For some of the 40 people who waited in line at Best Buy Saturday morning, the iPad may not have been worth the wait. If they attend UF, they may have a difficult time using Apple’s latest gadget.
Some UF students are having problems signing into the campus’ wireless network, according to UF’s Network Services. While some students can sign on easily, others can’t make it past the initial log-in screen.
The problems experienced by some iPad users appear to be related to the AutoFill feature in Safari. Disabling the AutoFill feature corrected the issues with.
Best Buy, located at 3750 SW Archer Road, has a few iPads left and does not take pre-orders or have a waiting list, said Aimee Pauquette, a Best Buy sales associate.
Best Buy sold out of their initial shipment of 60 by 3 p.m. Saturday.
“Saturday was absolutely ridiculous,” Pauquette said. “The customers that arrived by the time we opened didn’t even need to look at it. They just wanted to buy it.”
Nick Carson, a UF computer engineering senior, pre-ordered the 3G version of the iPad coming out in late April. The current version, which Best Buy sells, offers WiFi connection.
Carson paid $729 for the 32GB 3G iPad. The current WiFi versions range from $499 to $699, depending on the size of the hard drive.
The 3G version does not require an Internet contract for users to sign, and users will pay up to $30 for Internet access each month.
Aside from Web browsing, Carson plans to use his iPad to download textbooks.
“The textbooks will be cheaper and obviously less weight,” Carson joked.
