Apple iPad (32GB, AT&T, 3G)

Pros: A mobile appliance that lets you do email, read books and periodicals, play music ( the sound without headphones or external speakers) is surprisingly good quality and strength, surf the web, and have great gps all the time. 3g connection works well.

Cons: No camera, no usb port, and most annoyingly no multi-tasting--If you're listening to internet radio/music the machine become a music machine because you can't do anything else at the same time.

Summary: I have an ipod touch and my first day with this I thought "well, this is just a giant i-touch." However, after 48 hours the implications of having a larger version of the ipod(and my IPAD has 3g) that is always connected was actually pretty impressive. Reading email, newspapers, books, etc, on this wonderful screen is a dramatically different experience from using an ipod or a laptop or netbook. It's something that you can carry around all day in ways that just wouldn't be as practical with even a netbook. The sound quality without ear buds or external speakers is remarkably good. Having a gps that can directly connect to where you are and your contacts is very convenient. Frustrating that most of the iphone apps still haven't been modified to work well with IPAD but I assume that's a matter of time, and market place will take care of that. Not being able to multitask on something like this is the most frustrating aspect for me. Ibook format is very nice, and you also use your kindle subscription but with different format than Ibook. I have not checked to see the breadth of the ibook offerings. I've read concern about the att 3g connection. I have had no problem and it's worked pretty much everywhere with no interruption in service and been remarkably fast. Since I don't have an iphone and I gave up my smart phone for one that actually allows me to make clear phone calls, the constant 3g connectivity is very nice. Obviously it expands the functionality of the device. If we had better wifi availability in this country the 3g wouldn't be that important. Since att does offer month to month option with no contractual commitment beyond a month you can always purchase and terminate based on your expectations for that month. (I actually think this isn't such a great loss for ATT because you're more likely to sign up if you don't have to commit, but you're probably not going to want to give it up once you have it.) Personally, I don't see it right now as a work tool beyond reading email and webaccess and I didn't purchase it with that expectation. You can probably live without it, but if you like networking, gadgets, and convenience and can afford it, it is a nifty item.

Updated on May 13, 2010

Meant to say Giant IPOD touch, but that's pretty neat.

Updated on May 16, 2010

This isn't a massive problem, but weird. When I used my IPad this morning, I realized that at some point it had lost about 20 minutes, and was 20 minutes behind that actual time. When I went to MAC forums I found a number of other people having the same basic problem with the Ipad clock. It's just strange that a perfectionist company like apple that kept adobe off the ipad to retain purity of quality would screw up something as basic as a clock that keeps proper time.