Should iBuy and iPad?

ScottM

ScottM

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iBazinga!
Have you been struggling trying to decide if you need the latest and greatest gadget from Apple?

Well here is a tool for you to facilitate this important life decision......

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But it uses state of the art 1996 technology! Your flowchart assumes I wouldn't want to spend $500 for a 15 year old product!
 
I dont even want the phone I have, darn thing keeps ringing.
 
Own iPod

Own iPhone

Probably will buy one of those iMacs with the fancy screen - that face recognition software is cool, I don't have to use Excel anymore since I retired, and Garage Band looks pretty cool. New house, new computer

don't see a need for an iPad.
 
NBPD336 said:
I dont even want the phone I have, darn thing keeps ringing.
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I've found an effective solution to that is to go more than a couple thousand feet AGL where the reception dies out. Whenever you want people to stop calling, just go flying!

Scott: :rofl:
 
I know this is an April Fool's joke, but I seriously want one! They should market these things for real: The iCade.

Brings back memories of untold dollars in quarters I dropped at arcades as a teenager. :lol:
 
It's an iTouch on steroids... don't need it.
entry level $500, 16GB Flash wifi only, biggest version $800 (64GB Flash Drive and 3G capable)
 
Won't be long before it's the best EFB you can fly with (short of something outrageous ($$$) in your panel).
 
Exocetid said:
Won't be long before it's the best EFB you can fly with (short of something outrageous ($$$) in your panel).
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If it has a sunlight-readable screen, can display weather from a WxWorx receiver, can do a real-time moving map and has enough storage for all the charts... yeah, it'd be a sure thing.

Does it have/do all of that?

I'd buy that in a NY second.
 
I bought one yesterday. I'm still messing with it, but it appears that the "GPS" facility doesn't work if you're not in a wifi hotspot. I've heard that the current version doesn't have a GPS chip in it and that it will be included in the 3G version, but that's just hearsay.

It is a fantastic device and I think could be the ultimate consummer-grade EFB except that the screen (at least to me) is damned difficult to read in direct sunlight. Maybe people with better vision won't have a problem, but for use it flight, I find it to be a show stopper.

I'll continue to take my Kindle DX for approach plates. Much easier to read in bright light. But I'm sure I'll take the iPad along, too, because it has such a broad range of capabilities. I just won't rely on it for charts during an instrument approach.

- Russ
 
Exocetid said:
Won't be long before it's the best EFB you can fly with (short of something outrageous ($$$) in your panel).
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I think iPad + ForeFlight is already among the best bang-for-your-buck devices on the market. No, the plates aren't georeferenced. But, people are talking about how the iPad will be a success because compared to a device like a Kindle or Nook, it's not that much more expensive but it does WAY more. However, looking at it from the aviation perspective, the iPad does WAY more than the solutions I've been looking at at OSH the last few years for holding approach plates, *and* it costs WAY less!

SCCutler said:
If it has a sunlight-readable screen, can display weather from a WxWorx receiver, can do a real-time moving map and has enough storage for all the charts... yeah, it'd be a sure thing.

Does it have/do all of that?

I'd buy that in a NY second.
Click to expand...

Does not do WxWorx or real-time moving map the way you're thinking (see below) - But I have talked with them about such extra inputs (GPS and Wx receivers), and they're at least thinking about it if not working on it already.

write-stuff said:
I bought one yesterday. I'm still messing with it, but it appears that the "GPS" facility doesn't work if you're not in a wifi hotspot. I've heard that the current version doesn't have a GPS chip in it and that it will be included in the 3G version, but that's just hearsay.
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That is correct - The actual GPS on both iPhones and iPads is part of the 3G chipset. Location services on the iPad-Wifi and the iPod Touch are limited to figuring out where you are based on what WiFi hotspots it can see.

I think the main reason for doing it that way is power savings - On the iPhone (and presumably the iPad-Wifi+3G when it arrives), the way it works is that the GPS chip is off until you actually need it. However, you know how long a straight GPS takes to find your location after you turn it on? Minutes! That would be a horrible user experience. So the iPhone GPS is "Assisted GPS" which gets your fix much faster by first grabbing the location of the cell tower you're connected to to get a rough fix, and then feeding that approximate location to the GPS system which then can look for the right satellites and have a much easier solution to calculate for your exact position. Your rough position shows up in a second or two, and generally your exact GPS position will show up within 10 seconds. Much better user experience, and lower power consumption as well. However, without being able to get that initial fix by talking to a cell tower, it won't work - Thus, the iPad-Wifi and iPod Touch folks are out of luck. That's one reason that if I do get an iPad, I'll be waiting for a 3G model.

It is a fantastic device and I think could be the ultimate consummer-grade EFB except that the screen (at least to me) is damned difficult to read in direct sunlight. Maybe people with better vision won't have a problem, but for use it flight, I find it to be a show stopper.
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Is it just due to the glossy (ie reflective) display? There are supposedly matte screen protectors that will solve that problem.
 
The reflection is a big part of the problem, Kent, but not all. The screen is very much washed out in high ambient light. I'll have a better report in a couple of hours. I'm taking mine up for a test flight just to see how it looks in the air when I have multiple distractions.

- Russ
 
flyingcheesehead said:
<SNIP> However, you know how long a straight GPS takes to find your location after you turn it on? Minutes! That would be a horrible user experience. <SNIP>
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My Garmin GPS V (hardly state-of-the-art anymore) typically has my position by the time my bicycle leaves the driveway; just a few seconds.

It does take a few minutes if I haven't used it in a while (needs to rebuild the emphemeris tables) or if it moves a large distance when off- Nebraska to New Delhi or NE to Rio de Janiero, or a similar trip, when none of the satellites it expects to "see" are above it. I can knock that time back by telling it where it is, but it doesn't take that long.
 
SCCutler said:
If it has a sunlight-readable screen, can display weather from a WxWorx receiver, can do a real-time moving map and has enough storage for all the charts... yeah, it'd be a sure thing.

Does it have/do all of that?

I'd buy that in a NY second.
Click to expand...

Not yet :redface:


It does have a sunlight readable screen. I don't have one, but it is just a blown-up iPhone, which is easily sunlight readable. I predict someone will put a pod together for it to do GPS and XM.
 
write-stuff said:
The reflection is a big part of the problem, Kent, but not all. The screen is very much washed out in high ambient light. I'll have a better report in a couple of hours. I'm taking mine up for a test flight just to see how it looks in the air when I have multiple distractions.

- Russ
Click to expand...

This is a surprise for me, I thought it had the same screen technology as the iPhone, which I have no problem reading at all in bright sun and in the cockpit.
 
Just got back from my test flight. Here's the report:

I have relatively poor vision and had severe problems reading the iPad in flight. I could not just quickly glance at it and make out anything on the screen in detail. The biggest problem was the glare. If some non-glare surface was applied that worked, this would be a big help. At that point, I think I could read it, but still not very well.

Someone with excellent vision may have a different report, but for me, the readability will keep me from doing much with the device in flight. My Kindle DX is vastly easier to read, but it also lacks all the great features that are implemented so well in the iPad.

Bottom line - I'll continue to take my DX with me for approach plates and A/FD lookups. But I'll also take the iPad and it will probably get most of its use inside the FBO.

- Russ
 
Cap'n Jack said:
My Garmin GPS V (hardly state-of-the-art anymore) typically has my position by the time my bicycle leaves the driveway; just a few seconds.
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Shut it off, then move it to a new location (like the phone/iPad almost certainly will be) and turn it on again. If you haven't moved too far, it'll be OK but the farther you move the longer it takes, and if you move far enough it will never calculate a solution (though we're talking in the 500-mile range here). Still, with the phone/iPad turning its GPS off most of the time, and moving most of the time, it's not going to work without assistance, especially in an airplane where you're moving quickly.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Shut it off, then move it to a new location (like the phone/iPad almost certainly will be) and turn it on again. If you haven't moved too far, it'll be OK but the farther you move the longer it takes, and if you move far enough it will never calculate a solution (though we're talking in the 500-mile range here). Still, with the phone/iPad turning its GPS off most of the time, and moving most of the time, it's not going to work without assistance, especially in an airplane where you're moving quickly.
Click to expand...
I did mention that when I moved a large distance, it did take longer to determine its position, as well as when it was off for a long time (a week or more) and it needed to update the current satellite positions. Going from NE to the coasts (where most of our customers are), I get a position within a minute usually since some of the satellites it expects are above the horizon; it takes longer for me to figure out the rental car I got. My last long trip, I updated the position in DFW, then turned on the GPS just in time to notice I was crossing the equator- it took ~3 minutes even though I was moving fairly fast.
 
Damn thing took some serious abuse before succumbing. Must be nice to have a disposable half-grand.
 
Bob Noel said:
That impressed you? :yikes:

The kid is a moron.
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I can't imagine having $500 to blow just to make a Youtube video, but obviously someone does. Either that person has far more disposable income than yours truly (there are certainly people who wouldn't blink at the expenditure of $500) or Youtube is an important part of this person's life.
 
steingar said:
I can't imagine having $500 to blow just to make a Youtube video, but obviously someone does. Either that person has far more disposable income than yours truly (there are certainly people who wouldn't blink at the expenditure of $500) or Youtube is an important part of this person's life.
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According to the story, it's a kid who made money shoveling snow, and this was how he decided he wanted to spend it. He paid $500 in an effort to become the internet celebrity o' the day.

So either the kid has idiotic parents who failed to teach him a lesson or two on the value of money, or else they decided that this was a good way to let him learn a little on his own.
-harry
 
Bob Noel said:
That impressed you? :yikes:

The kid is a moron.
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"I'm impressed," as in "It made an impression on me."

I did not intend to imply that it was a favorable impression.

Carry on.
 
SCCutler said:
"I'm impressed," as in "It made an impression on me."

I did not intend to imply that it was a favorable impression.

Carry on.
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Roger, thanks for the clarification.
 
mantakos said:
According to the story, it's a kid who made money shoveling snow, and this was how he decided he wanted to spend it. He paid $500 in an effort to become the internet celebrity o' the day.

So either the kid has idiotic parents who failed to teach him a lesson or two on the value of money, or else they decided that this was a good way to let him learn a little on his own.
-harry
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Guys, guys, guys--think of it in terms of AvGas. Let's see, in Texas we are looking at $4.61 (average), so that would give 108 gallons. Full tanks on my Mooney eat up 52 gallons, so that is a bit over two fill-ups. At a screaming 160 KTS, that will burn about 9 gallons per hour, or 12 hours. Hot da*n! Florida trip and then some!
 
mantakos said:
So either the kid has idiotic parents who failed to teach him a lesson or two on the value of money, or else they decided that this was a good way to let him learn a little on his own.
-harry
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Having 3 college age kids that find the most creative ways to get in a financial pickle (that's never their fault), I'm imagining a conversation that goes something like this:

Friend: Dude, let's go get some pizza - all the hot girls will be there tonight.

iSmashedIt: That's sounds fine but I'm outta money.

Friend: That sucks, see ya.

iSmashedIt: Hey wait. I totally rocked youtube yesterday with the snow money/iPad thrashing. You should buy me pizza and beer just to hang out with me!

Friend: Dude, that was yesterday and don't get me wrong - it was awesome. Especially the part were you let me take a swipe at it without spending my own money on it. I'm famous now too! But hey, I got no extra beer money so see ya.

iSmashedIt: <calling his parents for money>

...or something like that. I never bail my kids out of their financial messes. That's like crack addictive - for them.
 
Mom let me dig my holes and let me get out of them. I knew if I ever really needed anything I could call her, but I haven't yet. Builds character.

Oh, and I never smashed something just for the fun of it.
 
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