Apple iPad 3 – what Which? members think

Apple iPad 3 – Which? members have their say

We rigorously test tablets so we can expose all that’s good and bad. No detail is left unexamined in our quest to find the best tablets.

But what’s it like living with a product day in and day out? According to a survey we ran recently, three quarters of tablet owners use theirs for more than half an hour a day. Using it this often over time gives a great feel of what it’s like to live with. That’s why we have customer views, where Which? members can share what they think of their products.

We now have reviews on more than 50 currently available tablets, including the Apple iPad 3 in all its forms. Below is a selection of what Which? members have had to say about it.

To add your own view of a product, go to the tablets page, find your model, and write your own review under the ‘customer views’ tab.

Looking for a tablet but not a fan of Apple? Check out our guide to the best iPad alternatives.

Mike001 is less than impressed with Apple’s operating system iOS:

Compared with Android with Ice Cream Sandwich and Apex Launcher, iOS 5 looks very dated, with its limited folders and home screens that do not scroll vertically. Plus, it has such a limited selection of web browsers, eg, no Chrome or Firefox, and no SD card support. Even its 4G is incompatible with Europe, running on a different frequency band.

But Shiplake likes the reliability, simplicity, and the new high resolution screen:

I work with computers all day long, setting them up, testing and debugging them, but when I go home I want something that just works, every time, and immediately. I dont need a choice of browsers; one is enough for me. I like the ability to import photos from the SD card from my wife’s Canon camera. I use the apple camera connection kit (£25), and the photos look brilliant on the new iPad screen. In deepest Oxfordshire I am not expecting to notice any 4G incompatibility any time soon.I think that there is room for Androids and iThingies in this world. I made my choice and I am happy with it.

tpr007 is also enjoying the new screen, and thinks that iOS is a matter of taste:

Using retina enhanced apps like Flipboard really show the screen’s quality, and the black fonts look more like ink than any screen I’ve seen other than a dedicated Kindle/e-Reader. The battery life is still brilliant, and easily lasts all day with a lot of usage. It’s far more reliable in that regard than other tablets I’ve used.

To be honest, if you’re not a fan of iOS then this won’t change your mind, despite the improvements in iOS5.1 and iCloud et cetera. However, the screen is the best on the market, the app store is second to none, the smoothness of functionality is currently better than any other Tab, and the overall experience is probably the best currently available.

The iPad 3, like previous versions, doesn’t play Flash. Dougie says:

Using iPad as a browser is good and fast. However, the biggest let down is lack of Flash and this spoils the web browsing experience. Lots of reputable web-sites use Flash.

Others don’t see it as a problem. MacMan says:

Your “technical experts” are misunderstanding where technology has got to if they are still bemoaning the lack of Flash as a problem. I’ve never missed it on any of my iPads or other Apple devices and would see total reliability as much more important than adopting suspect software. Flash has proved to be an unreliable technology which is now a dying technology anyway in favour of HTML5. Get with it!

More on this…

• Apple iPad 3  - our full review based on independent, robust lab testing
• Best iPad alternatives – a guide to the best tablets not made by Apple
• Share your views on any product - you could win £600 of John Lewis vouchers