It's Here: A Review of the New iPad 3

I received it from UPS half an hour ago, and I’m thrilled. I’m talking, of course, about the new iPad, which I ordered online from Apple the moment it was announced. You’ve read about it everywhere else, so why not here at PJM? Fortunately, I was not among those who got the iPad 2. I bit my tongue, and resisted spending the dough. Now I am very, very happy.

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As you have undoubtedly read elsewhere, the new iPad, which they should have differentiated by calling it the iPad 3 or the iPad HD, lives up to all the hype. So based on a half hour’s experimentation, here’s why I think it is deserving of all the plaudits.

1: It’s all about the resolution. When you compare the screen on a previous iPad to the new one, you can see the difference immediately. It is so sharp that just as they claim, it’s as good or better than most 1080p HD TVs. Photos I have taken and synced to it from my computer are so sharp that it defies the imagination. Goodbye forever to printing one’s photos. If you want to see them, or show them to others, pull out the iPad.

According to Apple, the screen resolution is 2048 x 1536! Compare that to your computer monitor or your TV. It also has a quad-core graphics processor, so it is also much faster.

The same goes for reading newspapers, magazines and e-books. Up till now,  I have been reading books  on the new Kindle. Except for the problem of reading on vacation in the sun — the new iPad cannot escape the same problem one has with viewing an iPhone display outdoors — the print is so sharp on the I PAD that reading is a pleasure, and one can now do it without computer eye strain. And, as with a Kindle, you can change the font to your specification.

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The greatest advantage to the iPad is for reading magazines. If you subscribe to many magazines, as I do, the sub usually arrives between four days to two weeks after it has been out. Most magazines give you access to the entire issue if you are a subscriber, and with the iPad, I download the issue the day it is posted and have the entire contents when it is fresh.

2: It maintains the long battery life of the second generation iPad, close to 10 hours without the necessity to recharge. Yes, it is a tad heavier than the earlier model, but still much lighter than the first generation. So in my case, holding it to read, I can feel the difference in weight immediately. That makes it much easier to read in bed at night.

3. The camera is also greatly improved, coming with a 5 megapixels rear camera for taking stills and movies. The front camera is the same as the second generation. That, of course, you will only be using for Face Time conversations with someone on the other side using an iPhone, computer or iPad. The photos come out sharp, as does video. However, from my brief experiment, you have to get used to holding it evenly to shoot a video that is even passable. I find it easier to do on my Nikon camera or on the iPhone, because of its smaller size.

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4. I cannot comment on the fast 4G LT Network. I purchased the basic model, since Wi-Fi is available almost everywhere, and if I must get e-mail, I’ll continue to do so on my iPhone. But those who have tested it argue that it is much, much faster.

So, if you only have the first generation iPad, or none at all, I highly recommend that you consider purchasing it. So congratulations Apple, you’ve done it again. If only it was manufactured in the United States, and not in China’s FoxConn plant.

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