by splorp

Apple iPad review: time to sell the laptop?

I took a leap of faith and sold my laptop, using the money to order an iPad unseen from the US. A mad decision? I had my doubts.

‘It’s either a notebook with no keyboard or a massive iPhone without the phone,’ said a friend of mine. Fair point – and when I first held it in my paws I realised they were right. It plays music, calls up e-mails, keeps my calendar, surfs the internet and has countless apps that do everything from providing a Tube map to offering thousands of free books – just like every smart phone. There’s also the risk of paying for two mobile phone contracts, because you’ll need a 3G network when not in range of a wi-fi connection and your existing phone SIM card won’t work. (I had ordered the WiFi version, which I could use with my existing broadband connection.)

But the big difference is the large screen. It might not have the same clear definition of dedicated readers such as Amazon’s Kindle or Sony’s eReader but it is in glorious colour – and oh, how glorious. Everyone who has seen it has instantly fallen for its charms. Whip it out in public and you’re besieged by drooling onlookers.

APPLE A1080 Laptop Battery

Apart from its brightness and tactile qualities, the size is perfect. My iPhone looks microscopic and I struggle to use most apps. Reading Metro for example, is a pleasure. It comes alive and is a real alternative to the print edition.

APPLE A1078 Laptop Battery

Add on those extra features and interactive ads (film previews, for example, or restaurant walk-arounds) and you have to ask how long it will be before the sight of someone reading a newspaper or magazine disappears from the morning commute. Until that happens, Apple has hit the right size, whether by design, accident or production cost.

APPLE A1185 Laptop Battery

Unlike a laptop, which really needs a desktop to use properly, I can lounge on the sofa, or in bed, and have access to everything I need: music, video, books, the internet. You can input text to the iPad via touch-screen handwriting recognition but it’s not yet a replacement for those who need to do work – I confess I’ve been using a Bluetooth keyboard to write this.

When travelling though, it is so nice to have something the size of the in-flight magazine and offers so much. It frees me from reliance on the tiny in-flight entertainment screen, the poor sound and poorer choice of movies.

I can even type a blog post or look through my photos without worrying too much about how long the battery will last; Apple’s ten-hour claim is spot-on and, with one million iPads sold in a month, I suspect Steve Jobs has another hit in his hands.