I’ve seen it happen in way too many households, once-prized iPads gathering dust. Blame it on the fact that the iPads so far were primarily consumption devices and the fact that supersized phones were eating their lunch. That’s what Apple’s new iPad Pro seeks to improve upon — it’s the first iPad that takes its creation duties and productivity chops rather seriously. But do you really need one? I asked myself these four basic questions, and if you’re considering going Pro, so should you! 

Is it just a bigger iPad? How’s it any better?
It really depends on what you intend to do with it. For casual use like Facebook, web browsing or the occasional game, the iPad Pro is overkill, and a regular iPad will do just fine. Prop it up on the Smart Keyboard accessory and hammer away at an article like I’m doing right now or bring up multiple apps side-by-side to get some serious work done. Now you’re talking! The added grunt courtesy the upgraded hardware makes short work of any work, graphic or video apps, not to mention the heaviest of iOS games. The bigger display and four speakers makes photos and movies look and sound great too.
 
 

Wait, what? Accessories? More money?
Yeah, so I don’t see much of a point picking up an iPad Pro unless you pick up the Apple Smart Keyboard (Rs 14,900). It’s super-slim, attaches magnetically to the Pro, is good for hours of use and folds away neatly when not in use. Tack that on to the 128GB WiFi model — real-istically, the 32GB base model isn’t quite enough storage for any serious long-term use — and you’re looking at around Rs 95,000. Add in the Pencil (Rs 8,600) stylus if you’re looking to do any amount of sketching or hand-written note taking too — if you’re into graphics design or illustration, it’s well worth the cash. Yet, consider this: this much cash can get you a competent sans-touchscreen MacBook Air or a touchscreen Windows 10 laptop, both of which run an arguably more “productive” desktop class operating system.
 

Can I buy the iPad Pro instead of a Windows/Mac laptop then?
Without a doubt, iOS is an accomplished mobile OS with a great app ecosystem, but if after spending all this cash, you’re expecting to have something which can completely replace your laptop, think again. As iOS is wont to do, you can’t do a lot of stuff that one just assumes as natural “laptop” behaviour — download torrents, format USB drives, etc. While most desktop apps have competent replacements on the Pro, if your work requires you to use specific apps like Adobe Premiere Pro, you’re out of luck.
 

Verdict? Yay or nay?
It’s pricey even as Apple products go, but make no mistake — the iPad Pro is pretty awesome at what it does well. It offers a spectacular multimedia experience in a super portable form factor, match-made-in-heaven-accessories, truly all-day battery life, and an on-steroids iOS experience.
♦ Rating: 8/10
♦ Price: Starting Rs 67,900 for 32GB/WiFi
♦ URL: bit.ly/TT-iPadPro

A smarter guard

Monitoring your home has bec-ome a lot easier of late, thanks to faster home broadband connections, and Netgear’s Arlo smart home security system has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, they’re waterproof, so they’re just as comfortable installed out in the garden as they are in the kids’ playroom. You can install them upright or via mounts to walls, ceilings and other hard-to-reach areas — you wouldn’t want thieves to make off with your fancy home monitoring cameras, now would you?

Set-up is easy. The VMS3230 kit I reviewed comes with two cameras, and you can run up to five cameras with each base station. Pick a cloud storage plan if you need extensive recording capabilities available on demand via the Web, iOS or Android apps. Alternatively, you can store footage locally on USB drives connected to the base station.

Whenever the camera detects motion, it will start recording and alert you on the mobile device so you can take action. Picture quality is good, and the easy-to-set-up rules interface ensures you can be up and running without an advan-ced science degree. One drawback though — the cameras run on CR123 lithium batteries and last the good part of three to six months on a charge, but once they’re out, you’re going to have to get to those hard-to-reach areas to change the batteries.
♦ Rating: 9/10
♦ Price: Rs 46,000
♦ URL: bit.ly/TT-NetgearArlo

Power play

If you’ve got a table full of devices that require charging via USB, this is the tidier, better way to do it. The Griffin PowerDock Pro features five charging bays with a full 12 watts that will charge up to five iOS or Android devices at simultaneously. The dock has built-in cord management and a power supply, and you just have to plug in the cables and slot all your devices in.
♦ Price: $129.99
♦ URL: bit.ly/TT-PowerDockPro

technocool@kanwar.net; follow me on twitter @2shar