On the day the first iPad became available I bought one. \u00a0Over the last year it has been a constant companion usage wise as I took it to work and around the house and elsewhere. \u00a0For what was a first generation device it fulfilled my expectations and more. \u00a0This did not keep me from lusting after the iPad 2. \u00a0So last Friday I drove by the Apple store only to see a huge line so I ended up going from store to store finding them sold out wherever I went. \u00a0So back to the Apple store and the line. \u00a0I ended up with the last ticket they had to ensure I would get the iPad 2. \u00a0As luck had it the last ticket was for the very model I wanted – A Black iPad 2 with 32GB and Verizon 3G. \u00a0Two hours later I was a happy owner with sore feet of the new iPad.<\/p>\n
As many reviewers have had this is more of an evolutionary upgrade of the iPad than a majorly changed device. \u00a0The original iPad did not feel slow in any way and load times of apps and browsing was acceptable. \u00a0The iPad 2 though is even snappier and large games load much faster and rendering of pages in the browser is noticeably improved.<\/p>\n
The main engineering changes are that the iPad is much thinner and in fact thinner than the iPhone 4 at 8.6mm. \u00a0This makes it much nicer to hold in that there is not the flat edge that use to be there. It is slightly lighter at 1.33 pounds vice the original 1.5 pounds. As someone who does a lot of reading, holding the iPad for long durations is no more annoying than doing the same with a good size hardcover book.The main display is the same in size and resolution. \u00a0Models are available with either a black or a white bezel. I got the black bezel since white would frame the content too much and be a distraction.<\/p>\n
Under the hood the Apple developed A4 ARM processor has been replaced by a dual-core A5 ARM processor along with a significantly faster dual-core graphics processor that puts iPad gaming to the next level rivaling game machines. \u00a0The memory has been doubled at 512MB along with a faster bus. \u00a0In addition front and back facing cameras have been added. \u00a0Like the iPhone 4 the iPad 2 includes a gyroscope which can be quite useful in gaming and other applications.<\/p>\n
After using it for a couple of days I am very happy with the speed bump and task-switching is much better with the doubled memory. \u00a0The browsing experience is much improved, though partly this is due to the release of iOS 4.3 which includes a new javascript rendering engine. \u00a0I am not a major gamer, but I do game much more since I got the iPad. \u00a0Games that did take some time to load, take very little time now and there are reports that games updated for the iPad 2 such as Infinity Blade are truly amazing<\/a>. \u00a0The iPad 2 also now supports display mirroring. \u00a0Using the new HDMI adaptor you can now output the display to a monitor via an HDMI cable. \u00a0So not only could you output Netflix from the iPad to your TV, you can also simply display the iPad desktop and any application currently running. \u00a0I had great fun playing Robot Unicorn Attack on a large screen TV while using the iPad as the controller. \u00a0This is also good news for those using the iPad in business or education. \u00a0Battery life seems much the same, over ten hours. \u00a0Quite an accomplishment to beef up the hardware and retain the original iPad’s exceptional battery life.<\/p>\n I am glad that I knew ahead of time how crappy the cameras would be. \u00a0The back camera is 1-megapixel and the front-facing camera is VGA resolution. \u00a0It is quite obvious the cameras were designed just for Facetime (a video phone app) and for video capture. \u00a0While it is doubtful anybody would really be using an iPad because of it’s size for their main camera – I certainly would have wanted a better camera and especially the one used in the iPhone 4. \u00a0Despite their reasoning you know the next version will have better cameras.<\/p>\n