iPad 2 Decision

Since last Wednesday's announcement of the iPad 2, I have been debating with myself if I would like to upgrade to the latest model or if I am content with my current iPad. There are pros and cons with the new iPad, and both sides of the battle have been fighting it out in my mind lately. Let's dive right in to what's right and wrong with the new iPad...


Pros:

- The new processor, which is supposed to make the CPU 2x faster. There is no way this could be a negative, the speed increase is going to benefit all apps and overall experience.

- The new graphics card which amazingly makes the graphics 9x faster. The demo that was displayed at the press event highlighted a graphics intensive game that was running as smooth as silk. I imagine there will be some great games and apps released this year that will take full advantage of this upgrade... I can't wait.

- iOS 4.3 is bringing some great new features, including expanded Airplay features, and a restructured version of Safari that includes many improvements to the current version.

- The cameras were expected since the week after the first iPad was released and although they are pretty low-end cameras, it should become handy in terms of Facetime and when you need to quickly shoot a video and all you have is the iPad.

- It's the newest, coolest 'toy' available... there's almost no better 'Pro' than that.


Cons:

- The redesigned look of iPad 2 is surprisingly making its' way to my 'Cons' list. The new look and the thinness are very nice but it makes my Apple Case useless, and it means I will have to buy a new case (and it certainly is NOT going to be a Smart Cover...ugh.) I hope Apple redesigns their original case or I'll have to wait for a third party case of equal functionality.

- Overall the changes aren't exactly revolutionary, and the original iPad will still be sufficient in most aspects for a long while.

- I will have to totally back-up and transfer files from my current iPad to the new iPad, which is a bit tedious and time consuming. Not exactly looking forward to that part.

- Ummm... that's about it actually.


With all things considered, I have indeed made a decision and I will announce right now that I AM going to dive in and purchase a brand new 64 GB, 3G iPad 2... I'm pretty sure I'll get an AT&T model, but that decision is still up in the air for now.

I will do my absolute best to get one on launch day (this upcoming Friday!) I don't get off of work until 5:00 p.m., but there is a Best Buy within a couple of miles of my work (and also a Walmart and an AT&T store.) They are all expected to be selling iPads on Friday, so my chances of getting one are pretty good.

My current iPad ("C3GPO") will be sold to my Mom, who recently bought one for herself, but was going to buy another one anyway because my Dad is actually the one who can barely part with it for more than a minute, he's totally hooked and by now he probably has a better score on Angry Birds than I do. Anyway, she loved playing with it whenever she had a chance and wanted to buy another one so she could actually use it... the timing was perfect.


I don't know if I'll post anything else this week, but I will definitely update this blog after Friday. I'll give you my purchase experience as well as a mini-review. See ya then.