iPad Canceled

by Ouida on April 7, 2010

I canceled my iPad.  I have never done that before, but the connectivity problems publicized on the internet made me accept the fact that I should wait.

3 months ago my MacBook failed.  The MacBook was new to the Apple lineup when I bought it.  After 2 weeks of steady use it crashed.  Then it began to crash daily especially when connected to Wi-Fi.  I bought it through MacMall who would not return my calls when I tried to return the device. (Note to self….never buy from MacMall again) Because of the circumstances under which it crashed, Apple wanted the device to take apart.  They replaced my MacBook when the retailer who actually had my money would not even respond to my calls or e-mails.  About a year after I got my new Mac, I heard a high-pitched metallic sound coming from it and I thought, humm hard drive.  I nursed it along for another year when the hard drive failed.  I still remember the panicked call I made to tech support.  The support person, using the tone of a physician conferring a cancer diagnosis, asked me if I had a back up drive.  When I said, “yes” he said “get to work your hard drive is failing”.  The computer never booted again.  Off to the Apple Store for a new hard drive.  When I got my computer back and began transferring data from my back up drive, I realized that a few iTunes purchases had been lost.  I knew exactly which ones they were and Apple replaced them.

I canceled my Direct-TV subscription and bought a mac mini I now stream TV programming to my TV from my computer.  The subscription cost savings will pay for the mac mini in less than a year.  It was when I purchased the mini that I experienced my first ever Wi-Fi connectivity problems.  Both of my lap tops connected to my home network without a problem.  Not the mini.  It would go to sleep and “forget” which network it was connected to;  reconnecting it became a painstaking process consuming 30-60 minutes of my time and I had to do that a lot.  I called our local tech support geek who is a mac user.  He could get my mini to stay connected a few days at a time then, without warning or reason, my mini would “forget” which network it was connected to starting the frustrating reconnect process all over again.  I decided to invest in a Time Capsule (an Airport extreme would have been just fine).  It solved 99% of the problem allowing my mini to cooperate and stream TV programming.  What do I do the 1% of the time when my mini “forgets who and where” it is?  I restart it.

To think that I might have to go through that with my new iPad.  No.  I pre-ordered my iPad with the idea that it would add convenience and pleasure to my life, not frustration.  The “fix” for my mini was $300 dollars.  A price I was willing to pay because I thought that all of my devices would connect more easily to the new system, and I was right. Alas even folks with home networks using Apple hardware are reporting connectivity issues.

The iPad that I ordered was the 32 GB 3G+Wi-Fi model.  The 3G was for traveling only.  My intended primary Internet use was my home network and Wi-Fi hot spots.  I wasn’t interested in a long term commitment to AT&T.  Frankly, given the pricing on the device paying $15 or $30 dollars per month to use the AT$T network because the Wi-Fi is too dodgy makes the iPad untenable.

Apple is a great company and that company has treated this customer well.  I will be watching the chat rooms to see if Apple discovers a fix to the Wi-Fi problem and, when it does, I’ll re order.

Please comment.  Do you have an iPad?

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Ruth T. Vincent April 12, 2010 at 7:16 am

Come on Apple and get these things fixed, as I hate to see you dissappoint loyal customers like Ouida who was not able to get an iphone because of carrier and coverage issues.

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Ouida April 12, 2010 at 12:13 pm

You know Apple may have done me a favor. I can always get a Kindle. Amazon has made the Kindle app available for all Apple products. The connectivity issue has allowed me to step away from the frenzy and really look at what I will use the device for.

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