It's a freakin' tablet. If you don't want/need a tablet-type device, don't buy it.
I've been on the hunt for a decent device for approach plates for several years now. Nothing has struck me as being truly ready until now. ForeFlight on the iPad looks to be really slick:
The kicker is that the iPad is not only cheaper than any of the devices I've looked at, it does a helluva lot more.
A lot of people are comparing the iPad to laptops, to netbooks, to ebook readers, etc... But the iPad is all of those and none of those at the same time. After playing with it, I think it really is a new category of device.
A few initial impressions from playing around with it in the store:
1) I don't think sunlight will be a problem. You generally have the pad pointing straight at you when you're reading it, so you don't have to worry about it reflecting the sun unless you're flying a plane with a canopy and the sun is directly behind your head. I specifically tilted it so that it was reflecting the bright lights in the store, and while it wasn't as good (obviously), it was still quite readable even with the reflection. But again, you're not going to see a reflection of anything but yourself and part of the roof of your plane in normal flying use.
2) Ignoring the glossy reflection issue discussed above, the screen is VERY readable - The text is nicely rendered in such a fashion that it was very easy on the eyes.
3) A few things are different enough from the iPhone that they were minorly annoying because I'm used to the iPhone. For example, on the iPhone the delete key is to the right of the M. The iPad has it at the upper right - More like a laptop keyboard. They also used the extra screen real estate to put the most common punctuation marks on the main keyboard, so you don't have to push the "123" button just to type a period, comma, etc.
4) This thing is FAST. Really, screaming, fast. Dragging images and web pages around (scrolling), it pretty much kept right up with my finger. Just about any action I took resulted in a virtually instantaneous reaction, from launching/quitting apps to doing things within the apps.
5) The iBooks app - Again, very readable text, page turns are about as natural as you can get, with easy navigation. Very cool.
6) Web browsing - Well, it's got the ease of the iPhone without the tiny screen. Here's a screen shot I took of PoA:
As you can see, very readable without having to zoom in. It occurred to me that I really like the touch interface, moreso than a laptop. I can't explain why. But without the screen size limitations of the iPhone/iPod Touch, it's really nice.
7) Typing. As I mentioned in the previous post, I was in a very sub-optimal position for typing - Standing up, with the iPad lying on a table that was at the limit of my reach (I'm too damn tall). Definitely didn't like the on-screen keyboard in that position, and holding it in my left hand standing up while typing with my right hand was also not great - The keyboard is too BIG to get any speed when trying to type with one hand! However, there are several different keyboard layouts that could assist with that (QWERTY, and something like AZERTY that I'd never heard of, Dvorak, etc). I asked to see the iPad keyboard dock, and the manager grabbed a returned one out of the back room (the only one they had). It's a somewhat unwieldy shape for throwing in a backpack, but it's a lot stronger than it looks so it shouldn't be too bad if you can fit it in. I think the best option might be a Bluetooth keyboard (Apple's is the same price as the keyboard dock) and the iPad case that Apple has for standing the iPad up. (I did not play with the case at all.)
8) Productivity. I didn't play around with Keynote or Pages (iWork's analogues to PowerPoint and Word), but I did spend some time with the Numbers spreadsheet. It's certainly different than operating on a traditional computer with the mouse and keyboard, but after going through their tutorial, I was quite impressed with what it's able to do. In some cases, things will be a little slower, but the on-screen keyboard idea really shines here, with several keyboards that are customized for what you're entering in a certain field (numbers, text, dates, formulas, etc). It also appeared to make the formulas a lot easier to find, and certain common things like fills and editing actually seemed easier than on a computer as well. Finally, you can't beat the price: $9.99 each for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.
9) Photos and video - This screen is BEAUTIFUL. And like everything else, the iPad was snappy and responsive, taking no time at all to start a large movie, flip between pictures, etc. There's also a "picture frame mode" that you can set up to play a specified set of pictures with a specified transition, and you can leave the iPad locked while it plays.
It does appear that the iPad would make a great substitute for my laptop for most of my casual use - Most web browsing, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, music, photos, productivity, etc. Where it would fall short is in recording the Pilotcast (it'll do skype, but I need to record as well) and that sort of more specialized use.
That's all for now... I think I'll end up getting one when the 3G models come out.
