously depends on your wifi signal but with a good connection it moves through pages quickly, zoom in and out smoothly, and allows you to have multiple pages open at once. It had no trouble loading image heavy sites like DeviantArt or any other page I've been to. And personally, I just like the ability to browse and touch links with my fingers instead of having to wiggle a mouse around. The built in Mail app is also handing for checking mail quickly and managing multiple accounts.
All the games I’ve download have played well and looked great, playing Air Hockey with two people on the touch screen is surprisingly fun. I have a dice roll and a Magic TCG life counter app for my dorky habits, the Nyan Cat app just for giggles, a drawing app, a dictation app, a dictionary app, and of course one for Twitter and Facebook. The Netflix app works great, allowing you to search for new movies and see what’s already in your instant queue, and the ipad’s screen is a great size for watching films on. The ipod app is perfect for listening to your songs or podcasts and it can play in the background for easy multitasking. Multitasking in general works well. You can leave apps running in the background and pick up right where you were last time or double tap the home button and close any apps that you want to switch off. Arranging the apps icons and changing your wallpaper are also easy and fun ways to customize your ipad.
First thing I drew on my ipad 2, my dog with a mustache lol.
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