From PC Mag Blog
The most positive of the reviews comes from David Pogue of The New York Times. "My friends, I'm telling you: just that much improvement in thinness, weight and speed transforms the experience," he says. "We're not talking about a laptop or a TV, where you don't notice its thickness while in use. This is a tablet. You are almost always holding it. Thin and light are unbelievably important for comfort and the overall delight. So are rounded edges, which the first iPad didn't have.
The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg is positive in his review but more measured. "Unless you are desperate for the cameras or feel you are laboring under the greater bulk of the original model, I don't advise that iPad owners race to get the new version," he says.
Edward Baig of USA Today says the new model "makes what was already a splendid slab even better, even if the overall upgrade is relatively modest." He notes some flaws: the screen resolution and storage are unchanged; it doesn't take advantage of 4G cellular networks; it only has a mono speaker, there's no card slot or USB support; and he reported several glitches with the AirPlay feature for streaming video. But he calls these items "nitpicks."
"The iPad 2 doesn't deliver everything on your tablet wish list," he says."But when it comes to the ever-evolving state of the art, iPad 2 is second to none."
Closer to home, PCMag's Tim Gideon says that "As cocky as it may seem, when Steve Jobs boasts that most of the new 2011 tablets are no match for the original Apple iPad, he has a point."
Engadget's Josh Topolsky covers much of the same ground, but adds a number of benchmarks to the coverage. The benchmark numbers looked better, and he concludes, "When we first handled the device, it seemed noticeably faster to us, and even after a week with the tablet, it's still zippier than the previous model by a longshot."
Bloomberg BusinessWeek's Rich Jaroslovsky is also generally quite positive, but he joins Mossberg in complaining that it's harder to hook up to cables than the older one and that the cover comes loose and turns on the device. Overall, says there's no real need to upgrade to the iPad 2, but "let's face it: Many of you are going to anyway.
