Thinking about buying an iPad from the states to use as a Live controller.. thoughts?

Yo!

I've been wanting a Lemur since the day I saw it and now with the iPad it feels like I can have it for a fraction of the cost. I saw the (midiPad) app which looks pretty awesome to me - so now with my gf paying a short visit to the states, should I ask her to bring one home?

I know there's the age-old debate of touch vs real buttons and how there's always gonna be a certain amount of delay between input and reaction but that's not a big issue for me - it's gonna be mostly for launching clips and controlling FX so no drumming, scratching or anything else that needs precise timing.

http://www.midipad.de/Website/launch...ackControl.png

I've been looking at the Launchpad but if my Live Set is filled up with clips I don't get any overview anyway so a touch screen that lets me see what I'm actually triggering is juice as HELL. Plus all the bonus views - DJ view, effects view, studio view and keys view - make it soooo versatile.

OK so first- thoughts on the iPad as an Ableton controller?

And second- thoughts on buying it from the states as opposed to waiting for it to come here in june or july at 130% of the price ? Region differences, jailbreak etc gonna be an issue?

I'm really starting to consider it as well, with apps like electribe and these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvGM3m9wScM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC6fP...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX57o...eature=related

And they're reasonably priced

Yeah I basically see no difference between the Lemur and the iPad except for the iPad having an app store (and iPad functionality... doh). I'm just not sure about running performance equipment via wireless and not sure about what buying an iPad from the US would mean to me.

Edit: that third app looks hideous though, haha

A lot of the production apps look hideous but if I'm on a 4 hour flight I could care less, it'd be a lot of fun :)

Edit: I guess I should add that I'm not considering buying an iPad for performances, just as a fun thing

You won't need her to buy it for you soon enough:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/09/a...ad-pre-orders/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by janzak

Yeah I basically see no difference between the Lemur and the iPad except for the iPad having an app store

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i'm not a lemur fanboy but i'm sorry i don't believe you are looking very hard if you see no differences between the two.

IMO for what you get with the lemur, and for actual live/professional use it's way worth the cost. the ipad is a toy in comparision

Not to mention that a HUGE benefit it has is that its interface is POE (Power Over Ethernet), it only requires the RJ-45 jack to do everything it does. It also has a really powerful user design backbone, dedicated support, and its a custom system integrated solution which specifically caters to musicians.

The big thing I hope to see come from the iPad is knocking Jazzmutant off its high horse and lower the cost of their product. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool controller, but I ain't blowing $2000 on a goddamn Lemur lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by charo

i'm not a lemur fanboy but i'm sorry i don't believe you are looking very hard if you see no differences between the two.

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Nah man I'm not looking very hard :) what I want is a multi-touch screen that controls Ableton

Edit: OK, I didn't mean to downplay the Lemur at all - I know it's a solid piece of equipment. But my questions still remain!

if i were you, I might wait til next month to decide when the slate comes out and i believe a few of the better andriod tablets will arrive. not saying these will be clear winners over what you can do with the ipad but it never hurts to have more then one option, esp when the option is the first generation ipad....