iPad hands on

I went to the Apple store today and played with the iPad.  I came away more impressed than before, but still have some reservations.

The screen is great and the device is extremely fast.  I noticed very little lag in loading apps (other than a 3D game) and the interface was very snappy.  But as many have said, it is just a big iPhone.

Using it as a book reader doesn't seem practical to me, the screen is just way too bright.

Typing on the device is truly awful.  I generally can type at over 140 WPM but with this device I'd be lucky to get 30 accurate words out.  It is that bad.  And I don't think it is the lack of tactile response, it just doesn't recognize fast typing.  It does its best to autocorrect, but I found this did not solve the problem.

I would not buy an iPad now, but version 2 will hopefully improve on some of the above issues.  The biggest problem for me is the lack of good input device.  I don't care if they offer office type apps for this, they are unusable with the current interface.

But if all you want to do is go online, then the iPad could be a good choice, but the price will likely come down soon.