NiniaPimp Magazine

Do your parents not understand technology? Do they ask you stupid questions? Do they send you absurd text messages? If you’ve got an example of your “Parents Just Don’t Understanding”, submit it here!
And thank God we’ll never be as dumb as they are!

My mum once accidentally deleted her photos from her camera after copying them to the computer.
In her panic to get them back on the camera’s SD card (where all her photos are stored permanently) she spent the next half an hour taking photos of the computer screen as she viewed each photo one by one.
Jackson Roberts

Every time I bring my laptop to my grandma’s house, she asks me to show her facebook photos, and every time, I have to explain to her that she doesn’t have an internet connection. She then yells at me because I “keep forgetting to bring the internet with me.”
W F

My geography professor printed out a page of links for us to visit. Not the URLs… just the titles of the pages. For some reason I can’t click them when they are on paper.
Paul Frederickson from UW Rock County

This morning I woke up to 182 e-mails, each containing an attachment of one picture. This was the only way my mom thought she could get photos off of her iPad, because “she didn’t want to lose them.”
Trey Adams

My art history professor (75 and senile) recently converted all of her slides to digital format so she can project them from her computer. Everyday she calls on the same student to get up and simply maximize the screen because she cannot figure it out. She says he has “magic fingers.”
Wheeler R

I use my mom’s iPad to play with apps. She wants more memory for her stuff, so she asked me if she could delete the games that I play on her iPad. After hours and hours of arguing with my mom, she still thinks you can play with apps on my mac book pro because I have a “clicker” (track pad).
anna luna

My dad, upon my request to forward me an email he had received, pauses and ponders the term “forward”. 30 minutes after hanging up with him, I receive an email, with an attachment. The attachment is the “forwarded” email…. he had printed it out, scanned it in and sent it to me as an attachment.
David Hardee from Old School

My Dad was planning a golf tournament. He found a website of another golf tournament by the same name. He told me that he “downloaded” the site. I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, so I inquired further. He printed EVERYTHING on the site. The website has nothing to do with him and has no relevance to him except the tournament has the same name. I think he kills a tree a year because he prefers to read things on paper rather than on the computer.
Chris Faulkner from UMass Amherst

My mom is the accountant at our family’s church. She uses the computer all day, everyday to do her work. Recently she was talking to my dad about how she spent hours searching google for a free 2012 calendar so she could get some tax forms ready at work. She had no idea that the clock in the taskbar had a calendar or that her outlook, which she also uses everyday, has a calendar in it too.
Alex M.

Every time my parents come stay with us, my dad will ask “How do you get the tv to work?” What makes this so frustrating is that we both have Dish Network, everything is identical even the remotes.
Miles S from UNL

Submit yours here!

Acer’s inventive Iconia laptop falls into that exclusive category we sometimes call executive laptops. These are typically high-priced, highly designed systems that look great on a CEO’s desk or in the first-class airline lounge. But they’re also usually underpowered, overpriced, and too reliant on gimmicks that offer little in the way of actual utility.

The high-concept feature that sets the Iconia apart is actually two: two 14-inch touch screens. Instead of a screen and a keyboard, the Iconia ditches the keyboard for a second screen, which can be used either as an extended desktop or for a virtual keyboard. (We’ve seen a similar concept before, but with dual 7-inch screens, in the Toshiba Libetto W100.)

In practice, it works better than you might expect. Onscreen typing is still nowhere near as intuitive as the real thing, but a few generations of iPhones and iPads have trained us to tap-type without too much trouble, at least for short writing tasks. The experience is much closer to typing on an iPad than typing on one of the many Windows tablets we’ve tried over the years–and that’s a good thing.

There were still frustrations with the Iconia, however. The onscreen keyboard had a hint of a lag, although it would probably only affect the fastest of touch typists. The onscreen touch pad is too small, and lacks the kind of touch gestures a purely software touch pad could easily offer. And, most annoyingly, the CPU is one of Intel’s last-generation Core i5 processors. By moving up to the current generation of CPUs, the Iconia could have faster performance, longer battery life, and better graphics.

One final positive note: unlike other so-called executive laptops we’ve seen, such as Dell’s Adamo XPS, the Iconia is arguably reasonably priced, at $1,199–not a budget system by any means, but less than we’d expect to pay for two 14-inch touch screens.

The Acer Iconia packs its dual screens into an unassuming package. The thick, heavy chassis has a light bronze lid with black accents, and is not nearly as sleek as this week’s other high-end laptop, the Samsung Series 9. Boxy to a fault, we can only imagine the engineering required to fit the two 14-inch displays in safely. The Iconia feels sturdy enough, but it’s also too heavy and bulky to easily tote around.

Flipping the clamshell open, it’s almost like looking at two iPads joined together at the center hinge. Both screens have glossy edge-to-edge glass with black bezels and no other buttons, controls, or accessories (except for a tiny pinhole-style Webcam above the top screen). The hinge folds all the way to 180-degrees, so both screens can lie flat against the table, although that does block the bottom-mounted speakers. From our experience, there’s no difference between the two displays, but only the bottom one uses a 10-finger input gesture to pop up the onscreen keyboard.

To get to that keyboard, either touch all10 fingers lightly on the bottom screen, rest your plams on where the palm-rest would normally be, or hit the dedicated physical keyboard button located on the side of the left hinge. The pop-up keyboard that results is similar to what you’d see on a horizontal iPad, but it is bigger, with generous letter keys and large Enter, Shift, and Arrow keys. A few customization options are available, including larger or smaller F-keys and the overall key pitch.

It will never be as intuitive as typing on a physical keyboard, but with a little practice, we found it to be about as easy as an iPad keyboard, which is to say that it works for basic interactions and writing blocks of text up to about 500 words. There’s an audio cue for typing that clicks with each keystroke if you turn it on, but there is nothing resembling haptic feedback, which would be very useful in this situation.

While the keyboard doesn’t autocorrect or autoformat on the fly like the iPad does, there is a “smart input” feature, which behaves like T9 predictive text–but it was incredibly annoying to use, literally covering up whatever you’re typing with a huge list of possible words. We quickly turned it back off.

The virtual touch pad that sits underneath the virtual keyboard also could have been better. It functions well for controlling the cursor on the top screen, but lacks multitouch gestures, and is surprisingly small. You’d think with a software-driven virtual touch pad, it could be as big as you wanted. The top screen allows for Windows tablet gestures, such as swiping down as a page-down command, but it’s not as smooth as the tap-and-drag controls on an iPad (which is the large touch surface the Iconia is most likely to be compared to).

With that in mind, Acer has still done a decent job of crafting a touch control ecosystem within the limitations of the tablet support built into Windows 7. Tapping with five fingers on the bottom screen brings up a jog wheel that launches touch-friendly photo and video apps, a social media aggregator, as well as a two-screen custom Web browser and access to some systems tools, including power options and the capability to turn off the backlight for either screen. The bundled software seems well made, but the learning curve for using these proprietary apps instead of the standard apps and Web sites most of us already use make us unlikely to use them regularly.

Both 14-inch displays have a 1,366×768-pixel native resolution, which is what we’d expect on a midsize laptop such as this. The top screen seemed brighter to us, perhaps because the lower screen has an additional Gorilla Glass protective coating–not that it prevented either screen from being a fingerprint magnet.

Despite the fact that this is a big bulky laptop, you miss out on several typically standard features. There is neither Bluetooth, nor an optical drive, nor–shockingly–an SD card slot. You do, however, get a USB 3.0 port.

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BW, which is now branding itself by its longer, more formal name, Bowers Wilkins, is known for its high-end speakers. However, a few years back the company dipped into the more mainstream consumer market with its first iPod speaker system, the $600 Zeppelin, followed by the smaller and more affordable Zeppelin Mini.

Now the company is back with a new version of the Zeppelin called the Zeppelin Air that shares many design traits of the original Zep but offers better sound and one very important new feature: support for Apple’s Airplay. That feature allows you to stream music wirelessly from an iOS handheld (an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad) or from a PC or Mac running iTunes to the Zeppelin Air via your home network.

Design and features
As we said with the original Zeppelin, we are impressed with the Zeppelin Air’s build quality and stylish look. While the older model had a mirror-polished stainless steel back, this one goes with a polished black back and the front black cloth covering remains tastefully demure.

Measuring around 25 inches wide, the Zeppelin Air is about the same size as the original model, but the new model has shed a few pounds, weighing around 13.5 pounds compared with the original Zep’s 16.5 pound weight.

In the past, better components meant a weightier product, but Bowers Wilkins has managed to trim the weight while improving the sound. That improvement is mostly due to new drivers, each of which now has a dedicated “audiophile” class D amplification unit. The previous Zeppelin had three amps powering five drivers, including a 5-inch bass driver, twin 1-inch tweeters, and two 3.5-inch midrange drivers. With the new Zeppelin Air, the tweeter design is borrowed from the company’s MM-1 PC speakers, and the size of the two midrange drivers have been trimmed from 3.5 inches to 3 inches.

Bowers Wilkins says the combination of more power to drive the improved drive units along with Flowport technology and advanced Digital Signal Processing has “dramatically improved the bass performance.” It also points out that the DACs (digital to analog converters) have also been upgraded with new 24bit-96KHz capability, which also helps on the performance front.

As we mentioned in our review of the original Zeppelin, the amps generate a bit of heat, so the unit runs slightly warm to the touch.

Tucked into the Zeppelin Air’s curvy rear end is an Ethernet port, a 3.5mm auxiliary stereo input jack, a USB 2.0 port for PC connectivity, and a composite video output for connection to your TV. (The video output is useful for displaying photos and videos from iPod models that are so equipped, but it can’t be used to stream videos via AirPlay.) The Air also boasts built-in Wi-Fi, so you’re not limited to wired home networks.

In addition to accepting standard analog cables, the 3.5mm input jack also works with optical digital cables. The USB port is intended for connections to PCs and Macs–it can be used for firmware upgrades, direct music playback (as a USB speaker), and as a syncing dock for iPods and iPhones. To that end, the 30-pin docking port accepts all recent-generation iPods and iPhones, but–like all iPod accessories–compatibility can be somewhat uneven, especially when it comes to older models of iPods.

Using AirPlay
Of course, you can simply use the Zeppelin as an iPod/iPhone dock and it does work perfectly well in the capacity, charging your iPod or iPhone when it’s docked (One warning: if you have a case on your iPhone, you may have to take it off to get your device to slip properly in the dock).

However, the big selling point here is AirPlay, and a lot of people will be interested in streaming music to the speaker from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, essentially turning those devices into remotes for playback of your music.

Before starting, it’s best to make sure the Zeppelin Air has the latest firmware. Firmware updates must be done via the USB cable, which needs to be connected directly between the Zeppelin Air and your PC or Mac. It works well enough, but we’d prefer a system that provided for automatic “over the air” firmware updates.

To get started with AirPlay, you’ll first have to get the Zeppelin Air onto your home network. You can do that by connecting the Zeppelin directly to a PC or Mac via Ethernet, or by logging onto the Air’s initial temporary Wi-Fi connection. Both ways worked well enough for us. Once connected, you then call up a browser and type “169.254.1.1″ in the address bar and press enter. You’ll be taken to the Zeppelin Air setup page, where you can then log the Zeppelin Air into your wireless network using the password you’ve created to access the network. What’s nice is that you can do this with any Web browser–there’s no need to install special software.

Once you select your Wi-Fi network and enter your password, the unit saves that information in its internal memory. You’re then good to disconnect and set up the Air any place within range of your Wi-Fi access point. (We left the Air unplugged overnight and then powered it back up, and it relocated and logged into our Wi-Fi network again with no problems.) Note that AirPlay devices require secure, password-protected Wi-Fi to work wirelessly–open Wi-Fi points won’t work.

Once the Zeppelin is up and running on the network, it should be ready to work with other AirPlay sources–namely, your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, or your PC or Mac running iTunes. In both cases, those other devices need to be logged into the same home network as well. You’ll also want to make sure you’re running the latest version of iOS and/or iTunes, and that you have Home Sharing turned on.

It’s also worth noting that each method of using AirPlay–streaming from the iOS device or streaming from computer-based iTunes–offers a slightly different experience. When playing a song on your iOS portable device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad), you’ll notice a devices menu icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You touch that button, select the Zeppelin Air from the menu, and your music will start streaming after a few seconds.

A network can have multiple AirPlay-compatible devices on it–anything from a Mac or Windows PC running iTunes to a Zeppelin Air, Apple TV, or Apple AirPort Express. But when playing audio from your portable iOS device, you can only stream to AirPlay compatible speaker (such as the Zeppelin) at a time.

On the other hand, the AirPlay option should be universally available from nearly any app with audio output–be it the iPod playback app, Pandora, video player, or what have you. Keep in mind that the Zeppelin (or other AirPlay speaker) will stream whatever sound you’d otherwise hear from the iPhone/iPad’s internal speaker–so if you boot up Angry Birds, you’ll hear that on the Zeppelin as well.

AirPlay can also be used to play music from a networked computer running iTunes. But you don’t need to be sitting at the computer to use it–just download Apple’s Remote app, and follow the on-screen instructions to link it to a given computer (basically, you input a four-digit code). Once that’s done, you’ll have access to the entire iTunes-based music library on your hard drive from the screen of the iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone. For whatever reason, these songs can be played on multiple AirPlay speakers (just choose which ones–and relative volume levels–from the Remote app). Currently, though, you can’t play different songs in different rooms–just the same song in multiple rooms.

We’re not going to go into too much detail for AirPlay playback, but overall we’d say that once you get past the initial setup, which is fairly straightforward though not without the potential problems endemic to setting anything up on your home Wi-Fi network, it’s definitely a nice feature that’s well worth taking advantage of. Also, the audio quality of the streaming is superior to what you’d get compared with Bluetooth, but we did encounter some glitches where the music stopped playing for short periods or simply conked out altogether, forcing us to reconnect to the Zeppelin Air.

In other words, AirPlay isn’t exactly rock steady at this point. As it stands, if you’re really looking to set up a multiroom audio system, it makes more sense to go with Sonos, which offers more features, better reliability, and better bang for your multiroom buck.

In our review of the original Zeppelin, we docked it a little for not having certain extras like an FM radio. And while that particular feature still is missing, the ability to load apps onto your iPhone or iPod Touch makes those omissions easier to ignore. As mentioned, more and more audio apps, including Pandora, are compatible with AirPlay speakers, so you’ll be able to stream music not just from the music library on your device, but from a multitude of apps.

Audio performance
The Zeppelin Air sounds bigger than it really is. While we didn’t have an original Zeppelin on hand for a direct A/B comparison, we definitely think the Zeppelin Air has more bass and plays louder than the old model.

Stereo imaging quality varied with distance; it was best when we sat 2 to 5 feet away from the speaker. As we moved further away stereo separation dwindled, so the sound was essentially mono. Not that the speaker sounded small; the Zeppelin Air’s rich tone and healthy bass output will never be mistaken for a table radio’s. The Zeppelin Air’s built-in subwoofer bass is powerful for a small speaker, but definition is only fair, so distinguishing individual bass notes isn’t always possible. The speaker doesn’t have bass and treble controls, but you can fine-tune the Zeppelin Air’s sound to taste with the “EQ” setting on your iPod or iPhone. We experimented with the EQ and preferred the sound with the “Bass Reducer” turned on.

The Zeppelin Air really came into its own with acoustic music of all kinds, and Diana Krall’s vocals and piano were crisp and clear. With Ms. Krall’s effortless jazz filling the CNET listening room, the Zeppelin Air’s audiophile credentials were fully in order.

We couldn’t resist playing some Led Zeppelin tunes, cranking them up to a healthy volume. The Zeppelin Air can play fairly loud and fill a moderately sized room with sound, and it’s a great compact system, though no iPod speaker ever really sounds as good as a pair of decent bookshelf speakers. The size limitations will become more obvious when playing the Zeppelin Air loud. The Bose SoundDock 10 or Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Beatbox iPod Dock would be better choices if high volume playback is a priority.

Turned down to a very low volume, the Zeppelin Air’s “Dynamic EQ” feature automatically increases the subwoofer’s bass output. The Zeppelin Air’s sound doesn’t get thin or weak at hushed, late night listening volume.

We briefly compared the Zeppelin Air with a pair of Audioengine A5 powered speakers. The A5s are great, but the Zeppelin Air had more bass power and a more natural tonal balance. The only area where the A5 bettered the Zeppelin Air was in stereo imaging. The Audioengine A5s are stereo speakers that can be separated as far apart as you’d like, so they had a decisive advantage in stereo imaging.

We also put the Zeppelin Air into service as a sound bar speaker in the CNET home theater. The sound had great authority and fullness, but men’s voices sounded too “chesty,” so dialog intelligibility suffered. Movies with wide dynamic range explosions and such were scaled back in their impact. All in all, the Zeppelin Air is an excellent iPod speaker, but only a fairly competent sound bar speaker.

Conclusion
We liked the original Zeppelin and said it looked “amazing” and was better built than a lot of competing models. However, we also said the hefty price tag and the Bowers Wilkins name may have raised our level of expectations to an almost unreachable level.

As we said in the introduction, the new Zeppelin Air costs the same ($600) as the original, sounds better, and has AirPlay built into it. So while it’s still expensive, it does offer significantly more for the money. If you’re in the market for a luxury iPod, iPhone, or iPad speaker, this Zeppelin Air certainly fits the bill. Just make sure to compare it with the Sonos and the growing number of AirPlay devices before you throw down the platinum card.

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To our eyes ATT’s plans seem more consumer-friendly and its GSM technology more flexible for travelers. That said, the plans from both carriers seem reasonable, and data quality and coverage should be your first concern. Before making the plunge, do some research to see which carrier provides better coverage for your area, as well as places you frequently travel.

Another advantage of iPad 2 models enabled with 3G is the added capability of assisted GPS (A-GPS), allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and take advantage of navigation and location-aware apps. The Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad can use rudimentary Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation techniques to guess locations, but are much less accurate and consistent.

If you have no plans to regularly use the iPad outside of your home, you’d do just as well to save some money and stick with a Wi-Fi model.

iPad 2 as e-reader
When Apple pitched the original iPad and then-new iBooks app as the be-all and end-all e-book reader, we were skeptical. Apple had only a handful of publishers and the device was as thick as two Kindles put together.

A year later, the iPad has legitimately seized the attention of the publishing industry. Apple claims to have passed its 100 millionth iBook download. Meanwhile, competitors such as Barnes Noble, Amazon.com, and Kobo have jumped on board with apps for the iPad. Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad. As far as content goes, the iPad has you covered.

In terms of hardware, the iPad is still a little beefy at 1.3 lbs, compared with the Kindle 3′s 0.55 lb. And in spite of the iPad’s otherwise excellent IPS LED-backlit display, there’s no beating e-ink displays when it comes to outdoor readability. Also, a product like the Kindle DX promises up to four days of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features offered by the iPad. Plus, with the iPad 2′s dramatically thinner design, Apple is in much better shape than it was last year.

What the iPad still isn’t
We have plenty of kind things to say about the iPad, but there is a limit to its “magic.” Tablets, in general, sit between the practicality of laptops and the convenience of smartphones, but stop short of actually replacing either device.

The iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement. After spending a year with the original iPad, we’ve come to appreciate laptops more than ever. In most cases, laptops and Netbooks offer a more natural typing experience, and there’s still nothing like a tried-and-true mouse or touch pad when it comes to editing and navigating documents and spreadsheets. Also, if you’re really a stickler for the full Adobe Flash-enabled Web experience, traditional laptop and desktop computers are still your best bet, offering more flexibility and compatibility with the Web’s many formats (especially when it comes to video content and games).

The iPad 2 isn’t a smartphone replacement, either. To point out the obvious, the iPad simply doesn’t fit in your pocket. Today’s smartphones do more than connect us to the world–they’re extensions of us. If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it’s not going to stay with you all day, and it will never be as personal.

It’s also worth mentioning that the iPad is not a 4G device, meaning that it doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of high-speed cellular data networks. Several manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and RIM, are promising 4G-network-compatible tablets in 2011. Will 4G be the feature that gives iPad alternatives the edge they need to oust Apple as the top tablet maker? Honestly, we don’t know yet, but it seems to be the bet the competition is making.

Apple’s aces
The App Store built into every iOS device is Apple’s secret weapon. Any tablet can offer a fun experience right out of the box, but it takes a steady stream of interesting, affordable apps and games to keep people glued over the long haul.

When Apple debuted the iPad in 2010, it also gave developers the tools and guidelines needed to create a new breed of tablet-optimized apps. Since then, over 65,000 apps have been made just for the iPad. By contrast, competitors such as Google, RIM, and HP are just now starting to create catalogs of tablet-optimized apps, and the chances of them catching up are slim.

The quality and selection of apps made for the iPad represent a kind of fountain of youth for the device, imbuing it with new uses and capabilities whenever you tire of the old ones. It also helps that Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes software all run off a common user ID, making account setup and purchases just about as effortless as it gets.

The main menu app for Apple’s iTunes store is also one of these “sleeping giant” features we take for granted. Here you have one-touch access to what is now the No. 1 music retailer in the world. The world. On top of music selections, you also get movie and TV downloads as well as rentals priced as low as 99 cents. Podcasts, university lectures, music videos–it’s all there, and no other competitor has it, or anything close.

To be fair, when it comes to core features such as e-mail, Web browsing, media playback, maps, and contacts, many of Apple’s competitors (most notably Google and the Android Honeycomb tablets) are quickly matching the iPad. If third-party apps, games, and media downloads aren’t your thing, there are many competent tablets on the market worth considering and more on the horizon. On the other hand, if apps and media aren’t your thing, you may want to consider skipping a tablet altogether.

Performance
The iPad 2 is an undeniably faster and more responsive machine than its predecessor. With a new dual-core A5 processor under the hood, Apple is claiming to have doubled performance speed overall, and boosted gaming graphics by 9 times. The company has also gone and tweaked the code behind the Safari Web browser, improving JavaScript load time.

Taking Apple’s spec bravado with a grain of salt, the iPad 2 is still an improvement. The original iPad was already pretty tough to beat when it comes to general system responsiveness, such as keyboard latency, scrolling, and zooming. With the iPad 2, the system is a little tighter and response is more immediate, but the real-world benefits come in the form of app load times and when switching between apps using the multitasking bar.

Is the iPad 2 a gamer’s dream come true? It’s a mixed bag. To Apple’s credit, the iPad has more games than any other tablet out there, and many of the titles feature graphic and play quality on par with full-blown gaming consoles. With the new processor, even graphically intensive games like Infinity Blade run with an uncanny fluidity, free from stuttering. But no matter how fast the iPad 2 can render its pixels, it’s still limited by the iPad 2′s 1,024×768-pixel display resolution. We had hoped for some of the iPhone 4′s Retina Display technology in the iPad 2, but it seems Apple might be saving it for next time.

There’s more to a screen than pixel density, though. Apple is still using the IPS panel technology from the original iPad, which offers outstanding viewing angles in every direction. Photo and video playback quality are still great. We noticed a slightly warmer color on the iPad 2′s display compared with the original, but the contrast and black levels seemed about the same.

Our CNET Labs team will update this review with their analysis of iPad 2 performance as data comes in. We’ll be testing for battery life, Web page load time, and gaming performance.

Accessories
The number of accessories made for the original iPad is overwhelming. There are cases, stands, speakers, dock adapters, gaming peripherals–even an iPad-compatible grill. With the iPad 2′s new thinner design, fitted accessories for the original iPad (such as cases) aren’t likely to work. Even Apple’s own dock and keyboard dock for the original iPad are an awkward fit for the second-generation models–though they do work.

Fortunately, Apple hasn’t done anything to monkey around with the iPad 2′s universal dock connection. Generally speaking, if you could plug it into the first iPad, it should work with the new version as well. This goes for charging cables, video adapters, Apple’s Camera Connection kit, or any in-car adapter cables.

For the iPad 2, Apple announced two new accessories. There’s the magnetic Smart Cover (which we’ve gone over already) and a new Digital AV Adapter that allows you to connect the iPad to a TV over HDMI. The same AV adapter also works with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the original iPad, but only on the iPad 2 does it allow you to output everything from your iPad’s screen–the menu, the browser, apps, games, you name it. Priced at only $39, it’s a bit of an Apple TV killer, since it will output the entire iOS experience at up to 1080p, including downloaded iTunes videos and even streaming content from apps such as Netflix.

If you’d prefer to beam content wirelessly from your iPad to your TV, the little hockey-puck-size $99 Apple TV is the way to go. Aside from working as a great standalone media streamer for iTunes downloads, Netflix, and others, you can also use it to push media from your iPad to your TV (a feature Apple calls AirPlay). As of iOS 4.3, AirPlay streaming works with music, videos, and photos, as well as selected apps and Web content.

Worth the upgrade?
If you wanted the first iPad but possessed the foresight and restraint to wait until now, congratulations. There’s nothing about the iPad 2 that is a step backward from the original. Buy with confidence.

If you’re sitting there with a first-generation iPad and wondering whether you should upgrade, the sensible answer is no. That said, we understand that the iPad isn’t a device that sells on its sensibleness. It’s a fun product, and if fun is your only criterion, then by all means, buy them by the bushel.

Some of the iPad 2′s capabilities for some niche audiences may justify trading in the old iPad for its thinner, faster next of kin. If Apple’s FaceTime video calling service has become an indispensable feature for your family (via iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac), it’s one feature of the iPad 2 that firmware updates and accessories will just never bring to the original iPad. Some professionals may also find the iPad 2′s unique HDMI video output mirroring (adapter required) to be a critical tool for presentations.

For the rest of you original iPad owners, the iPad 2′s thinner profile, added cameras, and improved performance probably aren’t enough to justify shelling out another $500 to $800. Unless you just have piles of cash lying around, we recommend that most existing iPad owners wait for the iPad 3.

Final thoughts
So, is the iPad 2 the tablet to beat in 2011? No doubt. It has the most apps, the thinnest construction, the longest battery life, a competitive price, and an existing pool of hundreds of thousands of satisfied, iPad-evangelizing customers. Competition from Google, HP, and RIM will keep things interesting this year, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

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To our eyes ATT’s plans seem more consumer-friendly and its GSM technology more flexible for travelers. That said, the plans from both carriers seem reasonable, and data quality and coverage should be your first concern. Before making the plunge, do some research to see which carrier provides better coverage for your area, as well as places you frequently travel.

Another advantage of iPad 2 models enabled with 3G is the added capability of assisted GPS (A-GPS), allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and take advantage of navigation and location-aware apps. The Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad can use rudimentary Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation techniques to guess locations, but are much less accurate and consistent.

If you have no plans to regularly use the iPad outside of your home, you’d do just as well to save some money and stick with a Wi-Fi model.

iPad 2 as e-reader
When Apple pitched the original iPad and then-new iBooks app as the be-all and end-all e-book reader, we were skeptical. Apple had only a handful of publishers and the device was as thick as two Kindles put together.

A year later, the iPad has legitimately seized the attention of the publishing industry. Apple claims to have passed its 100 millionth iBook download. Meanwhile, competitors such as Barnes Noble, Amazon.com, and Kobo have jumped on board with apps for the iPad. Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad. As far as content goes, the iPad has you covered.

In terms of hardware, the iPad is still a little beefy at 1.3 lbs, compared with the Kindle 3′s 0.55 lb. And in spite of the iPad’s otherwise excellent IPS LED-backlit display, there’s no beating e-ink displays when it comes to outdoor readability. Also, a product like the Kindle DX promises up to four days of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features offered by the iPad. Plus, with the iPad 2′s dramatically thinner design, Apple is in much better shape than it was last year.

What the iPad still isn’t
We have plenty of kind things to say about the iPad, but there is a limit to its “magic.” Tablets, in general, sit between the practicality of laptops and the convenience of smartphones, but stop short of actually replacing either device.

The iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement. After spending a year with the original iPad, we’ve come to appreciate laptops more than ever. In most cases, laptops and Netbooks offer a more natural typing experience, and there’s still nothing like a tried-and-true mouse or touch pad when it comes to editing and navigating documents and spreadsheets. Also, if you’re really a stickler for the full Adobe Flash-enabled Web experience, traditional laptop and desktop computers are still your best bet, offering more flexibility and compatibility with the Web’s many formats (especially when it comes to video content and games).

The iPad 2 isn’t a smartphone replacement, either. To point out the obvious, the iPad simply doesn’t fit in your pocket. Today’s smartphones do more than connect us to the world–they’re extensions of us. If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it’s not going to stay with you all day, and it will never be as personal.

It’s also worth mentioning that the iPad is not a 4G device, meaning that it doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of high-speed cellular data networks. Several manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and RIM, are promising 4G-network-compatible tablets in 2011. Will 4G be the feature that gives iPad alternatives the edge they need to oust Apple as the top tablet maker? Honestly, we don’t know yet, but it seems to be the bet the competition is making.

Apple’s aces
The App Store built into every iOS device is Apple’s secret weapon. Any tablet can offer a fun experience right out of the box, but it takes a steady stream of interesting, affordable apps and games to keep people glued over the long haul.

When Apple debuted the iPad in 2010, it also gave developers the tools and guidelines needed to create a new breed of tablet-optimized apps. Since then, over 65,000 apps have been made just for the iPad. By contrast, competitors such as Google, RIM, and HP are just now starting to create catalogs of tablet-optimized apps, and the chances of them catching up are slim.

The quality and selection of apps made for the iPad represent a kind of fountain of youth for the device, imbuing it with new uses and capabilities whenever you tire of the old ones. It also helps that Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes software all run off a common user ID, making account setup and purchases just about as effortless as it gets.

The main menu app for Apple’s iTunes store is also one of these “sleeping giant” features we take for granted. Here you have one-touch access to what is now the No. 1 music retailer in the world. The world. On top of music selections, you also get movie and TV downloads as well as rentals priced as low as 99 cents. Podcasts, university lectures, music videos–it’s all there, and no other competitor has it, or anything close.

To be fair, when it comes to core features such as e-mail, Web browsing, media playback, maps, and contacts, many of Apple’s competitors (most notably Google and the Android Honeycomb tablets) are quickly matching the iPad. If third-party apps, games, and media downloads aren’t your thing, there are many competent tablets on the market worth considering and more on the horizon. On the other hand, if apps and media aren’t your thing, you may want to consider skipping a tablet altogether.

Performance
The iPad 2 is an undeniably faster and more responsive machine than its predecessor. With a new dual-core A5 processor under the hood, Apple is claiming to have doubled performance speed overall, and boosted gaming graphics by 9 times. The company has also gone and tweaked the code behind the Safari Web browser, improving JavaScript load time.

Taking Apple’s spec bravado with a grain of salt, the iPad 2 is still an improvement. The original iPad was already pretty tough to beat when it comes to general system responsiveness, such as keyboard latency, scrolling, and zooming. With the iPad 2, the system is a little tighter and response is more immediate, but the real-world benefits come in the form of app load times and when switching between apps using the multitasking bar.

Is the iPad 2 a gamer’s dream come true? It’s a mixed bag. To Apple’s credit, the iPad has more games than any other tablet out there, and many of the titles feature graphic and play quality on par with full-blown gaming consoles. With the new processor, even graphically intensive games like Infinity Blade run with an uncanny fluidity, free from stuttering. But no matter how fast the iPad 2 can render its pixels, it’s still limited by the iPad 2′s 1,024×768-pixel display resolution. We had hoped for some of the iPhone 4′s Retina Display technology in the iPad 2, but it seems Apple might be saving it for next time.

There’s more to a screen than pixel density, though. Apple is still using the IPS panel technology from the original iPad, which offers outstanding viewing angles in every direction. Photo and video playback quality are still great. We noticed a slightly warmer color on the iPad 2′s display compared with the original, but the contrast and black levels seemed about the same.

Our CNET Labs team will update this review with their analysis of iPad 2 performance as data comes in. We’ll be testing for battery life, Web page load time, and gaming performance.

Accessories
The number of accessories made for the original iPad is overwhelming. There are cases, stands, speakers, dock adapters, gaming peripherals–even an iPad-compatible grill. With the iPad 2′s new thinner design, fitted accessories for the original iPad (such as cases) aren’t likely to work. Even Apple’s own dock and keyboard dock for the original iPad are an awkward fit for the second-generation models–though they do work.

Fortunately, Apple hasn’t done anything to monkey around with the iPad 2′s universal dock connection. Generally speaking, if you could plug it into the first iPad, it should work with the new version as well. This goes for charging cables, video adapters, Apple’s Camera Connection kit, or any in-car adapter cables.

For the iPad 2, Apple announced two new accessories. There’s the magnetic Smart Cover (which we’ve gone over already) and a new Digital AV Adapter that allows you to connect the iPad to a TV over HDMI. The same AV adapter also works with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the original iPad, but only on the iPad 2 does it allow you to output everything from your iPad’s screen–the menu, the browser, apps, games, you name it. Priced at only $39, it’s a bit of an Apple TV killer, since it will output the entire iOS experience at up to 1080p, including downloaded iTunes videos and even streaming content from apps such as Netflix.

If you’d prefer to beam content wirelessly from your iPad to your TV, the little hockey-puck-size $99 Apple TV is the way to go. Aside from working as a great standalone media streamer for iTunes downloads, Netflix, and others, you can also use it to push media from your iPad to your TV (a feature Apple calls AirPlay). As of iOS 4.3, AirPlay streaming works with music, videos, and photos, as well as selected apps and Web content.

Worth the upgrade?
If you wanted the first iPad but possessed the foresight and restraint to wait until now, congratulations. There’s nothing about the iPad 2 that is a step backward from the original. Buy with confidence.

If you’re sitting there with a first-generation iPad and wondering whether you should upgrade, the sensible answer is no. That said, we understand that the iPad isn’t a device that sells on its sensibleness. It’s a fun product, and if fun is your only criterion, then by all means, buy them by the bushel.

Some of the iPad 2′s capabilities for some niche audiences may justify trading in the old iPad for its thinner, faster next of kin. If Apple’s FaceTime video calling service has become an indispensable feature for your family (via iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac), it’s one feature of the iPad 2 that firmware updates and accessories will just never bring to the original iPad. Some professionals may also find the iPad 2′s unique HDMI video output mirroring (adapter required) to be a critical tool for presentations.

For the rest of you original iPad owners, the iPad 2′s thinner profile, added cameras, and improved performance probably aren’t enough to justify shelling out another $500 to $800. Unless you just have piles of cash lying around, we recommend that most existing iPad owners wait for the iPad 3.

Final thoughts
So, is the iPad 2 the tablet to beat in 2011? No doubt. It has the most apps, the thinnest construction, the longest battery life, a competitive price, and an existing pool of hundreds of thousands of satisfied, iPad-evangelizing customers. Competition from Google, HP, and RIM will keep things interesting this year, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

Previous page

To our eyes ATT’s plans seem more consumer-friendly and its GSM technology more flexible for travelers. That said, the plans from both carriers seem reasonable, and data quality and coverage should be your first concern. Before making the plunge, do some research to see which carrier provides better coverage for your area, as well as places you frequently travel.

Another advantage of iPad 2 models enabled with 3G is the added capability of assisted GPS (A-GPS), allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and take advantage of navigation and location-aware apps. The Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad can use rudimentary Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation techniques to guess locations, but are much less accurate and consistent.

If you have no plans to regularly use the iPad outside of your home, you’d do just as well to save some money and stick with a Wi-Fi model.

iPad 2 as e-reader
When Apple pitched the original iPad and then-new iBooks app as the be-all and end-all e-book reader, we were skeptical. Apple had only a handful of publishers and the device was as thick as two Kindles put together.

A year later, the iPad has legitimately seized the attention of the publishing industry. Apple claims to have passed its 100 millionth iBook download. Meanwhile, competitors such as Barnes Noble, Amazon.com, and Kobo have jumped on board with apps for the iPad. Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad. As far as content goes, the iPad has you covered.

In terms of hardware, the iPad is still a little beefy at 1.3 lbs, compared with the Kindle 3′s 0.55 lb. And in spite of the iPad’s otherwise excellent IPS LED-backlit display, there’s no beating e-ink displays when it comes to outdoor readability. Also, a product like the Kindle DX promises up to four days of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features offered by the iPad. Plus, with the iPad 2′s dramatically thinner design, Apple is in much better shape than it was last year.

What the iPad still isn’t
We have plenty of kind things to say about the iPad, but there is a limit to its “magic.” Tablets, in general, sit between the practicality of laptops and the convenience of smartphones, but stop short of actually replacing either device.

The iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement. After spending a year with the original iPad, we’ve come to appreciate laptops more than ever. In most cases, laptops and Netbooks offer a more natural typing experience, and there’s still nothing like a tried-and-true mouse or touch pad when it comes to editing and navigating documents and spreadsheets. Also, if you’re really a stickler for the full Adobe Flash-enabled Web experience, traditional laptop and desktop computers are still your best bet, offering more flexibility and compatibility with the Web’s many formats (especially when it comes to video content and games).

The iPad 2 isn’t a smartphone replacement, either. To point out the obvious, the iPad simply doesn’t fit in your pocket. Today’s smartphones do more than connect us to the world–they’re extensions of us. If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it’s not going to stay with you all day, and it will never be as personal.

It’s also worth mentioning that the iPad is not a 4G device, meaning that it doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of high-speed cellular data networks. Several manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and RIM, are promising 4G-network-compatible tablets in 2011. Will 4G be the feature that gives iPad alternatives the edge they need to oust Apple as the top tablet maker? Honestly, we don’t know yet, but it seems to be the bet the competition is making.

Apple’s aces
The App Store built into every iOS device is Apple’s secret weapon. Any tablet can offer a fun experience right out of the box, but it takes a steady stream of interesting, affordable apps and games to keep people glued over the long haul.

When Apple debuted the iPad in 2010, it also gave developers the tools and guidelines needed to create a new breed of tablet-optimized apps. Since then, over 65,000 apps have been made just for the iPad. By contrast, competitors such as Google, RIM, and HP are just now starting to create catalogs of tablet-optimized apps, and the chances of them catching up are slim.

The quality and selection of apps made for the iPad represent a kind of fountain of youth for the device, imbuing it with new uses and capabilities whenever you tire of the old ones. It also helps that Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes software all run off a common user ID, making account setup and purchases just about as effortless as it gets.

The main menu app for Apple’s iTunes store is also one of these “sleeping giant” features we take for granted. Here you have one-touch access to what is now the No. 1 music retailer in the world. The world. On top of music selections, you also get movie and TV downloads as well as rentals priced as low as 99 cents. Podcasts, university lectures, music videos–it’s all there, and no other competitor has it, or anything close.

To be fair, when it comes to core features such as e-mail, Web browsing, media playback, maps, and contacts, many of Apple’s competitors (most notably Google and the Android Honeycomb tablets) are quickly matching the iPad. If third-party apps, games, and media downloads aren’t your thing, there are many competent tablets on the market worth considering and more on the horizon. On the other hand, if apps and media aren’t your thing, you may want to consider skipping a tablet altogether.

Performance
The iPad 2 is an undeniably faster and more responsive machine than its predecessor. With a new dual-core A5 processor under the hood, Apple is claiming to have doubled performance speed overall, and boosted gaming graphics by 9 times. The company has also gone and tweaked the code behind the Safari Web browser, improving JavaScript load time.

Taking Apple’s spec bravado with a grain of salt, the iPad 2 is still an improvement. The original iPad was already pretty tough to beat when it comes to general system responsiveness, such as keyboard latency, scrolling, and zooming. With the iPad 2, the system is a little tighter and response is more immediate, but the real-world benefits come in the form of app load times and when switching between apps using the multitasking bar.

Is the iPad 2 a gamer’s dream come true? It’s a mixed bag. To Apple’s credit, the iPad has more games than any other tablet out there, and many of the titles feature graphic and play quality on par with full-blown gaming consoles. With the new processor, even graphically intensive games like Infinity Blade run with an uncanny fluidity, free from stuttering. But no matter how fast the iPad 2 can render its pixels, it’s still limited by the iPad 2′s 1,024×768-pixel display resolution. We had hoped for some of the iPhone 4′s Retina Display technology in the iPad 2, but it seems Apple might be saving it for next time.

There’s more to a screen than pixel density, though. Apple is still using the IPS panel technology from the original iPad, which offers outstanding viewing angles in every direction. Photo and video playback quality are still great. We noticed a slightly warmer color on the iPad 2′s display compared with the original, but the contrast and black levels seemed about the same.

Our CNET Labs team will update this review with their analysis of iPad 2 performance as data comes in. We’ll be testing for battery life, Web page load time, and gaming performance.

Accessories
The number of accessories made for the original iPad is overwhelming. There are cases, stands, speakers, dock adapters, gaming peripherals–even an iPad-compatible grill. With the iPad 2′s new thinner design, fitted accessories for the original iPad (such as cases) aren’t likely to work. Even Apple’s own dock and keyboard dock for the original iPad are an awkward fit for the second-generation models–though they do work.

Fortunately, Apple hasn’t done anything to monkey around with the iPad 2′s universal dock connection. Generally speaking, if you could plug it into the first iPad, it should work with the new version as well. This goes for charging cables, video adapters, Apple’s Camera Connection kit, or any in-car adapter cables.

For the iPad 2, Apple announced two new accessories. There’s the magnetic Smart Cover (which we’ve gone over already) and a new Digital AV Adapter that allows you to connect the iPad to a TV over HDMI. The same AV adapter also works with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the original iPad, but only on the iPad 2 does it allow you to output everything from your iPad’s screen–the menu, the browser, apps, games, you name it. Priced at only $39, it’s a bit of an Apple TV killer, since it will output the entire iOS experience at up to 1080p, including downloaded iTunes videos and even streaming content from apps such as Netflix.

If you’d prefer to beam content wirelessly from your iPad to your TV, the little hockey-puck-size $99 Apple TV is the way to go. Aside from working as a great standalone media streamer for iTunes downloads, Netflix, and others, you can also use it to push media from your iPad to your TV (a feature Apple calls AirPlay). As of iOS 4.3, AirPlay streaming works with music, videos, and photos, as well as selected apps and Web content.

Worth the upgrade?
If you wanted the first iPad but possessed the foresight and restraint to wait until now, congratulations. There’s nothing about the iPad 2 that is a step backward from the original. Buy with confidence.

If you’re sitting there with a first-generation iPad and wondering whether you should upgrade, the sensible answer is no. That said, we understand that the iPad isn’t a device that sells on its sensibleness. It’s a fun product, and if fun is your only criterion, then by all means, buy them by the bushel.

Some of the iPad 2′s capabilities for some niche audiences may justify trading in the old iPad for its thinner, faster next of kin. If Apple’s FaceTime video calling service has become an indispensable feature for your family (via iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac), it’s one feature of the iPad 2 that firmware updates and accessories will just never bring to the original iPad. Some professionals may also find the iPad 2′s unique HDMI video output mirroring (adapter required) to be a critical tool for presentations.

For the rest of you original iPad owners, the iPad 2′s thinner profile, added cameras, and improved performance probably aren’t enough to justify shelling out another $500 to $800. Unless you just have piles of cash lying around, we recommend that most existing iPad owners wait for the iPad 3.

Final thoughts
So, is the iPad 2 the tablet to beat in 2011? No doubt. It has the most apps, the thinnest construction, the longest battery life, a competitive price, and an existing pool of hundreds of thousands of satisfied, iPad-evangelizing customers. Competition from Google, HP, and RIM will keep things interesting this year, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

Previous page

To our eyes ATT’s plans seem more consumer-friendly and its GSM technology more flexible for travelers. That said, the plans from both carriers seem reasonable, and data quality and coverage should be your first concern. Before making the plunge, do some research to see which carrier provides better coverage for your area, as well as places you frequently travel.

Another advantage of iPad 2 models enabled with 3G is the added capability of assisted GPS (A-GPS), allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and take advantage of navigation and location-aware apps. The Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad can use rudimentary Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation techniques to guess locations, but are much less accurate and consistent.

If you have no plans to regularly use the iPad outside of your home, you’d do just as well to save some money and stick with a Wi-Fi model.

iPad 2 as e-reader
When Apple pitched the original iPad and then-new iBooks app as the be-all and end-all e-book reader, we were skeptical. Apple had only a handful of publishers and the device was as thick as two Kindles put together.

A year later, the iPad has legitimately seized the attention of the publishing industry. Apple claims to have passed its 100 millionth iBook download. Meanwhile, competitors such as Barnes Noble, Amazon.com, and Kobo have jumped on board with apps for the iPad. Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad. As far as content goes, the iPad has you covered.

In terms of hardware, the iPad is still a little beefy at 1.3 lbs, compared with the Kindle 3′s 0.55 lb. And in spite of the iPad’s otherwise excellent IPS LED-backlit display, there’s no beating e-ink displays when it comes to outdoor readability. Also, a product like the Kindle DX promises up to four days of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features offered by the iPad. Plus, with the iPad 2′s dramatically thinner design, Apple is in much better shape than it was last year.

What the iPad still isn’t
We have plenty of kind things to say about the iPad, but there is a limit to its “magic.” Tablets, in general, sit between the practicality of laptops and the convenience of smartphones, but stop short of actually replacing either device.

The iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement. After spending a year with the original iPad, we’ve come to appreciate laptops more than ever. In most cases, laptops and Netbooks offer a more natural typing experience, and there’s still nothing like a tried-and-true mouse or touch pad when it comes to editing and navigating documents and spreadsheets. Also, if you’re really a stickler for the full Adobe Flash-enabled Web experience, traditional laptop and desktop computers are still your best bet, offering more flexibility and compatibility with the Web’s many formats (especially when it comes to video content and games).

The iPad 2 isn’t a smartphone replacement, either. To point out the obvious, the iPad simply doesn’t fit in your pocket. Today’s smartphones do more than connect us to the world–they’re extensions of us. If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it’s not going to stay with you all day, and it will never be as personal.

It’s also worth mentioning that the iPad is not a 4G device, meaning that it doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of high-speed cellular data networks. Several manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and RIM, are promising 4G-network-compatible tablets in 2011. Will 4G be the feature that gives iPad alternatives the edge they need to oust Apple as the top tablet maker? Honestly, we don’t know yet, but it seems to be the bet the competition is making.

Apple’s aces
The App Store built into every iOS device is Apple’s secret weapon. Any tablet can offer a fun experience right out of the box, but it takes a steady stream of interesting, affordable apps and games to keep people glued over the long haul.

When Apple debuted the iPad in 2010, it also gave developers the tools and guidelines needed to create a new breed of tablet-optimized apps. Since then, over 65,000 apps have been made just for the iPad. By contrast, competitors such as Google, RIM, and HP are just now starting to create catalogs of tablet-optimized apps, and the chances of them catching up are slim.

The quality and selection of apps made for the iPad represent a kind of fountain of youth for the device, imbuing it with new uses and capabilities whenever you tire of the old ones. It also helps that Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes software all run off a common user ID, making account setup and purchases just about as effortless as it gets.

The main menu app for Apple’s iTunes store is also one of these “sleeping giant” features we take for granted. Here you have one-touch access to what is now the No. 1 music retailer in the world. The world. On top of music selections, you also get movie and TV downloads as well as rentals priced as low as 99 cents. Podcasts, university lectures, music videos–it’s all there, and no other competitor has it, or anything close.

To be fair, when it comes to core features such as e-mail, Web browsing, media playback, maps, and contacts, many of Apple’s competitors (most notably Google and the Android Honeycomb tablets) are quickly matching the iPad. If third-party apps, games, and media downloads aren’t your thing, there are many competent tablets on the market worth considering and more on the horizon. On the other hand, if apps and media aren’t your thing, you may want to consider skipping a tablet altogether.

Performance
The iPad 2 is an undeniably faster and more responsive machine than its predecessor. With a new dual-core A5 processor under the hood, Apple is claiming to have doubled performance speed overall, and boosted gaming graphics by 9 times. The company has also gone and tweaked the code behind the Safari Web browser, improving JavaScript load time.

Taking Apple’s spec bravado with a grain of salt, the iPad 2 is still an improvement. The original iPad was already pretty tough to beat when it comes to general system responsiveness, such as keyboard latency, scrolling, and zooming. With the iPad 2, the system is a little tighter and response is more immediate, but the real-world benefits come in the form of app load times and when switching between apps using the multitasking bar.

Is the iPad 2 a gamer’s dream come true? It’s a mixed bag. To Apple’s credit, the iPad has more games than any other tablet out there, and many of the titles feature graphic and play quality on par with full-blown gaming consoles. With the new processor, even graphically intensive games like Infinity Blade run with an uncanny fluidity, free from stuttering. But no matter how fast the iPad 2 can render its pixels, it’s still limited by the iPad 2′s 1,024×768-pixel display resolution. We had hoped for some of the iPhone 4′s Retina Display technology in the iPad 2, but it seems Apple might be saving it for next time.

There’s more to a screen than pixel density, though. Apple is still using the IPS panel technology from the original iPad, which offers outstanding viewing angles in every direction. Photo and video playback quality are still great. We noticed a slightly warmer color on the iPad 2′s display compared with the original, but the contrast and black levels seemed about the same.

Our CNET Labs team will update this review with their analysis of iPad 2 performance as data comes in. We’ll be testing for battery life, Web page load time, and gaming performance.

Accessories
The number of accessories made for the original iPad is overwhelming. There are cases, stands, speakers, dock adapters, gaming peripherals–even an iPad-compatible grill. With the iPad 2′s new thinner design, fitted accessories for the original iPad (such as cases) aren’t likely to work. Even Apple’s own dock and keyboard dock for the original iPad are an awkward fit for the second-generation models–though they do work.

Fortunately, Apple hasn’t done anything to monkey around with the iPad 2′s universal dock connection. Generally speaking, if you could plug it into the first iPad, it should work with the new version as well. This goes for charging cables, video adapters, Apple’s Camera Connection kit, or any in-car adapter cables.

For the iPad 2, Apple announced two new accessories. There’s the magnetic Smart Cover (which we’ve gone over already) and a new Digital AV Adapter that allows you to connect the iPad to a TV over HDMI. The same AV adapter also works with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the original iPad, but only on the iPad 2 does it allow you to output everything from your iPad’s screen–the menu, the browser, apps, games, you name it. Priced at only $39, it’s a bit of an Apple TV killer, since it will output the entire iOS experience at up to 1080p, including downloaded iTunes videos and even streaming content from apps such as Netflix.

If you’d prefer to beam content wirelessly from your iPad to your TV, the little hockey-puck-size $99 Apple TV is the way to go. Aside from working as a great standalone media streamer for iTunes downloads, Netflix, and others, you can also use it to push media from your iPad to your TV (a feature Apple calls AirPlay). As of iOS 4.3, AirPlay streaming works with music, videos, and photos, as well as selected apps and Web content.

Worth the upgrade?
If you wanted the first iPad but possessed the foresight and restraint to wait until now, congratulations. There’s nothing about the iPad 2 that is a step backward from the original. Buy with confidence.

If you’re sitting there with a first-generation iPad and wondering whether you should upgrade, the sensible answer is no. That said, we understand that the iPad isn’t a device that sells on its sensibleness. It’s a fun product, and if fun is your only criterion, then by all means, buy them by the bushel.

Some of the iPad 2′s capabilities for some niche audiences may justify trading in the old iPad for its thinner, faster next of kin. If Apple’s FaceTime video calling service has become an indispensable feature for your family (via iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac), it’s one feature of the iPad 2 that firmware updates and accessories will just never bring to the original iPad. Some professionals may also find the iPad 2′s unique HDMI video output mirroring (adapter required) to be a critical tool for presentations.

For the rest of you original iPad owners, the iPad 2′s thinner profile, added cameras, and improved performance probably aren’t enough to justify shelling out another $500 to $800. Unless you just have piles of cash lying around, we recommend that most existing iPad owners wait for the iPad 3.

Final thoughts
So, is the iPad 2 the tablet to beat in 2011? No doubt. It has the most apps, the thinnest construction, the longest battery life, a competitive price, and an existing pool of hundreds of thousands of satisfied, iPad-evangelizing customers. Competition from Google, HP, and RIM will keep things interesting this year, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

Previous page

To our eyes ATT’s plans seem more consumer-friendly and its GSM technology more flexible for travelers. That said, the plans from both carriers seem reasonable, and data quality and coverage should be your first concern. Before making the plunge, do some research to see which carrier provides better coverage for your area, as well as places you frequently travel.

Another advantage of iPad 2 models enabled with 3G is the added capability of assisted GPS (A-GPS), allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and take advantage of navigation and location-aware apps. The Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad can use rudimentary Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation techniques to guess locations, but are much less accurate and consistent.

If you have no plans to regularly use the iPad outside of your home, you’d do just as well to save some money and stick with a Wi-Fi model.

iPad 2 as e-reader
When Apple pitched the original iPad and then-new iBooks app as the be-all and end-all e-book reader, we were skeptical. Apple had only a handful of publishers and the device was as thick as two Kindles put together.

A year later, the iPad has legitimately seized the attention of the publishing industry. Apple claims to have passed its 100 millionth iBook download. Meanwhile, competitors such as Barnes Noble, Amazon.com, and Kobo have jumped on board with apps for the iPad. Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad. As far as content goes, the iPad has you covered.

In terms of hardware, the iPad is still a little beefy at 1.3 lbs, compared with the Kindle 3′s 0.55 lb. And in spite of the iPad’s otherwise excellent IPS LED-backlit display, there’s no beating e-ink displays when it comes to outdoor readability. Also, a product like the Kindle DX promises up to four days of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features offered by the iPad. Plus, with the iPad 2′s dramatically thinner design, Apple is in much better shape than it was last year.

What the iPad still isn’t
We have plenty of kind things to say about the iPad, but there is a limit to its “magic.” Tablets, in general, sit between the practicality of laptops and the convenience of smartphones, but stop short of actually replacing either device.

The iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement. After spending a year with the original iPad, we’ve come to appreciate laptops more than ever. In most cases, laptops and Netbooks offer a more natural typing experience, and there’s still nothing like a tried-and-true mouse or touch pad when it comes to editing and navigating documents and spreadsheets. Also, if you’re really a stickler for the full Adobe Flash-enabled Web experience, traditional laptop and desktop computers are still your best bet, offering more flexibility and compatibility with the Web’s many formats (especially when it comes to video content and games).

The iPad 2 isn’t a smartphone replacement, either. To point out the obvious, the iPad simply doesn’t fit in your pocket. Today’s smartphones do more than connect us to the world–they’re extensions of us. If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it’s not going to stay with you all day, and it will never be as personal.

It’s also worth mentioning that the iPad is not a 4G device, meaning that it doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of high-speed cellular data networks. Several manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and RIM, are promising 4G-network-compatible tablets in 2011. Will 4G be the feature that gives iPad alternatives the edge they need to oust Apple as the top tablet maker? Honestly, we don’t know yet, but it seems to be the bet the competition is making.

Apple’s aces
The App Store built into every iOS device is Apple’s secret weapon. Any tablet can offer a fun experience right out of the box, but it takes a steady stream of interesting, affordable apps and games to keep people glued over the long haul.

When Apple debuted the iPad in 2010, it also gave developers the tools and guidelines needed to create a new breed of tablet-optimized apps. Since then, over 65,000 apps have been made just for the iPad. By contrast, competitors such as Google, RIM, and HP are just now starting to create catalogs of tablet-optimized apps, and the chances of them catching up are slim.

The quality and selection of apps made for the iPad represent a kind of fountain of youth for the device, imbuing it with new uses and capabilities whenever you tire of the old ones. It also helps that Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes software all run off a common user ID, making account setup and purchases just about as effortless as it gets.

The main menu app for Apple’s iTunes store is also one of these “sleeping giant” features we take for granted. Here you have one-touch access to what is now the No. 1 music retailer in the world. The world. On top of music selections, you also get movie and TV downloads as well as rentals priced as low as 99 cents. Podcasts, university lectures, music videos–it’s all there, and no other competitor has it, or anything close.

To be fair, when it comes to core features such as e-mail, Web browsing, media playback, maps, and contacts, many of Apple’s competitors (most notably Google and the Android Honeycomb tablets) are quickly matching the iPad. If third-party apps, games, and media downloads aren’t your thing, there are many competent tablets on the market worth considering and more on the horizon. On the other hand, if apps and media aren’t your thing, you may want to consider skipping a tablet altogether.

Performance
The iPad 2 is an undeniably faster and more responsive machine than its predecessor. With a new dual-core A5 processor under the hood, Apple is claiming to have doubled performance speed overall, and boosted gaming graphics by 9 times. The company has also gone and tweaked the code behind the Safari Web browser, improving JavaScript load time.

Taking Apple’s spec bravado with a grain of salt, the iPad 2 is still an improvement. The original iPad was already pretty tough to beat when it comes to general system responsiveness, such as keyboard latency, scrolling, and zooming. With the iPad 2, the system is a little tighter and response is more immediate, but the real-world benefits come in the form of app load times and when switching between apps using the multitasking bar.

Is the iPad 2 a gamer’s dream come true? It’s a mixed bag. To Apple’s credit, the iPad has more games than any other tablet out there, and many of the titles feature graphic and play quality on par with full-blown gaming consoles. With the new processor, even graphically intensive games like Infinity Blade run with an uncanny fluidity, free from stuttering. But no matter how fast the iPad 2 can render its pixels, it’s still limited by the iPad 2′s 1,024×768-pixel display resolution. We had hoped for some of the iPhone 4′s Retina Display technology in the iPad 2, but it seems Apple might be saving it for next time.

There’s more to a screen than pixel density, though. Apple is still using the IPS panel technology from the original iPad, which offers outstanding viewing angles in every direction. Photo and video playback quality are still great. We noticed a slightly warmer color on the iPad 2′s display compared with the original, but the contrast and black levels seemed about the same.

Our CNET Labs team will update this review with their analysis of iPad 2 performance as data comes in. We’ll be testing for battery life, Web page load time, and gaming performance.

Accessories
The number of accessories made for the original iPad is overwhelming. There are cases, stands, speakers, dock adapters, gaming peripherals–even an iPad-compatible grill. With the iPad 2′s new thinner design, fitted accessories for the original iPad (such as cases) aren’t likely to work. Even Apple’s own dock and keyboard dock for the original iPad are an awkward fit for the second-generation models–though they do work.

Fortunately, Apple hasn’t done anything to monkey around with the iPad 2′s universal dock connection. Generally speaking, if you could plug it into the first iPad, it should work with the new version as well. This goes for charging cables, video adapters, Apple’s Camera Connection kit, or any in-car adapter cables.

For the iPad 2, Apple announced two new accessories. There’s the magnetic Smart Cover (which we’ve gone over already) and a new Digital AV Adapter that allows you to connect the iPad to a TV over HDMI. The same AV adapter also works with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the original iPad, but only on the iPad 2 does it allow you to output everything from your iPad’s screen–the menu, the browser, apps, games, you name it. Priced at only $39, it’s a bit of an Apple TV killer, since it will output the entire iOS experience at up to 1080p, including downloaded iTunes videos and even streaming content from apps such as Netflix.

If you’d prefer to beam content wirelessly from your iPad to your TV, the little hockey-puck-size $99 Apple TV is the way to go. Aside from working as a great standalone media streamer for iTunes downloads, Netflix, and others, you can also use it to push media from your iPad to your TV (a feature Apple calls AirPlay). As of iOS 4.3, AirPlay streaming works with music, videos, and photos, as well as selected apps and Web content.

Worth the upgrade?
If you wanted the first iPad but possessed the foresight and restraint to wait until now, congratulations. There’s nothing about the iPad 2 that is a step backward from the original. Buy with confidence.

If you’re sitting there with a first-generation iPad and wondering whether you should upgrade, the sensible answer is no. That said, we understand that the iPad isn’t a device that sells on its sensibleness. It’s a fun product, and if fun is your only criterion, then by all means, buy them by the bushel.

Some of the iPad 2′s capabilities for some niche audiences may justify trading in the old iPad for its thinner, faster next of kin. If Apple’s FaceTime video calling service has become an indispensable feature for your family (via iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac), it’s one feature of the iPad 2 that firmware updates and accessories will just never bring to the original iPad. Some professionals may also find the iPad 2′s unique HDMI video output mirroring (adapter required) to be a critical tool for presentations.

For the rest of you original iPad owners, the iPad 2′s thinner profile, added cameras, and improved performance probably aren’t enough to justify shelling out another $500 to $800. Unless you just have piles of cash lying around, we recommend that most existing iPad owners wait for the iPad 3.

Final thoughts
So, is the iPad 2 the tablet to beat in 2011? No doubt. It has the most apps, the thinnest construction, the longest battery life, a competitive price, and an existing pool of hundreds of thousands of satisfied, iPad-evangelizing customers. Competition from Google, HP, and RIM will keep things interesting this year, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

Previous page

To our eyes ATT’s plans seem more consumer-friendly and its GSM technology more flexible for travelers. That said, the plans from both carriers seem reasonable, and data quality and coverage should be your first concern. Before making the plunge, do some research to see which carrier provides better coverage for your area, as well as places you frequently travel.

Another advantage of iPad 2 models enabled with 3G is the added capability of assisted GPS (A-GPS), allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and take advantage of navigation and location-aware apps. The Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad can use rudimentary Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation techniques to guess locations, but are much less accurate and consistent.

If you have no plans to regularly use the iPad outside of your home, you’d do just as well to save some money and stick with a Wi-Fi model.

iPad 2 as e-reader
When Apple pitched the original iPad and then-new iBooks app as the be-all and end-all e-book reader, we were skeptical. Apple had only a handful of publishers and the device was as thick as two Kindles put together.

A year later, the iPad has legitimately seized the attention of the publishing industry. Apple claims to have passed its 100 millionth iBook download. Meanwhile, competitors such as Barnes Noble, Amazon.com, and Kobo have jumped on board with apps for the iPad. Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad. As far as content goes, the iPad has you covered.

In terms of hardware, the iPad is still a little beefy at 1.3 lbs, compared with the Kindle 3′s 0.55 lb. And in spite of the iPad’s otherwise excellent IPS LED-backlit display, there’s no beating e-ink displays when it comes to outdoor readability. Also, a product like the Kindle DX promises up to four days of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features offered by the iPad. Plus, with the iPad 2′s dramatically thinner design, Apple is in much better shape than it was last year.

What the iPad still isn’t
We have plenty of kind things to say about the iPad, but there is a limit to its “magic.” Tablets, in general, sit between the practicality of laptops and the convenience of smartphones, but stop short of actually replacing either device.

The iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement. After spending a year with the original iPad, we’ve come to appreciate laptops more than ever. In most cases, laptops and Netbooks offer a more natural typing experience, and there’s still nothing like a tried-and-true mouse or touch pad when it comes to editing and navigating documents and spreadsheets. Also, if you’re really a stickler for the full Adobe Flash-enabled Web experience, traditional laptop and desktop computers are still your best bet, offering more flexibility and compatibility with the Web’s many formats (especially when it comes to video content and games).

The iPad 2 isn’t a smartphone replacement, either. To point out the obvious, the iPad simply doesn’t fit in your pocket. Today’s smartphones do more than connect us to the world–they’re extensions of us. If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it’s not going to stay with you all day, and it will never be as personal.

It’s also worth mentioning that the iPad is not a 4G device, meaning that it doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of high-speed cellular data networks. Several manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and RIM, are promising 4G-network-compatible tablets in 2011. Will 4G be the feature that gives iPad alternatives the edge they need to oust Apple as the top tablet maker? Honestly, we don’t know yet, but it seems to be the bet the competition is making.

Apple’s aces
The App Store built into every iOS device is Apple’s secret weapon. Any tablet can offer a fun experience right out of the box, but it takes a steady stream of interesting, affordable apps and games to keep people glued over the long haul.

When Apple debuted the iPad in 2010, it also gave developers the tools and guidelines needed to create a new breed of tablet-optimized apps. Since then, over 65,000 apps have been made just for the iPad. By contrast, competitors such as Google, RIM, and HP are just now starting to create catalogs of tablet-optimized apps, and the chances of them catching up are slim.

The quality and selection of apps made for the iPad represent a kind of fountain of youth for the device, imbuing it with new uses and capabilities whenever you tire of the old ones. It also helps that Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes software all run off a common user ID, making account setup and purchases just about as effortless as it gets.

The main menu app for Apple’s iTunes store is also one of these “sleeping giant” features we take for granted. Here you have one-touch access to what is now the No. 1 music retailer in the world. The world. On top of music selections, you also get movie and TV downloads as well as rentals priced as low as 99 cents. Podcasts, university lectures, music videos–it’s all there, and no other competitor has it, or anything close.

To be fair, when it comes to core features such as e-mail, Web browsing, media playback, maps, and contacts, many of Apple’s competitors (most notably Google and the Android Honeycomb tablets) are quickly matching the iPad. If third-party apps, games, and media downloads aren’t your thing, there are many competent tablets on the market worth considering and more on the horizon. On the other hand, if apps and media aren’t your thing, you may want to consider skipping a tablet altogether.

Performance
The iPad 2 is an undeniably faster and more responsive machine than its predecessor. With a new dual-core A5 processor under the hood, Apple is claiming to have doubled performance speed overall, and boosted gaming graphics by 9 times. The company has also gone and tweaked the code behind the Safari Web browser, improving JavaScript load time.

Taking Apple’s spec bravado with a grain of salt, the iPad 2 is still an improvement. The original iPad was already pretty tough to beat when it comes to general system responsiveness, such as keyboard latency, scrolling, and zooming. With the iPad 2, the system is a little tighter and response is more immediate, but the real-world benefits come in the form of app load times and when switching between apps using the multitasking bar.

Is the iPad 2 a gamer’s dream come true? It’s a mixed bag. To Apple’s credit, the iPad has more games than any other tablet out there, and many of the titles feature graphic and play quality on par with full-blown gaming consoles. With the new processor, even graphically intensive games like Infinity Blade run with an uncanny fluidity, free from stuttering. But no matter how fast the iPad 2 can render its pixels, it’s still limited by the iPad 2′s 1,024×768-pixel display resolution. We had hoped for some of the iPhone 4′s Retina Display technology in the iPad 2, but it seems Apple might be saving it for next time.

There’s more to a screen than pixel density, though. Apple is still using the IPS panel technology from the original iPad, which offers outstanding viewing angles in every direction. Photo and video playback quality are still great. We noticed a slightly warmer color on the iPad 2′s display compared with the original, but the contrast and black levels seemed about the same.

Our CNET Labs team will update this review with their analysis of iPad 2 performance as data comes in. We’ll be testing for battery life, Web page load time, and gaming performance.

Accessories
The number of accessories made for the original iPad is overwhelming. There are cases, stands, speakers, dock adapters, gaming peripherals–even an iPad-compatible grill. With the iPad 2′s new thinner design, fitted accessories for the original iPad (such as cases) aren’t likely to work. Even Apple’s own dock and keyboard dock for the original iPad are an awkward fit for the second-generation models–though they do work.

Fortunately, Apple hasn’t done anything to monkey around with the iPad 2′s universal dock connection. Generally speaking, if you could plug it into the first iPad, it should work with the new version as well. This goes for charging cables, video adapters, Apple’s Camera Connection kit, or any in-car adapter cables.

For the iPad 2, Apple announced two new accessories. There’s the magnetic Smart Cover (which we’ve gone over already) and a new Digital AV Adapter that allows you to connect the iPad to a TV over HDMI. The same AV adapter also works with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the original iPad, but only on the iPad 2 does it allow you to output everything from your iPad’s screen–the menu, the browser, apps, games, you name it. Priced at only $39, it’s a bit of an Apple TV killer, since it will output the entire iOS experience at up to 1080p, including downloaded iTunes videos and even streaming content from apps such as Netflix.

If you’d prefer to beam content wirelessly from your iPad to your TV, the little hockey-puck-size $99 Apple TV is the way to go. Aside from working as a great standalone media streamer for iTunes downloads, Netflix, and others, you can also use it to push media from your iPad to your TV (a feature Apple calls AirPlay). As of iOS 4.3, AirPlay streaming works with music, videos, and photos, as well as selected apps and Web content.

Worth the upgrade?
If you wanted the first iPad but possessed the foresight and restraint to wait until now, congratulations. There’s nothing about the iPad 2 that is a step backward from the original. Buy with confidence.

If you’re sitting there with a first-generation iPad and wondering whether you should upgrade, the sensible answer is no. That said, we understand that the iPad isn’t a device that sells on its sensibleness. It’s a fun product, and if fun is your only criterion, then by all means, buy them by the bushel.

Some of the iPad 2′s capabilities for some niche audiences may justify trading in the old iPad for its thinner, faster next of kin. If Apple’s FaceTime video calling service has become an indispensable feature for your family (via iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac), it’s one feature of the iPad 2 that firmware updates and accessories will just never bring to the original iPad. Some professionals may also find the iPad 2′s unique HDMI video output mirroring (adapter required) to be a critical tool for presentations.

For the rest of you original iPad owners, the iPad 2′s thinner profile, added cameras, and improved performance probably aren’t enough to justify shelling out another $500 to $800. Unless you just have piles of cash lying around, we recommend that most existing iPad owners wait for the iPad 3.

Final thoughts
So, is the iPad 2 the tablet to beat in 2011? No doubt. It has the most apps, the thinnest construction, the longest battery life, a competitive price, and an existing pool of hundreds of thousands of satisfied, iPad-evangelizing customers. Competition from Google, HP, and RIM will keep things interesting this year, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

Previous page

To our eyes ATT’s plans seem more consumer-friendly and its GSM technology more flexible for travelers. That said, the plans from both carriers seem reasonable, and data quality and coverage should be your first concern. Before making the plunge, do some research to see which carrier provides better coverage for your area, as well as places you frequently travel.

Another advantage of iPad 2 models enabled with 3G is the added capability of assisted GPS (A-GPS), allowing users to accurately pinpoint their locations on a map and take advantage of navigation and location-aware apps. The Wi-Fi-only models of the iPad can use rudimentary Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation techniques to guess locations, but are much less accurate and consistent.

If you have no plans to regularly use the iPad outside of your home, you’d do just as well to save some money and stick with a Wi-Fi model.

iPad 2 as e-reader
When Apple pitched the original iPad and then-new iBooks app as the be-all and end-all e-book reader, we were skeptical. Apple had only a handful of publishers and the device was as thick as two Kindles put together.

A year later, the iPad has legitimately seized the attention of the publishing industry. Apple claims to have passed its 100 millionth iBook download. Meanwhile, competitors such as Barnes Noble, Amazon.com, and Kobo have jumped on board with apps for the iPad. Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad. As far as content goes, the iPad has you covered.

In terms of hardware, the iPad is still a little beefy at 1.3 lbs, compared with the Kindle 3′s 0.55 lb. And in spite of the iPad’s otherwise excellent IPS LED-backlit display, there’s no beating e-ink displays when it comes to outdoor readability. Also, a product like the Kindle DX promises up to four days of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features offered by the iPad. Plus, with the iPad 2′s dramatically thinner design, Apple is in much better shape than it was last year.

What the iPad still isn’t
We have plenty of kind things to say about the iPad, but there is a limit to its “magic.” Tablets, in general, sit between the practicality of laptops and the convenience of smartphones, but stop short of actually replacing either device.

The iPad 2 is not a laptop replacement. After spending a year with the original iPad, we’ve come to appreciate laptops more than ever. In most cases, laptops and Netbooks offer a more natural typing experience, and there’s still nothing like a tried-and-true mouse or touch pad when it comes to editing and navigating documents and spreadsheets. Also, if you’re really a stickler for the full Adobe Flash-enabled Web experience, traditional laptop and desktop computers are still your best bet, offering more flexibility and compatibility with the Web’s many formats (especially when it comes to video content and games).

The iPad 2 isn’t a smartphone replacement, either. To point out the obvious, the iPad simply doesn’t fit in your pocket. Today’s smartphones do more than connect us to the world–they’re extensions of us. If it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it’s not going to stay with you all day, and it will never be as personal.

It’s also worth mentioning that the iPad is not a 4G device, meaning that it doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of high-speed cellular data networks. Several manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and RIM, are promising 4G-network-compatible tablets in 2011. Will 4G be the feature that gives iPad alternatives the edge they need to oust Apple as the top tablet maker? Honestly, we don’t know yet, but it seems to be the bet the competition is making.

Apple’s aces
The App Store built into every iOS device is Apple’s secret weapon. Any tablet can offer a fun experience right out of the box, but it takes a steady stream of interesting, affordable apps and games to keep people glued over the long haul.

When Apple debuted the iPad in 2010, it also gave developers the tools and guidelines needed to create a new breed of tablet-optimized apps. Since then, over 65,000 apps have been made just for the iPad. By contrast, competitors such as Google, RIM, and HP are just now starting to create catalogs of tablet-optimized apps, and the chances of them catching up are slim.

The quality and selection of apps made for the iPad represent a kind of fountain of youth for the device, imbuing it with new uses and capabilities whenever you tire of the old ones. It also helps that Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and iTunes software all run off a common user ID, making account setup and purchases just about as effortless as it gets.

The main menu app for Apple’s iTunes store is also one of these “sleeping giant” features we take for granted. Here you have one-touch access to what is now the No. 1 music retailer in the world. The world. On top of music selections, you also get movie and TV downloads as well as rentals priced as low as 99 cents. Podcasts, university lectures, music videos–it’s all there, and no other competitor has it, or anything close.

To be fair, when it comes to core features such as e-mail, Web browsing, media playback, maps, and contacts, many of Apple’s competitors (most notably Google and the Android Honeycomb tablets) are quickly matching the iPad. If third-party apps, games, and media downloads aren’t your thing, there are many competent tablets on the market worth considering and more on the horizon. On the other hand, if apps and media aren’t your thing, you may want to consider skipping a tablet altogether.

Performance
The iPad 2 is an undeniably faster and more responsive machine than its predecessor. With a new dual-core A5 processor under the hood, Apple is claiming to have doubled performance speed overall, and boosted gaming graphics by 9 times. The company has also gone and tweaked the code behind the Safari Web browser, improving JavaScript load time.

Taking Apple’s spec bravado with a grain of salt, the iPad 2 is still an improvement. The original iPad was already pretty tough to beat when it comes to general system responsiveness, such as keyboard latency, scrolling, and zooming. With the iPad 2, the system is a little tighter and response is more immediate, but the real-world benefits come in the form of app load times and when switching between apps using the multitasking bar.

Is the iPad 2 a gamer’s dream come true? It’s a mixed bag. To Apple’s credit, the iPad has more games than any other tablet out there, and many of the titles feature graphic and play quality on par with full-blown gaming consoles. With the new processor, even graphically intensive games like Infinity Blade run with an uncanny fluidity, free from stuttering. But no matter how fast the iPad 2 can render its pixels, it’s still limited by the iPad 2′s 1,024×768-pixel display resolution. We had hoped for some of the iPhone 4′s Retina Display technology in the iPad 2, but it seems Apple might be saving it for next time.

There’s more to a screen than pixel density, though. Apple is still using the IPS panel technology from the original iPad, which offers outstanding viewing angles in every direction. Photo and video playback quality are still great. We noticed a slightly warmer color on the iPad 2′s display compared with the original, but the contrast and black levels seemed about the same.

Our CNET Labs team will update this review with their analysis of iPad 2 performance as data comes in. We’ll be testing for battery life, Web page load time, and gaming performance.

Accessories
The number of accessories made for the original iPad is overwhelming. There are cases, stands, speakers, dock adapters, gaming peripherals–even an iPad-compatible grill. With the iPad 2′s new thinner design, fitted accessories for the original iPad (such as cases) aren’t likely to work. Even Apple’s own dock and keyboard dock for the original iPad are an awkward fit for the second-generation models–though they do work.

Fortunately, Apple hasn’t done anything to monkey around with the iPad 2′s universal dock connection. Generally speaking, if you could plug it into the first iPad, it should work with the new version as well. This goes for charging cables, video adapters, Apple’s Camera Connection kit, or any in-car adapter cables.

For the iPad 2, Apple announced two new accessories. There’s the magnetic Smart Cover (which we’ve gone over already) and a new Digital AV Adapter that allows you to connect the iPad to a TV over HDMI. The same AV adapter also works with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the original iPad, but only on the iPad 2 does it allow you to output everything from your iPad’s screen–the menu, the browser, apps, games, you name it. Priced at only $39, it’s a bit of an Apple TV killer, since it will output the entire iOS experience at up to 1080p, including downloaded iTunes videos and even streaming content from apps such as Netflix.

If you’d prefer to beam content wirelessly from your iPad to your TV, the little hockey-puck-size $99 Apple TV is the way to go. Aside from working as a great standalone media streamer for iTunes downloads, Netflix, and others, you can also use it to push media from your iPad to your TV (a feature Apple calls AirPlay). As of iOS 4.3, AirPlay streaming works with music, videos, and photos, as well as selected apps and Web content.

Worth the upgrade?
If you wanted the first iPad but possessed the foresight and restraint to wait until now, congratulations. There’s nothing about the iPad 2 that is a step backward from the original. Buy with confidence.

If you’re sitting there with a first-generation iPad and wondering whether you should upgrade, the sensible answer is no. That said, we understand that the iPad isn’t a device that sells on its sensibleness. It’s a fun product, and if fun is your only criterion, then by all means, buy them by the bushel.

Some of the iPad 2′s capabilities for some niche audiences may justify trading in the old iPad for its thinner, faster next of kin. If Apple’s FaceTime video calling service has become an indispensable feature for your family (via iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac), it’s one feature of the iPad 2 that firmware updates and accessories will just never bring to the original iPad. Some professionals may also find the iPad 2′s unique HDMI video output mirroring (adapter required) to be a critical tool for presentations.

For the rest of you original iPad owners, the iPad 2′s thinner profile, added cameras, and improved performance probably aren’t enough to justify shelling out another $500 to $800. Unless you just have piles of cash lying around, we recommend that most existing iPad owners wait for the iPad 3.

Final thoughts
So, is the iPad 2 the tablet to beat in 2011? No doubt. It has the most apps, the thinnest construction, the longest battery life, a competitive price, and an existing pool of hundreds of thousands of satisfied, iPad-evangelizing customers. Competition from Google, HP, and RIM will keep things interesting this year, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

Previous page