Well i got my Apple iPad today at about 12pm just when i got back from running some errands. It was interesting because on my UPS tracking it still showed it at the UPS facility. I got to talking to the UPS driver and she was telling me it was a nightmare with all the units shipping. I mentioned, how it said that my unit had shipped on the 30th but didn't come to the U.S. until the 2nd. It seemed to have been delayed and caught up in shipping in China.
She said yes, it seems they had some big delays with the Chinese government when it came to exporting these things. Also, because of these shipping times, iPads going out to many of the stores were being received later then expected. The driver had mentioned how Best Buy was supposed to get it yesterday and didn't get it till this morning at 9am. So even though my little iPad took a while to get here, I was very happy to receive her in my hands today.
One thing i did notice was that they did a good job packing the Apple box within the brown plain shipping box. It was a small box in which the unit was suspended in the air by using some cardboard bracers on the side. As i took the box out and began to open the plastic seal I noticed the beautiful detail Apple takes in its product box design. The box looked beautiful with the wording and images around the different sides. I have always love the boxes that apple puts their products in. Its actually a shame to dis guard them.
As I opened up the unit I saw the little iPad in its protective plastic cover. I lifted it out and noticed that below it was a nice little package unit with a card instruction sheet, some legal paper work and of course 2 Apple white stickers (more flare for the car).
Under the card was an Apple sync cord and a square electric plug for recharging the device. This has got to be the smallest power unit I have ever seen from Apple. It has a very cute and compact design. The two electric prongs collapse in when not in use. On the other side is a USB plug opening for plugging your sync cord in to recharge your iPad.
My unit came fully powered(100%) and ready to go. I went and hooked it up to my Mac. The iTunes opened up and I went through the short registration process for the unit. Then i spent sometime syncing over a few things and shopping in the iTunes store.
I went and picked up a few of the new iPad related appz: iBooks, iWork for iPad collection(Keynote, Pages, Numbers), and a few other goodies. I then tried them out after everything was done downloading and syncing up. I had also made sure my iPad connected up to my Airport Extreme Wi-Fi connection.
As i sat back on the couch and began to use the unit, I did notice the weight a little bit. I know its only 1.5 pounds but you do notice the feeling. After a while i didn't mind it but i did notice myself shifting the unit around in different positions as i used it. I went and started trying out the various apps.
The iPhone apps seemed to work fine, i was using then in the iPhone size then also 2x sized up too filling up the screen with the app. There is a 2x button in the lower right hand corner for enlarging the app on your unit to fill the screen. I did noticed some pixelizing in the graphics and even text when using 2x. It wasn't too bad, but i did notice it.
The iPhone apps all worked fine without any issues. I also tried some of the various news apps like BBC and AP and they worked fine too. The pages loaded up quick and the video worked without a hitch. I will have to say that the more i used it the more i enjoyed it too.
The ibooks app that was free came with a free children's book to try. I enjoyed using it and flipping through the pages. I also noticed something interesting too. If you choose to look at the books available through the ibooks store, you can actually download a sample of the book to look through it before deciding to purchase it. It was fast, easy and simple to use. One of the reasons I love Apple products is for the most part its something you can pick up and use without spending time going through manuals on figuring it out.
I had to try out one of my favorite iPhone games, "Plants vs. Zombie". I played it double sized and it looked great. I loved the big screen for playing and it was a bit more addictive playing now then on my iPod Touch unit. I know this larger sized screen is going to be a great platform for games. On the iPhone the screen is ok but on the iPad its just plain AWESOME.
I also had a chance to watch some movies that i had picked up from the iTunes store. I was blown away by how good the movies looked. I watched some of "Bicentennial Man" and the classic "Blade Runner" movie. I will tell you I've watched Blade Runner on a few different media platforms and on my iPad i was totally blown away by the richness and color on the unit. I watched it in the wide screen format and also the full screen format where it scales up the movie to fill the whole screen. Both looked awesome.
Then i tried out the three iWork apps that i had purchased. They worked great. It really put me in use with the virtual keyboard and I enjoyed using it to enter my input. Truthfully, i had seen the videos and photos of it but until i actually had a chance to use it first had i didn't realize how nice it was.
I am not a small man and i do have big hands. But, I will tell you for a big man this small little device was perfect. The more i used it the more i was glad and happy that i chose to order it now. So if you want my honest opinion on my first impressions about the iPad, it is AWESOME. Yep, so good that I had to yell it out loud.
I know there will be future released with more things added to the unit. But, I will definitely enjoy this one until then. So if you are considering getting an iPad all i can say is go down to the Apple store and see for yourself how great this unit is and be the judge of it yourself. I don't think you will be disappointed, this unit is a wise investment.
I want to say Thank You for all the people who helped to bring this unit to market and to all the employees at Apple. But, especially Thank You to Mr. Steve Jobs. Steve has always given us something to blow our minds and this is definitely another one of them.
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