[Ben]

AnandTech have an incredibly detailed iPad 2 review. A must-read! http://www.anandtech.com/show/4225/the-ipad-2-review (via @iChrisTaylor).

There's a negative introduction as, basically, the reviewer hasn't really found their tablet groove yet. In reality there are many for whom the tablet form factor has no place at this time, and I myself left my original iPad, that I'm on now, unused for months ahead of iOS 4.0. That really was the game-changer, but the original iPad still has enough limitations to make it impractical for some. But the result is a very good review IMHO - certainly more balanced than I'd be capable of, yet perhaps without enough attention to the benefits of Apple's ecosystem over the Xoom and other similarly isolated tablets.

The conclusion is, on the whole, positive, but nowhere near as positive as some of the middle sections - especially with regard to performance. iPad 2 is the most powerful tablet available and may remain so for a while yet. I didn't read some of the superfluous bits like cameras and FaceTime as they're of no interest to me.

Anyway, take a look, I hope you enjoy the read... just a few more days until online ordering opens!

[gorilla]

What annoys me is that people expect tablets to replace PCs and while that may be the case in a few years, the iPad with its current closed environment can never compete with a PC. (e.g. USB connector!)
However, what the iPad can do is provide a really great user experience and access to apps that replace tasks that are normally done on a PC. What the iPad has done for me is to put me in a position where I hate my computer. Normal PCs seem so hard to use! Sure the iPad has limitations, but what it lacks it makes up for in size, battery, and iOS.

[Ben]

I absolutely 110% agree! A lot of tablet usage just has to come naturally and in time; something like the iPad can't be easily shoehorned into the place of, say, a MacBook Air, because they're very different beasts. AnandTech don't seem to be able to grasp the concept of a tablet being useful as a supplemental device, concentrating hard on whether it can be used to write and share entire reviews... A great test of a notebook, but not for a tablet of any kind I fear.

I've gotten to the stage now where I'll use, and carry, my iPad wherever possible. Things I can't do, or are to laborious, I store up and blast through on a Mac when I'm at a desk/table. I just know that the pretty extensive iPad 2 improvements (yes, I'm going to call the market-leading performance and thinness extensive) are going to make it much more of a joy to use.

[gorilla]

I bought a netbook because I wanted a laptop to use while watching TV. It needed to be functional yet have a small form factor. I have not used the netbook for anything (except windows specific things) since buying the iPad.
Some random things I do on the iPad:
I play darts - the iPad is a great scoring machine.
Skype: I don't even know where the microphone is, but the iPad is a great hands free phone.
Games: a lot has been said about this already, but for the casual gamer, the iPad is excellent.
Office: It's my default note taking machine.

These are not reasons to upgrade (and if I didn't want to make video calls I would not even be considering it) but for those new to the device it is a very adaptable little machine.

[Hands0n]

Wow! What a read. I think my eyes are bloodshot now :)

I heartily would recommend the iPad 2 to any new buyer, but do I feel the same about updating from the original iPad myself? It is no secret that the answer is "No". I have not felt that the iPad 2 is a sufficient an upgrade on the original to tempt me. Not only that, but the release of the iPad 2 is shadowed by the imminent availability of the new Honeycomb Android tablet competition.

There is no doubt that the iPad 2 specification is superb, and Apple's engineering of the physical device is surpassed by none. I am not so sure about the magnetic cover in terms of providing effective protection. My old iPad has survived unscathed in its original Apple case that has taken all of the knocks for it. But certainly, the new iPad 2 is a looker.

My iPad gets regular use - almost daily, not quite. The new iOS 4.3 does put it under a certain amount of very obvious strain, but it copes well. But for my use, again, there is nothing much in the new iPad 2 to persuade me to switch. Web pages will load smoother, so what? Two cameras that I am unlikely to use much, if at all.

Apple could have tempted me to the iPad 2 had they included the Retina display - I would have gone for that. These old peepers are not what they once were.

I suspect that I will pick up the iPad 2 if the Android boys don't do anything much to light a fire under me. So far they are failing, already I have counted out the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy tablets. So don't give up on me yet, Apple. I may well do the deed.

[3GScottishUser]

I'm still a bit confused about tablets in general let alone the iPad or iPad2.

What do you do with it?

Surf the net?

I can do that with the 5 computers on my home network and thay all share files, music and video.

One of my laptops is on the table beside me in my lounge and it has a keyboard so I can sit on-line and chat when required on Facebook, WLM etc.

I carry a laptop to work which serves all my needs and have a smartphone that keeps me in touch with Internet and mobile communication.

What am I missing out on that would justify a further investment of £400-700? on a tablet from whoever?

[Ben]

Another great, but very different, review that one of you tweeted my way: http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/4396870-452/review-ipad-2-is-not-revolutionary---but-it-is-great.html

I understand what you're saying, 3GScottishUser. For a large part you have to own a tablet to see just how it will slot into your life. Mine was barely used at first. Now I use it for hours a day. Reading books, surfing (I'm on it now - reading LOTR but just switched over to post that link), Twitter, email, calendar - that's what I've done while lying here, but many users adore the games, AirPlay for streaming off to AppleTV, and a myriad of other apps.

It has longer battery life than your smartphone or your laptop, a screen just big enough to make it useable for long periods, and is thin, light, and oh so simple to use. There's a lot going for tablets, and right now the iPad is the only one hitting the mark.

[Hands0n]

@3GSU - Not that easy a question for someone else to answer from your perspective. At the end of the day, the iPad is yet another means of doing what can be done on pretty much any other computer that you may have owned since Windows first arrived on the scene.

The power behind the iPad resides in the liquidity of apps that are available for it. Then the hardware itself lends an extraordinary degree of compactness coupled with a battery life that is unprecedented in such a package. And with little exception there is not an awful lot that cannot be achieved on the iPad itself - cumbersome and clunky in some respects, without question. But all the same, if all you took with you were the iPad then you'd not actually be stuck without computing power where you want it.

Does one need any of this? Of course not. Luxury item? No, not really. What are your missing? I don't know really. Perhaps nothing at all.

[DBMandrake]

For me the draw of an iPad over a laptop for casual around the house use especially web browsing would be:

* Completely silent, no spinning hard drives, fans, or any moving parts, which also means no concerns about hard disk crashes from physically banging the laptop when putting it down on a table (surprisingly easy to do, especially with a heavy laptop)

* Instant suspend - no matter what you're doing, when you're done, press one button and then put it aside.

* Instant on. Technically it's instant wake, but when the standby time is 30 days it's effectively instant on, whereas a laptop that is suspended will either still run the battery down in less than 12 hours, or have a long startup time if it was suspend to disk instead of ram, which means you still turn the laptop off or have to plug it in any time it's not needed for an extended period, and then have to suffer through a long boot up time next time you use it.

* 30 days of standby with instant on, and 10 hours of continuous heavy use, much more with intermittent use. With a laptop around home I find myself using it with the power plugged in all the time because the battery doesn't last long enough for even one evenings use, and I hate having the charger cord for the laptop on the floor tripping me over. The usefulness of being able to not only use it a whole day without charging, but even several days, can't be underestimated. This is unheard of with any laptop.

* Fluidity and ease of scrolling and zooming. Although a PC/Mac is a better browser in terms of screen real estate, being able to play Flash, and being able to type, scrolling through long complex web pages on a PC/Mac browser is still pretty cumbersome even with a scroll mouse, and zooming in is just as bad. There is just something very satisfying and tactile about scrolling with your finger, and being able to flick the screen as if you're spinning a wheel, or zoom with pinch, and the speed gains of the iPad 2 will only make those two aspects even better.

* Simple, fast, largely single purpose apps make a lot of sense for many use patterns. If I want to check the weather report before I walk out the door do I boot up my PC/Laptop and use that ? No, it takes far too long. Even if I have the PC already booted and logged in, do I use it to look up weather ? No, even launching a browser and finding a suitable weather website is a hassle. I reach for my iPhone and launch Weather Pro, and in under 10 seconds from picking up the device I can unlock it, launch the app, and get up to date weather reports with a very slick user interface. The same would apply to an iPad.

Likewise, do I use my PC for checking mail - Nope. I don't like to leave a mail client running, and if it's not already running it takes to long to launch it just to see if I have new mail. Instead I reach for my iPhone which has push mail, and just by unlocking it I can see if I have mail. (I leave the mail alert sound off to avoid distractions :) ) I can comfortably read email on the phone and if there is anything long which needs a reply THEN I launch a mail app on the PC. The mail app on the iPad is vastly more usable than the iPhone one because of the screen size, and yet just as fast and convenient to launch and read.

At the end of the day everyone's needs are different, but asking "what can it do that I can't do on a PC" is asking the wrong question. The question is what can it do in such a hugely more convenient and usable way than a PC, and the answer is many things.

So many people have gone from "I can't really see what use this would be to me" before buying one to "I use it all the time now and can't imagine not having it" that there must be something in it. Personally I think the extreme battery life and instant on is reason enough to have one around.

Now if only I had the money to buy one, at this rate I'll be getting iPad 3 not iPad 2 ;)