TBH the Samsung hardware does look good - their re-visit to the drawing board seems to have paid off.

Not convinced about iPad 3 this year - seems too close to iPad 2 which was a fairly major bump up from the original iPad.

The USB/SD card adaptor is there purely to get photos onto the iPad - I've not tried it with video, but I'm almost sure it won't work. And you certainly can't stream from attached storage.

For example, when you slot in an SD[HC] card, the photos app pops open, the card is read (takes time if you have lots of pics), the thumbnails are presented, then you can touch or swipe along the photos you want. It works very much like iPhoto on the Mac.

Photos are then available to any app that has access to the Photos repository. There is no file system on the iPad to speak of, which leads to the next problem - how to get stuff off the iPad. Answer: not easily.

You can email photos, or you can use Dropbox - some apps work alongside Dropbox, such as Goodreader, where you can pop stuff in and out of Dropbox folders. There's always iTunes Sync if the app allows it, but frankly it's a bit of a faff.

Bottom line: there is no file system. Get used to it.

Personally, speaking as a gadget geek, this is simultaneously iPads greatest strength and weakness.

For power users like me who actually use their pad for content creation, it's a monumental PITA.

For casual, non technical users, it's a godsend - it removes a layer of potential confusion and protects them from themselves.

Getting back to your usage example, I would look at the Android alternatives - iPad just isn't the tablet for offline storage of photos or videos or mostly any files.

Well you've put me right off it now.

I've seen people on planes watching films on them. Have these been synced from iTunes?

Yes either through connecting to a pc running iTunes, or connecting to the iPad iTunes app, and downloading from there.

Plus if you are on holiday, say in the USA, you can set up a US account, and buy US iTunes vouchers which mean you can buy US content. This is often way cheaper.

You can do it in the UK too, but you'll need to buy your iTunes vouchers online.

Re. the USB/HD adaptor - I believe that it will transfer videos, *but* only if contained in a camera/camcorder directory structure & with the appropriate camera/camcorder style names.



How I watch videos:

iTunes-friendly videos (e.g. .mp4):

- Synced to the iPad using iTunes and played in the Videos app

or

- Steamed to the iPad using iTunes and played in the Videos app


iTunes-un-friendly videos (e.g. Xvid, etc.):

- Synced to the iPad using iTunes (or copied via WiFi) and played with AVPlayerHD

- Streamed to the iPad using AirVideo


I was away one weekend last month, & just made sure I filled it up with a tonne of Xvids beforehand using iTunes, to play on the 5 hour train journey I had each way.




Once iOS5 is released in the "Fall", a lot of (but not all) the issues of "no file system" will be a lot better, as e.g. any photos taken on the iDevice or imported to the iDevice will be synced to the iCloud "PhotoStream", documents in iWork will be synced to the iCloud "Documents in the Cloud", etc. Still can't just fill an SD card with your favourite movies & stick it in though of course.

This is a little OT, but the following is a link to Steve Jobs doing a Q&A after the 1997 WWDC. [via Daringfireball] Scroll to time ref 13:10 - he's asked a question about 'holes' in Apples' strategy.

http://quietube.com/v.php/https://ww...?v=3LEXae1j6EY

It's taken them (Apple) 14 years to make his 'visionary' response reality for the masses of iOS users. This is why Mr Jobs has such a following.

I think that the Samsung tablet is missing a few useful ports if I remember correctly.

I wanted to post this earlier - couldn't remember the link:

http://technologizer.com/2011/06/20/...lternatives-2/

It's very pro-iPad, but the arguments are valid I feel.

Is it possible to record programmes off TV on to a tablet with an app? My Advent Vega has an HDMI connection...

As far as I'm aware the HDMI connection is output only.

The "new ipad in sept" rumour was made up by Gruber when the iPad 2 launched, he's admitted it since, it was just to see how many people would pick it up, and the fact it's still being repeated on sites/forums 4 months later proves it was a success. But Apple only work on annual cycles usually, it won't happen that soon.

Thanks for that gormond, was just wondering......

You want to be looking at Archos - their mainstay for many years was portable DVR devices in various screen sizes, latterly they came equipped with freeview recording and wifi with a web browser.

No idea if they still make 'em, (if not there's always ebay) but they do make Android tablets now, don't know if the TV recording functionality has been retained, but worth checking out if that's your thing.

I have an iPad 2 and rather like it. I got one as it's a good companion device to my laptop and I can take it easily to work and back without my laptop bag. It's also handy as a sitting room "always on" machine which I like. Not really earth shattering reasons but iPad works for me.

There are of course other alternatives and I imagine they're just as good. I happen to like the Mac and how iPad just works with the rest of my Apple setup.

Maybe I shouldn't get one...

iPaditis 2

Had it not been flash I might have watched it

Yes but what it does do it does them superbly well unlike the Android tabs.

Yea for a while archos did that, but frankly that is the worst way to do it. In theory a pc dvr should do that duty, in any case it is a lot of effort.