Apple iPad 4

With the third-generation model discontinued, the 4th gen release does not disappoint due to the iPad's new processor- it's faster with a better battery life plus improved Wi-Fi capability, notable front camera and the ultimate dock called a Lightning connector.

Still way stellar than most tablets in the market, it can handle heavy loading apps in seconds and at zero boot time. Definitely, a good choice for anyone buying an iPad for the first time.

Read a Book on an iPad: Better than Kindle?

As far as e-book content goes, the iPad has you covered. Every major e-book retailer (and quite a few specialized stores) offer an iPad app, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, Google Books, Stanza, and Apple's own iBooks.

Mainstream magazines, including The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair, all have iPad-specific editions. Even specialty publications, such as comic books, test prep, and sheet music, have found their way onto the iPad.

But when you compare the experience of reading on the iPad with its paper-based ancestor or dedicated e-ink readers, the iPad still falls short. It's beefy at 1.44 pounds (a Kindle Touch weighs under half a pound), and in spite of the Retina Display's exquisitely rendered text, glare is still an issue--especially outdoors. Also, a product like the Nook Simple Touch promises up to two months of reading without a recharge, whereas the iPad will only get you 10 hours.

In spite of all these criticisms, the iPad has already proven itself a success as an e-reader. There are certainly cheaper options out there, but none with the breadth of features and e-book shopping options offered by the iPad.

iPad Hotness

Why I'm  in love with my iPad 2?


Thin is definitely in with Apple. The iPad2 boasts of a thinner ultra sleek design, with its two cameras being a plus. And 11 hours of battery to match your hunger for tons of apps- can you actually keep up with what's out there?




There are just too many apps for the iPad, big win for Apple diehards. Definitely, the tablet to beat in the market. I bought mine at store price $499 and held the box like a baby on the way home.

Apple iPad Heat

Might the heat levels damage the device in the long run?
We can't say. Internal heat certainly isn't a friend to electronics gear. But companies work hard to minimize it without overly compromising performance. In a statement yesterday, Apple said the new iPad operates "well within our thermal specifications" and invited any consumers with concerns to contact Apple Care.
We are looking now at whether to do that. We're especially interested in whether other tablets that have a graphics processor of comparably high power to that of the new iPad also run hotter than most other tablets.

When your iPad gets Hot

Our finding that the new iPad can heat up to as much as 116 degrees Fahrenheit when plugged in and continually running a game has prompted widespread coverage and comments, as well as questions from consumers on our blog post, Facebook page, and via Twitter.

Here are answers to some of the most frequent queries so far:

Just how hot is too hot for a tablet or laptop?
At this point, we don't believe the temperatures we recorded in our tests of the new iPad represent a safety concern. As we said in our initial post about the iPad's heat issues, the tablet felt "very warm but not especially uncomfortable if held for a brief period."

We've concluded in the past that a laptop that heats up to 120 degrees or more could damage bare skin over time. While laptop heating was a problem during the infancy of the product, we discontinued our heat tests several years ago when typical temperatures came down to 110 degrees Fahrenheit or so.

In addition, a tablet computer is used differently from a laptop. Most people don't keep it sitting on their laps for long periods, but rather hold it in their hands, switch the location of their hands while holding it, and change the hand they're using to hold it. So you're probably not touching that one hot area for a prolonged period.

iPad Release Date Draws Near

Apple announced the new iPad less than a week ago. It will feature a very high-resolution Retina display, support for fast 4G wireless access, and a quad-core graphics processor, among other improvements. The price of the previous-generation 16GB, Wi-Fi iPad 2 simultaneously dropped to $399.

Tablet computers have come a far way since the release of the first iPad in early 2010. Though Apple's tablet wasn't the first to market, it energized the category. And despite the many competitors that have arrived since then, the iPad still rules our tablet Ratings (available to subscribers). Our lab testers are looking forward to putting the new iPad through its paces; we'll report here on our findings.

iPad Temperature

Temperature tests by Consumer Reports show that the new iPad can reach a temperature of up to 122 degrees in its hottest spot after continuously running the game for 45 minutes. By comparison, the iPad 2 hit 112 degrees at its hottest location in the higher-temperature tests. That temperature difference is close to the 12-degree gap we found between new iPad and iPad 2 in our past tests, at 72 degrees.

But we also duplicated as closely as possible the iPad tests on two Android tablets, and one, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, had a 121-degree hot spot in the same conditions. (The other, the Asus Transformer Prime, reached about 117 degrees.)

With use of a laptop, evidence suggests that a temperature on the bottom of its case of 120 degrees risks damage to bare skin with prolonged contact. But we think the same temperature on a tablet is more a potential inconvenience than a concern. Tablets are typically held differently, with less prolonged contact to areas of skin and greater ease in avoiding the hottest spots.

Further, only serious gamers playing with the screen at full brightness are likely to hit those temperatures on a tablet. When we measured the new iPad playing a video in a 72-degree temperature, at full brightness and plugged into the charger, its hot-spot temperature reached about 105 degrees; and surfing the Web, it reached about 107 degrees. We then turned the screen brightness down to two-thirds instead of fully bright. At that setting, the new iPad reached only about 100 degrees when running the game and not plugged into its charger.