Early iPad Reviews: Some Drawbacks But It Will Still Amaze You

The first wave of iPad reviews went live this evening and the consensus seems to be that it’s an amazing, revolutionary, magical device. Except for David Pogue, who amused us by writing two reviews: one for techies and one for the norms. The conclusion was different for both groups. Otherwise, reviewers agree on several points but differ in some interesting areas. Did anyone pan Apple’s offering? No way. However, the praise wasn’t universal.

Check out the highlights from reviews by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, David Pogue of the New York Times, Tim Gideon of PC Magazine,  Edward C. Baig of USA Today, and Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Overall Interface

“The iPad is not so much about what you can do — browse, do e-mail, play games, read e-books and more — but how you can do it.” USA Today

“I was impressed with the overall speed of the iPad. Apple’s custom processor makes it wicked fast.” WSJ

“The screen does seem to respond almost instantly; so whatever it is that powers the A4 chip (it’s rumored to be designed by former AMD and ATI chip design veterans), offers an impeccable touch-screen experience.” PCMag

“Things open fast, scroll fast, load fast. Surfing the Web is a heck of a lot better than on the tiny iPhone screen… The simple act of making the multitouch screen bigger changes the whole experience.” NYTimes

On-Screen Keyboard

“…the virtual onscreen keyboard that pops up when needed is fine for e-mails or scribbling notes, but I wouldn’t want to regularly write articles using it.” USA Today

“I’m writing this review on the iPad’s horizontal keyboard, in which the keys are large and nicely spaced. (The vertical keyboard is a little tighter, but still definitely useable.) If it weren’t comfortable, I would have abandoned the iPad for my laptop 1,000 words ago.” PCMag

“I found the iPad virtual keyboard more comfortable and accurate to use than the cramped keyboards and touchpads on many netbooks, though some fast touch typists might disagree.” WSJ

“When the iPad is upright, typing on the on-screen keyboard is a horrible experience; when the iPad is turned 90 degrees, the keyboard is just barely usable (because it’s bigger).” NYTimes

Multimedia

“It gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money.” USA Today

“I was able to try a pre-release version of The Wall Street Journal’s new iPad app… and found it gorgeous and highly functional—by far the best implementation of the newspaper I have ever seen on a screen.” WSJ

“Content from the iTunes Store looks predictably awesome on the iPad’s big, bright display. It’s no substitute for a big-screen HDTV, but on a cross-country flight, I can’t imagine a better way to watch a movie.” PCMag

Apps

“Apple has rebuilt its own core iPhone apps for the iPad to add sophisticated features that make the programs look and work more like PC or Mac software.” WSJ

“…older apps appear in a small window on the iPad display. You can blow them up to fill the screen through a process called “pixel doubling.” It’s more than adequate for many apps, but enlarging the characters reveals any imperfections.” USA Today

“iWork at first feels like Richard Branson’s Virgin Space to Microsoft Office’s NASA: they both travel in the same way, but one seems fun and the other seems quite serious, but maybe more practical.” PCMag

iPad (iBook) vs. Kindle

“There’s an e-book reader app, but it’s not going to rescue the newspaper and book industries (sorry, media pundits). … You can’t read well in direct sunlight. At 1.5 pounds, the iPad gets heavy in your hand after awhile (the Kindle is 10 ounces). And you can’t read books from the Apple bookstore on any other machine — not even a Mac or iPhone.” NYTimes

“The Search function is also excellent. Want to reread a conversation between two characters early on in the book? Type in what you remember about it and iBooks will guide you to the closest approximations.” PCMag

“I consider the larger color screen superior to the Kindle’s, and encountered no eye strain. But the iPad is much heavier than the Kindle and most people will need two hands to use it.” WSJ

“Newspaper and magazine layouts look vastly superior on the iPad compared with Kindle. The iPad is backlit, so you can read in the dark. … It remains to be seen whether reading on a backlit screen for hours will be as easy on the eyes as the Kindle is. Curling up in bed was more comfortable with a 10.2-ounce Kindle than with the weightier iPad.” USA Today

iPad vs. Laptops and Netbooks

“…the techies are right… the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it — books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on.” NYTimes

“The fact that you won’t find a single port, USB, or otherwise, tells you that this product is not meant to be a full-fledged computer, or the substitute for one.” PCMag

“After spending hours and hours with it, I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop.” WSJ

“…in situation after situation, I find that the iPad is the best computer in my household and office menagerie. It’s not a replacement for my notebook, mind you. It feels more as if the iPad is filling a gap that’s existed for quite some time.” Chicago Sun-Times

“[Traditional netbooks will] have to adapt or disappear — especially since their price advantage compared with the entry-level iPad isn’t as great as some might have thought it would be.” USA Today

“The bottom line is that you can get a laptop for much less money — with a full keyboard, DVD drive, U.S.B. jacks, camera-card slot, camera, the works.” NYTimes

Battery Life

“…in my own test, the iPad played movies continuously from 7:30 a.m. to 7:53 p.m. — more than 12 hours. That’s four times as long as a typical laptop or portable DVD player.” NYTimes

“For my battery test, I played movies, TV shows and other videos back-to-back until the iPad died. … The iPad lasted 11 hours and 28 minutes…” WSJ

“Our own rundown test… netted a respectably close battery life of 9 hours and 25 minutes.” PCMag

Drawbacks

“It doesn’t multitask… There’s no webcam for those of us hoping to do video chats. The battery is sealed. It’s too big for your pocket. … The Safari browser on the iPad doesn’t support videos based on the popular Adobe Flash Internet video standard.” USA Today

“…the email program lacks the ability to create local folders or rules for auto-sorting messages, and it doesn’t allow group addressing.” WSJ

“The biggest bummer about the built-in Safari browser is, of course, the lack of support for Flash video. .. This product is way too expensive to have a headphone Jack and no bundled earphones. … Inexplicably missing is the visually pleasing Cover Flow array of sweepable album covers and titles.” PCMag

Conclusions

“Apple has pretty much nailed it with this first iPad…” USA Today

“The iPad is so fast and light, the multitouch screen so bright and responsive, the software so easy to navigate, that it really does qualify as a new category of gadget.” NYTimes

“It’s a computer that many people have been wanting for years: a slim, ten-hour computer that can hold every document, book, movie, CD, email, picture, or other scrap of data they’re ever likely to want to have at hand…” Chicago Sun-Times

“If you’re mainly a Web surfer, note-taker, social-networker and emailer, and a consumer of photos, videos, books, periodicals and music—this could be for you. If you need to create or edit giant spreadsheets or long documents, or you have elaborate systems for organizing email, or need to perform video chats, the iPad isn’t going to cut it as your go-to device.” WSJ

“…one thing I can say about most Apple products, and certainly the iPad: There may be things it doesn’t do, but what it does do, it does remarkably well.” PCMag

Is there some aspect of the iPad, its apps, usage or anything else you feel these reviews didn’t cover? Click here to let us know what you’d like us to test, try, and write about in our iPad review.