Anyone bought an iPad pro to read mags ?

Deschodt · 09:06 AM

It may sound frivolous to some, but I'm considering an Ipad Pro just to read magazine without squinting or zooming. Just to address the frivolous thing, there are lots of foreign mags that I read that I either cannot buy where I live, and/or cost 3x more in newsstands - when they make it 2 months later. So the Ipad pays for itself over a 6 months period !

Wondering if anyone can tell me first hand if any or some of the following look good on a Pro. Not all apps are optimized to use the bigger screen and scale up apparently...

911 and Porsche world
Classic Porsche
Autoweek
Motorsport (UK)
Racer
Classic and sports car (UK)
Classic cars (UK)
Science et vie, Auto hebdo (Fr)
Flight Journal
Evo (despite their app being crap - their mag is too expensive here)

Thanks !

stealthn · 11-25-2015, 04:49 PM

Checked one out at Bestbuy, that thing is mammoth both in size and in price, I'll stay with my 5 other tablets

masraum · 11-25-2015, 05:18 PM

I haven't looked at the Pro, but I've got an iPad Air with Road & Track, Excellence, Octane & National Geographic, and it would be nice to have a bigger screen or have the magazines use much smaller margins. I suspect a Pro would be very nice for reading magazines at least size-wise. Size or weight may tip the balance the other direction for extended use.

Years ago, I had an original ipad. The weight kind of sucked. It was 1.5#. I now have an ipad air which is 1.034# (469g), and the weight is much better. the iPad Air 2 is 437g. The iPad Pro is 1.57#. The extra 3" of space would be nice at times. It wouldn't be an issue when using a stand of course. I suspect most of the time, you'd be using a stand. I'm not sure if the keyboard comes with the Pro or is an option. I have a logitech keyboard with my iPad Air, and it is great and acts as a stand for the iPad.

Motorsport is one of my favorite mags, BTW. I used to subscribe and have a bunch of back issues.

Deschodt · 06:14 AM

Well, I'll answer my own question... (and you cannot download mags on apple stores or Best buy, locked ipads). I waited and I waited, but hell, I got one... Entry level, no frills.. It's awesome... It's one of those things that makes sense while in your hands, and it's not too big - it's actually pretty light too ! No more squinting or zooming. No issue reading in bed. sometimes I wonder if reviewers are frustrated whiners... Yes, it's expensive. No not everyone needs one, but if you think you do, wow !

Remember when the ipad came out and people derided it as a big iphone, and yet now everyone loves a tablet. It's the same here, one more size bigger (though I will concede they are raping us on price)... Why wouldn't you want a bigger screen (don't answer, I'm sure there are cases where you don't). Comfortable mag reading, Book reading (in landscape it looks like a real book with 2 pages open), comfortable movie watching (exceptional sound), comfy surfing. People mostly complain about the "Pro" part re:business use - I do not care (though the keyboard cover is very nice and the pen is cool - but not for my uses).

The magazines look FANTASTIC on it. All of the above ! I was reading GT purely Porsche and drooling over the glorious full sized pages... Pano looks great too. All the mags I mentioned initially look good and scaled well (well haven't tried flight journal yet). Can't wait for EVO full mags if they still do that (their blog style app sucks)

I also used it to watch the first 2 episodes of the Man in the high castle on prime. (great show). Yes, that will work nicely ;-) 4 speaker outputs, the bass vibrates in my hands.... Very very nice for when the wife and kids hog the TVs or I need to watch a WEC race not broadcast on cable. Added benefit: the battery life looks like it'll trounce a laptop.

In conclusion, while I wish it was a $600-700 device tops out the door, I still love it! And yes, it is lovely for magazines, thanks !

enzo1 · 12-04-2015, 06:47 AM

Cool! Thanks for the feedback. If/when my 2007 iMac bites the dust, thats what i'll get to replace it.

enzo1 · 12-04-2015, 07:24 AM

iPad Pro: An Entrepreneur's Verdict - Minutehack

Deschodt · 12-04-2015, 08:20 AM

Pics don't even do it justice. In your hands it feels twice as big as what you had before (yet light), thinner edge too. The magazines are glorious... and video streaming is awesome....

I read the article above before buying it actually, and he's correct, it comes down to what you need it for... It's not for everyone. The same way a 911 is not for everyone, some folks just need a Camry... Artists, musicians, hell yeah ! For business I would get a Mac book Air. I'm an odd case with compulsive Euro magazine reading, and racing fan of non-broadcasted series... SO again I'm not saying everyone should buy one, or that's it's good value, just that it's friggin' awesome for what I need it for ;-)

Haven't loaded games on it yet but I expect it will be cool !