I like apple stuff in all honesty, I'm not a fanboy, I don't own a mac, and refuse to one unless the price gets cut in 1/3... might get lucky on ebay at some point.. who knows.
Anyway, I went to my local apple store to check out one of these iPads.... they had 5, sold 2, was thinking about picking one up, but decided against it. Here's the deal... it's a big ipod touch. If you wish the iPod was bigger, bout the same as a netbook without the keyboard, then this is for you. If you like your gadgets pocket-able, obviously this isn't. I fall into the second category. I like pocket-able gadgets, and that's that.
I pride myself in my unbiased opinions, I don't hold allegiance to any genre, manufacturer or OS so I really think people respect my opinions, they may not agree, but they respect them.
Hardware wise the iPad was very sturdy, little bit heavier than I would have wanted. Scratch resistant glass screen was beautiful and crisp. Really nice resolution, very sharp images and vivid colors. Take your ipod and times it by like 5. I could just tell by holding it however that if I dropped it, it would crack or break... somewhere... I'll throw my god damn ipod across the room without fear... There I just did it.
Nada scratch. I'd be scared to take that ipad out and about with me without a bag or something.
The size is about right for a "laptop" you can type right on the screen sitting on your lap about the same as a netbook. Not quite as spacious as a normal keyboard but 100x better than on screen keyboards I've used in the past. As you might have guessed, everything "just worked" in the display model I used. They had some racing game I tested and the graphics are really nice.
It's fun, it's gimmicky... brag to your friends about it, but here's the problem, it's just not practical. I'm not going to wear a man purse just for a gadget. If I am going to wear a backpack, I'm going to go biking or camping, and no need for a portable. If I have a briefcase, I'm going to work, and my briefcase has my laptop. I don't think I'm the niche that this product is looking for. I'm curious as to what niche it is actually trying to target. I could see this as a nice coffee table computer. It's stylish like that and more hip than a netbook. Netbooks are more functional than the iPad and I don't see it doing any one thing better than anything else I own. If I didn't own a netbook, I'd probally get one to fill the need for something that small and portable around the house.
The 1ups I see is the touch screen and the "stupid user" environment. I love this for my home theater pc, it only does what the menu lets you do. And that is fine as long as that menu has everything I want it to have. iPad has this dumbed down experience. Internet, music, movies, apps, basic settings and controls, if less is more for you, then this is a great expereince. I can see the niche this fits in, but I don't know if that's what they are targeting, it looks like they're going after the mid 20's or the late 40's... and they want it to be a coffee shop type of computer, and a out and about computer... regardless it just is not for me.
hope you enjoyed my unbiased as possible iPad review. I don't own it and it was just my impression after 10-15 min of use, so take from it what you will. See ya.
-Grant