[gja1000]

OK, home from the game! I took Abigail and we had a good time. Our team won!

All right down to business. The iPad. I love it! But there are some limitations to it. Also, I think there will be other "pads" or tablets out soon, from companies like Dell, etc. so the prices are sure to come down a bit.

I love it because it is so small and light, it fits into my purse so I can take it right along with me. I take it to the basketball games so that I can use the ESPN app, so see the statistics of the game I am watching - or I can keep up with other games that are being played around the country. I have the 3G and I wouldn't want an iPad without 3G because that means that you can be on the internet anywhere you have a phone signal - which is pretty much everywhere. It also has wireless which is faster than 3G, so I let it roam for wireless and use that whenever I can. Although, at the basketball games, there is wireless internet in the arena, but it is soooo slow, that I turn off the wireless and use 3G - I love that I can do either.

I pay $30.00 a month for unlimited 3G time. I think there are data plans now that cost less than $30.00 a month, but the data time is not unlimited.

It come with the following applications: calendar, contacts (phone/address book), notes, maps (it has a GPS, so you can always see where YOU are on the map), videos (application to watch movies), YouTube, iTunes, Safari (web browser), mail, a photo application, and iPod.

There are thousands of applications, and LOTS are free. The apps I have are:
facebook, calculator, netflix, iBooks, Free Books, virtuoso (a piano), iFish ( a relaxing koy pond game) weatherBug, local newspaper, ESPN Sports Center, NPR news, soliatire, Trip application (has flight status and LOTS of trip information), Brain challenge game, calorie/carb counter, Pac-Man, USA Today newspaper, Trip Advisor, 2 local radio stations, News 8 Austin (local news), a hunting game (who do you think plays THAT game?), Doodle Buddy (a drawing app), Texas (my University application), a TV remote (yes I can change the TV channels from the iPad) and HeyTell which is like voice text messages. ALL of these applications were free.

You can use the iPad like a Kindle, you can rent books, or buy them or get free books. All the classics are free and there are many many free books.

If you have a netflix account, you can watch instant FREE movies through netflix. Not all movies are instant watch, but there are LOTS and LOTS of instant watch netflix movies. I've been re-watching the Showtime series, The Tudors, on my iPad.

Most apps. only cost $.99 or $1.99, but some are more expensive - but I don't think there are many that you would want/need that are very expensive. There are so many cool cool apps, so many that I can't even tell you what they are cause I don't know!!! My sil has GOBS of apps, I don't even know what most of them are.

I take the iPad with me to appointments and read the newspaper, or surf the net while waiting - it is so nice to be "connected" when you are just sitting around bored and waiting.

I use the "Note" application to keep Gary's medication list, my grocery list, a list of things we need to do when we travel, etc etc. It is so handy.

I love the map and directions feature, as I can always find where I am going and I love the GPS because it always shows me where I am.

I love that I can be on the internet wherever there is a phone signal.

Now, the down side. I don't like to type very much on the keyboard. It is a touch keyboard, so you can't rest your fingers on it. However, if you have a wireless keyboard, it will work with the iPad as it has bluetooth. My sil has a portable fold up wireless keyboard which is just the berries to use, if you are going to do much typing on the iPad. I borrow it sometimes and it just folds up and goes into my purse, just like the iPad!

I know there are apps that will allow you to word process on the iPad, but I don't have one and really don't need one as I have a desk computer. The iPad is not a laptop, so it won't do everything that a laptop will do. If someone sends you a Word attachment by email, you can open it and read it and I think there is an application that will let you connect to a printer and print it - but I don't know how to do that.

Even though the iPad has a photo organizer on it, you have to buy an adapter ($29) to plug your camera or iPhone into to download pictures. You can also plug an SD card into the adaptor and download pix from an SD card. The pictures stay on the iPad though, once downloaded. I must say that pictures look absolutely fabulous on the iPad.

There are also some videos the iPad won't show - it will show all YouTube videos, but some live streaming (like sports events) on the computer will not play on the iPad - something about a dispute between Apple and some type of video source???

My iPhone will do some of the same things as the iPad, but I really don't like to look at my tiny iPhone screen - but the iPad is so much nice and easier to read.

I really love my iPad, but I would recommend you go to the Apple store and play with one and also you might check out some of the new tablets from other makers. They won't have all the cool applications though, and there are just some of the neatest apps you can imagine for the iPad.

Ok, what else do you want to know?