My Novatel runs up to 5 hours on battery alone. As for battery hit on the iPad it is almost negligible, 3G would drain the battery more than WiFi.

You don't really have to get the Novatel. The Dlink and Huawei is a good alternative, but there are setbacks. The Dlink specs lower DL speeds, while there are reports of the Huawei sporadically losing SSID broadcast making the iPad unable to log into it. I guess the Novatel's setback is its price.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: May 16 2010, 02:55 PM

I've subscribed to 12 months worth of Macworld magazine, now contemplating if I should go ahead and subscribe T3 as well. Macworld is affordable enough, but T3 goes to USD94 for 12 issues. Hmmmmm

My beef here is that the paper issues are marked at 37 UK Pounds for a 12 months subscription which is around RM140, when the digital 12 copies are
crazily priced at USD94! Made me think twice.


Yup, that is correct. It stands in the dock, but to charge it you need to tilt it forward to engage the 30-pin connector in. It's getting tough to get cases that charges in a dock at the same time.

I have not opened my 3G unit yet, having to settle the Tumpang first. Would probably do so the soonest. But before that I need to head to Maxis and get the microsim first. Not planning to mutilate my current sims.

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Added on May 16, 2010, 6:25 pm Poison accomplished!

I'm doing my own purchase on another Muzetto and keyboard case, but that's happening only middle of June. If you wanna bulk, we can do that.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: May 16 2010, 06:25 PM

USD179. Have not checked into my CC statement yet. Shipping was dirt cheap because I shipped it to my LA hotel at that time. Shipping to Malaysia would be around USD55.

Looks like a bag Indiana Jones would wear. Smells nice too, treated leather.

I said to myself "Screw it!" and got the T3 13 issues subscription. Now waiting for EGM.

Also gonna go subscribe data-only package at Maxis KLCC tomorrow. I hope they have their microsim ready.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: May 16 2010, 08:12 PM

gonna reconfirm tomorrow. My contact at Maxis KLCC says it's available already. He's family, and work with Maxis BB.


I call bullshit on this. I've been using them both since I got my WiFi iPad, with zero issues.

I've even used the Logitech diNoVo Mini and PS3 Mini Bluetooth Keyboard, paired and working fine together with the iPad. Tell that Machines people they need to educate themselves better, a shame that customers knows things better than they are. I would be perfectly happy with "I'm not too sure sure, sir, I have not tested it" answer rather than straight claim "Cannot use"

You may be in for a dilemma here. I have two occasions where I CAN get you the STM Micro bag while I'm in Brisbane and Perth this month, BEFORE the Muzetto stock improves. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Yes and no. I notice that native iPad apps like Notes and entering URLs into Safari on iPad will have it hidden when a BT keyboard is present, but iPhone-compatible apps like Beejive for iPhone will still have the soft-keyboard appearing. Either way, does not really detract from the experience.

Enjoy!

RPG games? Not that I know, or any that is iPad-specific. Most of them are still in iPhone-resolution. I fully recommend Square-Enix's Chaos Rings, superb production value, and very much reminiscent of Vagrant Story. Tried it on the iPad, it looks terrible pixel-doubled, but SE has announced that the HD version is coming soon.

Not this round though. What I'm gonna do is take it easy and if I happen to bump into iPad accessories while walking around Brisbane, I'll get online and tweet it, and have limited time hanging around the store to see if anyone is interested. The easiest way is to keep a lookout on my tweets coz I'll be posting my findings there.

Finally the iPad 3G is out of her confines, just registered her just now on iTunes.

The first thing it did? Searching for signal, it even came with a popup message saying that "it may take a while" After registering was complete, the "No service" message was displayed on top left corner of the iPad, which is logical since I'm thousands of miles away from US.

The "Carrier" setting is set to "Automatic" that was the first thing I unchecked, so now it searches through a list of carriers the inserted microsim detects, and I can manually select which service provider I want. The APN setting window is also open, so you can put in whatever setting you want, in the case of the Maxis microsim, it should be plug-and-use straight away.

After deliberating with my bro and him consulting his wife, he is giving me his Maxis staff-allocated account which is FREE FOR LIFE, with a data cap of 3GB. His wife which is in Maxis Broadband, will be registering a microsim to that account, and I'll get to use it by the middle of the week. Can't wait!

I probably need to read up on how Maxis treat its data usage, the speeds and what happens when that package's data cap is used up. 3GB on the iPad does not seem like much. Or should I just dump all this data cap nonsense and register another *gulp* third unlimited data account with Celcom? I'm not willing to mutilate the second data sim I've signed up with Celcom just to fit it into the iPad 3G, the current MiFi arrangement I'm using right now is very convenient and even the iPad 3G can tap into it. I just want a permanent arrangement, a suitable data package to be fitted into the iPad 3G without bleeding me more money every month.

My current expenses:-

- iPhone 3G[S] on Celcom EXEC 250, comes with FREE Celcom Broadband Advance
- A second data-only Celcom Broadband Advance RM98/month for the Novatel MiFi

Should I mutilate the second data-only sim card for the 3G iPad and abandon the MiFi itself, or maintain MiFi and find some cheap data plan (with proper microsim preferred) that can properly cover a typical 3G iPad usage (whatever that is, since I don't really know how I will pattern myself using the 3G iPad because it's so new)?

Come to think of it, even though Maxis has the microsim, its data plan isn't exactly what I'd call cheap. Headache!

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Added on May 17, 2010, 2:17 am3 Cam Kits and 1 Apple iPad Case secured from NYC. Heads-up to Eralus, ksc_3688, MaxPC and Shahir.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: May 17 2010, 02:17 AM

Looking up to Apple Stores in Australia, looks like they have one less than 30 minutes drive out of Brisbane, in Chermside. However, I'm not sure if they're already selling accessories before the launch, since I'm going there on the 21st-23rd. My Perth trip is after the launch, but Perth is such a dead town, and there aren't any indications of stores like JB Hifi or Myers carrying iPads or its accessories.

Sigh, it should have been the other way around, Perth on the 21-23rd, and Brisbane on the end of the month. Perth already has plan to build an official Apple Store, but until that is completed, it's all just resellers and service providers there.

MetaX for the win, MaxPC!

The iPad reaps hugely from my previous Video-On-Demand project I did last year, and with all my media properly tagged, it is a pleasure to browse through my movies and TV Shows with its proper metadata and covers intact. The movies and TV Shows exported for the Apple TV fits perfectly into the iPad without any further need of tinkering.

My PDF needs are basically just for work manuals and airport plates and charts. Other than that, I'll consume eBooks from my Amazon Kindle account and if the selection picks up, the iBookStore.

Guys, those with the iPad, open up your iBookStore and there will be a new iPad User Guide eBook published by Apple.Inc available there for free. Grab that and you don't need to refer to any manuals thereafter.

It should appear as its own featured book, or if it is not, do a search for "iPad User Guide".

This is on the American iBookStore. Not sure about the other regions.

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Added on May 17, 2010, 6:20 pmAlso, if you have the Marvel Comic app, 4 free comics for your perusal and download. 1 x Black Widow Saga & 3 Iron Man comics. Get them now!

This post has been edited by stringfellow: May 17 2010, 06:20 PM

Yup, I've just directed Playbook there for his Nude Ultra-clear hunt.

How about yours, bro? I'm really sorry I couldn't source out an iPad for both you and Ris.

I've used the Viliv X70 before I sold it off a few days before I got my iPad. I thought I can live with the clunkiness and supposed "extra advantage" a proper Desktop OS have over the iPad's iPhone OS, but the Viliv can do neither at an acceptable or smoother way. Not until the Android tablets takes off would you see a proper rival, but even so, you'd still pine for the iPhone OS for the sleek and smooth user interface.

That is relief to hear, now everyone in the Tumpang list has an iPad, I'm glad.

I beg to differ, MiFi + iPad WiFi is more than enough to compensate for the lack of 3G. The only thing you'd be missing is the GPS capability, and using a device this size for navigation borders on cumbersome. I have both, but I'm not inclined to do so on my 3G iPad.

Those with the iPad WiFi + MiFi solution, trust me, you've picked a sensible choice.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: May 18 2010, 05:52 PM

Until there is an app that requires pin-point accuracy on GPS while using your iPad, there is no need for the 3G. Unless you're planning to use this as a GPS solution, and so far, the only HD version of a GPS app is CoPilot Live HD, with maps for North America only.

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Added on May 18, 2010, 5:23 pmA simple question to those with iPads: Do you guys bring out your iPad when you're out and about, and how much more inclined are you to use them in public?

I notice that , even when mI'm out meeting the guys for the Tumpang item distribution, they're not inclined to use them or be seen using them. May I ask why? I'm suspecting fear of being robbed, but I'd rather not speculate and get the real answer.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: May 18 2010, 05:23 PM