Apple iPad: What our labs tests have uncovered so far
A team of our engineers has been testing iPads in our labs since the stores opened this morning. (Check out the video, Apple iPad Review from Consumer Reports, at the end of this post.) Here’s some of what they’ve found out about it so far:
Display
Colors are excellent and look similar to those on the 27-inch iMac in our labs. The viewing angle is excellent, with only slight dimming and no washing out at even extreme angles. As with other edge-to-edge glass displays, the iPad’s is susceptible to glare; it doesn’t appear to have an anti-reflective coating. It’s also highly susceptible to fingerprints, which can be an issue when watching dark movies or viewing the iPad in direct sunlight. The display is readable in direct sunlight, though doing so isn’t very comfortable.
Watching movies, we didn’t detect any noticeable blurring. Video was sharp at native resolution for a movie downloaded from iTunes, although visual “noise” could be seen when we zoomed in.
Web browsing
Screen resolution is high enough that, if you have good eyesight, you don’t have to zoom. As expected, on sites that use flash video, the video wasn’t visible. Instead, the site displayed an empty white box where the video would be.
Touchscreen and keyboard
In portrait mode, the on screen keyboard required a bit of finger dexterity when typing with thumbs. Children may find that difficult to do. The keyboard is larger and less cramped in landscape mode and it’s similar in size to the keyboard on a 10-inch netbook.
Our tester found it very awkward to use, in landscape, while holding the unit up; the iPad had to be placed on a lap, desk, or tabletop. The keyboard provides audible feedback when you type and it adapts to different situations. For example, there’s no space bar when you’re typing something, such as a web address, that shouldn’t contain spaces. The touchscreen isn’t pressure sensitive; you can’t type with fingernails alone, you must touch it with your skin.
Other notes
The speaker is mono.
Under Wi-fi 802.11G, we got 20Mbps of throughput; using 802.11n, we got 23Mbps.
The accelerometer, which rotates the display when you turn the iPad, seemed too sensitive, but you can lock its orientation.
To sync with iTunes on a Mac, you must have OS X 10.5 (Leopard).
On non-Mac PCs, we couldn’t charge the iPad using a USB port.
The Netflix app was buggy and the video skipped.
[Via – Consumerreports]
KP garu, Last night , I had my paws on the iPad. The device is impressive. As expected it looked a big iPod. It had couple of issues already. The WiFi radio was sluggish. Kept dropping the connection. The embedded videos on most sites were not playing ( as expected). BBC had video issues. Even apple.com had issues. I opened the official Apple iPad site and played iPad tour videos. They were spotty :).
Interesting point is, CNN converted their videos to HTML5 for the iPod, I was able to play videos on cnn. This could have been a killer device only if they had flash.
I am waiting for the HP slate and that tablet from Hyderabad , the NotionInk’s ADAM. 2010 is the year of tablets/slates.
well, if I put more ristrictions, I can even make 24 hr battery life.
KP Garu,
I was itching to buy one , only if it supported flash. I would shell my 500 bucks when these a boneheaded APPLE guys put flash. Long story short , I do not want to buy any magical internet device if it cannot play embedded teluglobe videos. The one good thing it has is excellent battery life.