A Review of the Apple IPad

Like many Apple enthusiasts, I waited anxiously to get an iPad from the time that it was announced. Recently I purchased the iPad, and am, on the whole, extremely pleased. Below is my review of the 32GB iPad with 3G.

The iPad itself is a wonderfully designed device. By no means heavy, it does have a certain reassuring weight to it. It is lighter than a netbook of comparable size, and thinner as well. Even in a crowded briefcase, backpack, or suitcase, the iPad can find a home. As the iPad is a tablet device, there are very few external buttons, most of which are found on the outside border of the device. Only the home button is on the front of the iPad. The screen is glossy and attractive, but unfortunately prone to being marked up by finger oils. A screen cover would be a good solution for this problem.

Even though the device is solidly built and has almost no moving parts, I would still recommend carrying it in some sort of case that provides protection (especially for the screen), such as a sleeve or a notebook-style case. The iPad costs several hundred dollars. Spending fifty on a nice case that will prevent costly repairs is worth it in my book.

I decided to get the 32GB model because, while I have more media than that, I don't need to have all of it with me at all times. If I carry 10 GB of music, a few GB of podcasts and lectures from iTunes U, and a few more GB of TV shows and movies, I still haven't completely filled the device. The 16 GB model, in my opinion, would be limiting, while the 64 GB model would be excessive. I chose to get the 3G model for travel purposes.

The user interface of the iPad should be familiar to anyone that has used an iPhone or an iPod Touch. Essentially, everything is controlled by touch and apps are organized on a series of home screens. A dock sits at the bottom, holding up to six of a user's apps. These applications and the organization of any other applications are determined by the user. Navigation on the iPad is extremely simple and intuitive. Even if a person cannot read, he or she can navigate the iPad.

There are a variety of useful and entertaining applications available for the iPad, and I could not begin to review them all here. What I will say is that the applications bundled with the iPad are fairly basic: Safari, Mail, Photos, Video, YouTube, Calendar, Contacts, Maps, Notes, iTunes, App Store, and so forth. All of these applications work well and do what they are supposed to. Thanks to the larger on-screen keyboard that the iPad has, it is much easier to surf the internet, write email, and jot down notes, and the larger screen size as compared to an iPhone or iPod Touch makes surfing the internet a more pleasing experience.

Two things that I thought were missing on the applications front were a calculator and a dictionary. Fortunately, Dictionary.com has a very good app, and there is a splendid calculator called PCalcLite. Both of these applications are free and should meet the needs of most users. The iBooks application is curiously missing from the iPad at the time of purchase, which is odd due to the amount of attention the iPad has received as being an eBook reader. Again, this well-polished application is free to download via the App Store.

All in all, the iPad is a very useful piece of technology. I've found that it can replace my laptop for most of my day to day needs, especially with regard to email and surfing the web. This is nice, because the weight of my bag is reduced significantly, and the battery life of the iPad is about three times as long as the battery life of my 2008 MacBook. This means that I can go for two or three days without charging the iPad, even after listening to music, surfing the internet, or reading a book for several hours.

I will not say that the iPad is without its faults. There is very limited multitasking (listening to music while having another application open), but that's not a huge deal to me. Likewise, Flash isn't compatible with the iPad. While I agree that the internet needs to move to HTML5, much of it is currently in Flash, and it can be a tad frustrating not to be able to view everything online. Typing can be difficult at times, but with practice it becomes easier. And while the issue is on Google's end, I wish that I could edit Google Docs from the iPad.

However, any shortcomings that the iPad might have are made up for by its utility. There are no netbooks that are smaller or lighter, and few can compete with the iPad's battery life. It is a simple device that is very effective and fun to use. The iPad is a near-perfect travel companion or a day-to-day device. I'm hoping that the innovation on Apple's part will help to spur industry-wide innovation in the near future, and am anticipating the results.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share your thoughts on the iPad in the comments below.