Can't sync Address Book to iPad

I have a new iPad and have Snow Leopard on my iMac with all software up to date. I have configured the iPad to sync over WiFi. Using iTunes, sync works fine for Calendar and Safari bookmarks. But I can't get iTunes to sync the Address Book properly. (I have iCloud Contacts switched off.) What happens is that the Address Book group names are copied to the iPad, but the groups are empty once they get there.
I can create new contacts on the iPad and they work OK, so it's not that I don't know how to use the Contacts app. I can even create a new contact entry on the iPad within one of the groups brought in from the iMac. But synching individual contact names within the groups from the Address Book just doesn't happen. (It doesn't work either if I initiate the sync from the iPad.)
Any ideas why this happens would be much appreciated.
- Malcolm

I am a mac lover since 1982.
I bought an ipad (3rdgen retina), to be sure that communication with my (old?) macmini core 2Duo 10.6.8 would be simple.
After hours and hours reading posts on forums, I have understood that sync between Address book and iPad will not work "OTA" (over the air i.e. through icloud ?).
The best I succeeded to get is :
* safari/icloud <==> ipad/contacts sync (both directions, within a minute, with iCloud Contacts switched ON)
* ipad/contacts (or iCloud?) <==> address book sync through USB  with iCloud Contacts switched OFF upon a manual backup demand.
Apple used to be more intuitive !
To reach my goal, i.e having iCal and Address Book synchronized between macmini and iPad without any manual action, I am looking toward "owncloud" on my NAS ; this, at least, will avoid that these personnal datas will be stored elsewhere than on my disks, on a "cloud" whose I have not (yet?) understood mechanism.

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