My review of the Apple iPad

Guess what? Yes, I bought the latest iPad!

Let me tell you, the iPad is a killer. Once you own one, you'll never let go. I had mine for just over 3 days and no way I'm letting go of it. In case you have been under a shell and do not know what the Apple iPad is, let me tell you more.

After the success of iPod and iPhone, Apple has come up with the iPad. You can either say the iPad is an oversized iPhone or a smaller Net notebook...depending on how you look it it. In fact, I'll describe it as a cross between an oversized iPhone and a no keyboard Macbook.

I'll describe the iPad closer as being the iPhone than the Macbook. Firstly, the iPad is touch-screen, so it does bear an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone. The screen size is much more generous compared to the iPhone and colour and resolution is simply fantastic.

For those of us who wished that there was a bigger iPhone, this is it. With a more generous screen size, everything looks much bigger now. In addition, for those of us who had problem keying with the iPhone, the 'virtual keyboard' is much more generous now.

What can you use the iPad for? Plenty. Most, if not all iPhone apps will work on it. In addition, there are now iPad apps that are specifically designed to work with the bigger and better resolution screen.

My favourite are the free games available out there; I have downloaded Tap, Tap revolution, Real Solitaire and Touch Hockey and just couldn't put my iPad down. All games play perfectly and respond well to finger touches. A fully charged iPad can run for hours without running low on battery power; a problem that early generation iPods and iPhones had but did not seem to occur to even the first generation of the iPad.

Even if you are not into games, you can use iTunes, iPod, Youtube, Contacts and Calendar apps that come with it. Otherwise, go online and use the App store to download the many free or paid appls available.

The other great thing about iPad is that you purchase cheaply office apps such as Spreadsheet, Word and Presentation software and use the iPad as a office tool. It is indeed a Macbook, iPod and soon, an iPhone all rolled into one one device that is totally wireless, light and mobile. Hook up to a speaker or use a seperate Composite cable and play the iPad directly onto a TV or projector; it's that simple.

What else did I use the iPad for? How about live monitoring of forex exchange, news feed, hotel search, live traffic webcam, voice recorder, job search and many more. There are just so many useful and intuitive appls out there that are free or at only a small fee. It's like carrying a walking encyclopedia, GPS and computer on your hand.

I had my iPad out of the box and it auto-configure itself to my wireless network in less than 20 seconds. How much easier could it get?

Make sure you get a carry case for the iPad so that you do not scratch it. Some models of carry case also act as a 'stand' so that your iPad is prodded up on the table and makes it easier for you to see and type on the iPad.

After lushing so much about the iPad, what do I not like? Well, not much, except the new iPad does not come with a camera or 3G but I'm sure a later model will have all these feature.

Many of the iPad great features are dependent on wifi; forex monitoring, traffic webcam, retaurant locater... so you need to be constantly on the net or you can lose many of the greatest features of the iPad.

Gosh, there is really not much not to dislike the iPad for. If anything, the only thing I can think of is that the iPad is too light and mobile; if you are carrying the iPad together with a pile of books or documents, do not be surprised that it 'blends in' and you forget soon where you have left your iPad!

Don't forget to put in a password into your iPad once you open your new box so that if it does 'walk away', your data are at least protected.

.-- Katherine Xie

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