IPAD 2 : A Personal Review

According to Steve Jobs founder of Apple 2010 was the year of the IPAD.

The Apple IPAD 2 was released in Australia just two hours ago at 5 pm Friday the 25th of March 2011. I was keen to have a look at it's new features. it was indeed as claimed, lighter and slimmer than the Original IPAD released just last year.

I believe that Apple has got the weight and size just about right as far as ease of handling is concerned. The functions work smoother and faster as well through an improved operating system. I managed to play around with the IPAD 2 for about half an hour at a store in Brisbane before the pressure for someone else to have a go got too much. Lines of people queued up, ready to pay straight up sight unseen. Others had already prepaid for one on the Internet. This was the case I every store I observed in the Brisbane CBD. There was a lot of buzz and excitement just like the original IPAD release last year. IPad's had been allocated by number to each store so one could comfortably predict they would be sold out this morning. In fact I believe the anticipation was greater many people could not wait to test out the improved functions of the IPAD 2 for themselves. The IPAD 2 also has very functional cameras on both front and back of the gadget. Although the resolution is lacking somewhat compared to other tablets now available nevertheless you can take reasonable shot-those that are into graphics and so on might care to wait for the IPAD 3 for improved megapixels.

After a somewhat brief half hour stint I can personally recommend the new IPAD 2. After spending lots of time on an IPAD 1 It is clear the lighter weight and speed of function is quite apparent on the brand new IPAD 2 making it a far superior product. This is due to the duel processor on the IPAD 2 version. I logged onto Gmail and was easily able to handle emails. As well I scrolled through the News pages such as the CNN site with ease. The Applications that were already installed were easy to use and quick. Yes very quick much quicker that the original IPAD. The 'qwerty' keyboard was easy to use and very touch responsive. The new IPAD 2 is avaialbe in 10 colours.  With over 65000 Applications available for IPAD Steve Jobs beleives the IPAD is "Magical."

Along with the release today of the IPAD 2 was the release of a magnetic cover that neatly and quickly fits onto the screen magentically. At the same time the cover turns off magentically the screen. I tried clipping on and off the screen cover and found it very functional and easy to use. These are priced $40 to $80.

The other useful accessory is the $45 HDMI adapter that allows you to mirror anything from the screen of your iPad to a flat screen TV or projector screen.

The IPAD 2 retails in Australia between (A)$579 & $849.