Anandtech's Apple iPad 2 Review - The Only Review You Need
anandtech.com
anandtech.com
Someone who clearly wants a laptop and not an ipad?
For me it hasn't replaced my laptop - I moved to an 11" air for that. The ipad replaces all the other stuff that filled my office and my bags when traveling: a great big stack of books for pleasure, work and reference. It freed me from my desk for all that 'catch up' reading to keep on top of the things I need to know about. It provides some good casual games (I barely have time to become good at anything so "toys" are more what I am after). Its got some cool stuff to play with with my children. It has some great synths (most of my actual synths are now in storage pending sale). I do some work on it - writing presentations , ssh etc. It turns out that watching videos in bed in hotel rooms is use case i would never have imagined. it's great for showing other people my pictures and videos. It's a constantly present reference source: wikipedia and IMDb and a dictionary etc etc etc,
It's not a laptop it's an other thing.
The title is implying only that no iPad 2 review could be as complete as this one, so other reviews are redundant and not worth reading.
looks at this succinct post that gets right to the point
learns a lesson
I really like Anand's coverage here, especially the 3 different perspectives from different editors at the end. Tablets are a new paradigm of both use and interaction, slotting them in when you're already used to laptop/desktop/phone can be a bit difficult.
I find the iPad to be useful in places where a laptop is too heavy in terms of interaction commitment, but a phone isn't big enough.
Huh? But couldn't that be said of almost every iPad or iPhone or even any other tech product just about every year?
I personally never kept the first iPad because, even though it was a fun product to use, I really didn't have a need for it. I knew I'd need a new laptop though and the 11" Air has been fantastic for me in that role.
I wouldn't mind having a larger touch screen device, but not something as large as the current iPad. A 7" iPad - maybe, but preferably a larger screen iPhone, that would really do the job.
Yes, but there are outstanding rumors that the iPad3 is what they wanted the iPad 2 to be but couldn't due to some technical issues. So the current "iPad2" is actually a bit of a stopgap release to get something out on their normal cycle.
Source: http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-staffer-ipad-3-is-the-one-to-...
Sadly, that was in the last paragraph.
"If it weren't for the fact that the iPad 3 is likely 12 months away with another set of similarly impressive upgrades I'd recommend all iPad users upgrade to the 2nd generation model.
I find that with Apple products you have to pick an upgrade cadence and firmly stick to it. In the Mac world it's difficult but not too hard to stick to. Upgrading yearly never makes financial sense so usually putting yourself on a 2 - 3 year cycle for the biggest upgraders usually works. "
Isn’t it always the case with consumer electronics – especially everything with a CPU in it – that new, better and cheaper stuff will come out while you still use the device? That’s just normal.
Yes! I suppose an alternative is to wait infinitely for an infinitely better device. :)
"Isn’t it always the case with consumer electronics – especially everything with a CPU in it – that new, better and cheaper stuff will come out while you still use the device?"
I'd hazard a guess that Apple's predictable release schedule puts this fact front-and-center, which makes it more difficult to ignore when you're considering a purchase. Who knows when the next Motorola Xoom 2 is coming out, if ever?