Ipad 3 rumours

[hecatae]

http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/13/ipad-3-event-pegged-for-march-7/

http://www.imore.com/2012/02/13/ipad-3-announcement-march-7-quadcore-4g-lte/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204062704577221960347109978.html

http://ilab.cc/staff_blog/5559.html

oh and gsmarena have the following blog post: http://blog.gsmarena.com/ipad-3-to-be-announced-on-march-7-expected-to-have-4g-lte-retina-display-quad-core-processor-and-new-camera/

1mm thicker, ips retina display, and quad core a6 processor

[Ben]

That does indeed seem to be the consensus, though I believe that's little more than this information is - rumour and consensus.

Apple produces several different versions of each new product, so it's impossible to know what will end up shipping even if someone has good information.

I'm pretty sure we're going to get something very similar to iPad 2 in terms of form factor. If they can pull off the sorts of resolutions for the screen that have been rumoured then that's going to be interesting, though I do think Apple need to address the use-in-sunlight issue as that's where the iPad currently falls down IMHO.

Will Apple launch a processor called the A6 for iPad 3? Perhaps. Will it be quad-core? I'm not sure that's a given. But if we do see the 'A6' released then the iPad will have overtaken the iPhone spec-wise for the first time and that could give interesting hints as to where Apple is now focussing.

LTE seems unlikely as Apple tend to wait until such technologies are established.

Often Apple fail to live up to the specifications rumoured before a new launch.

[gorilla]

I really only want the full 'desktop' browsing experience on the iPad. In other words, I want to be able to edit google docs in safari on the iPad. Of course I'd take a better screen and more ram!
Anyone planning on selling their iPad before the announcement?

[3GScottishUser]

Major rumours in the sunday press today that the big annoucment will be a 7" tablet to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire which has been gaining market share in the USA. With Amazon's 10" Kindle Fire on the way it would make sense for Apple to have a product to compete with.

[Wilt]

Not really seen anything on the usual Apple sites (MacRumors etc.) that are suggesting a smaller screen - they seem to be focused on a high res 9.7" display.

[Ben]

I really only want the full 'desktop' browsing experience on the iPad. In other words, I want to be able to edit google docs in safari on the iPad. Of course I'd take a better screen and more ram!
Anyone planning on selling their iPad before the announcement?
Hmm... I've edited Google Docs in Safari on my iPad before, I'm sure of it... I couldn't get out of edit mode once I was in it, but I did edit?

[gorilla]

Must have missed your reply Ben - editing google docs is a real pain on the iPad using Safari. Just give it a try.

Anyway, in a moment of madness I sold my iPad 2 to a friend and I'm now anxiously awaiting today's announcement and hoping that it is indeed a new iPad. I now fully appreciate how much of a difference the iPad has made in my life. It sounds silly, but living without it seems almost like quitting smoking. It's like I've lost a limb.
Can a device really have that much impact on someone's life?

[Ben]

Ok yes editing isn't great. Doable, but you wouldn't want to have to 'do' too much. Google, fix that for us please? :D

It's interesting that being iPadless has made a notable impact on your day-to-day. I haven't tried being without mine yet... I suppose it's the only way to ascertain just how much you 'need' a tablet.

Fingers crossed for you that today's announcement is a good-un!

[Ben]

Minutes away folks! Latest speculation is all around a magical haptic-feedback display... we'll see.

[3GScottishUser]

HD screen on the iPad, which is nice but it's a much higher resolution than is noticaable with that size of screen! 1920 X 1080 is good enough for HD on a 50" plasma. Smaller screens don't require as much resolution so I think Apple are engaging in technology kidology with that feature.

No Siri.... bad news, but good that LTE has been included making the device future proof.

£499 for a Wi-Fi/UMTS/LTE 16GB device? Overpriced I'd say and the additonal memory varients are laughable rip-offs.

When I tell folks that iPads don't have a USB or a memory card slot they think I am completely ill informed. 'It has to have' is the reaction. But it's true and when considered no matter how good the user experience might be all appeal seems to vanish when folks understand that the device is not particularly friendly with their existing devices and knowledge about how to manage data outwith the walled garden that Apple have created.

I really like the look of the new iPad and I would probably fork out £400 on one but for the fact it's far too restrictive as it is presently. Competition will no doubt change that in time just as the iTunes DRM was disposed of.

[hecatae]

LTE?

Think you are mistaken 3GSU, the new Ipad does not have LTE that is any use to anyone outside of the USA

[Hands0n]

Seriously? If anyone doesn't know that the iPad has no external memory ports they must have been living in a cold dark hole for the past five years! All this nonsense about that being the deal killer is just fuss and bluster. Of course, people can go try Android tablets, or Windows 8 when they arrive. They'll not receive the experience of an iPad - this is the voice of practical experience. I have the iPad, of course, and an ICS-equipped Android tablet and I can safely say that the latter still pales into near insignificance against the iPad in just about every single respect. And there is absolutely zero loss associated with not having an external SD slot.

[gorilla]

I sold my iPad 2 in anticipation and I'm happy with the outcome. I'll get a better device for £200. Of course, I would have had a perfectly acceptable iPad 2 for no outlay, but that's not the point!

I never fill the 16GB and I have no need for extra storage. Why is it necessary? This is not my primary computer, although I use it more than any other device, so I don't want it to contain my life story. I have dropbox, box.net, google etc for that, not to mention spotify and netflix. Naturally, I'm goosed without the internet, but then the iPad (like most devices these days) needs the internet to make the most out of it.

Check out this post (http://cimota.com/blog/2012/03/08/ipad-3/) from @cimota about why he thinks the new iPad is all that.

Apparently it wasn’t innovative enough. That a faster processor (presumably more RAM), 4G networking (and faster 3G), quad-core graphics, Bluetooth 4, 1080p video recording and pushing 4 times the number of pixels (Retina Display at 2048×1536*) while still maintaining the battery life and the same cost is not innovation.

I do all my picture editing on the iPad, so this screen will really enhance that. The iPad really is better than a PC/Mac for editing. Honestly, using your finger to make the changes is really intuitive.
I'm still not going to be using the camera, but it's nice to know you have that choice.

What I am tempted by is the Apple TV. I like the idea of the iPad becoming my gaming console. Anyone actually do this?

[Ben]

3GScottishUser - I think you completely missed the point of the retina display. Yes, the resolution is very high, designed to be so high in fact that at normal viewing distances your eyes can't make out the pixies. Now, on a telly, it's a long way away, so you usually can't anyway. But computers/phones/tablets are much closer to our eyes and until Apple started the craze with the iPhone 4 retina display you could, quite frankly, see the pixels and see the rough edges of fonts and graphics. Doubling the resolution doesn't make everything tiny, because the interface is essentially doubled in size to fit. So everything looks unbelievably sharp, detailed, yum. It's easily the best feature of the new iPad. I'm sure you'd really like the iPad if you actually gave one a shot for a while - I don't find mine restrictive in the slightest.

gorilla - I envy you for the new screen I really do. Doesn't look like I'll be upgrading at the moment, though, I just don't think I can justify it for the sake of nicer text while reading! Plus I'm 64GB WiFi+3G so we're talking serious money.

I have the Apple TV and think it's bloody fantastic with the iPhone and iPad. After fireworks last year we all sat around and threw our pictures and videos onto the big screen over AirPlay. Just great. I haven't tried it for gaming but the videos I've seen look good :) We've gone from 'you are the controller' to 'you are the console' :D

Got me a new Apple TV ordered :) Roll on 1080p. Hurrah for fibre!

[3GScottishUser]

LTE?

Think you are mistaken 3GSU, the new Ipad does not have LTE that is any use to anyone outside of the USA

I watched the launch video and that was not made clear as they showed a diagram with GSM, Wi-Fi, UMTS and LTE as connection options. This was on the UK Apple Store site. I would be quite annoyed if I bought one to find it did not have what is a very important feature as detailed in the video. I wonder if it has HSPA+ at the highest rated spec?

[Ben]

It does have LTE, it just doesn't support the bands we're likely to get LTE in in the UK, afaik. Whether that's something that can be changed in software I don't know, but I doubt it... I'd imagine it'll be a future iPad that'll work on UK LTE networks.

It does, AFAIK, support all the best available throughputs up to that, though. (Apple site: UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz))

I actually can't believe the USA are ahead of us in cellular tech now. It's appalling.

[gorilla]

My shipping date has slipped to the 20th. Is that the same for everyone?

[Hands0n]

In the news today, Apple have sold out their entire global stock of pre-order New iPad. Yup, it sure looks like Apple are on the wane *rolleyes* :D

[Ben]

My shipping date has slipped to the 20th. Is that the same for everyone?
Really? I wonder if that'll be revised back again... it should deliver on the 16th if that's what it said when you ordered.

In the news today, Apple have sold out their entire global stock of pre-order New iPad. Yup, it sure looks like Apple are on the wane *rolleyes* :D
Good news, though I do hope that they've got it 'right' with iPad 3. Implying that I have some nagging concerns. The iPad 2 was pretty 'perfect' with the exception of the display resolution being only average. They've made it thicker, heavier, and haven't boosted the battery despite upping the graphics performance and, I would imagine, upping the backlight. The LTE version must be using a relatively unknown chipset, lord knows how that'll behave in the absence of any LTE/if it'll be a power drain. But if the screen and performance are right, the iPad 3 should be all things to all men. I'm sure my fears will be allayed the moment I try one. I suppose it's always the case when you have such a runaway success that for every 1 chance of improving there are 99 chances to fall from grace.

[hecatae]

No one gone and queued at a store?

[Ben]

No one gone and queued at a store?
Gotta wait until Friday to do that.

[gorilla]

I've had a revised confirmation email. The first said it was to arrive on the 16th and then the revised yesterday saying the 20th. Not really that bothered, but would prefer to get it on Friday!

[miffed]

In the news today, Apple have sold out their entire global stock of pre-order New iPad. Yup, it sure looks like Apple are on the wane *rolleyes* :D

Ah yes but just wait until the next batch of Android tablets come along !!, it won't be like the current generation that amounted to nothing , or the generation before that, that also amounted to nothing , ....these ones will really give Apple a run for their money !

[DBMandrake]

HD screen on the iPad, which is nice but it's a much higher resolution than is noticaable with that size of screen! 1920 X 1080 is good enough for HD on a 50" plasma. Smaller screens don't require as much resolution so I think Apple are engaging in technology kidology with that feature.

Spoken like someone who apparently hasn't even looked at the Retina screen on an iPhone 4/4S. :rolleyes:

I think Ben has pretty well covered it, but there are two important points here - one is that a TV is being viewed typically from 6 to 8 feet so of course it doesn't need as high resolution. iPad's are viewed from 12-18 inches. What matters is the angle subtended from the eye between each pixel.

Secondly TV's show moving video, and we don't need nearly as much resolution for moving video as we do for stationary content like text when reading a website or ebook. (One reason why video codecs have far lower temporal resolution than static resolution - freeze frame some compressed video and any moving objects are pretty low in detail, because we don't notice the loss of detail on movement, but we do notice it on stationary parts of a scene)

A 32" standard definition TV watched from 8 feet away looks perfectly fine on normal moving video content - its not as sharp as HD to be sure, but you don't notice the pixels as such. Use that same standard def TV to play an Xbox game which has a stationary HUD overlay (health, map etc) and the lack of resolution is painfully obvious. Try reading an ebook on a standard definition TV and see how much you enjoy that...

I for one can't wait to have a look at the display on the new iPad, I was mighty impressed with the 4/4S display so the thought of being able to read websites/books on a decently large screen with similar level of detail is very appealing.



No Siri.... bad news,

Does Siri really make sense on an iPad ? Can anyone who uses Siri regularly comment on whether it would actually be useful on an iPad ? Sure, it could be done, but just because something CAN be done doesn't mean it SHOULD be done, and Apple are one of the few companies who will deliberately leave things out, if they don't make sense.


£499 for a Wi-Fi/UMTS/LTE 16GB device? Overpriced I'd say and the additonal memory varients are laughable rip-offs.

£499 is a rip off for a device with the best tablet screen that money can buy running arguably the best mobile iOS you can find, with the largest selection of apps you can find and the best integration with other devices and services such as iTunes ? Oh, and the best quality camera of any tablet device including 1080p video recording. Yep, sure sounds overpriced to me. ;)


When I tell folks that iPads don't have a USB or a memory card slot they think I am completely ill informed. 'It has to have' is the reaction. But it's true and when considered no matter how good the user experience might be all appeal seems to vanish when folks understand that the device is not particularly friendly with their existing devices and knowledge about how to manage data outwith the walled garden that Apple have created.

I really don't get the whole obsession with USB and memory card slot. What exactly is so important about these and what would you use them for other than importing pictures off a digital camera ? Who exactly is this a show stopper for ?

If you're really desperate to connect a USB device or a memory card, there IS the camera connection kit you know, and yes, some USB devices other than digital camera do work through the provided USB port, including some USB microphones...

If your reason for wanting a memory card slot is for external storage for apps and data, think again. Camera memory cards are MUCH slower than the internal flash ram in the iPad and would cause severe performance slow downs if they could be used as main system storage rather than just something to import photos from.


I really like the look of the new iPad and I would probably fork out £400 on one but for the fact it's far too restrictive as it is presently. Competition will no doubt change that in time just as the iTunes DRM was disposed of.
If by restrictive you're referring to the app store and not being able to install other software without jailbreaking, don't hold your breath. I can't see Apple changing that policy any time soon, competition or not. (And there isn't even any competition yet)

[paulbds]

What I do is use for external storage is a GoFlex Satellite WiFi 500gb external hard drive - a bit pricey - cost me £169 less a £45 voucher (total cost was £124 )

{Quick digression - Curry s were issuing £50 off vouchers on a £200 spend BUT, if you bought multiple items to reach the £200, the £50 discount was split/pro-rata'd. I simply took the unwanted item back and hence the £45 discount. These vouchers expire on the 13th march in case you still have one lying around}

This holds all my music, backs up my docs on the go, up to 3 people can use it at once and gives me a solid back up and don't have to rely on "the cloud" to get at my docs/PowerPoints etc plus 3 year warranty AND it can be used with ipad/laptops etc

[miffed]

When people start talking about the "lack of storage" on these devices I have to admit my eyes glaze over a little, I think you'll either "get it" (it being the whole point of tablets) or you don't !

[Hands0n]

I'd like to second Miffed's comment, succinctly put.

[Ben]

So, gorilla is waiting for his new iPad - has anyone else taken the plunge at the moment? Is anyone planning to queue up on Friday and get one, or purchase soon afterwards?

[hecatae]

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/03/we-gave-people-an-ipad-2-told-them-it-was-the-new-ipad-and-they-loved-it/

Gizmodo successfully pulled this off:


We rounded some coworkers and handed them a “new iPad.” The “new iPad” was an iPad 2. They loved the new iPad

[Ben]

That's rather amusing, but not wholly unexpected - particularly if those people don't have iPad 2.

iPad 2 was, until the new iPad came out, the best tablet on the market, so you'd expect people to still enthuse over it.

[gorilla]

I've been using the iPad for a few days now and I love it.

Do I think it's better than iPad2?
Yes, it is better. The screen is much better as you'd expect and it is faster and more stable (in terms of overall performance and apps not crashing).

Should you upgrade from an iPad 2?
That depends on when you think you'll next upgrade. I'm probably in an annual upgrade cycle now, so it's not that expensive for me to upgrade. However, if you think that you'll hold on to your iPad 2 for another couple of years, then I'd hold off. iPad 1 users should upgrade!

I'm undecided on the battery life as I've only charged it a couple of times and it's probably not calibrated yet. It's still all day though!

I bought a cheap smart cover (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnetic-Protective-Smart-Cover-iPad/dp/B005MJE1Y0/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1332249753&sr=1-10) from Amazon and it does not waken the device from sleep. It's ok for the price, but is only a temporary measure.

[Ben]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing that!

In terms of performance, tests have shown that both graphics and CPU performance are identical to iPad 2. Despite the considerably beefed-up graphics, it all goes on the retina display. However, I don't think anyone will argue that this isn't entirely worth it - the retina display is the single thing that defines the new iPad, and quite rightly so. There's talk of it being so good on all levels that it's of suitable quality to be used professionally as a reference monitor in studios. As they did with the retina display for iPhone, Apple have taken display technology to whole new levels.

What will be making a difference in terms of app stability is the doubling of the RAM. I doubt all of this is required for the retina display unless you're in a purely graphics-emersive experience, such as a game. In most apps there's hardly going to be a doubling of memory overhead just to incorporate the retina graphics.

It's also nice to see a few lucky people are benefitting from the upgraded cellular data capabilities.

I'll pop into Stormfront later, hopefully they've got some iPads out to play with. I'm just worried that I'll see the retina display, fall in love, and end up buying one. But I really don't want to :( I really want to wait until a revision comes along with LTE in the EU bands.

Is it me or does that Amazon listing fail to mention about the wake from sleep issue, along with the single customer review? If it magnetically aligns itself I can't see why it wouldn't work with sleep/wake. Worth checking the iPad is working properly in that respect? (should be able to use other magnets on the smart cover to trigger it, or something else magnetic).

[gorilla]

It's also nice to see a few lucky people are benefitting from the upgraded cellular data capabilities.

I think my area just has poor speeds and hasn't been upgraded to HSDPA.


Is it me or does that Amazon listing fail to mention about the wake from sleep issue, along with the single customer review? If it magnetically aligns itself I can't see why it wouldn't work with sleep/wake. Worth checking the iPad is working properly in that respect? (should be able to use other magnets on the smart cover to trigger it, or something else magnetic).

I tried an original smart cover and it worked fine. I'm just "unlucky" with the cheap knock off I ordered :)

I'm currently at 63% battery (fully charged at 7am) with wifi turned off and 3G on all day. I haven't used it that much but I feel this is acceptable battery drain.

[miffed]

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/03/we-gave-people-an-ipad-2-told-them-it-was-the-new-ipad-and-they-loved-it/

Gizmodo successfully pulled this off:

What a strange thing to do !! What did they think they were demonstrating ? .....bizarre ! I particularly like the way the girl noticed pixelation on the screen and commented on how her iPhone (with retina display ) was better (Apple-1 - Gizmodo-0)

[Sajjad Rahman]

Anyone here has purchased the iPad 3 yet? I am thinking to purchase one!

[Hands0n]

Anyone here has purchased the iPad 3 yet? I am thinking to purchase one!

I have one on order through a works staff deal. It should be here during May. Not sure if any of our regulars has jumped to the new iPad yet.

Are you an iPad user now?

[Sajjad Rahman]

I have one on order through a works staff deal. It should be here during May. Not sure if any of our regulars has jumped to the new iPad yet.

Are you an iPad user now?

I am not an iPad user at the moment. When you get the iPad, dont forget to give your opinions on the device.

[Ben]

gorilla has one :) https://talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?9245-Ipad-3-rumours&p=45793#post45793

I've stuck with iPad 2 until I get lumped with a compelling reason to upgrade. In an ideal world I'll make it all the way to the next revision, but I'm fully aware of my weaknesses ;)

[Sajjad Rahman]

hehe, it is nice to be aware of your weaknesses, as you can take precautions early :)

[DBMandrake]

Well after 2 years sitting on the fence about the iPad (and not having the money to buy one until very recently) it looks like we'll be buying one next week :)

The 1st iPad didn't impress me at all, too thick and heavy, not enough ram, not enough software support, so I skipped that generation, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have bought one even if I had the money at the time.

The 2nd iPad I liked a lot better, much thinner and lighter, quite a bit faster, much better software and app support by that time, and I think I probably would have bought one if I had the money. Downsides were its still a bit heavy, (as a book reader at least) and the screen whilst good looked a bit poor beside an iPhone 4 with quite obvious pixellation, not particularly good colour saturation, and quite obvious "ghosting" when scrolling quickly due to poor refresh rate. (Reminding me of the 12-20ms IPS panels of the old days)

Apart from the timing being good for finances the iPad 3 clinches it for me due to the screen. Unlike the retina screen on the iPhone 4/4S the iPad 3 screen is not only much sharper but the colour saturation and accuracy is far better - very obviously and visibly better the first time you look at a photo, so to me rich accurate colour is just as important as lack of pixellation. The update/refresh rate is also significantly better so ghosting when scrolling is far less noticeable, although sadly still present.

Downsides ? Heavier than the iPad 2, which I already found a bit heavy. Yeah its fine if you have it propped in your lap or something, but you don't want to be using this thing held in mid air in two hands for long, certainly not for book reading. Warm - one thing I hate about using a laptop to read is the heat on your legs, previous iPad's were essentially cold, the iPad 3 is noticeably warm - at least all the store demo units were. Certainly not as hot as a laptop, but a little disappointing that it gets warm at all when its predecessors didn't. Finally, slow charging - the huge battery capacity means battery charging times are almost double the iPad 2, meaning that an overnight charge is likely to be the only time when it will get left alone for long enough to be charged up.

Which model to get ? After thinking long and hard I decided it would be foolhardy to get a Wifi only model, one of the things that makes the iPhone so good is always on connectivity no matter where you are, I really feel like Wifi only connectivity would restrict it to being a device that you would only ever use on the couch in the living room, whereas a 3G model becomes something useful that you can take on a trip or when on holiday etc to look up destinations that you previously might have relied on your phone for.

Colour ? Still debating this one. For iPhone's I've always gone with black and poo poohed the idea of a white one... so naturally assumed that I'd get a black iPad as well. One thing I hadn't realised is that all the iPad's I've played with in store before including the iPad 2 have for some reason been white models. When I actually played with a black model a week ago it just felt.......wrong.... somehow...

It's true that for watching video/movies the black model does make a little bit more sense - the black border is more like a TV watching experience, and does look better, although I didn't find the white border intrusive as such. But for web browsing where the background is predominantly white or other bright colours, the black ipad with a huge black border feels very weird and stark for some reason, I didn't really like it at all for this. I think the reason it works on the phone but not on the iPad is because the border on the phone is very small, especially on the sides, whereas the border on the ipad is huge.

So I think I'm actually gonna go with white.

The final question is, which network for 3G ? We're with Three for both our phones, and Three generally give the best speeds and prices and with no silly restrictions like blocking Skype etc... but the 2100Mhz only 3G coverage can be problematic indoors in many places, and there is NO 2G fall-back whatsoever on a data SIM like an iPad SIM... (not that 2G would be that useful)

I hate to say it, (and my ex-O2 customer girlfriend was spitting tacks when I suggested it) but I am tempted to try an O2 SIM purely for the reason that they now have significant 900Mhz 3G coverage, and the iPad supports that 900Mhz coverage. (Whilst my phone does not) Not right where I live to be fair, but not far from here there are significant pockets of 900Mhz 3G. Unlike a phone where you're tied into a network due to your phone number, a SIM (at least a pay&go one) can be exchanged at any time with impunity since all you need from it is a working data connection.

I'm tempted to get a Pay&Go iPad SIM from both Three and O2 and try them both, and at least keep a ready-to-go O2 SIM in case we're ever visiting somewhere where Three coverage is non-existent, although I would probably use Three most of the time due to better pricing, speed, and no restrictions on usage.

Vodafone don't interest me because they STILL have no 3G coverage at all in my area (let alone any 900Mhz 3G) meanwhile T-Mobile and Orange don't really provide any increase in 3G coverage over Three, but are slower, more expensive, and more restrictive than Three in terms of usage policies. (Blocking Skype, throttling speeds etc)

So it's really just down to speed/performance/price in Three's corner versus 900Mhz 3G coverage in O2's corner.

For anyone with an iPad 2 or 3, which network do you use, and why ?

[Ben]

Ah I'm made up! I hope the waiting pays off and you love your new iPad for the incredible piece of technology it is.

I'm on iPad 2, 64GB, white, WiFi+3G. A big fan of the white; my original iPad in the black just wasn't anywhere near as 'nice' to look at, particularly for reading books or browsing, as you describe. I'm actually converted to the white iPhone as well now though, and love that too.

I use Three on my iPad for exactly the reasons you described... best overall 3G coverage, typically hopeless deep within buildings. But buildings tend to have WiFi, and as the iPad is data only it really doesn't bother me that, for example, my iPad has No Service at home. I don't even notice. My iPhone, on the other hand, still has to utilise a pesky phone number for calls and texts, so there O2 or Vodafone has been essential. I'm now very happily with O2, mostly thanks to today's Boost Box arrival (which I'll review in due course), but out-and-about, while coverage is fantastic, speeds are lacklustre when compared to Three.

Hope this post makes sense... long evening! :D

[Hands0n]

@DBMandrake - I am currently on a iPad 2 and will be getting a 3rd generation when Apple deliver. The iPad 2 is from Three and of course is locked to their network, fitted with a Three SIM.

My intention is to move the Three SIM into the new iPad that is also a WiFi+4G model (to use that hateful American terminology). The chances are that the new iPad will never work to European/UK LTE frequencies, but by then no doubt the iPad4 will be out. So I'm not bothered right now.

Thinking about your question regarding which network - I seriously would take a look at giffgaff (an O2 MVNO) that now has Gigabags specifically for dongles and tablets. Their own gigabags are currently at three prices:
£5/mth gets you 500MB of data
£7.50/mth gets you 1GB of data
£12.50/mth gets you 3GB of data

The nice thing of all these PAYG deals is that they give you a great degree of freedom to chop and change as you see fit. Significantly this can be done at low cost and no long term commitment.

[DBMandrake]

Well pay day came earlier than expected so on Saturday we went in and picked up a 64GB + 4G model, smart cover, and Pay&Go SIM with Three :)

Despite everything I said in my last post, after comparing them both side by side for some time I ended up choosing the black model! :rolleyes: I find the black border definitely better for video and at least as good for web pages.

Liking it a lot so far especially the screen, which is sharp with well saturated colours and deep blacks. The screen on my poor 3GS now looks blurry and washed out by comparison, as does the screen on the dell laptop. :(

I'm quite surprised by the performance I'm seeing on 3G on Three - a lot faster than I get at the same location on my 3GS, partly because the iPad has HSUPA and the 3GS doesn't, partly because the iPad supports 14.4Mbps+ HSDPA while the 3GS is 7.2Mbps. In fact the ping time and upload speed is far better than my sky broadband connection :p

3G - Ping 51ms, Download 7.47Mbps, Upload 4.10Mbps.

(By comparison the 3GS also on Three got a ping of 108, download 3.01Mbps and Upload of 0.25Mbps at the same location one minute later)

Sky ADSL - Ping 51ms, Download 12.51Mbps, Upload 0.76Mbps.

Will post a mini review after I've had it for a few days but enjoying it a lot so far :)

Handson: Good idea, I'll keep giffgaff in mind for a backup SIM, I didn't think about them, O2 coverage with presumably better pricing? :)

[Hands0n]

Grats on the new acquisition :) Allegedly the unlock from Three costs £15 and is added to your next month's bill. I haven't done that, but suppose I should if I am going to replace it with a New iPad.

The giffgaff is definitely much better pricing, on the O2 network. Tonight, ironically, I am sitting here, some 200m from the O2 3G mast, with the Android SGS2 flipping between 3G and EDGE. This is the quality of service that I have been receiving from O2 pretty much all of my life in using their service since 3G days (2003).

That said, I would still recommend giffgaff for those who want a good value budget PAYG that is outstandingly suitable for smartphones