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Matthew Miller & Joel Evans
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A-lister Apple iPad reviews go live, PC Mag offers most depth

By | March 31, 2010, 8:06pm PDT

Summary: There are a few select journalists that Apple sends products to for reviews and the embargo has apparently lifted as the floodgates opened this evening. PC Magazine hit it out of the park with a very extensive, in-depth review that I highly recommend you go check out.

Special Report: Apple iPad
The three main typical characters we expect to get Apple products before everyone else posted their reviews of the iPad, but I didn’t really find much we didn’t know about the iPad and actually found the 11 recent Apple videos to be more informative than these reviews and it wasn’t like their conclusions were any real surprise. Then I read Tim Gideon’s review on PC Magazine and was left with a few answers to questions I had about the device. Tim’s review spans a full four pages and includes a very good video walk through of the device. I expect to see reviews like this from sites like Engadget, Gizmodo, TiPB, and here on ZDNet when we all get our iPads this weekend. I know I set aside much of this weekend to work on several articles and know that Joel will also be writing up his thoughts so stay tuned for lots of coverage that should help you with your purchase decision of a rather expensive product.

Here are the current reviews that are up for the Apple iPad:

I have a number of questions still left unanswered that I plan to cover this weekend, but please do feel free to ask me questions or post what types of things you want me to cover in my articles too.

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Topics

Review, PC, Apple Inc., Tim, Corporate Communications, Desktops, Marketing, Hardware, Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle.

Disclosure

Matthew Miller

Matthew is a professional naval architect by day and a mobile gadget freak at all other times. He purchases most of his devices and then sells them on eBay or Craigslist to buy more. Many other devices are sent for review on a 30-day loaner basis and then returned to the carrier or manufacturer. If any are provided as “keeper” or “long term loaner units” this will be clearly disclosed in his reviews.

Biography

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. He is one of three hosts on the MobileTechRoundup podcast and runs the Nokia Experts website. Matthew started using mobile devices in 1997 with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned over 90 different devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, Mac OS X (iPhone), Google Android, and Windows Mobile operating systems. His current collection includes a Nokia N85, Nokia E71, Nokia 5800, Nokia N810, Apple iPhone, HTC Advantage, T-Mobile G1, Palm Treo Pro, HTC Fuze, MSI Wind, MacBook Pro, and many more, along with tons of accessories and classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew co-authored Master Visually Windows Mobile 2003, was a member of the Nokia Nseries Blogger relations program, and is a member of the invite-only Microsoft Mobius mobile device evangelist group. He can be found on various discussion forums under the user name of "palmsolo".

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And this really contributed what
Pete "athynz" Athens 1st Apr 2010
to the topic at hand?

...I work closely with professor dickens...now if
dickens feels the ergonomics of the jesus slate are bad
then WE WILL NEVER EVER DESIGN ANY GAME FOR THE IPAD

So you won't even investigate it personally - is that what you are saying? Is this a issue of not having the time or just coming here to bash the iPad?

And who exactly is PAPPL@? Dude, if you mean APPLE and you are in the business of designing games and your spelling is that bad I think I might just have to pass on your stuff...
View in thread
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So tired of reading about the iPad...
James Quinn 31st Mar 2010
More to the point I'm so very tired of reading the complaints from the
same people who show up on every single article Apple to spew the
same blank time and time again.

It's been like this for years now. Apple comes out with a new product
and those who try to tear it down before it even hits the market
begins. The odd thing is their attempts only seem to spur on Apple
product sales. Odd that.

i glanced at a couple articles and what I read did not seem to bad for
the iPad and of this I'm glad. Not planning on purchasing one anytime
soon but being an Apple support person and an Apple stock holder I'm
always glad to hear good news about Apple.

Still I've read and heard to much about the iPad and it hasn't been
released yet.. sigh.

Pagan jim
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RE: A-lister Apple iPad reviews go live, PC Mag offers most depth
davemsaltmarch 31st Mar 2010
first and foremost..we need to know of the iPad's
ergonomics..i am a chief design architect for gAm games
and I work closely with professor dickens...now if
dickens feels the ergonomics of the jesus slate are bad
then WE WILL NEVER EVER DESIGN ANY GAME FOR THE IPAD...so
screw you PAPPL@
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Gameloft...
webmaster@... 1st Apr 2010
You heard of them? They seem to hink it's ok...
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And this really contributed what
Pete "athynz" Athens 1st Apr 2010
to the topic at hand?

...I work closely with professor dickens...now if
dickens feels the ergonomics of the jesus slate are bad
then WE WILL NEVER EVER DESIGN ANY GAME FOR THE IPAD

So you won't even investigate it personally - is that what you are saying? Is this a issue of not having the time or just coming here to bash the iPad?

And who exactly is PAPPL@? Dude, if you mean APPLE and you are in the business of designing games and your spelling is that bad I think I might just have to pass on your stuff...
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"A few select journalists"
Economister 1st Apr 2010
Given that statement, and Apple's desire to control EVERYTHING, I doubt the reviews are worth reading at all. Anybody Apple "selects" are very unlikely to be objective.

People who bought their own and post reviews are also likely to be favorable disposed towards the device, otherwise they would not have bought one at this stage of the game. Hence I would not trust them much either.

I think we need to wait a while before we will know the "truth".
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Or........
James Quinn 1st Apr 2010
This may be one of the often used Apple Hater ploys. You see first slam
a new Apple product that has yet to be released. The run up so to speak.
Then when reviews come out like these find a flaw and say "time will tell".
Then time passes and what do you know by all objective standards the
device that was so previously railed against turns out to be an
unqualified success..sigh. So what then? Well obviously it's the Steve
Jobs magic or RDF. That or some inherent flaw in the Apple product
purchaser. Same ole... same ole.

Pagan jim
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Do me favour...
webmaster@... Updated - 1st Apr 2010
Not much of a realist for a hopeless cynic are you? Why on EARTH
would you give someone a product (say the noted anti-Apple
theregister.com) a pre-release version to review when you know they'll
be unkind?! Business 101! Have you read Pogue's technical review? Not
that kind at all! PC Magazine are also not particular famous for having
a pro Apple stance either.

Here is a scary thought for you, what if, just perhaps it is as good
as these individuals say? Calling foul because Apple have done what
EVERY sensible business does by controlling the release of a new
product is disingenuous to say the least, especially give your obvious
distain for both the company and device. I'm not accusing anyone of
being an "Apple hater"-- I hate that expresion as it's both pointless and
puerile. I'm simply calling what I see based on the volume of your
negative comments on EVERY iPad article. What is your agenda?
0 Votes
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You have a firm grasp on the obvious
Economister Updated - 1st Apr 2010
What is YOUR agenda. On the one hand you explain the reasonableness of Apple controlling the review process and on the other hand you suggest some of the reviewers are objective? Which one is it?

Nice skirting around actually calling me an "Apple hater" BTW.

You clearly do not read all my posts nor are you able to read them from any kind of a balanced perspective. I do not like Apple's walled garden nor their prices. Does that offend you? I do not criticize their products. How can I? I don't own any.

Get over yourself.

Edit: I do believe I have criticized the lack of ports and user replaceable battery. Does that offend you too? Am I permitted to have opinions different from yours?
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Yes.. yes you have. Over and over and over again.
James Quinn 1st Apr 2010
The question is not your opinion about Apple policies nor produce
that much was clear after your very first post. The question is why so
often and with little new or nothing new to add just mixing the words
a bit there and there but all the sound and fury still amounting to
nothing new? Why do you have this odd obsession? What drives it?
You have stated the same opinion time and again to what purpose? It
should be obvious by now Apple has chosen it's path and I agree you
do not want to go in that direction... So far it alls sound reasonable. I
can expect that every time Apple comes out with a "new" product
offering you would be there to pipe in about "walled gardens" and
"non changeable batteries" OK you made your point isn't it time to
move on. As I've state before I'm not a fan of Dell nor MS or HP you
don't see me spouting my displeasure with their policies and products
do you?

Pagan jim
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An Agenda
norgate 1st Apr 2010
You are entitled to your opinion. Then you are entitled to it all over
again. You are entitled to it even when issues, by your own claim,
don't really affect you. You can repeatedly come back on these boards
and claim that because Apple is closed, that it will have no meaningful
effect on a larger and more virtuous market for open architecture. You
can remind us again and again that you are not going to buy an iPad,
and that it may not wise for other people to either. That they will be
"trapped". You can deftly avoid being labeled a crank by not criticizing
the gear directly, after all, you've never employed it, but rather by
impugning the integrity of those who have. You can do all of this
several times a day. Then you can come back tomorrow and do it all
over again. We need never know what does motivate you.

You know what. The fanboys I actually understand. They have some
enthusiasm for a new product. It may even be exaggerated, but it's a
pretty positive energy. I nguess that would make me a guilless rube
wouldn't it?

Every one of your "arguments" however declares how disdainful and
greedy and controlling the Apple model is. You've never been
"victimized" yourself, but you're a bit of a white knight aren't you. So
you've tried to convince us. What you have done is convince us that
you feel this way and that Apple can have little effect on you and your
radiant egalitarian freedoms. I'll sleep better knowing it.

So I'll check in again next week, and do a quick review of a weeks
worth of froth from you. Most of this I'll ignore. Your record of
advocacy is dismal, your arguments are banal, and your motivation?
Your not giving that up, so I'm going with my guess. This will be the
opinion that I'm entitled to.
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So
Pete "athynz" Athens 1st Apr 2010
You won't trust a review by the selected ones to receive an iPad. That one I tend to agree with - the reviews would be presumably biased towards the product.

You won't trust the review of an early adopter because they preordered. This one I'm not quite as on-board with you - this thing COULD turn out to be a flop like the Newton and there would be some justifiably ticked off people if that was the case and they'd likely let people know. I know I would if I had spend all that cash on a product that I preordered and it wound up lacking... But I see why you would distrust such sources.

Personally I'm not likely to ever get one because I already have an iPhone thus far there isn't anything that the ipad can do that my iPhone can't - and in it's jailbroken state my iPhone can do a lot more... of course if all the reviews are favorable, and I get my grubby mitts on it and wind up liking it then I might just have to justify the expense...

But like you I'm biding my time but based on my experience with the iPhone I think the reviews will be more favorable than not - and the Apple Haters will still keep right on hating Apple...
0 Votes
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Who can we trust for the truth!!!!!
CowLauncher 1st Apr 2010
We can't trust Apple
We can't trust journalists
We can't trust users

I guess that just leaves ZDNet bloggers...but can we really
trust them flip-floppers?

NonZealot maybe...he's pretty unbiased hey? LOL
0 Votes
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Time
Economister 1st Apr 2010
Time will uncover the truth.
0 Votes
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Tru Dat!!!
James Quinn 1st Apr 2010
The question however is what will you say "IF" the iPad proves to be a
success? Will you blame the Apple user? The Apple fan? The Steve Jobs
"Magic" or RDF? Anything as a "Reason" except for the possibility that
Apple saw something you did not?

Pagan jim

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