Tuesday Tech Talk #50

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. This past week I got my new iPad so it’s going to be an iPad centered Triple T this week.

How I Got it

So we will start with how I got one. I’ve been saving my money for one of course and I have wanted to get a 3G model. So I have been looking at the 32GB WiFi+3G model and that is indeed what I wound up getting. However actually getting it took a bit longer than I thought. My initial plan was to just drive up to Memphis and drop by the Apple Store in Germantown and pick one up. Before doing that I decided to call first and glad I did because they were sold out. I also checked with the Birmingham, AL and Ridgeland, MS stores and same there. So I put myself on a reserve list for the model I wanted at the Germantown store and on Wednesday I got the email that my iPad was waiting for me there.

The drive and purchase

I got ready and even borrowed my wife’s Corolla as it has better gas mileage for the 100 mile drive each way than my Chevy S10 truck does. I listened to some talk radio on the way up and used the Navigator app on my iPhone for the GPS. The drive between Tupelo and Memphis is pretty uneventful, there is no traffic and no major things to see along the way besides gas stations and fast food places off the exits. However once you get into Memphis it is 18 wheeler city as Memphis is a major distribution area to the whole country, in-fact FedEx is based in Memphis. About 20 mins later after getting into Memphis, I had arrived at the Apple Store in the Saddle Creek shopping center. I walked in and told the greeter I was there for my iPad and she told me to wait a few minutes as it was quite busy at the time there so I played around with an iPad. A few minutes later a member of the Apple Sales team assisted me in my purchase, I got my iPad along with the AppleCare I buy on any Apple hardware (3 years of coverage is excellent!). He also offered to get the iPad setup so I can use it right after leaving the store but knowing I had quite the drive home and can sync it once home, I declined his offer and headed home but not before filling up the Corolla with gas which up there was 20 cents cheaper a gallon than down here.

The Unboxing and Syncing

I got home and unsealed the wrapping and opened up the box and synced the iPad to my MacBook. I did a manual sync as I didn’t want all the apps on my iPhone to be on my iPad and I didn’t want my music on it either just podcasts. The syncing didn’t take long and soon I was using it and showing off features to my wife. I used a few apps native to the iPad I had previously downloaded before I had to leave for work.

Stuff I Love about it

Quite a few things here, I have the iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes & Noble eReader apps so if you have the iPad, you have the most versatile eBook readers around. Also there is the MLB At Bat app for tracking baseball games. I used it while watching the game and the pitch status is within several seconds of the pitch. If you are a subscriber to the MLBTV package, you can even watch the games on the iPad. It is by far an awesome app for the iPad.

For my RSS feeds I use NetNewsWire. It syncs with the Google Reader and the interface on the iPad is highly professional!

How Does it Fit into Everyday Use?

The bigger screen and longer battery life makes it preferable to viewing content on a long term basis over the iPhone. Also it is a lot lighter than the MacBook and also has a longer battery life. So for me, sitting in my recliner with the iPad instead of the MacBook when all I want to do is consume media or do some light creativity is a welcome change. Another benefit is the iPad puts out zero heat while the MacBook battery does put out quite a bit making the laptop part of it not so fun longterm. At the same time, there is still an everyday use for all 3 systems. For editing and heavy blogging, I will continue to use my MacBook, obviously I need a cellphone and the ability to keep track of my email and there are just some places I do not take my iPad to like work for example. With the iPad, I can read content around the house, at the coffee shop, or other places since it is a 3G model.

The iPad apps

At Bat 2010 ($14.99) - This app is great for keeping track of your favorite major league teams. You get a catchers view of every ball and strike and a manual scrollable scoreboard at the top to track the out of town games. You can also listen to the games and if you subscribe to MLB.TV service, can even watch the games on the app.

NetNewsWire ($9.99) - This is a great app for tracking your favorite websites if they offer an RSS feed. You use your Google Reader login to bring up your RSS subscriptions and it keeps current with the Google Reader website so whatever is marked as read in NetNewsWire is also marked in Google Reader.

Pages ($9.99) - The same word processor application that is part of iWork on the Mac is also on the iPad. I have used it on the iPad and find it easy to compose a document in no time using the onscreen keyboard.

WordPress (Free) - If doing some light blogging, WordPress for the iPad is great! In no time you can compose, tag, and categorize a blog post and publish it.

Well that is going to do it for this edition of Triple T. See you all next week for another edition of tech news.