Apple touts 2 million iPads sold but the video is awful

Apple is claiming bragging rights on selling the 2 millionth iPad. We are less than impressed by the video performance on ours. Why is the media hiding the big flaw in the iPad?

We’re going to spend the week looking at the things Apple says it’s good at: 1) watching videos, 2) thin and portable, 3) running apps, and 4) connect anywhere anytime. Everyone needs to decide for themselves if this is a “must have” or useless gadget.

We’re going to cut through the clutter with some real hands on experience and a few tips. Without doubt, this is not a great device for browsing videos.

The Best Way to Experience…videos. Hands Down

That’s the claim on Apple’s website. Apple is also insisting all videos be H.264 compatible which means no Flash videos. Essentially that means browsing videos from YouTube or purchasing them at the iTunes Store.

Forget the politics, does this work for the best video experience hands down? The answer is not yet.

Apple has implemented a sub-standard 3G chip according to some analysts and the result is awful videos seen on an iPad. AT&T Takes No Blame For iPad 3G Video Problems “My youtube videos are kinda out of focus” MacRumors Forum

The main source to browse H.264 compatible videos is YouTube who converted to this “emerging standard.” H.264 takes more bandwidth to send the same quality picture as Flash. Since Apple appears to have used a lower power chip, YouTube throttles the video it sends to the iPad.

The results vary from unwatchable to horrible. The only short term solution is turning off 3G and watching YouTube videos on Wi-Fi. If you want to watch videos away from home, you’ll have to buy them.

You could convert your existing videos to Apple’s format but that’s a lot of work. I thought the iPad was supposed to make life fun.