[hdufour]

Quote:

When the wife says, "What about me?" that's when you say, "You have a brain... you have hands... get a job and buy one yourself."

LOL!  I used my wifes CC to order mine.  Mines maxed out from too many amazon headphone purchases 

  I have/had a white 32gb iPad 2, but found that I didn't care for it for reading - hurt my eyes after a while...if i'm gonna look into the goodness of a retina display I want easy to read, so black it is this time...32gb wifi (i'm kinda cheap, but want storage).  Now if only they would SHIP faster....and yes, already have a buyer for my iPad 2 - wife said she was happy with her current gen macbook air....surprised the hell outta me....

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

LOL!  I used my wifes CC to order mine.  Mines maxed out from too many amazon headphone purchases 

  I have/had a white 32gb iPad 2, but found that I didn't care for it for reading - hurt my eyes after a while...if i'm gonna look into the goodness of a retina display I want easy to read, so black it is this time...32gb wifi (i'm kinda cheap, but want storage).  Now if only they would SHIP faster....and yes, already have a buyer for my iPad 2 - wife said she was happy with her current gen macbook air....surprised the hell outta me....

 
Just wait until the MacBook Air gets a retina display, and it will be the first laptop to get one.  Bet she will want one then.

 
You think the black will be easier to read than the white? That's just the border.  Or are you referring to the retina display, or both?  I can't see a border being more distracting.  Oddly, the iPad 2 was more popular in black but the white iPad 3 have been more popular in presales, with the 16 and 64GB AT&T models already showing a later ship date of March 19 (ships by, not delivers by.  Surprisingly the 32GB model wasn't as popular this time, whereas it was the 2nd most popular with the iPad 2.)  Perhaps the whites are selling faster because Apple made a point of highlighting it at the press event.  They think it looks nicer, too, this time.  Perhaps with the retina display it will.  If not, I hope Apple will allow me to return it.  Though I am quite used to a white frame because of my 4-5 year old 24" iMac at work.  Actually, I would think it would be less intrusive if trying to read magazines or view photos.
 
I've always had black iDevices, so I figured this time I would try white.  It looks really clean so I'm looking forward to it, plus fingerprints don't show up as easy on it.  You just have to keep it free of dirt and grime.
 
They say the pixels are closer to the glass on this one, and that's good.  Less parallax.  Windows 8 was having a demo when they announced it, on a huge screen made by this company, I forget the name.  The pixels were fused to the glass to eliminate any parallax, so when you swiped the screen it really felt like you were moving the page.  I'm sure the iPad won't be that good, but maybe one day they'll be able to do that with a retina display.
 
One thing they didn't mention which is quite significant is that the battery is much bigger on the new iPad.  All they said was that you get the same amount of battery life on the iPad 3 as the iPad 2, even with 4G.... but they didn't explain why.  They should have, because it's quite impressive.  The iPad 2 has a 6900 mAh battery, whereas the new iPad has an 11,600 mAh battery (if I remember correctly).  That's quite an impressive feat considering the new iPad is only 8% heavier than the iPad 2.  Did you know that 2/3 of the iPad's weight is the battery (so I've heard)?
 
Also of note, I've read that the 5 megapixel camera on the iPad actually has better optics and CCD than the 8 megapixel camera on the iPhone 4S.  This shall be interesting to see, and I will report back on that since I'll have both.  I'm just so furious at Apple for that 80's technology VGA FaceTime camera.  It's pathetic and completely uncalled for.  Both Wi-Fi and 4G can support realtime streaming of at least 1920x1080 (Full HD) so there's no excuse not to have a capable camera, along with an option to decrease resolution if desired.  And where's FaceTime over 4G?  Their previous excuse was that 3G couldn't handle it, even though it could have handled it just fine at 640x480.  Now that 4G is here, what's the damn excuse?  FaceTime is the one feature I use a lot with my family --- much more than Siri (and anyone will tell you FaceTime is much nicer on the iPad).  This is really my only complaint with the new iPad (other than the name they gave it, which makes it really confusing for people who are trying to find out info about it on the web or order accessories for it).  Apple's official ordering info shows it as "iPad (3rd generation)."  The fact that they left out Siri and only included dictation was done on purpose, as a middle finger to the consumer.  "You want Siri?  Buy an iPhone.  You want to use your iPad's data plan so you can tether your iPhone to it?  Sorry, you have to have a separate data plan for your iPhone, but we'll let you tether it to another tablet, iPad, or laptop!"  Another thing they so conveniently left out at the event is that the AT&T version DOES NOT SUPPORT MOBILE HOTSPOTS!  Only Verizon does.  AT&T says they plan to have it in the future, but as of now it's not available.  Thanks, Apple.  It would have been nice to know that BEFORE I ordered the AT&T version so I could have made an informed decision.
 
And you think it would be so hard for them to add an optical output to the headphone jack, like they do on the Mac Mini or laptops?  They could figure it out how to make it fit.  It's not that big.  They won't though, because they want to sell Apple TVs.  I think if they start releasing high-res audio on iTunes, it might be something they would consider.
 
I just bought a new router (in anticipation of the new iPad and for my iPhone and AppleTV) because my previous Linksys was horrible.  In my rather small home I was always getting between 1-2 bars half the time and the other half the time complete drop outs, even if I was only 10-15 feet away from the router.  Now I got this top model TP-Link TL-WR1043ND 300Mbps N Ultimate Gigabit router.  It's only $50 (on Amazon) and ranks with the $200+ name brand models.  It's really nice and has received great reviews.  3 antennas, zero drop outs, 3 bars all the time.  Setting it up was a pain, as I kept losing signal to my computer but I finally got it stable.  Wi-Fi was always strong though even from the beginning.  I may keep the older gigabit Linksys N router to use solely as a hub to connect to my Blu-Ray player and AppleTV.  It was $100 and works fine for wired connections but really sucks for Wi-Fi.  I was getting stronger SSID signals from people down the street than in my own place.  Now I'm shutting them out with these 3x3dBi antennas.  Brain cancer, anyone?
 
My Roadrunner internet gives me between 16 and 21Mbps on average.  It will be interesting to see how fast the AT&T 4G really is.  It has a theoretical maximum of 72Mbps, but a real world average of around 8.5Mbps in southern California.  I don't plan on activating the 4G though until I really need it, since I'm around Wi-Fi 98% of the time.  (AT&T on 4G LTE is about 8.5Mbps down, 2 - 3Mbps up, on average in my area.  Verizon 4G LTE is about 5Mbps down, 4.5Mbps up, on average in my area.  Depending on whether download or upload speed is more important to you, each carrier has its benefits.)  AT&T has the advantage of $30/3GB, whereas Verizon is $30/2GB.  Pricing is the same on both for 5GB, and only Verizon offers 10GB.
 
I was reading that eventually 4G LTE will be a thing of the past and a form of mobile Wi-Fi will take it's place, in the next 3-5 years.  The problem that needs working out is SSID hopping, instantaneously and without sending credentials each time.  Once that infrastructure is in place data rates will come down in price and be more accessible to everyone.  And of course, average speeds will be at least double 4G LTE, and up to 10-20x.
 
Rant off.

 

[hdufour]

Quote:

 
Just wait until the MacBook Air gets a retina display, and it will be the first laptop to get one.  Bet she will want one then.

 
You think the black will be easier to read than the white? That's just the border.  Or are you referring to the retina display, or both?  I can't see a border being more distracting.  Oddly, the iPad 2 was more popular in black but the white iPad 3 have been more popular in presales, with the 16 and 64GB AT&T models already showing a later ship date of March 19 (ships by, not delivers by.  Surprisingly the 32GB model wasn't as popular this time, whereas it was the 2nd most popular with the iPad 2.)  Perhaps the whites are selling faster because Apple made a point of highlighting it at the press event.  They think it looks nicer, too, this time.  Perhaps with the retina display it will.  If not, I hope Apple will allow me to return it.  Though I am quite used to a white frame because of my 4-5 year old 24" iMac at work.  Actually, I would think it would be less intrusive if trying to read magazines or view photos.
 

 
I thought the same thing, which is why I got the white iPad2.  I remember reading something somewhere about how the eye wants to find white space to relax when reading even if you don't notice it.  After reading several books in several long reading sessions, i find my eyes fatigued and tired.  I do not notice this as much on my father in laws iPad1 with the black screen border.  I dunno, call me crazy....i know moving to the retina display will help in huge amounts, but I something about the black border calls to me, so thats what I got.  Screw popularity of preorders.... 

 
If the air gets a retina display, I'm sold and my late 08 macbook pro goes bye bye.
 
Now i'm not 100% sure on this, but I would imagine two things come into play on the optical issue - 1 being thickness of connector/design, and 2 being power consumption.
 
Most blogs are amazed at the new battery (as I am too) and how the size bumped a little, but output jumped immensely.  I can't wait to see that tech applied to other items....finally, an actually all day use air? (I do keep a long day - 12/16 hours)  Heck, I almost drain my ipad2 every day (surfing, research, reading, social, music, video here and there)
 
I seriously have used my camera (front and back) on the iPad twice, maybe 3 times.  it will be nice to have a decent camera on the back, but who the heck would wanna take that around when the one on their phone does a decent job anyway?  who needs a 9.7" viewfinder?
 
My router is an airport extreme - never had an issue since installation.  Now the link sys (4 of em) before that....junk.  All 4 didn't make it past 16 months each before they developed issues...my experience with them is bad so I will leave it at that....
 
Oh yeah...i got my shipping notice this morning!  With time change today, that brings me one hour closer to my iPad goodness....personally i think the name "new iPad" is stupid...just call it "iPad".  Thats what we do with iPods isn't it?
 
Ok, my turn to say "rant off".  I'm done here, nothing to see...move along, move along....

 

[pigmode]

The rumors I've seen so far is the Ivy Bridge MBP becoming air-like in form factor, possibly with retina display . 

 

[zotjen]

 
Quote:

 
Speaking of having 1080p movies on our phones, ipod, computer, iPad, and apple tvs means no more Blu-ray!
 

 
IMHO, 1080p is pretty much a waste on a small screen. HD isn't even worth it on a phone or iPod. And can you imagine the bandwidth that 1080p is going to use? And you're probably still not going to  get lossless audio with streaming 1080p, unlike blu-ray. Unfortunately, most people won't care about this.

 

[lilkoolaidman]

Quote:

 
 
IMHO, 1080p is pretty much a waste on a small screen. HD isn't even worth it on a phone or iPod. And can you imagine the bandwidth that 1080p is going to use? And you're probably still not going to  get lossless audio with streaming 1080p, unlike blu-ray. Unfortunately, most people won't care about this.

QFT.
 
It's also annoying when people try to get the biggest HDTV they can find. However, no matter what you get, it's going to be 1920x1080 and bigger sizes should be for large rooms and large distances. I've been at a few people's house that have a 55" in a room where you're sitting 5 feet away from the TV, and wonder how they don't notice that it looks like crap. From a distance, it wouldn't though. My living room has a 46" which, even then, may be slightly too big, but it's much more practical for how small my living room is. I've had a few guests ask why we didn't get a bigger one, and I just silently facepalm. Not to mention, resolution and size is only part of the equation. Even refresh rate doesn't matter much as far as the human eye is concerned. It's the color, deep blacks, etc. that make a TV for me.
 
Now that I've gone off topic, how about that iPad 3?

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

IMHO, 1080p is pretty much a waste on a small screen. HD isn't even worth it on a phone or iPod. And can you imagine the bandwidth that 1080p is going to use? And you're probably still not going to  get lossless audio with streaming 1080p, unlike blu-ray. Unfortunately, most people won't care about this.

How do you figure?  An iPad is almost 10", and you can have some truly enjoyable, full-HD movie watching in bed or traveling in a car or plane.  This is a landmark product, and you can bet the sales figures will bear that out.  If HD looks great on a 46" screen, it will look crystal clear on a 9.7" one.

 

[Exediron]

Quote:

How do you figure?  An iPad is almost 10", and you can have some truly enjoyable, full-HD movie watching in bed or traveling in a car or plane.  This is a landmark product, and you can bet the sales figures will bear that out.  If HD looks great on a 46" screen, it will look crystal clear on a 9.7" one.

The point, I assume, is that on such a small screen the difference in visible resolution between 1080 and 720 (or even 480) is quite small.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

The point, I assume, is that on such a small screen the difference in visible resolution between 1080 and 720 (or even 480) is quite small.

The point is incorrect.  It is easily visible and anyone who couldn't tell the difference needs not buy an iPad 3.
 

 

[jc9394]

Got the "One of your items has shipped." email from Apple this morning and this item is "iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G LTE for Verizon 64GB - Black (3rd generation)"

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Got the "One of your items has shipped." email from Apple this morning and this item is "iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G LTE for Verizon 64GB - Black (3rd generation)"

I think I'm regretting getting the AT&T version.  I live 20 miles short of the LTE region.  I'll still get the HSPA+ 4G but not LTE.  Had I gotten Verizon I would have had LTE.  But the plan pricing for $30 is better on AT&T since you get an extra GB.
 
Wow, check this out:
http://www.rootmetrics.com/pr/reports/2011/20110610_Los_Angeles_RootScore_Report.pdf
 
Verizon slaughters AT&T, everywhere in the nation.  Now I'm really regretting my decision.  I wonder if I'll be able to reserve one at the Apple Store and exchange it.

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

I think I'm regretting getting the AT&T version.  I live 20 miles short of the LTE region.  I'll still get the HSPA+ 4G but not LTE.  Had I gotten Verizon I would have had LTE.  But the plan pricing for $30 is better on AT&T since you get an extra GB.
 
Wow, check this out:
http://www.rootmetrics.com/pr/reports/2011/20110610_Los_Angeles_RootScore_Report.pdf
 
Verizon slaughters AT&T, everywhere in the nation.  Now I'm really regretting my decision.  I wonder if I'll be able to reserve one at the Apple Store and exchange it.

 
In Boston, AT&T 4G LTE is faster than Verizon but I use the iPad as laptop when I travel and Verizon has better overall performance in US.  Where I live is a small pocket of black hole, I have almost no service on both AT&T and Verizon.  Once I walked to the end of the street, probably 1/10 of a mile, I get 4 bar and 4G LTE service.

 

[Maxvla]

I think I'm regretting getting the AT&T version.  I live 20 miles short of the LTE region.  I'll still get the HSPA+ 4G but not LTE.  Had I gotten Verizon I would have had LTE.  But the plan pricing for $30 is better on AT&T since you get an extra GB.

Wow, check this out:
http://www.rootmetrics.com/pr/reports/2011/20110610_Los_Angeles_RootScore_Report.pdf

Verizon slaughters AT&T, everywhere in the nation.  Now I'm really regretting my decision.  I wonder if I'll be able to reserve one at the Apple Store and exchange it.

FYI that report is almost a year old. Not saying it isn't still true, but a lot of things can happen in a year with the pace of tech being what it is.

 

[uofmtiger]

I went with a black border, too.  I think it is is better for video, but I could be wrong.  I think a lot of people are getting white so they can tell it apart from their older black iPad.
 
I got a 32GB model.  With Photostream, I don't think I will be keeping very many photos right on the iPad.  I use iTunes Match and MOG for music and that requires little space.  Video is the one area that needs some memory, but I don't plan to shoot many videos with it.  My iPad (Original) has 32GB of space and I am not even using half of it (and a big part of that is movies that I could delete). 
 
The iPad once worked with USB and the camera connector to get a digital out with some DACs (I believe it still does).  I tried it a while back with a powered DAC and it worked, but I prefer airplay so that I can keep the iPad unleashed.  If they did have coax out, I would still prefer Airplay. 
 
I want the new iPad because of the screen. I would not have updated if the screen wasn't better.  The 4G is just an extra feature that is nice, and I will use, but I would not have bought it if that was the only update. 

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

I went with a black border, too.  I think it is is better for video, but I could be wrong.  I think a lot of people are getting white so they can tell it apart from their older black iPad.
 
I got a 32GB model.  With Photostream, I don't think I will be keeping very many photos right on the iPad.  I use iTunes Match and MOG for music and that requires little space.  Video is the one area that needs some memory, but I don't plan to shoot many videos with it.  My iPad (Original) has 32GB of space and I am not even using half of it (and a big part of that is movies that I could delete). 
 
The iPad once worked with USB and the camera connector to get a digital out with some DACs (I believe it still does).  I tried it a while back with a powered DAC and it worked, but I prefer airplay so that I can keep the iPad unleashed.  If they did have coax out, I would still prefer Airplay. 
 
I want the new iPad because of the screen. I would not have updated if the screen wasn't better.  The 4G is just an extra feature that is nice, and I will use, but I would not have bought it if that was the only update. 

 
I agree on the better screen and 4G, that sold me.  I mainly use iPad for all business trip.  Nothing beats Citrix XenDesktop on iPad.