Apple's iPad Review

At first glance the iPad looks like a large iPhone or iPod Touch, but once held in your hands you find it’s much more. The simplicity of the iPad as like the iPhone and iPod Touch continues Apple’s great quest to make computing less intimidating and user friendly. And yet again with the iPad they’ve achieved that with flying colors. The iPad comes in two different versions: WiFi and WiFi + 3G (3G version includes a separate monthly fee from AT&T). Within each version there are three models with different memory sizes: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. The starting price for an iPad is an affordable $499.

As you will find out quickly what the iPad does it does wonderfully. The first thing you will notice when you pick up the iPad is the bright gorgeous screen. The picture quality is nothing like anything you have even seen in a portable device. The internet is quick and responsive. Emails are a snap. Web browsing is a breeze. The iPad’s near full size keyboard makes typing a cinch. Movies start with just a push of your finger filling the vibrant screen. Nearly all the games and apps from the App Store work instantly with the iPad giving the user instant access to thousands of great apps. And daily, developers are updating their iPhone/iPod Touch apps to work exclusively for the iPad’s larger screen size and resolution. Following the iPhone/iPod Touch the App Store and iTunes Store are accessible right from the iPad with no need for a desktop computer making it simple to access all these great apps right from you iPad. In addition to the iTunes and Apps Store Apple added another called iBooks. This is a bookstore in your hands. If your a reader this is a dream come true. No longer are you forced to read digital books on a small black and gray screen. With the iPad books come to life in full color. With the iBook store you have a choice of hundreds of books right at your finger tips. To read a book it’s as easy as one push of your finger and within seconds your reading. With the combination of the iTunes, Apps, and iBook stores the iPad will continue to grow better and better everyday.

But after saying all these great things there are a few draw backs. One, as like Apple’s other portable devices the iPad has no support for Flash. But to counter this many well known websites are making their websites 100% compatible with the iPad so there is no need for Flash. I personally feel you’ll see more and more websites follow as the portable era grows in popularity. Another draw back that many where hoping to find at launch was a camera. It would have been nice to have video chat on the iPad but heres hoping for the future. Another draw back worth mentioning is the lack of inputs. Other than the typical headphone and charging jacks there are no USB or memory stick inputs. This kinda is a shame because it causes the iPad to still have to rely on a standard computer for other activities such as burning CDs or printing documents.

Minus these little nuisances the iPad is an incredible device. I personally own a MacBook Pro (laptop) and a Mac Pro (desktop) but I constantly find myself picking up my iPad for everyday simple actives such as email, web browsing, networking and casual gaming. It sure beats lugging a heavy laptop around or sitting at a computer desk away from my comfy couch. To sum it up. If your daily computer activities include, music, video, email, web browsing, reading, photos, word processing, networking and casual gaming the iPad is for you.