Ok, I've only ever used the Ipad and this touchpad, so with that in mind here are my initial impressions of the device.
1. Those complaining about weight, STFU. This thing weighs just as much as the IPad 1 and certainly doesn't feel heavy to handle.
2. Basic stuff is pretty smooth, web browsing, closing apps, etc. Even some of the things like opening email are really pretty smooth (which it didn't look like in some of the videos). Downloading and installing new apps is at the same level as Apples Istore.
3. That being said, somethings are not smooth. Scrolling in the app store, for example, isn't always fluid, it skips.
4. Web browsing is pretty slick. Zooming is just as smooth as it is with the IPad.
5. The flash implementation is really well done. I haven't tested it extensively, but I was pretty surprised to see how well it works. The only thing it sort of choked on was a 1080p youtube video (Ok go this to shall pass), and even then, while it did skip frames here and there, it performed much better than expected.
6. Integration with my hotmail, and google stuff was pretty slick. Picked up all of my calendars without haven't to give it extra information. Just type in your username and password and let it do its thing. That being said, when you open up the calendar for the first time, it takes a few minutes to load things. I'm not sure what is going on, but there is a good 1 second delay before you see your events. (I have not tried adding/removing new events.)
7. The touchstone charging is nice and slick. Put the pad down in any orientation you like and it charges. This is great if you want to sit down and start typing up something. No need to worry about charging. While not a big issue, it is nice not to have to fiddle around with finding charging cords etc.
8. I was thrilled to see kindle apparently being pre-installed, I was disappointed to click on it and find that A. it wasn't installed. and B. After it installs, whatever, it pops up with a "Hey, this doesn't work yet, check back later..."
9. Application updates were pretty smooth. Just click update and off it goes without ever popping and telling you that things went ok.
That's about it. I'm going to try putting on some H.264 videos and seeing what it supports as far as the H.264 standard goes (after work).
Over all, I really like the UI. I personally think it is better setup than the IPad 1. Some things need to be improved as not all the applications are as buttery smooth as the basic UI operations. That being said, multitasking is amazing, much, MUCH, better than IPad multitasking.
I'm no artist, but the actual device itself looks a little fat, but not really that bad. It feels nice in your hands, the smooth edges are really quite nice. It is a fingerprint magnet (if you care about that.)
Overall, I find that the engadget review was really quite unfair. The device is very well built. I think this can be a real competitor. The bugs it does have are not insurmountable, only minor annoyances.
Questions?
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