I'll skip the pictures. You've seen it by now, and I'm no photographer. It's really nice, though. I'll skip fawning over the battery too. It lasts ridiculously long. Seriously, it'll amaze you, even if you have high expectations. OK, I guess I fawned a bit... I'm done though. Promise.

Obvious First Impressions

It's fast. Really, really fast. Everything I've used so far opens instantly. The animations are all buttery smooth. No doubt applications will come along that test the performance of this machine, but not just yet.

The white is stunning.

When I bought the iPhone 4 last year, I was bummed about the lack of white. Not so bummed that I waited, of course. I'm a nerd. But nothing but white would do for the iPad 2. And it's absolutely stunning. Sure, you can see the FaceTime camera, which you really can't on the black model. But the white bezel gives the device a very classic Apple feel to it. There is a small black border between the screen and the bezel. If this sort of thing bothers you, get the black. I don't think it takes away from the look at all.

Extremely thin. Feels pretty great really — easy enough to hold in one hand. The aluminum back is still slippery though.

Smart cover

So far I like it, but I don't love it. It makes carrying the iPad 2 very comfortable. The screen is protected, and the leather provides enough grip so i'm not in fear of dropping it.

As a stand, it's stable enough for watching videos, but not stable enough to work on. In other words, if you plan on doing much tapping while your iPad is vertical, get one of those fancy aluminum stands.

When using the iPad, I go back and forth between folding the cover behind the iPad flat, folding into the triangle, and removing it altogether. I'm sure I'll develop a preference, but i don't have one yet. This is when using it in landscape mode, of course. In portrait (almost exclusively for Instapaper,) I fold the cover flat or remove it.

On 32 GB

I chose the 32GB white WIFI only model. I have no need for 3G connectivity on the iPad, and no interest in yet another monthly bill. My only real decision here was 16 or 32 GB. When I arrived at Best Buy on launch day, all the 16GB models were sold out, so my decision became simple. I was already leaning toward the 32 anyway. For an extra $100, I wouldn't have to bother with shuffling around movies or apps to make sure everything would fit. If I never come close to using all the space, I'll buy the 16 next time around. For now, I would rather not have to worry about space.

On replacing a MacBook Pro

Until launch day, I used a combination of an iMac and a MacBook Pro for my side business. I purchased the MacBook Pro so I could get work done from the couch, dining room table, or wherever I happened to be. As it turns out, I need a big (24"+) screen to get any heavy work done. Even though my MacBook Pro was the fastest computer I've ever used, I wasn't using it enough. I certainly wasn't using it to its full capabilities.

This ridiculously powerful machine was relegated to being a big iPhone. I used Notational Velocity, Things, Reeder, and Safari. That was pretty much it. My beloved Coda went mostly unused, simply because 15" of screen real estate isn't enough for me to do any design / code.

The iPad 2 will be able to handle all these tasks, arguably better than the MacBook Pro. The small size and instant-on nature mean I use it much more often. Here's a list of my current most-used apps so far:

Apps

  • SimpleNote
  • Things
  • Instapaper
  • Quickoffice
  • Reeder
  • TextExpander
  • Twitter
  • Evernote

Random Notes

Sure, I can write faster on a full keyboard. But the landscape iPad keyboard is decent enough for short pieces. (I wrote 90% of this article on the iPad. The finishing touches were done on my iMac.) Using TextExpander improves my typing speed as well, especially for any HTML characters.

Things on iPad lets me process my task lists quickly, and weekly reviews are a breeze. Instapaper needs no introduction — it belongs on everyone's iPhone / iPad. Reading (mostly via Instapaper) has quickly become my most common use of this device. It's simply a divine reading experience.

This device is a perfect notebook replacement for me. In stark contrast to my reasons for ditching the first generation iPad. Back then I thought I needed more. More power, more capabilities. Turns out, I was dead wrong. What I needed was simplicity and ease of use.