Reviewers have weighed in on the iPad. The consensus verdict is that Apple's tablet-style computing device is a stylish, versatile tool for e-reading, media viewing, and communicating—but it falls short as a full-on laptop or netbook replacement.
Veteran Wall Street Journal tech critic Walter Mossberg has been testing the iPad for the past week. The device has "the potential to change portable computing profoundly," Mossberg wrote, in a column published Thursday.
The New York Times' David Pogue said the iPad will likely appeal more to everyday consumers than hard-core techies—so he wrote two reviews, one for each audience. Pogue said iPad will be a hit with your average Jill.
Here are some of the important highlights of Apple's iPad from David Pogue:
Q: 12 hours of video playback? Really?
A: The dirty little secret is that because there's no hard drive, video playback doesn't use any more battery power than any other activity. So yes, I got 12 hours in my tests, but it wouldn't matter if I had been playing video, reading e-mail or playing with apps.
I conducted the test with Wi-Fi turned on and with the screen brightness-which is pretty much the sole determinant of the iPad's battery life-at the factory setting. Turns out that's 50 percent, but believe me-that's still very bright. (At full brightness, this thing could illuminate a runway.)
Q: No USB. So I can't load my camera photos onto it?
A: Au contraire! For $30, Apple's iPad Camera Connection Kit gives you two adapters. One accepts a standard camera SD memory card; the other accepts your camera's USB cable. Both auto-offload any photos onto the iPad, and from there back to your computer when you sync.
Q: How are you supposed to use the Keynote presentation app if there's no video output? Or watch movies on your TV?
A: You have three options. Apple sells adapter cables that connect to the 30-pin charging jack. Each provides a different kind of connection for your external video gear: one each for composite, component or VGA. (Even if you output to a hi-def TV with the component cable, however, the video from the iPad is not high definition. It's 480p, like a DVD.)
Q: How's the app store?
A: Fortunately, Apple made the iPad section of the app store available to reviewers before it officially opens on Saturday. (Often, you can identify the iPad versions of apps-that is, ones specifically designed for the larger screen-by the misleading initials HD in their names.)
A lot of these apps are really incredible; even old iPhone apps, when rewritten for the iPad's bigger screen, take on a whole new life. They tend to cost more, though. Looks like iPad apps will cost $5 or $10, rather than the $1 or $2 for iPhone apps. Of course, there will still be plenty of free apps, too.
Some of these will be sold as "universal" apps. That is, for one price, you get one app that works appropriately on either the iPad or the iPhone/Touch.
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