Review: Apple iPad

MORE: click here to read our full review of the Apple iPad

Apple’s iPad has been out for a few months now, so we thought we’d take a look at one and see how it stands up.

It’s a very impressive piece of kit, and actually the price compares very well to that of a full-sized laptop. For many people it does everything they’d need such as email, web browsing, listening to music and watching video.

It is a very impressive device, and as the advertising says, you do already know how to use it – or at least, if you’re very unfamiliar with computers, you’ll know how to use it after a couple of minutes’ training.

The screen is just the right size – it’s big enough for reading and for viewing videos, but it’s not so big that it’s cumbersome, and the design of the case with that smooth curve on the back is quite impressive, allowing enough room for a relatively large battery without making it very bulky. Battery life is good, too.

It’s not all good, though. As with the iPad there’s no support for Flash video, and there’s also no support for the latest operating system, iOS 4, which is already available on the iPhone. That’s coming later in the year, but for now iPad owners can’t do things like put their icons into folders.

It also can’t charge off many devices that can charge iPhones and iPods, because it requires more power than those chargers - and some computers – are able to supply.

Despite that, though, the iPad is still enormously impressive and while it may not be able to replace your laptop it comes pretty close.

MORE: click here to read our full review of the Apple iPad