<p>Thanks for all the issues that have been raised so far. I went to Best Buy & also called Apple Stores in our island. There are NO ipad2s in our state! The Apple Stores says they get shipments in every day, but can’t predict what will come in from day to day. Best Buy says they stopped their waiting list after 500 people & have no idea when they will get ANY shipments in. Our Sam’s Club has some ipad1s but no ipad2s.</p>
<p>The staff at BestBuy also mentioned the ability to transfer files using the USB port at the end of ipad connector to hook to other electronic devices. Boy, these tech things can get expensive, especially as you pay for data as well!</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion, fendergirl. I’ll explore it as well. Do like the featherweight of the ipad.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of these thoughts. Will call our Walmart; I suspect they won’t have anything more than the Sam’s Club located above them & likely have less inventory, as they are lower end. Will think about ordering the ipad, but it will likely not arrive before we leave town (& I wanted to use this trip to figure it out).</p>
<p>Just talked had livechat with Apple. They said 1-2 weeks before order filled & then another 5 days to delivery. That won’t work for me/us, so will try to pick something up at one of the stores–here or on our trip. Wanted to learn how to use it better while we travel.</p>
<p>My DAD (who is many decades older than me), just bought himself a new iphone! He can teach me & all of us how to use it! LOL! :)</p>
<p>DD just got a Toshiba netbook at Best buy and likes it. Lighter and easier to take on campus. Easy to sync with her notebook. It got good reviews.</p>
<p>The IPad is worth the wait…if you can’t find one, order it and just wait. Don’t settle for something else just because you are in a hurry to get one.</p>
<p>^I agree. I wouldn’t get something else if you really want an iPad2. The Apple stores get daily shipments, they just don’t know the color, gigbytes and wifi vs 3g. Try to get there early in the morning and be willing to compromise on certain features and you should get one.</p>
<p>One problem with the netbooks & laptops are they get uncomfortably hot. Haven’t noticed that problem with the ipad. Is that everyone else’s experience as well? I’m thinking of taking the plunge & getting an ipad. even tho this will be a huge leap for us PCers. The heat does bug me!</p>
<p>You will notice that I misspelled “white” in a previous post. One of the drawbacks of typing on iPad! You will love it. It does NOT get hot. Watching TV shows/movies on it on the plane is awesome. AND- you can have a bunch of books on it and read what you want. It you carried all those books, your backpack would weigh a ton!</p>
<p>Problem is there are NO ipad2s readily available in HI. The only one I saw was at WalMart & it did not have 3G, so that disqualified it for me. I’m not sure how well typing will work for me with the ipad2 either. I did buy a netbook from Costco, because as D noted, I can return with NO problems in 90 days if I change my mind or it doesn’t meet my needs (meanwhile, can see if an ipad2 pops into my hands that has the 16gb & 3G from Verizon).</p>
<p>Not sure how much I really WILL use it anyway. Oh well, haven’t broken the seal on the new netbook while I ponder.</p>
<p>Himom…the IPad2 isn’t readily available anywhere. If you want it, you have to order it and be patient. To be honest, I have a first generation IPad and I LOVE it. If the IPad is what you REALLY want, I’m afraid it can’t be a “last minute” purchase…just order it and wait.</p>
<p>I too am looking for a tablet and am trying to wait for the new arrivals.</p>
<p>I do not want an Ipad. It seems from my research that there are a lot of tablets that will be coming to market within the next 6 months that will be much better than the non-Ipad tablets out there now-anyone have any input on this?</p>
<p>No tablet out so far can even touch iPad2. I’ve seen them and read the reviews. There are more flaws with them by far. I have no reason to think that anything is going to come out that is better in the entirety. Yes, one might have the USB and one might have a better camera, but NONE are going to have the range of apps. If you think the range of apps isn’t important, it’s because you simply haven’t been exposed to them yet.</p>
<p>I, too, was a PC person and have never used Apple stuff until my first iPhone. I was immediately sold. (still use PC for big computer and laptop). There is simply no comparison as far as tablets. Blackberry just introduced a dud.</p>
<p>I just don’t know if I could do the whole iPad or tablet thing from any company. I can’t stand typing on an iPhone and I found typing on the iPad to be just as cumbersome. I have hated it every time I’ve tried. I hate fingering up the screen and typing on that awful makeshift keyboard. Same thing applies when typing on my sisters droid. I sure hope not all phones go to touch screen because I really do not like it. The least Apple could have done was make it widescreen. What were they thinking?</p>
<p>I bought an iPad 2 a couple of weeks ago when my pc self destructed. We have a pc I have access to and I decided I didn’t need another pc. I put my name on a waiting list at Best Buy and had my iPad within 2 days. I bought the 3 G AT&T version because it has a mini-sim card which can be changed out if, say, I’m traveling in Europe with a local mini-sim so I can get local rates. From what I could tell the Verizon version is not compatible with sims abroad. I hadn’t fully realized when I bought the iPad that one needs access to a computer to set up the iPad and download stuff from iTunes- I’m not a very tekkie person so have been learning as I go along, but have figured a lots of stuff out (by myself!) and LOVE my iPad!</p>
<p>I was in the same place six months ago. We really only own one laptop and that’s at school with DS#1. I wanted something portable the other kids could use at school, for homework, . . . . Did some research on netbooks. Finally a <much younger=“”> co-worker suggested I just get an iPad, which I did and gave to DS#3. The whole family really does love it. I almost got a second one for DH’s birthday but we decided to hold off. DS uses the iPad for homework (really!), games, music (it’s what he plays in his car rather than an iPod), . . . .</much></p>
<p>That said, DS#2 brought home a hand-me-down netbook (Samsung) from his gf a few weeks ago. It is cute and the keyboard is much better (for me) than the iPad.</p>
<p>You really can research these things to death, but I can tell you Consumer Reports likes Toshiba, Asus, and HP minis, all in the $250-$350 range. (And back to the tablets–I did look into other brands before buying the iPad. It was hard to find a tech article that didn’t say go ahead and buy Apple.)</p>
<p>fendergirl- I usually use my iPad wide-screen. It is much easier for typing than my iPhone. The only real mistake I consistently make is missing the space bar and typing a bottom row letter instead. I wouldn’t want to do a big memo on it, but it’s fine for email and posting online.</p>
<p>Nothing else is going to have the apps. Remember than. No matter what you think now, you are going to be sorry when you can’t get those apps.</p>