Who's getting a new iPad? (poll)

Are you getting a new iPad?

  • Yes, Wifi model.

    Votes: 67 41.1%

  • Yes, Wifi + 4G model.

    Votes: 36 22.1%

  • No, but I might in the future.

    Votes: 34 20.9%

  • No, I'm not interested in the iPad.

    Votes: 26 16.0%
  • Total voters
    163
I'm thinking about getting the new Ipad tomorrow, but the only that's holding me back is 1080p playback support. I have a lot of .mkv 1080p movies that I'd like to play on the Ipad without having to convert them or stream them from my PC. I've read from various sources that 1080p and sometimes 720p playback is choppy/unwatchable on Ipad 2.

Any thoughts?
 
raziel999 said:
I'm thinking about getting the new Ipad tomorrow, but the only that's holding me back is 1080p playback support. I have a lot of .mkv 1080p movies that I'd like to play on the Ipad without having to convert them or stream them from my PC. I've read from various sources that 1080p and sometimes 720p playback is choppy/unwatchable on Ipad 2.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

If your primary use for a tablet is playing 1080p movies, then this is the wrong device for you. Wrong aspect ratio and probably not the right feature set.
 
I don't think I could stand watching a movie for 90+ minutes on any tablet. My neck would start hurting. At least you don't have to prop up the laptop if you use that.
 
raziel999 said:
I'm thinking about getting the new Ipad tomorrow, but the only that's holding me back is 1080p playback support. I have a lot of .mkv 1080p movies that I'd like to play on the Ipad without having to convert them or stream them from my PC. I've read from various sources that 1080p and sometimes 720p playback is choppy/unwatchable on Ipad 2.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Air Video can do live transcoding of media, or offline transcoding which you can then copy to the iPad via iTunes. I'm not sure how well live 1080p transcoding will work even with great hardware. It uses a custom version of ffmpeg. If they eventually support Intel QuickSync then it could be another story.

Considering Apple is going to start providing 1080p streams via iTunes that can play back on the new Apple TV and the new iPad, it can definitely handle some format of 1080p. It's just a matter of whether there will be an app for jailbroken iPads that can playback native 1080p mkv files, since I don't think you'll ever get native mkv playback on a non-jailbroken device.
 
I purchased an iPad 2 + 3G for dad. Since I am new into tablet, therefore till now I only find 3 things for which I consider tablets a need

1) Books: Being an IT Professional I would prefer to read iBooks instead of filling my room with Books

2) GPS: I travel frequently and GPS is pretty much helpful in exploring an unknown places. A cellphone with small screen according to me is bit insufficient for GPS.

3) Drawing: An iPad is very handy slate which you can give to your children for drawing purpose instead of creating paper mess.

I find my dad's iPad 2 very intresting and definately this new version along with retina display will being a lot more exciting features.
 
Bought 2 iPad 3 32GB with 4G (just for the GPS). (ninja edit, silly me, the new iPad are 4G and not 3G, but that doesn't really matter since I only care about the GLONASS GPS found in the modem.)
 
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maverick786us said:
I purchased an iPad 2 + 3G for dad. Since I am new into tablet, therefore till now I only find 3 things for which I consider tablets a need

1) Books: Being an IT Professional I would prefer to read iBooks instead of filling my room with Books

2) GPS: I travel frequently and GPS is pretty much helpful in exploring an unknown places. A cellphone with small screen according to me is bit insufficient for GPS.

3) Drawing: An iPad is very handy slate which you can give to your children for drawing purpose instead of creating paper mess.

I find my dad's iPad 2 very intresting and definately this new version along with retina display will being a lot more exciting features.
Click to expand...

Most people would disagree with your #2...but I'm not one of them. When I go on a road trip using an iPad for NAV is the BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD! I use Navigon for my Nav app and typically either have music or an audio book going on the iPad. I feed this all into my car's audio system and Navigon will lover the volume of music or book when giving instructions. Very nice.

Most seem to think this is strictly a function that should be done on a phone...and I agree, for small impromptu trips I do just use my phone...in exactly the same way I use the iPad, but the phone screen is super small and I don't want to have to try to get directional info from that little thing. I think it can be dangerous. I have a solid seat-rail arm mount for my tablet so I can see the screen quite well.
 
xBanzai89 said:
I don't think I could stand watching a movie for 90+ minutes on any tablet. My neck would start hurting. At least you don't have to prop up the laptop if you use that.
Click to expand...

If you are trapped in a hotel room with little better to do then you make it work. But otherwise, tablets suck for watching video material...and phones suck to the power of 3. Nothing beats a big-assed HTDV with home theater setup. And while I'm a fan of the new high-res display on the iPad3, it is not so I can watch movies on it. That's not even on the list, frankly.
 
raziel999 said:
I'm thinking about getting the new Ipad tomorrow, but the only that's holding me back is 1080p playback support. I have a lot of .mkv 1080p movies that I'd like to play on the Ipad without having to convert them or stream them from my PC. I've read from various sources that 1080p and sometimes 720p playback is choppy/unwatchable on Ipad 2.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I've never seen any of my 1080p rips be choppy...but would not try to play a 30 GB MKV on an iPad...so you have to be talking about rips. Using Handbrake, all of my 1080p rips work great. I did those for both my Android tablet, my iPad, and my laptops. For my TVs, I use material exactly as it came off of optical media, which I call a "bit-perfect" copy (either MKV or ISO).

But frankly, on an tiny iPad screen...do we really care about 1080p? Sorry, I just can't see this application. Sure, I can do it, but I do it only when I'm expecting to be on travel or in some place there I can't see a big display. Yeah, movies on tablets are great to kill some otherwise wasted time, but I would not buy an iPad3 just so I could watch 1080p material on it. It is certainly another thing you can add to the list of things you can do with a tablet, but certainly NOT a reason to buy one. Assuming, of course, that you have other options for watching video material. I suppose if you don't, then the tablet can fill this purpose too. The iPad 2 was quite good at watching ripped videos, IME, based on my own rips with Handbrake. I expect the 3 will be just as good or better.
 
Im a iPad 1 user, and now considering to upgrade to the 3rd gen iPad, the retina display and better camera, along with improved speed, I think it's cool!
Hope the 1080p playable can reduce the conversions with ifunia video converter, and via Airplay mirroring makes the Apple TV to be a cool home media centre~
 
I never had a cellular version before but I went with the 32GB Verizon model since it can also function as a mobile hotspot. $130 for the LTE upgrade is about half the price of a standalone 4G mobile hotspot from Verizon without contract, it doesn't randomly need rebooting like that mobile hotspot, and according to Anandtech's preliminary tests it will work as an LTE hotspot for 25 hours on a single charge with the screen off.

Pretty cool.
 
Well, I made the jump from an iPad 1 to the iPad 3. My first thought was why did I do this. Without comparing them side by side, the home screen looked nicer but not the difference I expected. After several days, I have started to notice major differences. My photographs look stunning. They are rich in color and have a ton of detail. The readability of text is a vast improvement. I put the Kindle down and haven't picked it back up. The screen colors are much richer. I tend to play a bubble pop game while watching TV. The color of the bubbles has improved by leaps and bounds.

No more crashing to the home screen. Everything runs smoothly. Scrolling works like it should and pages load quickly and completely (no more scolling and waiting for the next section to load). A speedtest of LTE gave me 18 mb/s up and down. That's faster than my cable modem (17mb/s down and 2 mb/s up ).

I'm happy with the purchase. It was a definite upgrade from the iPad 1.
 
Sold my iPad 1st gen in Belize with the goal of purchasing a 3rd gen on my return.
 
AQ_OC said:
What city is this?
Click to expand...

Austin, TX (Verizon)

As for the bubble pop game, I was just being truthful about when the improved colors stood out. It just isn't as noticeable when skimming websites. Also, maps look incredible. I spent several hours just dragging and zooming.
 
No iPad 2 option? I've lusted for one since the original came out but $540 was a bit steep. Used prices are finally reasonable, Snagged a jailbroken 16gb 2 for $325. Love it!
 
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