Due to advancing age (over 60), my reading vision is not as good as it used to be. I wear prescription glasses with +3.00 0D and +2.50 OS. I want to buy an IPAD just for storing and reading simple fake book material, not detailed music leadsheets, that is, I already have the meoldy in my head, I just need to read the chord symbols. I currently have a Toshiba 15" tablet PC but it is too heavy and bulky to carry around.

I like the IPAD's portability and I hope its smaller screen size is offset by its higher resolution and magnifying features, if any, so I can still use it for reading fake books.

I would appreciate feedback on this topic.

Thanks much.

Fil

If you have it landscape it should be big enough. The only way to really know is to email yourself a PDF of a few lead sheets, go to the Apple store, and open them on the iPad.

How about the new net books?
Much cheaper than an Ipad, and you get a proper keyboard and a built-in wireless network connection.

I have an iPad, but have yet to try playing from it. I have downloaded a music score app, but, well there's a lot of ink on some of those pages and reducing the sheet size from the slightly oversized 11.9 x 8.8" music book size down to the iPad's 9 inch screen compresses all those notes a little too much for me. (I, too, wear +2.50 readers, and have no issues whatsoever reading ebooks; my 75 year old mom reads on hers with no problems as well.) But that's some pretty advanced music there...'fake' books with just the melody lines and chord symbols are a whole different ball game and should be quite readable. And you wouldn't need a light on the music desk either!

Minaku's suggestion was perfect; a great way to check the readability. And if you don't happen to have an Apple Store nearby, Target, Best Buy, Walmart, and (I believe) Sears are all carrying iPads now.

MacMacMac: all iPads have built-in wifi. Did you mean 3G?

I thought ipads were only usable on AT&T wireless? I guess that's wrong?

MacX3, my mom has an iPad (color me jealous!!), the wifi only kind, and she uses it at home, and I am pretty sure she doesn't have AT&T. I think wifi=wifi=wifi regardless.

The 3G, however, is indeed carrier specific (for the time being...)

JeanieA, I love your signature!

I LOVE my iPad. When I got it I thought that the novelty would wear off, but it sure hasn't so far. It's my go to for everything but heavy-duty computing: web page creation, spreadsheets and such.

Anyway, lots of folks get confused between 'wifi' and 'wireless.'. Wifi refers to a closed short-range radio wave network to connect to the internet. But you still technically get that signal from wires; the signal comes in from the provider on a wire and is made wireless by means of a device called a router which takes the wired signal and converts it into radio waves which a wifi device can then receive.

AT&T uses the name 'wireless' to refer to their cell phone system. Think cell phone, but with no phone. The 3G iPad does actually get its own phone number to work on the 3G system, but you can't make voice calls. (Yes, I hear the "But you can use Skype!" shouts. We're not going there today.). What the 3G system lets you do is connect an iPad to the internet anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. 3G iPads are also equipped with wifi. And, Mac, you're right; at this moment they are limited to AT&T's system. End of lecture.

Filibogado: I'd be interested in your findings, if you do indeed check out the fake book music on the iPad. I'm sure others would be curious as well, do let us know!

Shiro: Thanks! Sadly, it's true...

The two paid applications I use on the iPad are GoodReader and ForScore. Worth it IMO - I download straight from IMSLP and open in ForScore, set my iPad on my music stand, and play.

So how big is the iPad screen actually? Is it smaller than an A4 page? (that's about 11.5 X 8 inches I think - I'm guessing as I couldn't find a ruler with inches marked ) Because if it's smaller than that I think I'd have trouble with reading from it - in other words, if an A4 page of music is reduced to fit the iPad.

I played with iPad over the weekend and didn't understand what the hype was all about? It's just over-sized iPod Touch which I happen to own.

Sure it would be nice to place iPad on piano's rest and have thousands of sheet music available with touch of a finger, but you can do this with much cheaper e-ink readers as well.

Reading books is not comfortable with iPad since it's too heavy to hold with one hand. Also, backlit screen is not goof either for hours of reading.

Music writing software and maps is something I liked on iPad, but I wouldn't pay the price they ask for it in order to use these applications.

Currawong: The iPad screen measures 24.6 cm on the diagonal (9.7 inches), so yes it is smaller than an A4 page. I have no trouble reading books, and hope to have some time over winter school break to play with some more sheet music apps.

Artur: I wondered the same thing myself, but this thing (I'm typing on mine now) really sneaks up on you. First it's fun to surf the 'net a bit, then a few YouTube videos. Then there's that 'gateway' ebook reader, iBooks. Next thing you know you're mainlining one-click, buy-it-now ebooks from four different bookstores, boring the socks off your coworkers with family photos, and spending hours secluding yourself from your family looking to score just one more app.

Seriously, though, my son has an iPod Touch, and my daughter an iPhone. Both of those screens are way too small to be comfortable for me. The iPad just fits that niche between pocket device and full on computer.

Artur, please let me know which e-ink readers are cheaper than the iPad with the same function. The only thing I've seen is a huge tablet that retails for over 800 dollars, and it doesn't have anywhere near the utility of the iPad.

The benefit of the iPad is that it's a gap filler. It's not a word processor, it's not a laptop. It's an on-the-go, anytime utility gadget that is surprisingly able to perform tasks until you get back to your PC or Mac. I use mine as a digital binder and bookshelf.

As for the reading, for 17 dollars you can buy a wonderful case on Amazon that helps hold the iPad up. The backlighting can be controlled. And when reading on an iPad, you can change the background color, the size of the text, and the color of the text.

That would work for me for reading text, but probably not for reading music (because you'd only get part of a page?), so I guess I'll be sticking to print music.
Still, I think they're fascinating gadgets.

ForScore uses a tap to page down. Or you can scroll the usual way with a flick. When you turn it portrait it's true that the print is small, but it doesn't bother me unless it's like... Messiaen or something.

I'm only half way when it comes to the thread title However I do have an iPad and have tried playing from it recently.

I have to say I found it quite playable even when displaying a full page at a time. Although I do think whilst learning a piece I'd rather show half a page at a time so that the music is larger, but once a piece is almost memorised and the score is there more as a safety net, showing a full page is perfectly readable.

Eyesight wise, it would likely be best to give one a trial run, either someone you know who owns one or popping into a store.

I still prefer reading books on an eInk device, but that's partly down to their lighter weight and better readability in bright sunlight (not an issue over winter For music though, the iPads slightly larger screen makes it much more usable for sheet music.

In addition there's a few nice music reading apps available such as MusicReader and one I've just found out about "Etude" which displays music created using lilypond. There's also a free app for those who buy music from music notes to display their purchases on the device, but I hate the one print restriction so I still buy in print

I like the iPad enough that I've switched from using a LCD monitor + computer to just the iPad for sheet music now, although doing so meant losing the use of my foot pedal which after a weekend project has been resolved

I ended up building a USB device that plugs into the iPad's camera connection kit and pretends to be a keyboard that can send a page forward/backward keypress depending on which pedal you press.

It's basically an AirTurn minus the Air bit, the bluetooth model isn't sold in the EU yet so this will fill the gap until then

Links to a pics if you're interested:

PicPedal02
PicPedal04
PicPedal01
PicPedal03
PicPedal05

Beyond music display, I also keep music for any of the scores that I happen to have it for. Easy to listen to the music whilst reading along with the score.

Outside of that, it's great for sitting on the sofa and browsing PianoWorld or watching pianists on youtube.

One thing to bear in mind when testing an iPad out with a PDF if that you will likely be viewing the score smaller than it could be. What I mean by that is if you import a PDF into something like music reader, it will crop as much of the whitespace around the score as it can to maximise the size of the notes on the screen.



I've got an iPhone which if you ignore the phone part is basically an iPod touch and you're not far off that the iPad is just a bigger iPod touch, but that's the great part, it's bigger.

Some things the iPod touch is better suited for, such as listening to music on the go, where as other things the iPad is better suited for (personal preference of course) such as web browsing and in this case music display

I didn't understand the hype around the iPad and bought one for work reasons, but since getting it I've found lots of ways to use it, much as I did with the iPhone.

One thing is for sure, it can't replace a computer and it doesn't replace a netbook, but it does fit inbetween nicely and can replace both for certain tasks but not others. I think that's why there's such a split over the iPad with some loving it and others hating it.