Apple Ipad Secrets

We have already shown you lots of pictures of the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G along with first thoughts and impressions but our coverage of Apple’s iPad 3G will not stop there! like us, others are also interested in the iPad 3G’s performance especially now when we know that its main competitors, the Microsoft Courier and the HP Slate are confirmed or rumored to be canceled.

The iPad, WiFi only or 3G, is currently the best tablet alternative out there. We’re waiting for lots of other models to be unveiled soon but in the mean time if you need a competitive tablet, for whatever reason, then one of the iPad versions is the one you should be looking for.

Just yesterday we’ve seen the guts of the iPad 3G and spotted the obvious differences. all that extra equipment inside the iPad 3G is needed to deal with AT&T’s 3G signal and it’s safe to assume that with 3G turned on the iPad will offer you less battery life. in fact even Apple says that the iPad 3G can offer you about 9 hours of web surfing on 3G compared to the Wi-Fi iPad that will get you 10 hours of battery life in the same conditions.

iLounge put both iPad versions to the test in order to see exactly how the tablets do in the field. the Wi-Fi iPad loaded pages for 10 hours and 21 minutes which is a little better than Cupertino’s estimates. the iPad 3G’s battery only lasted for 8 hours and 38 minutes under the same conditions: 1-minute automatic page refreshes and 50% screen brightness. the only difference, of course, was that the iPad Wi-Fi was using 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity only while the iPad 3G had the Wi-Fi turned off and relied solely on the 3G connection to do all the page loading.

Of course these are ideal tests since these iPads have been only used for web browsing. the regular user will do other things on the iPad and s/he will rarely use the iPad 3G to browse the web for 9 hours continuously.

Well maybe if a certain volcano erupts again, you will want to browse the web for more than that while waiting in an airport. And just in case you get into a similar situation again, do remember that roaming charges will apply when surfing the web over 3G in other countries. And some airports offer free Wi-Fi which means you’re looking at just over 10 hours of continuously surfing the web over Wi-Fi, of course.

iPad 3G & iPad Wi-Fi Compared in Battery Tests [iPad 3G Surfs the …