Apple iPad 2 Tablet Review

Now with 2 cameras, HD video recording, dual-core A5 chip and an amazing 10 hour battery life the latest iPad 2 secures itself as one of the best in tablet computers.

Apple first released the iPad in April 2010, and sold 3 million within in 80 days. During 2010, Apple sold 14.8 million iPads worldwide, representing 75 percent of tablet PC sales at the end of 2010. Since the iPad’s were first released Apple have sold more than all other tablet PCs combined!

The first thing I notice; and this goes for all Apple products is the quality packaging. The white box is beautiful and I always open them carefully unlike other products where I’d rip them apart like a hyena at a carcase! I wonder how many other Apple product owners have kept their Apple box! O.K. enough obsession with the box!

Picking up the iPad feels very comfortable, and only weighing 1.33 pounds it’s so easy to hold. It is 33% thinner than its predecessor, and has a better processor, a dual core Apple A5 which Apple says is twice as fast for CPU operations and up to nine times faster for GPU operations.

As usual the touch screen display is very smooth enabling you to use your fingers to type emails, read books, swipe through photos and switch between applications.

Giving you two options to connect to the internet, it has built in advanced 802.11 n wireless technology and 3G. It automatically finds any Wi-Fi nearby which you can join with just a few taps on the screen.

Connecting to friends worldwide is one of the nicest features on the iPad. If they have an iPad 2 or iPhone 4 you can use the FaceTime video calling and talk to each other as if you were both in the same room. You can even switch cameras (using the one at the back) and  share your location. For friends that do not own an  iPad2 or iPhone 4 I have used Skype but be warned, it eats your battery even if left running in the background! Fortunetly the iPad 2 has a 10 hour battery life.

As with the earlier models it comes with built in storage: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. I originally bought the 16GB but found myself purchasing the larger 64GB as I needed it to edit and save movies for potential clients.

I also went for the Wi-Fi model without 3G as I would only use this at home or for presentations to clients. I am now able to show images, movies, Keynote presentations (dare I say the equivalent or better than PowerPoint) and the latest ‘Newstand’ which stores all our PDF brochures. This was originally my main purpose to purchase an iPad as it was the perfect tool for my corporate needs.

Did you know that Within 90 days of its release, the iPad managed to penetrate 50% of Fortune 100 companies. Some companies have even adopted iPads into their business and distributed or made them available to their employees.