Anand Lal Shimpi, in the AnandTech iPad 2 review:
I do most of my work on a desktop (these days a laptop pretending to be a desktop). When I travel I need a notebook of some sort. I’ve got a MacBook Air that I carry with me if I just need something lightweight to do work, and a MacBook Pro if I need to do a lot of work on the road. While you can technically write articles, prepare HTML, edit images and post all of it via the iPad, it’s still no where near as quick to do so as it is on a notebook for me. As revolutionary as touch is as an input form, the mouse is a very tough act to follow. Then there’s the issue of multitasking and the fact that switching between apps is still far too much of a pain compared to a desktop. Data sharing between apps is much better on a desktop/notebook.
I really like the iPad 2, I feel like it’s an awesome device – I just have pretty much no use for it. It complicates my life it doesn’t make it any easier. I find that it’s far more relaxing to use than a notebook but it’s also extremely limited it what it can do for me. I’m giving my first generation iPad to my parents and I’ll probably end up doing the same with the iPad 2 eventually.
I stand by my original assessment of the iPad – it’s a luxury device that augments and doesn’t replace anything in my computing arsenal. It’s yet another device that I have to keep updated, buy software for and keep my data synced across.
I see real potential in the tablet as a form factor and the iPad 2 is a definite example of that. With some minor tweaks to the design the ergonomics of the iPad improved considerably and thus so did its usability. Once Apple (and its competitors) go through a few iterations of these things we should have an extremely useful platform that could start to be more of a replacement product.
I’m on the same page here. My iPad was great, but when it was time to do real work, I always found myself reaching for my MacBook Pro or sitting down at our iMac. I just felt silly after a while for owning one.