The New iPad

My husband purchased the original iPad as a Christmas gift for me in 2010. Of course, the iPad 2 came out a few short months later, which did not make either of us happy. I was surprised by the gift, as I hadn't really been considering an iPad or even an e-reader for that matter. I fell in love with the iPad in short order. In addition to taking it to meetings for note-taking, I liked being able to Tweet or post on Facebook at the many social media events I attend. But perhaps the biggest surprise was how much I enjoyed reading ebooks on this device. As an author I am intrigued by the whole tsunami of ebooks being released, and have in fact written one of my own entitled Keys to Unlocking House History. But as a large consumer of books, I can't get over how wonderful it is to be able to purchase a book no matter where I am, download it, and immediately begin to read. For travel having numerous books at my disposal instead of schlepping along a few hard or soft bound copies in my suitcase is a godsend.

When the iPad 2 was released I was envious of the smaller size and lighter weight of the device, but even more enticing was the fact that the new iPad had a camera and video recording capabilities. But I could not condone immediately upgrading in 2011. I have been following the rumors and news releases of the 2012 iPad very closely, and knew that there were enough changes to justify purchasing it. It is also helpful that my husband is anxious to get his hands on my old iPad :)

I ordered my iPad the day that it was released, and decided to go with the 32GB version with 4G. My old iPad is 16GB, and while I did not run out of space on it, I have zero videos on it and not too many photos. I know that will not be the case with the new iPad. I have an AT&T plan on the old iPad and intend to keep it on the new. Most of the time I can access wireless Internet, but when you can't it is really convenient to be able to get on the AT&T network.

My iPad arrived Friday, March 16th in the morning as promised. I had it delivered to my husband's office as I knew that someone would have to sign for it.

I was a little concerned about transferring all the information from my iPad to the new iPad, but it was a piece of cake. Following instructions online, I backed up the old iPad into the iTunes on my Macbook Pro, then connected the new iPad to the laptop and clicked "Restore". That was it. The only thing that I didn't see right away was my book library. I just needed to register my new iPad with my Amazon account, and now all the books appear on the new iPad.

So here are my thoughts after using the new iPad for a few days. The new iPad is definitely lighter and thinner than the iPad 1, so that is pretty noticeable. But once you turn the iPads on and compare them side by side - wow! The picture quality is so superior on the new iPad. The Retina display is 2048 x 1536 on the new one, as opposed to 1024 x 768 on the old one. The difference is huge. It is a beautiful display. Supposedly the Retina display is better for reading books and magazines, but I have yet to experience that.

original iPad on the left, new iPad on the right

I am excited to use the camera and camcorder on the iPad. I will review those features once I have an opportunity to try them out. While they will never replace my Nikon DSLR or my Sony camcorder, it is great to know that I can take a quick picture or video during a meeting and upload it to the Internet right away. I know that I can do that from my phone, but how nice to be able to accomplish it with the device I already have in hand.

The new iPad also has voice dictation on it. You simply tap the microphone on the keyboard and start talking. While I have found it to be fairly accurate, it certainly is not fast. I can type faster than it responds to my voice. But if you need to look something up hands-free or you don't like the keyboard on the iPad, it is an alternative. I personally have no problem with typing on the keyboard.

The new iPad is definitely far superior to the original iPad. If I had an iPad 2 would I upgrade? Probably not.