iPad 2 | Youthink
Image credit:  apple.ca

2011 Is The Year Of The iPad 2

by By Justin Lee – Thomas Haney Secondary, Maple Ridge BC Mar 24, 2011
Long lineups, frantic media buzz, instant sellouts – yes, the iPad 2 is here! Critics laughed at Apple’s “oversized iPod touch” when it launched the original iPad a year earlier. However, 15 million iPads later and no one is laughing anymore. As computer manufacturers are scrambling to bite into the new tablet market, Apple has worked to improve upon the formula that made the first iPad so desirable. Did it deliver?  Here is the good and the bad of the iPad 2.
 
The Good:
 
Size does matter
The iPad 2 is thinner than the original; in fact, it’s skinnier than the iPhone 4. The iPad’s closest rival, the Motorola Xoom, looks outright obese in comparison, and yet the iPad 2 lasts almost three hours more than the Xoom on a single charge. That equates to around 10 hours of continuous movie playback (five full-length movies on a single charge)! Impressive.
 
Image-ine the possibilities
The new iPad sports two cameras, one on each side. Although the photo quality isn’t great, for video chatting via Facetime, the cameras are more than adequate. And the new Photo Booth app, which allows you to apply effects to your photos, is pretty neat, too!
 
On the fast track
Inside, the iPad 2 houses the newly designed dual-core A5 processor, which Apple promises will double the processing speeds and improve graphics performance nine-fold. It also gains a gyroscope for ultra-precise gaming control. Now apps load faster and graphic-heavy games render like melted butter - Angry Birds never looked this good!
 
For your viewing pleasure
Although the iPad 2’s screen is the same as its predecessor, the first iPad’s IPS (in-plane switching) screen was so good that an upgrade was really redundant. It sports the same wide viewing angles and superb colour rendition that the original iPad was renowned for.
 
The Bad:
 
Not flashy enough
No flash support, which means that the iPad’s web experience is sometimes stunted. With that being said, flash is notoriously resource-intensive and would drains the battery much quicker, so there are definitely trade-offs both ways.
 
Conclusion:

Eternal battery life, first-rate build quality and design, two cameras, magnificent screen, and an entire ecosystem of specially built cases, speakers and apps (65, 000 of them). If you don’t already see what I’m getting at, the iPad 2 is living up to the hype. If you are thinking of getting a tablet computer, look no further, because right now, there is no competitor. Period. 

 
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