1. Introduction2. Outward Appearance3. The Insides4. Operation5. Software6. Battery Life7. Conclusion8. View All Pages

‘Apple' — It is a name synonymous with a strong emotional response. Never has a company evoked such a dramatic reaction from the enthusiast userbase – you either love 'em or hate 'em, there is little room for middle ground.

I have been an Apple fan since I started my career in the late 80's because they simply revolutionised the design industry. Equally so, I am not an Apple ‘purist' – I love building my own PC's and modding things that in all honesty probably didn't need modded in the first place. Apple certainly don't always get it right, when they do however they certainly get this reviewer excited.

As KitGuru has offices based in the UK it is not possible to buy an iPad here ‘officially' yet … however if you order one from a reputable dealer in America they are willing to ship for a ‘little' over the odds (or more than a little if you aren't careful). This is a route that many UK Apple fanatics are taking and I am quite positive that a substantial percentage of the publicly documented 1 million ‘first month' sales have been sourced from the UK. A handful of critics have dismissed the product as merely ‘an iPod touch on steroids' – a larger chassis with a little more potential.

Before it was released, speculation was high as to the actual product name – some thought it would be called “Canvas” and others felt the “Apple Tablet” and “Slate” were possibilities. The iPad (as it became known) was released on January 27th  to a rather lukewarm response – after all how much further could Apple push the ‘tablet' design when quite a few were already on the market?

The iPad is marketed as a sort of middle ground device between the ever popular iPhone and the expensive MacBook laptop range – Apple's emphasis has been on a viable, more attractive alternative to the Kindle reader while taking many positive aspects of a net book into the overall concept … such as generalised multimedia support. Apple have touted the product as ‘revolutionary' and amidst a powerful advertising campaign the sales are backing the claims – every technology lover seemingly needs to have one of these within his arsenal of high tech toys.

KitGuru are certainly not the first to review this product, however as the last few months have seen us preparing for the launch of our publication we have certainly had plenty of time to get acquainted with all the strengths and idiosyncrasies of the iPad.

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