Apple iPad Review : First Impressions, What Comes in the Box - Part 1

Jeremy Go, a fellow Atenean, is an endurance athlete who co-owns the first running specialty store in the Philippines for runners by runners, aptly named Second Wind.

I believe he also has an ideal BMI.

Jeremy is on TP because he recently won an Apple iPad in a raffle and - true to what he thinks of me; 'Irreverent' - I practically forced him to write this initial impressions guest post for you, dear TP friend.

So if you will, check it out --

TP Guest Posts Series presents...
Apple iPad Review by Jeremy Go part 1

Few things before I get to the meat of this review. I was not really an iPad fan, while people around me were falling over each other rushing to get an iPad, I was decidedly unimpressed. I’m not a Mac hater by any means, having used and loved an iBook G4 in college before I was reconverted to the dark side by our company IT requirements. It is just I found it to be a limiting, yet expensive toy.



So, having said that, what am I doing with an iPad to review for this site? Well, long story short, I won one in a raffle and while my 1st thought after getting it was to sell it, but a good friend of mine who is producer of the #hashtag radio show threatened to kill me if I did... so ok then, let’s just see what this tablet can do.

Oh, by the way, the reason I told you I’m not an iPad fan is so that you can understand that I have done no research to this product prior to receiving it and I am learning things on the fly. If some of the things I say seem childish and moronic to the tech-savvy iPad aficionados out there, then I’m sorry.

So where were we... let get this thing out of the box.



1st impression: Wow that a whole lot of box for so little inside. Seriously, I remember reading something about Apple decreasing the size of their boxes to be more conscious of the environment. I guess this has not extended to the iPad range.

WYSIWYG: iPad, “manual” and associated paperwork, USB cable, charger (since I won this abroad, my charger is the OZ version, I have to use a travel adaptor to use this here. If anyone knows if I can buy a “Pinoy head” for my charger please drop me a line in the comments, Thanks!)

Oh, and you get not 1 but 2 apple stickers to stick on your car, skateboard, guitar and/or IBM compatible to show the world that you drink from Steve Job’s Kool Aid.



Anyway, the reason I put “manual” in quotation marks is because it basically says turn it on, plug in to itunes and go on your way...

Considering that my last phone has a quick start guide and a thick manual in 4 languages, this was no help at all to an iPad/iPhone neophyte like me. Luckily, there is a user guide on the internet which you can look at. Which I promise to do so... sometime. For now, I’ll just grunt and scratch my head while I figure something out.

Well, more on my learning how to use the iPad in a future review. For now, I’ll focus on 1st impressions.

After I got the sucker out of the box. What’s the first thing I did? I went shopping of course! No self respecting iPad owner would be without his accessories.

Of course, the 1st thing I had to buy was an iPad case. Have you ever seen a naked iPad outside of an Apple store? Never! It’s just not done.





Luckily, I found a fantastic iPad case in a tech shop in Brisbane right before I was scheduled to fly.

I got this particularly because it has a stand, which I have found to allow effortless web surfing and typing on my office desk.



My next important purchase was a screen protector. The obsessive compulsive in me screamed out for one after a few days of using the iPad, because of the smudges left on the screen. Is it just me, or is this thing a smudge magnet?

With the screen protector I still get smudges, but I find it wipes away easier and at least I can rest assured I am not scratching the screen while I am wiping it down. Word to the wise regarding the protector though, I found by applying a screen protector the touch screen lost some of its sensitivity. Though it is not a problem and the new screen calibration was something I quickly got used to.



Okay, now that I have my iPad , hooked up to the App Store, and bought my accessories. It is time to get to the serious business of iPad-ing. Over the course of the following days and weeks, I will attempt to get more productivity out of my iPad by attempting to:

• Figuring out the intricacies of the Apple touch screen (Hopefully, there will be tips and tricks out there)
• Root around the App store for great and hopefully free apps
• View and create Office documents
• Get a Globe MyFi or Smart Pocket Wifi so I can use it “outdoors” (I got the Wifi version only as opposed to the 3G version. My Pops has a 3G version, so I’ll try to get that for review in a future entry as well.)

Well, that’s it for now, I have to go look around the App store.

P.S. Sorry for the bad quality pics, I used my phone to take the photos as I am so technologically backward that I do not own a digital camera.

Thanks Jeremy! You're the man!