The first thing you notice about the iPad is, well, you don't notice it. In lots of ways, there is not much here -- design wise -- to comment on. The bulk of its surface is taken up by a 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768, capacitive, multitouch LED-backlit display surrounded by a shiny black bezel that some will say is wide but, in practice, is an important design consideration that prevents the touchscreen from being inadvertently activated when handled. There is only Apple's signature "home" button to interact with, and the back of the tool is a dutifully simple piece of twisted aluminum. Like most Apple products, it is a beauty to behold, but it is not exactly notable for design flourishes; basically put, it is nice looking but not terribly fascinating. But if the design of the iPad is an exercise in restraint, it only serves to reinforce how formidable this expertise feels seven times it is in your hands. The tool has some heft, weighing in at 1.5 pounds, but is still comfortable to hang onto at most angles. Thinking about the computing power of the tablet, a thickness that tops out at half an inch is impressive, . But how does it feel in your hands? Well, that matte aluminum on the back surprisingly communicates warmth (though they don't recommend resting this on any bare flesh on a chilled morning), and the remainder of the design gets out of the way and lets you concentrate on what is most important: that screen. And that is kind of the point, is not it?
The iPad does house a few other parts you ought to be aware of: a volume rocker and screen position lock (which forces the tool to stay in landscape or portrait mode) on the upper right hand side, a power / sleep button and headphone jack on either side of its top edge, and Apple's famous 30-pin dock connector alongside a single narrow speaker on the bottom of the unit. There is nothing outwardly notable about the buttons or layout on the iPad -- if you have used an iPod touch or iPhone, you'll find yourself right at home... and that is exactly how Apple wishes it.
As far as ergonomics are concerned, the standard seated-with-iPad-in-lap move is a very comfortable experience, but there's definitely use cases where handling a flat slab becomes a pain. For example, single finger typing becomes a tiny bit of a game of hunt-and-peck, & that is the situation you find yourself in if you are ever standing with the iPad or holding the device together with your other hand. They mentioned that iPad has some weight to it, & while it is comfortable to hold, it is considerably more of a handful than an iPhone. You'll feel that weight in your arms after extended period of keeping it aloft. Apple promo videos like to show their users happily grabbing the iPad & swinging their legs up onto a table -- Fonz style -- but if you are like us, most of your heavy text entry is done while seated at a standard table or table, which means that unless you have a dock you are going to be typing on the iPad as a flat surface. The thing is, they actually found the flat-typing experience to be good; it takes a tiny getting used to, but it is not strange either. In fact, we'd say it is a way more enjoyable experience than single-hand typing. Still, as with the iPhone, there is a learning curve here that may diminish some hit-and-run shoppers' interest.
Internals
As you most likely know by now, the iPad packs Apple's custom, PA Semi-designed 1GHz A4 system-on-a-chip -- a single Cortex A8 core coupled with a PowerVR SGX GPU. RAM on the iPad has not been revealed, but they suspect there is 512MB (at least) inside here -- we'll know more five times iFixit or anyone else puts the pad under the knife. Also onboard is 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, a digital compass, an accelerometer, microphone, & ambient light sensor. The 3G model that ships at the finish of the month will add UMTS / HSDPA information along with an AGPS chip. You can purchase the tool in capacities of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB. They had the 64GB version for this review.Display
As they mentioned at the beginning of the review, the iPad is all about its screen, and Apple's 9.7-inch LED backlit IPS display does not disappoint. Colors on the screen are vibrant and saturated, while blacks feel true and deep. The iPad can be cranked up to an painful brightness, but also handles lower settings well -- that is important for readers (they even include a brightness control inside of iBooks). Because Apple employs IPS (in-plane switching) for the display, viewing angles are remarkably broad, though they cannot honestly say the feature will come in handy for us -- they usually need to keep people's eyes off of our work. The screen is, as they mentioned, capacitive and multitouch, and handled input excellently -- if you are used to the iPhone, then you know the way excellent Apple's input know-how is. To call it best in class would not be an overstatement; we have seldom used a more responsive screen.
Other hardware
For the most part, there is not much else to say about the iPad when it comes to its physical attributes. The home button is your only point of hardware interaction with the program, though you have those volume controls and rotation lock switch. The speaker actually does a impressive job of outputting neat, well balanced sound given its size, but let's be honest -- you are not going to be using this as your party sound process. The 30-pin connector is standard issue for Apple's mobile products, but they must take serious issue with the shortage of a USB port or SD card reader. The company offers both of these as an accessory as a process to transfer pics and video onto the tool, but it looks as if such a glaring oversight to not have built these in that it bears mentioning. If Apple desires to compete with the netbook market -- which it presumably does -- there ought to be some port options beyond its proprietary dock connector. This feels like a funds grab as well as a waste of potential for third-party peripherals.
Battery life
It's very impossible to think, but in the work of our preliminary tests, using the iPad heavily, downloading and using plenty of new apps, doing some 3D gambling, watching HD video, all the while getting e-mail downloaded in the background, they got what Apple claims this gizmo will do. In fact, it went a tiny better -- they managed to get 10 hours and 43 minutes of life out of the iPad before they had to plug it in again in our first run through. That is crazy endurance thinking about what they were doing with it. Now, they were not watching HD video the whole time, or walking the music player in the background while streaming Netflix movies, so they cannot promise this will be the case in every situation. Still, it did a incredible job of matching up to Apple's numbers, and you may color us impressed.
