Hands On: Apple iPad
By Stephen Hopkins
We have some glowing first impressions, but don't try to mistake the new device as a replacement for your PC or Mac.

If you frequent the technology blogospheres, all you’ve likely heard for the last week or two is iPad, iPad, iPad. We managed to spend some time with Apple’s hot-selling new product in a store setting, so here’s our hands-on mini-review.

Design
For as long as the iPad was rumored, its actual name was tossed about as well. While iPad was among the fray, so were the likes of iTablet, iGuide, and iTab. In hindsight, my favorite was iSlate, mainly because it conveys the essence of the industrial design.



From the back, it’s nothing more than a cool, but not cold, slab of aluminum. From the front, it’s a monolith of screen with just enough flush black bezel to help avoid inadvertent screen presses when holding by the edges.

Screen
A handful of other features of note are present, including the iPhone-style home button, dock connector, speaker openings, volume, and 3.5mm headphone port, but none grab attention away from the business-end that is the 9.7 inch 1024x768 screen.

The screen can be cranked up as bright as you can comfortably view, but the middle setting was perfect for viewing in even the harsh lighting of a large electronics retailer.

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