New 3rd generation iPad customer satisfaction at an all time high, excessive heat not an issue according to survey

3rd generation iPad in hand - homescreen

A survey done by ChangeWave Research on the new 3rd generation iPad has revealed some interesting tidbits, though we have to foreword this by saying that the company has polled a mere 200 new iPad owners, which is a pretty small sample if you consider that Apple has sold more than three million new iPads in the initial release weekend.

According to the survey more than four out of five people polled (82% to be exact) have said that they are very satisfied with the new iPad, compared to 74% for the iPad 2. Only 2%, or four people, have said they are somewhat dissatisfied.

new 3rd generation iPad survey: satisfaction

new 3rd generation iPad vs. iPad 2 satisfaction survey

Unsurprisingly people were most pleased about the new retina display, which is truly a sight to be seen. We’ve been testing the new iPad over the past few weeks and we can say that the new screen is a big improvement over that of the iPad 2, not simply because of the resolution but also because of its color accuracy. Side-by-side the iPad 2′s screen seems to have a pinkish/yellowish tint whereas the new iPad’s colors are pretty much spot on. If only the screen didn’t get so greasy…

new 3rd generation iPad survey: likes

Now, there has been a lot of talk of the new iPad getting too hot after extended usage and ChangeWave asked users specifically on this issue. Only 4% responded that heat was ‘somewhat of a problem’, while excessive heat was on the list of negatives of just 7% of responders. We can say based on our experience with the new iPad that heat is really not much of an issue, yes the new iPad gets a tad bit hotter than the iPad 2 but only under specific usage scenarios, like 3D gaming.

new 3rd generation excessive heat survey

Biggest negative was pricing of the new iPad and the wireless data plan according to a quarter of the responders, followed by size/weight and amount of storage.

new 3rd generation iPad survey: dislikes

We do have our own dislikes for the new iPad, one of which is the very long charge time. It can take over 10 hours to fully charge the device, a result of the new 43Whr battery, that’s 70% bigger than the one in the iPad 2, a necessary evil of the increased power demands of the new display. We will soon be posting our impressions of living with the 3rd generation iPad, so stay tuned.