While traveling for work last week, I brought along my iPad. Usually, before a trip, I'll load up my iPhone or laptop with video to keep me entertained during the long, uncomfortable flight, but my fancy new device gave me a good excuse to put it through its travel paces. Turns out the iPad and flying are basically friends for life.
If you've ever tried to use a laptop on a plane, you know how terrible it can be. A video-capable handheld like the iPhone isn't great, either, as you basically have to hold it in front of you, since the screen is so small. The iPad, however, is perfect. Well, almost perfect...but we'll get to the flaw in a bit.
Simulating The Tray Table
I took a photo of the iPad resting on my airline tray table, but it unfortunately got corrupted, so I had to be a little clever with the above image. The white piece of paper represents an average airline tray table (16.5 inches by 9.5 inches). They vary a bit, but that's a good starting point. Notice the iPad is resting at the back of the paper. If there was an airline seat in front of me, it would be resting up against the back of it.
Now notice just how much crap I was able to stick on the remaining space of the tray. A notepad, a cup of water, a bag of candy corn, a cup of pens and, incredibly, a Big Daddy doll from "BioShock 2." In an airline situation you're usually forced to pause your entertainment when the food arrives, simply because you have no place to put it. Not so with the iPad! On my flight I had plenty of room for a sandwich, a plastic cup, a can of soda, a cookie, and the iPad.
The Battery Is Your Friend
Apart from the space issue, the battery life comes into play as well. My two flights lasted about six hours each, and over that time I watched 7 hours worth of video. The battery on the iPad was down to about half. It certainly helped that I wasn't using WiFi or playing a graphically intensive game, but even if I had been, it probably would've resulted in battery life close to what Apple is claiming (about 10 hours).
The One Issue
There's one issue which kept creeping up on me while using the iPad on my flight: The jerk in front of me. Every time he shifted back in his seat, the iPad fell towards me in a heart-stopping nosedive. I was using the first-party Apple case, which allows you to prop up the iPad by folding the cover back, and while it's good for a flat surface, it's not sturdy enough to withstand a serious jolt. You can rectify this by putting something soft (like the airplane pillow) between you and the iPad, but that kills the space benefits. An alternative is to lay the iPad flat and use the in-flight magazine to angle it for better viewing.
The Verdict
Even with this issue, the iPad is head and shoulders above any other media device when it comes to air travel. It's like having your own, personalized seat-back TV, but you don't have to suffer through bad reception and re-runs of TLC reality shows.
Oh, and added bonus: Unlike a laptop, you don't have to remove your iPad from your bag at the security gate. George Clooney from "Up In The Air" would be all over this.