Apple iPad 3G…A Brotha’s Take

*In my typical, nonchalant attitude*

“It’s cool”

The wifi version has been out a little over a month and the 3G version just dropped last weekend. I decided to wait for the 3G because I knew I would be in places where free and open wifi would not be available. So I had to ride the bench while seemingly everyone else got to partake in the “firsties” enjoyment.

But my time came, and my iPad (32GB) hit my door last Friday at 1pm – Shout out to FedEx.

So instead of giving you the same features/benefits type of post everyone else has done already, I will give you my quick observations, and go into what I have done thus far with my new toy.

Observations:

– A little heavier than I thought it would be…but I like a little junk in the trunk
(see: Erykah Badu’s ‘Window Seat’ video)

– I find myself cleaning the screen often
The gadget just looks good, and the finger smudges seem to “stank it up”

– Photos, music cover art, videos and movies all look gorgeous
Nothing witty to add, just stating fact

– I think it’s cool that iPad-specific apps have settings you can change in the global settings menu in addition to app-specific settings in the app settings menu
(That makes sense in my head)

– I would like to have access to the file system
I have OCD when it comes to organization

– 50% percent of the time, the camera connection kit works 100%
I could only get the USB dongle to work and not the SD card slot version.

– AT&T 3G is just okay
But I already knew that

– I thought the lack of Flash and multi-tasking would be noticeable, but it actually isn’t
*Crosses fingers for HTML5 and a download of OS 4.0 in the fall*

– Mrs. Tech hates it
*Just wait for the “newness” to wear off sweetie*

Having said that, the first thing I did (after being forced to hook it up to a computer for basic setup) was look for iPad apps. The iPhone apps are okay on it, but I paid for an iPad, not an iPhone…so I’ll wait (step it up devs!). I went to sites like Gizmodo and TUAW to look for apps they recommended. The apps I decide to download are:

FeddlerRSS – RSS Reader
PrintCentral – Wireless printing
SplashID – Password Manager
Dictionary – Do I really have to explain?
Zinio – Digital Magazine Reader
Dropbox – Cloud Storage
Pandora – Streaming Music
Netflix – Instant movies and Queue Control
PDFReader Pro – PDF Reader
Photobucket – Online photo storage/sharing
Craigsphone – Craigslist…but nicer
eBay – Buy and sell stuff
ABC Player – watch ABC shows
Twitterrific – Twitter Client (just barely edged out TweetDeck)
Evernote – Online note storage
WordPress – Blog control
Wikipanion – Wiki stuff

Most of the above apps are free, and there are only a couple of paid apps. But none of them are more than 10 bucks, and they are WORTH IT. If the two of you who read my blog have some suggestions, hook a brotha up.

Next up was getting my email accounts, contacts and calendars set up. I use Gmail & Google Apps for all of this stuff so it was pretty easy. The only hitch is that the iPad can only synchronize ONE set of calendar/contacts via Google Sync. There are ways around it, but I’m cool for now (don’t mind going to the web for the others) and I’m hoping Google/Apple will resolve this on their own.

In the meantime and in-between time, I reorganized my iTunes Library and just synced my playlists instead of trying to sync my entire library. I also bought a movie or two (‘Aliens’ and ‘Transformers: The Movie’ (the cartoon version) just to see how they would look – Those are my two all-time favs, and I was impressed. I will be researching ways to put my movie collection (as a copy, not for resale – take that piracy!), so if you have any tips, let me know.

Last on the list was firing up the AT&T’s 3G service. Like I said before it was just “okay”, but I didn’t expect much. I just wanted it to get the job done, and so far so good. I only signed up for the 250mb plan, and based on my current usage, I could stand to upgrade to the unlimited plan. But I am gonna hold off because I feel my usage will stabilize after I get the hang of the device. Set up was a cinch and it is all done in the iPad setting menu, no registering or logging into a website to get started. You can also view your usage there as well.

So there you have it. If you have any tips, tricks, guides or comments about the iPad feel free to drop me a line.

Note: I did NOT write this entire post from my iPad…just in case you were wondering.