The iPad

[Bryancd]

I would think we need to cut the speakers a little slack, they have to be tiny so there will be compromise in sound volume and quality. But to be honest, if I am in public, I would wear ear buds regardless just to be courteous to those around me.

[Jobydrone]

I agree Bryan, and like I said I think the speakers are pretty good if they are all you are listening to at the time.  For music or any kind of PA you would definitely want to attach some external speakers.

[X]

I would think we need to cut the speakers a little slack, they have to be tiny so there will be compromise in sound volume and quality. But to be honest, if I am in public, I would wear ear buds regardless just to be courteous to those around me.

Why do we need to cut the speakers some slack? They, not a headset are included with the product. If they are going to include onboard speakers, should someone expect them to be quality? If they can only put in sub par speaker, why add them in the first place when it's obvious you are going to need external ones?

That doesn't make sense to me and if it was any other product, I don't people would be asking that a pass is given about a sub standard feature.

The size of the speakers also doesn't fly. Bose and many of their imitators have been making quality micro speakers for some time. It's not as if the tech doesn't exist.

[Rico]

I also think that small, good speakers are very possible in this unit.  It comes down to cost and what they are trying to achieve.  One thing to keep in mind with a larger unit like the iPad is unlike an iPhone or iPod touch this thing can be easily shared by two people watching a video.  And if you do that, they both need sound.  Yes, you could split the earphone jack signal and each be wearing earbuds, but all those wires get messy.  I really expect in future versions that we will see better internal sound.

[Bryancd]

It's an economic decision. Better quality speakers equals a higher price point. He didn't say they were bad, they were harder to hear in a crowded room. If you're in a crowded  room blasting you media, I would think that's pretty rude. I don't want to hear you stuff and no one else does. If you are home watching content with a friend, then they seem perfectly adequate. I HATE hearing crap being played on other peoples lap tops in public, FYI.

[Rico]

People playing these in public places really doesn't come into play with regards to speaker quality.  I'm talking about using them in the privacy of your home or car, etc.  There, I want them to sound sweet.  Also, if they are really pushing this as a media entertainment system, the audio should be of high quality.  Keep in mind, Apple has typically slowly upgraded audio on their products.  They never even used to have external audio on their products, and they added it because their customers wanted it.  And that is really the reason they will upgrade this Bryan.  There is room in that price point to add better speakers - I'm sure of it.

Next gen iPad:

Camera (can handle video and still)
Better audio
More storage
Lighter
Even longer battery life
More ready to use apps
(the list goes on and on)

Please keep in mind I am not dissing the product at all - and I don't think Joby was either.  Heck, I'm fighting myself from buying one right now.  But, there is always room to improve things and grow.  It will bring in even more customers and make that good old stock price climb even higher.  ;)

[Bryancd]

No don't get me wrong, I loved Joby's review, I was responding to Chris.
Here's what he said, "As I said, the speakers were perfectly adequate in a room with no background noise." So clearly the only criticism being leveled is that in an airport, they are hard to hear...but you should be using your ear buds then anyway.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

What is that conversion program you found if I may ask?  Great review otherwise Joby, thanks for the information.  I too am in the process of testing Pocket Legends, but don't have the time atm. 

King

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Oh and I agree, it needs to be way more than 32 GB before I give an iPad another look.  Sorry, but my tiny iPod touch here can handle 32GB, why can't the iPad handle even 100?  (Yes yes, economics, etc).

King

[Jobydrone]

I use Vuze, formerly Azureus, as my bit torrent client, and it has a converter built in that will format movie files to work on the 360, PS3, PSP, and iPod/phone/pad.

[billybob476]

I imagine all the current limitations of the iPad were done to come in at that all important price point. They could have thrown everything under the sun into it and it would cost 1500 dollars. They could have thrown in an 80 gig Solid State Drive but those still run over 200 dollars each.

[Rico]

I imagine all the current limitations of the iPad were done to come in at that all important price point. They could have thrown everything under the sun into it and it would cost 1500 dollars. They could have thrown in an 80 gig Solid State Drive but those still run over 200 dollars each.

Well, to a degree.  But keep in mind big businesses get very big discounts on prices for what goes into a product.  If I had to put a number on it, I would say the components in there maybe add up to half the selling cost.  Give or take.  I just personally think audio is a fairly important feature.  Tell you a little story.  Back when I did a lot of work at automotive assembly plants there was one plant that made fairly high end SUV's.  I learned the actual manufacturing cost of the vehicles.  It was about a third of the MSRP.  All I'm saying is there will be improvements and I'm betting the price does not go up for them on the iPad.  In fact, I bet the price will drop.

[billybob476]

Oh yeah, that's a fact. I guess I mean they need to come in at their price point AND get their desired markup :)

I remember reading about the car pricing models. I believe they make very, very little on their low end cars with the hope that those same people come back for their next car and purchase that high end SUV.

[jedijeff]

I guess since this is a new product, part of the price will be for the research and development. Also the cost to setup factories with tools to manaufacture the iPads would factor in to the intial price and what parts are put in to meet a price point. I suspect over time, with future releases they will add better components, as they will have gotten the money back on their initial investments. Also, better sound and other features will give people who bought the first versions a reason or desire to upgrade. Maybe as well, the feedback they get from this first release, will give them an idea on where the priorities are for the next version on what to upgrade, maybe people want better sounding speakers, or maybe they feel the current speakers are acceptable.

Joby wrote a great review, and gave me a real good idea of what the iPad is like. I have not seen a iPad in person yet, so was cool to hear his views on it.

[Rico]

Good points Jeff.  Yep - darn Joby has made me really want one - now!   :ohbaby