Seems like it takes FOREVER to back up my iPad when I sync mine. I mean forever: like 45 min. And I have a measly 16GB, of which about 2GB is free. Is it my computer? Or is this normal?

Also, is there a way to tell iTunes NOT to back up my iPad when it syncs? I mean, it seems like backing up is something I might need to do only once every three times I sync.

My backup is slow also.

I have a 16gb and it is half empty and a total sync, including backup is maybe 5 minutes... maybe. Of course sync time varies depending on how much stuff I have added through iTunes or on the iPad itself.

depend on how much music, videso and Apps you have loaded.

Thanks for the links Mike. Will try them out.

Great tip, thanks. The iPod Touch used to have the same problem with very slow backups. But after an upgrade (I don't remember if it was a firmware upgrade for the iPod or an upgrade of iTunes) the problem was over. My 16 GB iPod Touch is filled much more than my 16 GB iPad, but the iPod backup takes perhaps 5% of the time it takes for the iPad. Hopefully Apple will solve this soon.

64gb 3g + wifi with 12 movies, 1500 songs, 300 epub books, lots of apps and back-up and synch take less than 5 minutes. First-time iPad synch takes much longer but subsequent synch takes about the same amount of time (that is, of course, unless I've made a lot of content changes.)

I just did the 3.2.1 upgrade.

The required backup took over 30 HOURS (!) but the update went smoothly.

My iPad is a 64 gByte Wifi model with around 12 gBytes free. The PC used with iTunes is an older dual-core Pentium with 4 gBytes RAM and around 175 gBytes free disc space on the system/iTunes drive.

The backup performance is completely unacceptable and I hope Apple can come up with a fix. I could copy the entire contents of a 1.5TB drive via USB in a few hours, so 52 gBytes should be less than an hour even allowing for data compression.

LH

LH

I've backed-up with a full 16gb and it took a while, about 20 mins I think. Before that I only had a coupla gig full and it took... a coupla minutes.

Well... if I (and apparently several others) can do a total sync - including backup - in just a few minutes and yours takes 30 hours, and considering we are running (for all intents and purposes) identical iPads, then the problem sounds like it might possibly be something on your end and may not be something Apple can fix.

I'm just sayin'...

Same issue as with iPhone?

Maybe these tips for iPhone will work even on the iPad?

Not handling many pics in "Camera roll":
cure: delete pictures after transferring them to e.g. PC
found on the web


Resetting warnings: and disable "SEND THE INFO TO APPLE"
found on the web

edit: not allowed to post links and references to other forums. Sorry, my bad, I was too eager to share

karstenp

I know you mean well and I am not a moderator (and I don't play one on TV), but maybe you should read the posting guidelines:

"8. Promoting other iPad related forums or blogs in your posts, signatures, or in any way on the forum is not permitted. Doing so will result in a banning."

Thanks for letting me know. I was too eager to share, as I have experienced the same issue on my iPhone.

Well, kind of like the WiFi issue, not everyone is experiencing the problem. Even with that issue, at home it was a huge problem but at a recent hotel stay wirelessly tethered to my phone it's never a problem.

There's a LOT of complaining on the Apple tech forum about backup performance, so it's apparently not just me. There's a lot of suggestions, but a lot of replies saying that the suggestions don't help.

Bummer!

Let's just say that it is PAINFULLY SLOW!!!!!

My biggest complaint with the device.

You've got to have a ton of 'everything' on your iPad.. Video will consume a lot and music coming in second.. As in any device, if your using a lot of memory and storage expect back ups to slow drastically.

I too had very long backup/synch times. After a little research, I found that some memory card readers can cause this. I have an HP printer with a built in card reader attached to my computer. After disabling this device, my synch times decreased to 'normal'.

It only takes a few minutes for mine to backup but, I don't have a lot on it yet. I have almost 10GB left out of 16(14GB technically).

Possibly, but not necessarily. And because there are so many complaints, also unlikely. Do realise that even if your iPad and mine may seem identical, they are not. I use different apps and different settings, and just one little setting may be the cause. For example: perhaps you use POP email settings while I use IMAP. If IMAP is what causes these long backups, I will see the problem and you won't. There are plenty of other possibilities like that.