Tuesday, June 28, 2016

A Review of the iPad Pro 12.9"

Every year I get myself a present with my annual bonus (in years that I get a bonus, which has been most of them in my career).  This year, I decided to replace my quite functional iPad 2 with an iPad Pro.  I had several reasons for upgrading, one of which was to make sure that my mother would be able to enjoy my wife's iPad (she got my old one, and hers went to my mother), and because I wanted the bigger display and the multitasking support.  I'm often trying to do two or three things at once.

What I like:  The bigger foot print means that it is easier to read and operate.  My high score on one of my video games went up because I can be more precise with the larger display.  And my aging eyes like the bigger screen for reading, which I use my iPad for quite a bit.  It's also easier to see the map while driving.  The multitasking isn't quite all I could ask for, but it beats what I used to have, which was nothing.  I also like what the bigger display does for helping me to manage my schedule.

What I dislike: The bigger foot print means that it is harder to carry around, and nearly impossible to use one handed.  I think I need a different case to be able to use it nearly the way I used to use my iPad while I was moving around on foot.  I use my iPhone now for mapping my way through the city while walking, and I don't carry it around with me everywhere.  That actually is a bonus, because I'm less likely to bury myself in it at the dinner table though.

I haven't spend any money on the pen or a keyboard case, I already have two blue-tooth keyboards that will work with it (I recently acquired a slim blue-tooth full sized keyboard for my travel set up). I may get the pen later just to play with it.

I put it in a Targus case very much like the one I use to have that I finally wore out, and am quite happy with the case, but am still getting used to the fact that the fold is about 1/3 the way in the back, which means I don't use it physically the same way as my old case.

The form-factor is different enough that my use of the device is different, but not substantially so for my needs.  Overall, I think I like it, but kinda wish I'd gotten the smaller iPad Pro in the original form factor that I've been accustomed to.

I'm probably going to spend some time playing with it as an external monitor for my laptop, to see how well that works for me.  I'm presently carrying around an AOC external USB display when I travel that has more screen, but less pixels.  Using my iPad for that could shorten my treck through airport security.  At least once over the past two weeks I had five bins filled through the TSA line, using my iPad for the same purpose could drop that by two, and get my travel computing back into one bag.

   Keith

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