December 29, 2014
Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback! I purchased the new iPad Air 2, in Gold, 16GB capacity about a week ago at Walmart, and I'd like to give a few impressions of the hardware and software here. I had particularly high hopes for this device, and have been waiting a long time to buy one; after holding a friend's brand new 64GB version, and being really impressed by how light the device seemed, I bought one for myself! :)A little bit of background: My other experience with tablets involves a 2013 Nexus 7 that I use at least weekly; an Asus Transformer Pad, with a Tegra 3 1920x1080 screen, an Acer android tablet whose screen cracked 3 months after purchase; a Kindle Fire HD; I have also used both an iPad 2 and an iPad Mini (original) off and on, but never owned an iPad before. I use an iPhone 5.The device is extremely light and thin. Its shocking, honestly - its far lighter than my chunky Kindle Fire HD 7. I bought it in gold (because why not live a little?) and it looks really nice. It feels like a premium device. The back is metal, which can be a little cold to the touch, but is smooth and easy to hold. It does get tedious holding it up while lying in bed, however. Probably this is due part to the small side bezels; my palm or thumb was nearly always bumping the screen.The screen is gorgeous. Bright, easy to read, and I haven't no noticed any reflections on it yet, which is fantastic. Honestly, its beautiful. And it shows off photographs really really well. I haven't used it to take any pictures, and probably won't, so I can't really comment on that aspect.The software is good, but I was honestly expecting something noticeably better than iOS 8 on my iPhone, which just isn't the case. In fact, because of the animations, and the larger screen, it feels almost slower than my two year old iPhone.If I had to describe iOS on an iPad, its just iOS+ for an iPhone; just a '+' version. Or in Apple parlance, an 'S' version. Slightly superior, but not really. In terms of responding to my touches and taps, Safari as a browser just didn't quite get recognize maybe 75% of my taps the first four days before settling into getting 3/4 of them. So, using the web and the web browser is more frustrating. Because so many web sites are optimized for a mobile or iPhone version, its actually easier to browse on my phone.The processor is fast. But not significantly faster than my 2013 Nexus 7, so there isn't as much a difference as I thought there would be. Basically, the iPad has always been fast enough for me, and new android tablets are as well. I thought I would notice a difference, now that Apple has bumped the RAM to 2GB, but frankly, no. Its future proof, yes, but ... You won't notice the difference, either.Just to sum up my thoughts on the new iPad Air:Pros:Extremely thin and lightBeautiful hardware and softwareSo. Many. Apps.Lots of accessoriesCons:Even medium sound causes the whole device to buzz and vibrateNo way to have two accounts; I can't share this device with my significant other at all; no multiuser supportSlim bezels make it hard to hold without occasional errant tapsExpensiveNo widget apps - eg, weather, flipboard, buzzfeed on the home pagesI really wanted to like this device more than I do today. As is, I have an old MacBook that I'm going to keep browsing the web on, while I decide whether to return the iPad or not.Lastly, I suggest to but it at low price at: Goo.gl/GnCxZkThanks for reading!