Apple iPad 64GB
Fast, Gorgeous, but Heavy
From the first announcement of this device, I was prepared to dislike the iPad, on paper it has way too many flaws. With one in hand and actually using the device, I can honestly say it is an excellent, gorgeous, piece of hardware. The biggest flaw, it weighs a ton. The weight doesn't sound like a bad thing, but after I held this device in both hands while laying down, my arms got sore. It's a small thing, but you should be aware that it is heavy.
Set up was super simple. Connect the unit to your computer, run iTunes, follow the wizard. About 5 minutes later the iPad is set up and activated. The wizard does call it an iPhone for some strange reason. If you have an iPhone already, the set up is a bit easier. It will inherit most of your settings.
Once activated, you have to unplug the unit and then go through the settings application to set up your wireless network and a variety of other settings. All pretty obvious, top to bottom, essentially all the same as the iPhone.
Do note that the charger is a 10W charger - much larger and different from the iPhone's 5W charger. So you'll have to use that charger. There is a big negative, you'll have to cart around that charger, most USB ports will not charge this device. My beast of a PC has plently of power on all the USB ports, and it will not charge my iPad. External battery packs will work with no trouble charging, or extending the use.
Battery life - I ran video, downloaded a ton of apps, and played with this thing for a solid 2 hours - 10% of the battery life was used. I would guess that reported battery life is right accurate.
Typing is easier than on an iPhone, but still not keyboard easy. There's a big problem with how to hold the device and type at the same time. I was a master at Blackberry typing with my thumbs. I can't seem to get it with the iPad. The other problem, the device has a rounded back, so if you place it on a table and try to type, the thing rocks back and forth annoyingly. I don't think I will spend a lot of time typing long emails on this device.
Go try it at a store. I think you will fall in love.
A Transcendent Device
I've had the device I'm typing this on for a few days and I am convinced it delivers an unmatched content delivery capability. The browsing experience alone is worth the price of admission, but it does so many other activities so well and with such beauty and an organic interaction between user and content that just scratches the surface of what can be done.
This is not a general purpose computer. I am not going to write much source code on it or transcode video or those other activities my laptop and desktop computers do so well. And while text entry is markedly better than on an iPhone, I would not look forward to writing anything longer than this review on its keyboard, although with each sentence of experience I achieve that gets less true. No, what this is is a viewing computer without peer.
You have not browsed the web until you do it with the gentle swipes of mobile Safari. I know people have fixated on the lack of Flash and Flash advertising, games and video. And maybe for some people that is a big loss. For me, the only loss is the occasional home improvement show on Hulu, and it seems likely there will be an app for that just as there are ones for Netflix, ABC, Youtube, etc. What you lose in Flash you more then make up for in the amazing speed of browsing and how natural it all seems. (Having said this, the first time I asked my wife to try answering her e-mail on the device, the first message was to a Flash greeting card.)
The speed of the device is amazing for a low power portable device. Maybe it's the Apple custom A4 processor, or maybe it's the limitation of having so few processes, or the optimization of the OS for GPU acceleration, but the iPad is liquid fast at nearly everything.
Video playback is fast. Photo browsing is fast. Mail is fast. The calendar is fast. Large games like Plants Versus Zombies HD launch in a fraction of the time they do on an iPhone. You get the idea.
