Users say the iPad, sun don't mix

 Planning on taking your new iPad to the beach or a cozy park bench? Well, if so, you might want to consider bringing along some sunscreen and a visor — for both you and your new tablet.
As the Unofficial Apple Weblog reports, stories are starting to trickle in (and no, we're not talking an avalanche of complaints here) from iPad owners who say their glossy new tablets are going into a high-temperature-triggered sleep mode after being out in the sun for too long — more than an hour in one case, or just 10 minutes in another.

The Cult of Mac points to a tweet from PC Magazine editor Zach Honig, who snapped a picture of his iPad after it went into temperature-induced hibernation (complete with a warning message that reads: "iPad needs to cool down before you can use it."). Honig said he'd only been using his iPad for about 10 minutes on a recent sunny New York City day, according to Cult of Mac, and had to "pop his iPad into the fridge" to cool it off.

Over at The Next Web, meanwhile, there's a tale from an iPad user in Texas who says his iPad shut down after "a little over an hour" in the great outdoors: "I let it sit for a minute or two, then it happened again maybe 30 minutes later."

I also found at least one complaint from an iPad user on the Apple support forum, who writes that he was "using the iPad outside listening to music when suddenly, nothing ... silence." The iPad "was hot to the touch," and "it had a yellow exclamation point and a too-hot warning." Luckily, the user writes, "after ten minutes in the shade, all is well."

Of course, there's nothing particularly unique about the iPad overheating in the sun (and again, we're only talking a few cases so far). In general, most tech gadgets will get a little faint if left out in the sun too long, and as the Cult of Mac points out, the iPad has precisely the same suggested operating temperatures (between 32 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit) as the iPhone.

However, it "appears that the iPad's size and speed make it a lot more likely to shut off due to internal temperature," Cult of Mac warns, and given that Apple is pushing its tablet as an e-reader, it seems likely that plenty of users will be tempted to take their tablets — loaded, perhaps, with the latest Alex Cross thriller — to the beach.

Anyway, a word to the wise for my fellow iPad users out there: Exercise caution when using the iPad in the sun. Don't leave it sitting out in direct sunlight for extended periods of time. Consider a screen protector to cut down on glare. In fact, if you're planning on sunning yourself at the pool all day, you might want to consider leaving your new (and not exactly waterproof, I might add) tablet indoors. Just a thought.