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It'll be nice reading real-life use of the iPad in the reviewers' different situations. They'll each analyze the iPad VERY thoroughly and will point out what they like or dislike about the hardware and the way the thing functions in actual day-to-day use.
 
Yeah, say what you will about biases, etc. but at the end of the day Walt and Pogue tend to put together a pretty thorough, centrist (i.e. not too techy, not too luddite) take on the products they review. IMO. :)

They're not going to sway me though :)

Still using one as my primary computer!
 
I think people just want re-assurance that the $500+ they plan on spending is going to be a good investment. Pretty much everyone who has reserved or pre-order the iPad is doing so without ever having used an iPad before.

What's the big mystery here?

People rag about how we all bought one sight-unseen but we've had plenty of time to watch videos of it and read reviews from people who held it back on January 27. It's well-known how the OS works and what features it will have.

Are you really expecting some huge horrible surprise?
 
I think people just want re-assurance that the $500+ they plan on spending is going to be a good investment. Pretty much everyone who has reserved or pre-order the iPad is doing so without ever having used an iPad before.

No such thing as a electronic consumer device as an investment, unless you keep it in the package for say 50 years? lol. They are garage sale items in a few years. The day you buy one, new or used, it's worth a little less every day. I don't "invest" in something that is losing money day one.

It's a gadget, the good thing about an early review is we get to possibly see some feature we didn't see in the keynote. No one that pre ordered will change their mind all the sudden because Mossburg or Pogue all the sudden would say "OMG this thing is horrible, it doesn't have xxxx"! (insert your feature).

Anyone that thinks the iPad is an "investment" will be disappointed in 12 months when Rev B shows up with a few additional features and their Rev A iPad just dropped by 30% to 50% of it's value. Just as those lucky Macbook Air buyers that watched Apple drop the price by nearly 50% over a few years.

Invest in tech stocks... not tech products. :)
 
It's based off the iPhone SDK so most of the main GUI elements we know already. Based on the keynote you can really get a good feel of the main features of the device. The big surprises are just going to be seeing what new and exciting apps developers can think up to use all that screen real estate. I mean Grand Theft Auto for iPad could be freaking sweet.
 
It's very similar to the situation faced by those of us when we bought iPhones on June 29, 2007.

Exactly! In fact, it really was not until the morning of that day that I made up my mind to go ahead and get in line. Earlier, when friends had asked me if I were going to buy an iPhone, I'd shake my head and say, "heck, no, I don't even use the cell phone I have now, why would I want one of those things?" My undoing was watching the keynote again and this time seeing just why I might want "one of those things." The phone part didn't interest me as much as the easier access to the internet and other features did. That morning, I got up, said to myself, "OK, I'm going over to the mall and get in line for one of those iPhones." A huge leap of faith! As we waited in line that afternoon, many of us chatted with friends on our about-to-be-discarded old cell phones. Got in the store, got the bag with the iPhone (in its box), moved on.....and paused at the demo table to look at and touch an iPhone for the first time to see what I'd just spent $600.00 on. Even in the first few days that I had my new iPhone and was enjoying it, I had a sense that this thing was going to take off big-time, and indeed it has, especially because of the App Store.

In watching the keynote speech about the iPad I didn't dismiss it out of hand as "one of those things." I waited impatiently to learn when it would be available and how much I'd have to pay for one. No question in my mind about getting the thing. I see it as a launching pad with all sorts of possibilities, especially with creative developers offering us any number of amazing apps for it.

I really think this thing is going to be a winner, in some ways even more so than the iPhone......
 
...In watching the keynote speech about the iPad I didn't dismiss it out of hand as "one of those things." I waited impatiently to learn when it would be available and how much I'd have to pay for one. No question in my mind about getting the thing. I see it as a launching pad with all sorts of possibilities, especially with creative developers offering us any number of amazing apps for it.

I really think this thing is going to be a winner, in some ways even more so than the iPhone......
We had the exact, really exact, same experience with the iPhone. I was on the fence. And lined up at the last minute. I could see the potential of the platform. This was before the App Store was even a glimmer in Steve's eye.

I feel much more confidence about repeating the situation with the iPad. Reading those early iPhone reviews from Mossberg and Pogue on June 27 sealed it for me. I'm hoping a week or so from tomorrow to be reading similar pre-release iPad reviews. :)
 
If it's like the 3GS, the embargo was lifted two days prior to the launch. Just enough time for a final push of pre-orders/reservations.
 
Here is a quote from my review that will be out before or on launch day:

"Best device of its kind in the world! - Marksman"
 
The article was based on their time with the iPad immediately following the keynote in January. Pretty generic stuff, like how nice it feels to hold, how fast the processor seems to be...typing is a little awkward, but may get used to it after awhile, etc...

2 cons that I've heard ad infinitum on these boards:

1. "wahhh, there's no flash, there won't be a perfect web experience!!"

2. "What? It doesn't have a camera?? Screw that, I'm not buying one!"

Pretty generic article all-around by MacWorld's standards. If you watched the keynote, you don't really need to read their Q&A section either. (And yes, I realize that Macrumors members are more likely to have watched the keynote and the Q&A is for people who don't keep up with Apple as much as we do.)

Geeklawyer: Yeah, it's based heavily on that article (sans pictures.)
 
Personally, I'm not waiting for the reviews as such, but being in the UK I am eagerly awaiting the US launch so that both reviewers and the general public can get to handle the iPads in a wide variety of different situations (not just in a room with pre-launch units). I have afew questions and queries in the back of my mind regarding day to day usage (particularly with regards to typing) that can only really be answered by people that own the product and are using it for similar purposes themselves..

It's a frustrating wait though!
 
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