KELLNER: Apple iPad 2 a good update, at a good price - Washington Times

I was not planning to write about the iPad from Apple 2; It was not even anticipate of get my hands on one for a while. But a combination of circumstances led me to the Apple store in the Mall in Columbia on Friday afternoon. There, along with, I estimate, 300 of my new closest friends, I was in line for about three hours to buy one.

I got the model I wanted to and before sunset, was a bit of an achievement.

The options to get an iPad 2, whose prices 3 G from $499 to $699 are not the same as the Wi-Fi-only iPad 2010 models, can be a bit thin this week. The points of sale of Apple sold in time incredibly fast. You can find Wi-Fi-plus models for 3 G on AT & T or Verizon store (Best Buy and Wal-Mart also carried the product) this week, but if you asked Apple online expect it may be three or four weeks.

It is worth the trouble? For my money, Yes, at least for the moment: lighter by a few ounces, the iPad 2 is easy to attach to read in bed, and is even more pleasant to wear during a workday. It has new cameras, integrated, front and rear, allowing him to make video conferencing (so-called "facetime" after Apple application) and allows you to take pictures and videos. Do it is thinner, has mentioned that? - and as well as easy to maintain.

Oh, and there is the "Smart coverage," price of $69 list, that clamps to the iPad 2 (and only that model), not only protect the screen, but also on the device on and off when the lid is open or closed. The cover also folds up in a small stand for easier to read and write in a desktop or on a plane.

Depending on who is speaking with, somewhere between 30% and 70% of the buyers of the iPad 2 already have an iPad 2010, so it is possible that can score some bargains in models "gently used". ("This is a real breath of cream.") ("Was used by a little old lady from Pasadena, which only took to church on Sundays.")

But the value of the iPad 2, in my opinion is not only that technology advances in some useful way, but also that points the way to a better future of computing Tablet PC. Motorola Xoom is to get a great publicity for television, at least in the Verizon FiOS cable system, which is owned by the telephone company offers this Tablet PC on your cellular network. But the Xoom - and any other tablet care name: is not receiving the same level of attention of buyers. No one is standing in line to buy one of these devices, after all for three hours.

Performance, A5 processor that research to sign UBM TechInsights says comes from Samsung, is faster than its predecessor, although not by much. But even a few seconds it is useful in something that is in constant use.

I like cameras in the unit, but it helps to have a theme close to get a good photo. I have been able to adjust an image worthy of Fox 5 DC Steve Chenevey on Monday morning while we were in a set at the station. However, another image of her co-anchor, Sarah Simmons, was less successful. Conclusion: the camera is good, but not replace even a point and shoot.

I also like the intelligence behind the concept of "Meet smart", although it is a bit much $69. This shows that Apple is thinking even incremental ways to do your best and most practical computer tablet.

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