Getting on the iPad Bandwagon

Steve Jobs has recently unveiled the iPad2.  Coming only one year after the original iPad, it’s hard to know if it’s really worth going out and upgrading already.  Let’s take a look at what the new iPad2 has to offer and let the educated consumer make the decision for himself.

The iPad2 has been marketed to be thinner than the original, and indeed, it really is.  The first iPad measures 246x190x13 mm, while the iPad2 measures 241.2×185.7×8.8mm.  It’s actually a lot thinner than the original model and feels almost flat when you hold it.  The weight, however, isn’t any great improvement.  While the original iPad weighs in at 680 grams, this one is 601 grams.  This is not enough of a difference to really notice and it’s still feels heavy to hold it for too long.

Aesthetically there is almost no change at all.  While Steve Jobs was quite excited to point out that the iPad2 comes in white, this isn’t exactly a major breakthrough in the technology sector.  In addition, the display is really the same as it was for the original iPad. This means that there is no more improvement in the visibility in sunlight and no other major changes in the display.

Now, in terms of performance, the iPad2 is definitely a step up.  It is powered by Apple’s new 1GHz A5 dual-core processor, rather than the single core A4 that was used with the iPad.  There is also 512MB RAM, in contrast to the 256MB from the original iPad. This will certainly prove helpful when running multiple applications at the same time.