Apple made the iPad 2 thinner, lighter, and more powerful than the first-generation iPad. In the face of competition from Honeycomb and others, is that enough to remain the top[...]

Slick; thin and fast; Excellent battery life; Amazing app support

Good; not great; display; Subpar speaker; Lousy cameras

When I first bought my iPad 2, friends asked if I would use it, as I already had a smartphone, a MacBook pro and an iMac. Over the past ten months, however, I have probably used it more than all my other devices put together.

I surprised my hubby with a IPAD for XMAS and he was estactic! He loved it, works like new, clear, had all the bells and whistles except for SIRI. Other than that I'm happy i made the purchase!

I thought it had a back, but there was no other image than the front image so had no idea there was no back on it. But if that's what you were looking for it is clean looking, thin and smart looking. Just not suitable for my needs

Lovely colour; thin; smart

No back on it

This device is no doubt a step forward for tablet PC technology. Albeit only one. This portable powerhouse is just the sort of lackluster specification update we've come to expect from Apple . While it is thinner and somewhat lighter. The look and overall feel have changed only negligibly.

Seamless hardware and interface design, plus an unparalleled ecosystem of apps, keep the iPad 2 a step ahead of the emerging tablet pack. You'll want to be aware of some important factors, though, before picking a data carrier.

Fast performance; Super-thin design; Support for FaceTime; Superb media-sharing; browsing improvements in new iOS; Choice in data carriers

Poor camera quality; Still lacking Flash support; USB port; HDMI; SD-card adapters cost extra; Won't run on 4G network

The new Apple iPad 2 is a positive step forward in the evolution of tablet computers. The addition of cameras, RAM, and a dual core processor certainly adds to the long term viability of your investment.

Upon its release, last March, iPad 2 was among the first tablets to come with a dual-core processor.The Apple A5 is a 1GHz CPU that performs admirably still. It's now the brainpower of the iPhone 4S,which manages to thrash most other's in its wake.

So what do we take away from this review? The iPad has a lot of positive features (screen brightness, viewing angles, audio quality, fast processor) but it also has a lot of flaws (low quality cameras, battery, software, button angles, slippery back, fingerprints, glare, and iTunes).

The iPad defined a new category of personal computing and inspired many a me-too offering. The iPad 2 isn't the next step in the evolution of the media tablet - Apple still has flaws to fix - but there's no question it's better than its predecessor - and a lot of its rivals. ®