iPad 2 Powerful iPad Generation

To say, Apple IPAD 2 tablets are easy to review a bit of understatement. Device tracking last year's highly successful (and currently on the market, down) IPAD, almost identical when it comes to software, and although improved, is closely associated with the hardware side as well. With a screen 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 overall size and shape of the device remains the same, but even there a new dual-core processor A5, more memory and a pair of new cameras, part  IPAD  2 cosmetic changes. However, previous tablet soared far most of its competitors when it comes to quality of hardware (if not standard features) and software selection - something Apple still stands head and shoulders better than the opponent. So this new model, this version is thinner, thinner, and faster than the original cannot break much new ground, but he is already at the forefront. But it is  IPAD 2 cost upgrade for those who decide the first generation? More importantly, if the device is what it takes to bring new owners at times?

* Hardware

IPAD 2 or for all - and for - the hardware. In terms of design, IPAD 2 only seriously upped the ante in a sleek, sexy computer hardware. If you own the original model, you know this is not slouch in the design department, but the latest iteration took it to another location as a whole. The first thing you may notice for the IPAD 2 is that it is thin - incredibly thin. At the thickest point, the tablet is only 0.34 inches (compared to the first half IPAD-inch thick). The device is slightly shorter than the previous model (at 9.5-inches), but also slightly wider (7.3 inches only against IPAD 07:47-inch). It looks and feels great when holding slim. As Steve Jobs demonstrated at the launch, the device is thinner than iPhone amazingly thin 4 - quite a feat considering what is packed in shale. Of course, not yet really light, weighing 1.33 kg (or 1:34 / 1:35 for 3G models), just a hair below the original and a half pounds.

Like previous versions, in front of the screen, but all of the panel (which appears slightly wider than the first model) and home button at the bottom of the screen. In 2 IPAD does not add back of this camera button at the top of the device, but is almost invisible speck. At the rear is aluminum, finely familiar from previous versions (do not feel a bit delicate here), a network spokesman small dots in the lower left corner of the chamber in the upper left corner, and depending on the model you are, 3G antenna on the back the beginning. Volume and mute / play a key meeting in the back left side of the device, you will find the right slot for Micro SIM (the 3G version). The standard 30-pin dock connector on the bottom while the top reveal the power button / sleep in the upper right side, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left. All companies are fairly standard for IPAD, but intelligently put together in a small frame.

Ultimately, this is a very nice package and trim. The picture does not quite do justice IPAD 2 - it feels really, really great in your hand. Not only gives a sense of heavy construction and permanent, but in combination with a thin profile, the new tapered edges makes the device behaves in a real joy. Apple is known for its design and not just chews the scenery here, two beautiful and serious IPAD made.

* Internal / display / audio

Much has been done on what is - and not - in the new IPAD. For starters, Apple has replaced last year with the A4 chip processor called dual 1GHz A5 (surprise surprise). According to Geekbench, now has 512 MB of RAM IPAD, bringing it down to iPhone 4 standard. Are still visible on the low side for us - a device in this class may have 1 GB of physical exercise, although we have no memory problems. The screen is identical to the previous model, 1024 x 768, 9.7 inch IPS. She still looks good, although we are really pleased to see a boom in the resolution - if not the Retina Display double numbers, then something substantial. We have no problem with the display quality as far as color balance and depth of blacks go, but want to see a higher pixel density, especially for applications book.

On the wireless front, you can capture both WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n) model alone, Verizon 3G version, and different IPAD AT & T / GSM. Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR are on board, and AGPS chip in the 3G version. All models are equipped with ambient light sensor, accelerometer, and a new addition: a three-axis gyroscope.

As we said, IPAD Apple a speaker is moved to the back of the device. The sound seems clear, if a little quieter than the old version and we cannot say that there is great improvement in housing goes. It does work, but if you work in Garage Band (or just listen to music or watch videos), you'll want headphones or speakers to a decent nearby.

However, the front part of the specification IPAD 2 feels very repetitive. There is nothing here that is truly mind-blowing, but nothing here makes it feel far from the nearest competition. We're pretty early in the game a little boost in tablet specification, which will last another season, but Apple should give the weapon greater when looking at the "3" at the end of IPAD alias.

Execution

Geekbench Score (higher is better)

Apple IPAD 2721

Apple IPAD 442

Apple iPhone 4375

As mentioned above, IPAD is equipped with a chip, dual 1GHz called A5. According to Geekbench processor 800MHz clock. When I first deal with the device seems much faster for us, even after one week with one tablet, it is still zippier than previous models with a small probability.

Processor and graphics performance of these tablets is very impressive for us - 2 IPAD very well, regardless of what you throw at it, games and heavy graphics look better frame rate, even when dealing with CPU intensive programs as Garage Band, rarely (if ever) seems to be struggling.

But not just our word for it: Geekbench shows clearly what the benefits of the display processor by IPAD 2.

* Battery

Not surprisingly, Apple promises a main battery of the IPAD 2. Although the device is physically modest down, the company says users can expect the same longevity witnessed in previous versions. In our tests, this is 100% correct. For the first few days we use our devices do not even bother to turn it in. In fact, even during heavy use - 3G and WiFi on, app testing (heavy work in Garage Band in particular), surfing, reading news, e mail, image / video taking and listening to music - we forget to turn IPAD 2 to slot the range of about five days. When no plug, battery percentage was still only hovering around 30-year low.

Battery Life

Apple IPAD 2 10:26

Apple IPAD 09:33

Motorola Xoom 08:20

Dell Streak 7 03:26

Archos 101 7:20

Samsung Galaxy 06:09

In our standard test video (MPEG4 video clips to move downstream, WiFi, screen brightness at about 65%), 2 IPAD manages 10 hours and 26 minutes non-stop playing unbelievable. Who wins own claims of Apple, and his senior nearest rivals - Xoom - about 2 hours. That's another whole movie!

To say we were impressed would be an understatement. In IPAD 2 fully deliver when it comes to battery life

* Camera

Let's just put it there: IPAD 2 cameras are really bad. They cannot be used, but it is clear that the sensor used is not top shelf by any measure. If you have a fourth generation IPod Touch with a camera, you can expect the same results. In fact, we think that this is the same camera used in IPod touch - there is "HD" lens on the back (which means roughly one megapixel shooter), and you lower the front VGA camera. None of this remotely produced satisfactory results for still images and in particular (as opposed to something like Xoom), the camera looks behind the second level. For the task of video and Face Time calls, the camera is very useful - but we will never trade a special camera (or at least one Smartphone with megapixel shooter 5 +) for this.

Even with lower quality sensors, Apple has yet to cover the gap between the original and IPAD is a new contest - so this means that video calling is now in press. And since its Apple, we were treated with an application Face Time, Photo Booth, and the new iMovie (more about those at the moment). At the end of the day, the company is placing a flag on the ground when it comes to tablets with a camera, but it seems that this is done at least happen. We will not lie: we are disappointed with how they feel low-end camera. We do not expect to do a photo shoot with the tablet (in fact, we find the use of tablets in this way becomes very uncomfortable), but this does not mean that you want a camera that gives results remind us of the RAZR. In short, it feels like IPAD 2 has a serious shortage of photons.

* Software

It will be a product without updating the new IOS, IOS and IPAD 2 ushers in section 4.3, small update a few brokers’ bells and whistles. Specifically, Apple has improved the functioning of the browser adds support for larger game, thankfully added an option to turn off the key tasks for key rotation, and (the iPhone at least) is Personal Hotspot device, GSM (but not IPAD 2).

Together with IPAD update, Apple also introduced two important pieces of software - Garage Band and iMovie for IPAD. Here we take the application and some other great additions.

* Browser

Apple claims big gains in speed and performance of the browser, thanks to a new IOS for the introduction of the Nitro JavaScript engine software that underlies Safari Mobile. In our tests, we scored some pretty healthy Sun Spider 2173.1ms (while Google V8 re-scores 338). There is nothing to panic about laptop compared to the number below - but compare these figures with the four original iPhone and IPAD works 4.2. Of course, Motorola Xoom neck and neck with IPAD 2, in terms of browser performance that shows the speed of Apple most definitely not just a domain.

Sun Spider results (lower is better)

IPAD 2 (IOS 4.3) 2173.1ms

IPAD (IOS 4.2.1) 8207.0ms

IPAD (IOS 4.3) 3484.7ms

Apple iPhone 4 (IOS 4.2.1) 10291.4ms

Apple iPhone 4 (IOS 4.3) 4052.2ms

Motorola Xoom 2141.8ms

Motorola Atrix 4G 4100.6ms

In common usage, we find the browser will be faster and more responsive than previous IPAD, which a good thing is given that the browser experience is still not enough to provide a desktop experience. That said IPAD 2 will be much closer to the speed and fluidity that you see on your laptop - and its clear Apple put time and effort to complete it.

We still have to be a problem with the lack of Flash, however. While many sites have started renting for HTML5 video and interactive elements, there are still a lot of content cannot see, because Apple will not allow the Flash platform. We do not say that we believe that the experience will be a killer (although we have seen good results jail broken flash IPAD), but the ability to turn on and off really will be accepted.

* Face Time / Photo Booth

As you might expect, the experience of Face Time IPAD is a completely different experience from your iPhone or PC OS X. Although different layout, primarily get the same results. As a phone, you cannot use this service when not on WiFi, but given that you're dealing with one tablet, unlike the phone, it seems a little more reasonable.

The results are not surprising, but satisfying a video call are placed, but again, they are not camera produces images that are amazing - especially when you're piping the video in both directions.

Photo Booth, on the other hand, has gone from the spectacle of light in OS X for a full blown implementation of events IPAD 2. A5 CPU device seems to have little trouble cranking out nine separate, preview of live video on the type of effects that can be made to the application, and when in full screen mode, you can tweak the silly-but-often psychedelic schedule the contents of your liver. This is not something that is incredibly useful, but we imagine many people will go to the Apple store with IPAD 2 in hand, after playing around with it for several minutes. It's just kind of cool.

* Garage Band

Coming from experience in professional audio production, our initial reaction to Garage Band is one of skepticism weight - but attitudes are changing fast enough. $ 4.99 piece of software offers eight tracks of audio recorded or tools, software, together with the ability to mix your level, add effects and even apply amps and stomp boxes their songs. The software also has a library of predefined lines, along with options for audio sample and creates a stage instrument itself.

We were immediately impressed by the form and focus, which clearly came into this application, it feels like a watered version of the desktop application - it feels like a new game. Do the songs and pieces of footage of a song could not be easier, and tools that have provided software offers a variety of choices when it comes to creating and manipulating sound. In addition to the standard selection of piano, keyboard and drum kits, Apple also introduced creative (and certainly annoying for some) a set of tools called Smart Tools.

The tool works in a very clever way, if you use a guitar settings in this mode, you are presented with what looks like the neck of the guitar and the spread of preset chords. You can choose the tool or jingled as you would a real guitar and the results are surprising, with life. If you really are not inclined musically, you have a guitar basically plays for you when you switch between styles and chords. We were amused by the latest version, but really addicted ex. We would like to see Apple add an option to allow users to define their own chords, which will open a ton of options and really let the creative musician, but this is a very good start for a completely new concept of making music. There are also tools for intelligent piano / keyboard (a little more hands than to change the guitar) and drums. Intelligent Instruments Drums allow you to mix and match certain drums on a network that represents the volume and patterns, allowing you to create interesting rhythmic combinations simply by dragging and dropping their attack, snare and hi-hat. Once again we would like to see Apple allow user defined model here, but there are a lot of love to explore for non-musicians and musicians alike.

In pattern mode, you can pull out and the complete sequence of songs with eight songs. Apples approach taken here is a little strange asking you to duplicate or extend any set of models as part, but once you get the hang of it, it starts to make sense. We want to see some options to be able to edit the specific note, and - as it stands, Apple only lets you record split again, not correct or change entries in the section.

Overall, this is part of an innovative software for tablet. This is not without problems - in fact, we have several major system crash requiring a reboot, lock IPAD. It is clear that there are errors to be handled, and that despite the increased CPU and memory A5, music tracking and management application remains very heavy piece of code. However, we found ourselves completely fascinated with Garage Band and cannot say. Whether playing games, writing, or record the value of the software will completely clear from the outset.

* iMovie

iMovie for IPAD was not quite revelatory experience of Garage Band, but the application offers many tools for video editing on the go - and it's not cheaper, clocking in at only $ 4.99. In such a blow-up version of the iPhone App, iMovie now lets you edit your videos are taken from both the device and import the file in a sensitive-feely environment is actually more intuitive than desktop applications - at least in some way.

Like other versions of the software, you get a set of templates and effects associated with movies that you can apply to your videos. Editing is a new experience - all friction and movement - but surprisingly simple. Do not kill the possibility of a transition or effect, but the raw materials provided more than enough to create a competent work, especially if you edit with a family vacation or a first birthday. We want to see some better options to deal with audio (cross fading and volume curve of the right style of iMovie will be great), but we are confident that people will come up with some very exciting work, despite the limitations of ap.

You can export and immediately upload the contents of various sources, including YouTube, Vimeo, CNN iReport, and Facebook. And yes, you can do it in HD. In our experience, the process works perfectly.

IMovie version tested - like Garage Band - a little buggy and prone to block completely when editing, and we have to go back and create some of our edits after a crash. This is not tragic (not the actual content is lost), but we expect Apple to take a long look at the bug reports that are sure to pour in. Despite this, however, cannot beat this program application, which is surprising price point.

* Airplay / HDMI / Smart Close

Airplay has already expanded to handle more applications, which means that developers can plug into the API, to get video (and more) to TV Apple TV screen wherever located. This is good, but until people start taking advantage of it, no t places, you can use it now. You can, however, all H.264 video streaming from the site, and you can now access images and video clips are stored on your device that resides in the camera roll.

If you are really serious about getting the video output to TV, you will want to take new HDMI device Apple ($ 39), which allows you to plug directly into the HDTV (and has a dock connector on your site as well). This is a product that is quite strange, considering that you need HDMI cables stretched in your living room. Unless, of course, simply drop off the IPAD TV to watch some content, and never stopped or miss anything. That said, the adapter works perfectly, and when we have HD video running on the IPAD 2, it sends the content to the TV without any difficulty.

Other accessories from Apple Smart Covers records. This ingenious little flaps are basically screen protector with a smart set of magnets in the country - instead of wrapping around the IPAD or hanging device with unsightly hooks or straps, Apple has developed a method for attaching the cover with well placed magnets. It is difficult to explain how it works included, but the effect is startling when you first see it, magnet only seems to know where to go. This is pure gimmick and covers (which come from polyurethane for $ 39 and leather varieties of $ 69) did a great job keeping your screen protected. This includes also can put your device to sleep and then up when you close or open the lid - and can be folded over itself to be used as a stand in various positions. Accessories also have microfiber lining, which should help to clean your screen. But, of course, there is something more than IPAD display and test the device, which actually has a severe bruise on the back because it is not there to protect him. We love the convenience of Smart Cover and the way it looks, but if you are seriously concerned about the IPAD general (not just the screen), you may want to check other options.

* Summary

Can thwart competition to hear this, but I must say: IPAD 2 is not only the best tablets on the market, it feels like only tablet on the market. As we like to say something like Xoom has threatened the existence of Apple in this space, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to do it. Well IPAD 2 a perfect product? Of course not. The cameras are much smaller on the screen - a very high quality - is praise specification last year, and operating systems are still major problems, annoying pop-up notification. The price point of $ 499, and many options once (such as more storage space and a model that works on Verizon, and 3G network AT & T is), there is little to argue for a street price and in terms of usability, applications like GarageBand prove that we have not even scratched the surface of the IPAD what I can do.

For owners of previous generations, we do not think Apple put a fire under you to upgrade. If you really need a camera on your tablet, you still have a solid piece of equipment that use a lot of benefits from the latest OS and application. For those of you who do not jump, do not hesitate to take a deep breath and dive in - in IPAD 2 is as good as it gets now. And this is really quite good.