In its continuing desperate attempt to gain eyeballs for it’s magazine and website, Consumer Reports comes out with another report on another non-issue with a new Apple product. This time its the new iPad that was released last week. Apparently the new iPad gets warm when it’s plugged in and being used to play a game! GASP!
Darcy Travlos for Forbes:
Consumer Reports came out today and released a preliminary report casting doubts on Apple’s The New iPad due to temperatures. Similarly, Consumer Reports had cast doubts on the iPhone 4 upon its release. What is going on?
Consumer Reports issued a preliminary report on The New iPad today with a full report to be released on Friday. Its preliminary finding was simply that The New iPad can heat up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit when playing games and when plugged in. This was the only commentary on the new device, which is generating a lot of commentary and is the only negative review of the product.
Travlos puts the report into context by comparing the iPad temperature to the way laptops heat up while being used in even the most mundane of tasks, like word processing or creating spreadsheets. She review various forums, including the HP Support Forum, she says, “which said that laptops typically operated at 50-60 degrees C (which equate to 122-140 degrees F), and when gaming, they can go to 80 degrees C (176 degrees F). So, Apple’s The New iPad under the most grueling conditions heats up to less than a laptop under normal conditions. Therefore, when put in context, Apple’s The New iPad temperatures could be viewed as an improvement over the alternatives. It only gets warmer than the previous generation iPad.”
According to posts she read on some of the message boards, the best way to reduce the heat emitted by the new iPad? Turn down the level of brightness on the device.
Consumer Reports also tried to cast doubts on the iPhone 4 when it was released. It refused to include the device in its smartphone reviews due to the “antenna issue”. (If you touched one corner of the metal casing of the phone, the signal degraded.) While the report didn’t harm the iPhone 4’s sales and success, Consumer Reports did its readers a horrible disservice by refusing to review the iPhone 4.
Consumer Reports would better serve their ever dwindling readership by comparing the new iPad to competitors competing devices, and give the consumer information they can use when making a buying decision. Instead, they have apparently decided to be come the Weekly World News of the consumer news world by blowing small issues with Apple devices way out of proportion in order to gain eyes for their magazines and website.
By the way, consumers continue to show their lack of concern over the “overheating issue” by voting with their wallets. Apple sold over 3 Million new iPads over the weekend (the best debut for an Apple product ever).
