Thoughts on the iPad 2

Today Apple announced the iPad 2, available in March 11th here in the US. I've been waiting quite anxiously for the announcement, mainly because my wife's laptop battery is completely dead. A new one would cost around $80-$100 (new battery, that is--not a new laptop), but all she really uses her laptop for could be accomplished with my current iPad.



See where I'm going here?   :-)



So what extras are on the new model? For one thing, the price is the same--that's nice. It's got front and rear facing cameras, and you can buy a slick movie editor for the thing for $5. I could see me taking video of events and then editing it and posting that video online, all from the same easy to use device. It's twice as fast--graphics are nine times as fast. It's got the ability to do HDMI out, so you can hook it up to your big screen TV and stream Netflix or whatever you want in full 1080p goodness. You still have a 10 hour battery, even with all the extra features. It's 1/3 slimmer, 1.3 pounds (.2 less than iPad 1). A new operating system is coming out for it, too.



Honestly, there's not a ton of new features that blow me away. It looks like it'll be a faster device that has cameras, so it does video conferencing, etc. Of course, since I often have my iPad but don't have my camera of video camera, this could be a good thing for me. On the other hand, if I get an iPhone through Verizon and use it as my main phone, then I'll have that camera, instead. So I'm not sure if I'll end up getting one of these or not. I'll likely upgrade my current iPad to the latest OS, then see if I'm still missing the extra features. It'll help to read some reviews when they come out, too.



Of course, if I didn't already have an iPad, I'd jump all over this new one. I love mine, and I use it more than I ever thought I would. Best piece of technology I've ever bought. Period.



What do you think? Care to chime in?