Apple iPad Tablet PC
Product Features
- 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology. 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi).
- 16GB flash drive with 1Ghz Apple A4 custom-designed system on a chip.
- Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
- Box Contents: iPad Dock Connector to USB Cable, 10W USB Power Adapter, Documentation
Processor, Memory, and Motherboard
- Hardware Platform: Mac
- Number of Processors: 1
- RAM: 256 MB
- RAM Type: DIMM
Hard Drive
Ports and Connectivity
Cases and Expandability
- Size (LWH): 9.56 inches, 7.47 inches, 0.5 inches
- Weight: 1.5 pounds
Power
- Rated Charge (normal use): 10 hours
Wireless
- Wireless Type: 802.11 A/B
The inclusion of the iWorks utilities gives this device a little bit of a laptop personality, but this isn’t a PC replacement. You might be able to get away with ditching a laptop if all you really do is e-mail or very light word processing, but if you do anything more than that you’ll like the freedom and ease a full computer offers for more complex tasks. That said, this device is a tremendous leap towards a future tablet-PC-style device that could be a replacement for your computer, but for now it is more of a casual use device than something you can really expect to do substantial work with. For lengthy typing, consider buying either the keyboard dock or the wireless bluetooth keyboard.
Battery life lives up to the claims, getting about 7 hours before getting the 20% remaining battery life indication, which puts it about right for 10 hours or so of total use. One very important thing to realize about charging the device is that there are some issues with charging via USB from many computers. The iPad is different than other Apple products in that it requires a bit more power to charge up, and unfortunately most USB ports aren’t set up to support that higher power draw. This is something that may be fixed in a firmware update to allow for a slower charge, or it may simply be that you’ll need to either rely on a new Mac or the wall charger. Just don’t be surprised if you plug it into your computer and it doesn’t show that it is charging.
All in all, the iPad is an impressive device that might make for a reasonable replacement of a netbook for casual users. For people who need something to really do a lot of work on, you may find that for the price that a netbook or laptop still offers the better value for your needs. Future generations of this device will probably transition into fitting that market better than this first generation. However, if you’re an avid reader, casual gamer, music fan, who doesn’t do much more on the web than check a few sites, and e-mail. This thing is definitely worth considering! If you’re on the fence, nothing about this product is so incredible as to justify running out and buying one right now, but it is worthy of your consideration if you’re thinking you might like a tablet style device. I definitely would encourage you to go play with one at best buy or an apple store to get a feel for it.
