Well Sam, I spent most of the day playing with the iPad. Had a client who (is all Apple) and picked up several. I won't go into my long review, but let me just do a punch list:
Excellent:
All the reviews are right, the unit is astonishingly qucker then you'd anticipate. While it doesn't multi-task** it does what it does very well and very quickly.
The display is vivid and provides a great look. Video display is fluid with no tearing, and it has a it's refresh is solid enough that it really looks polished.
Access to fully functional RDP clients may be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I spent most of my time using an iPad to manage a Win7 box via RDP, and managed to get all the multitasking and functions I needed, run Outlook 2007, go straight for all my real apps.. interface with my exchange server.. while RDP on a phone or other device is pretty much a joke, this may be the ultimate lightweight remote administration tool. If I bought one, my iPad would spend more time looking like windows then an iPad, but that's OK..
The Good:
Audio output is of good to decent quality. I think they have to be using a different D-A converter, because quite frankly audio isn't as good as present on my iPod touch (I'm using audiobooks as a guide) but it's still better then most competitors and good enough.
Text legibility is good. Not great, black isn't black enough, but it's good with minimal eye strain.
The bad:
The USBpower pull is wrong. The unit expects 10W, which is WAY more then USB spec. WAY more. Yes, I realize Apple says units will do this.. but they are wrong. My client's Macbook Pro (an older one) won't charge it. And, after a small hitch, we managed to completely kill the USB ports on a netbook, which apparently made the effort to give up the juice, and now that USB port is dead.. it won't connect to any device.. :( If Apple is going to place such a heavy charging burden, the unit should come with two cables: one for charging, one for connecting. It's both safer for the consumer and it doesn't supply the false concept that like Ipods, it'll just trickle charge via USB.. because in some cases it will, in many cases it won't.
One other bad: the pop ups for reminders are annoying as all sin. I put 2 stars next to "no multitasking" but this pop-up bit might as well be. While playing with RDP, I received a popup from AP News, which the client had installed. I COULD NOT close the damn APNews thing, because the RDP made it where it just seemed to track. I ended up turning the unit off then on again to get rid of the popup, which wouldn't respond no matter what. There needs to be controls around pop-ups that prevent this kind of bullshit. I don't want a popup for anything coming up if I'm in the middle of a task. If I was writing a letter, and got an "AP News Alert" or whatever, and it stopped a flow of typing, or if you're like me and trapped in an RDP window..
Let me shorthand: this is a really solid product with some pretty damn cool features. But it also has the feel of being a "1.0" version. I think there needs to be some kinks worked out. Some really small kinks, some larger ones. But the idea is really interesting. It is true, fyi, the screen is very difficult to read in brighter light (see: outdoors) so if you're used to an ereader (like Kindle) this won't replace that for reading at the beach.
What would an OS update have to do with connecting an iPad to your cellphone service? And why would you want to? AT&T charges $30 / mo per "smartphone". The iPad charges $30/mo for "unlimited" 3G service. What's the difference, except perhaps unified billing? Moreover, the iPad's standalone, unsub system offers $15/mo option. Which is not available with an AT&T sub.
