My new Newton

[fbhjr]

Two weeks ago I used some of the bonus money I got at work and bought
myself one of the 2012 versions of the Apple Newton.  (OK, “The New iPad”
if you insist.  Or, iPad 3 as many other folks call it.  To me, they are
still Newtons.)

The main reason I bought it was because more and more apps were coming out
that didn’t run on my original one from 2 ½ years ago.  What did run was
still fine, but there were some photo apps that just refused to load on it
at all.  (And, I must admit, a game that would only load in the most easy
mode that wasn’t any fun to play.  Every time I set it for more than
beginner it died.  Half the time when I played it on beginner I’d get half
way into the game and it would concede.)

The camera?  The “retina screen”?  Neither one of those mattered much to
me.  The faster processor and architecture was what I was after.

It is noticeably faster when doing internal data work.  Apps load much
faster, run faster, save faster and all that good stuff I wanted.
The photo apps now load and run.  I haven’t really used them much yet, but
I do plan to in the future.
The game I wanted (Khet) now loads on the highest level and beats me when I
play it.  (Yes, I do like that as it makes me learn better moves to use
against it which is what I want.  No fun playing a game you always win.)

So, what I wanted out of the new one it does.  Yay.

However, there are a few things I had expected to be better.

It is a terrible battery hog.  For the last 2 ½ years I’ve been using my
old iPad at meetings to take notes and then email them back to my desk.  I
am very used to the battery dropping 10% and hour while I do this.  If I
cruise the web or check email while I’m (supposed to be) taking notes it
went up to about 12-15% an hour.
The new one starts at 15% an hour and gets higher from there.
And, when plugged in, it is slower to charge back up as well.

I know this is because of the “fabulous” screen on it.  But that honestly
isn’t a big difference for me.  And, if I could turn down the screen
resolution for better battery life I would.

While the processor is clearly faster, it’s connection speed isn’t.  I know
the internet does not speed up because I buy a new iPad.  But, I use it
more for connected things than unconnected.  So, the speed doesn’t show up
as much as I had expected.

Also, the rounded case is strange when plugging things into it.  I guess
the iPad 2 was like this as well.  But, my old iPad had a flat edge and
plugging things in was fairly easy.  With the rounded edge the thing
plugged in touches at the front but not the back.
For me, without much practice, it is easy to get things in only ½ way and
have the iPad yell at me.  “This accessory is not supported!” is something
I frequently see when plugging in Apple accessories designed for the iPad.
But, I am getting better at it.

One of the best things I’ve found for it has nothing to do with the
generation of it at all.  When I was buying it, I complained to the sales
guy that the keyboard dock they sold for it wasn’t very useful because it
made you stand the iPad up vertically and balance it on the connector.
This is OK on a desk or table, but stinks on an airplane as there is rarely
enough room to stand it vertically and if the plane bounces it falls off.
“Use the wireless keyboard,” he told me.
“Some airlines forbid Bluetooth keyboards,” I replied.  “What I’d really
like is a male-female iPad cable that I can use to jump between them so I
don’t have to stand it upright.”
“That would be cool,” he agreed.  “But, no one makes anything like that.”

No one at the Apple store.  Two days later my Amazon package arrived.


Of course Apple doesn’t make the keyboard docks anymore.  (Maybe I was the
only one who bought one…)  But, I’ve got mine and finally figured out how
to make it work for me.

If I had to rate my new Newton, I’d give it a B+.  My old one was an A+
when I got it and slowly drifted down as I had it, until it was a B+ as
well.

For the apps and processing speed, I like the new one.
For the battery life and connecting things I like the old one.
But, either one is good.

Now, I’ve got to figure out what I want to do with the old one…