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Permalink Reply by Doug Lerner on May 15, 2011 at 2:58pm

I got a new iPad 2 wifi+3g white 32GB today at my neighborhood electronics store here in Shinkoiwa, Tokyo.

 

It was the only one left. I sort of wanted the black (mainly because that's what I was used to I think), but was really undecided, and sort of liked the white too (like my original iPhone 3G), so I went for it.

 

I asked the SoftBank person (the carrier here) if she knew about the light leak problem, and she said she had read about it, but said there have been zero reports of that problem with any of the models shipped to Japan. Sales here were delayed until the last couple of weeks because of the 3/11 earthquake. At any rate, she said if I wasn't happy with the screen after opening the box and setting it up I didn't have to take it.

 

I'm happy to report everything seems perfect. The screen is brighter than on my iPad 1 in a side-to-side comparison with the same brightness settings. Is that other peoples' experiences as well?

 

I tried as I might to duplicate conditions showing light leakage and could not detect anything like  - either at the store or after I brought it home.

 

At the store, I went to http://www.theipadguide.com/content/ipad-dead-pixel-test-how/7171269 and saved the 5 images, and looked at them carefully in Photos (expanded, no border),  and probably drove the salesperson to distraction by spending a great deal of time on all the colors trying to find dead pixels. They are all ok. In green, I thought I saw a dead pixel (at the same location where I had dead pixels in my first two iPad 1s before I exchanged them), but only at a certain angle, and when I tried to show it to her it had disappeared.

 

I spent like another 15 minutes trying to find it again and it wasn't there. And when I got home I looked again with green and white and all the other colors and couldn't find it. So I hope that isn't a potentially "flickering" pixel, but all looks fine so far.

 

I haven't transferred anything over yet, but all seems fine with the screen at least.

 

I believe it is noticeably faster than the iPad 1. There was noticeably less lag when saving the same 5  images to Photos from a web page on the iPad 2 compared to trying the same thing just now on my iPad 1. And switching to Settings was noticeably quicker too.

 

So so far so good.

 

doug

Permalink Reply by ketahi on May 15, 2011 at 3:54pm

Its great when the company picks up the tab on 3G data, isn't it?

 

For me, it is the primary motivation for staying on with a company with few other perks.  Nothing like enjoying a MLB live baseball game while riding the train on someone else's coin!

 

What will you do with your old iPad?

Permalink Reply by Doug Lerner on May 15, 2011 at 4:08pm

Yes, that made getting the iPad 2 a no-brainer. Otherwise I probably would have waited. I didn't have a data plan on my iPad 1 because I got the pre-paid model.

 

I don't go out much, so didn't think I needed it. But since the company is paying for the data plan anyway, I am hoping there will now be a "reverse cause-and-effect" and I'll go out more.

 

I don't mind paying the extra 400 yen/month for the 32 GB model. Maybe I'll find some way of keeping more files on in.

 

I now have two "old" iPad 1s to deal with:

 

1. I got my mother an iPad 1 last summer. Then for her birthday last month my sister and I got her an iPad 2 so we can use FaceTime. So I have her 16 GB wifi-only model to deal with. I'm thinking of selling it on eBay. They seem to still be going for at least $300 - especially with the Apple standard case included.

 

2. I have my own iPad 1 wifi+3G. I might sell that here in Japan, or lend it to a friend. It is the pre-paid model. I suppose if I sell it somebody else can use the pre-paid SIM card? Or they have to get their own? Or something from eMobile?

 

doug