They were not impressed with the 3G performance.
In a nut shell, their opinion was pass on it. They
had already used a fair amount of the 250 mega
byte's in just the first few hours of using it.
I picked up the iPad 3G and just finished letting it sync. While I’m excited to play, I’m more interested in seeing how different the iPad 3G experience is, compared to the Wi-Fi only model. Here are some examples of things I’m going to be watching for:
- Battery life: the battery life on the Wi-Fi model is AMAZING! I don’t even remember the last time I charged it. Now with the 3G I’m left wondering how soon into using it will I be required to charge it back up. Granted, I’ll probably use it on Wi-Fi a good amount of the time, but even having that 3G radio running makes me think that the battery life is going to start draining.
- Video streaming: one thing I really have been enjoying on the iPad is streaming ABC Player. I have a feeling that it’s going to be blocked on 3G, given how much bandwidth that quality video is streaming at. Then again, maybe AT&T will just step down the quality so that I can still enjoy some ABC Player while on the road.
- Wi-Fi issues: did Apple fix some of the Wi-Fi issues I’ve been experiencing? They’ve had some time work it out, and with the 3G version, perhaps some accidental hardware changes to accomodate the 3G have now made the Wi-Fi better? It’s wishful thinking, but still worth wishing for.
- AT&T’s network: it’s not clear how many iPads will be sold that run on 3G, but if my experience at Best Buy and my friend’s experience at an Apple Store is any indication, the AT&T network will be crawling this weekend–standing room only to pick up these bad boys!! Seriously though, will it survive the sudden rush of massive bandwidth consumption?
- 3G bandwidth usage: speaking of usage, I’m going to start with the 250MB plan and see how I do. With me using it on Wi-Fi a lot of the time, I’m definitely curious to see how much bandwidth I consumer. I’m going to try hard to not limit myself either.
I’ll be playing with the iPad 3G all weekend so feel free to comment below with what you’d like me to try out. Also, share your own issues / observations below, too.
