Apple iPad 2 review: Love and hate 2.0

23 March 2011
The Apple iPad 2 is about to hit European shelves, fresh form a diet and exercise regime that’s helped it shed weight and build muscle. Faster, thinner and lighter is an accurate account of what’s been going on in the year that divides the two editions of Apple’s...

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  • abhi
  • utH
  • 22 Jul 2011

Anonymous, 01 May 20111st Generation iPad looks better than iPad 2 :/lol.. obviously ipad 2 is advanced. how can 1 look better?

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • SaQ
    • 15 Jul 2011

    Jack1059, 03 May 2011I owned one for about a day.Very slick device, light, great... morewell thats your opinion
    i think its a great device

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • MQK
      • 12 Jul 2011

      Davide, 24 Mar 2011The Motorola Tablet is c*ap, and so is Ipad. People only bu... moreTo be honest - I had a play on the Acer Iconia & to be quite frank it was, well, a pile of poo. The lag was unbelievable & the screen was more unresponsive than my old WM6 resistive phones. Flip from landscape to portrait & wait a while - whistle a tune & then oh it's finally caught up. Couple that with the lack of apps at the mo & it's a long, long way behind the ipad in any variant. I also played on an ipad in the apple store & it was silky smooth. They have every reason to be proud of it. It just works.

      The only one I've seen come even close is the original galaxy tab running on android 2.3.

      Not sure if it's a symptom of 3.0 being soooo sloooow (as reported widely on tech blogs), or the vast majority of tabs being underpowered for a processor hungry OS. I suspect that Android is to blame rather than the hardware but at the moment none of them can match the ipad on real world performance.

      I'll wait until ice cream sandwich comes out before making a choice on what to buy but if I was to spend money now - I'd feel like I'd wasted it if I bought anything other than an ipad.

        • b
        • bert
        • thf
        • 17 May 2011

        Apple is a movement.. You are hooked into a thinking that this device is a status symbol!

          • S
          • SpongeBob
          • PS6
          • 15 May 2011

          Patrick, 13 Apr 2011"The real benefit of the newly-added cameras is FaceTi... moremeh..thats because theres more android device variety than iOS..

          try to name a few iOS devices that doesnt begin with an 'i' in the name.. then try to name a few android devices that doesnt begin with 'galaxy'.

          u'll understand it pretty easily why more android review vs apple review.

            • N
            • NICNAT
            • 9xH
            • 06 May 2011

            can i find it in south africa i really want it please help;

              • J
              • Jack1059
              • uKH
              • 03 May 2011

              I owned one for about a day.Very slick device, light, great battery, super smooth UI. Trouble is it was far too locked down to apple for my liking. I figure I pay $500+ for a device I own it, not apple, and should be free to do simple little things like transfer files, get a new email client, etc. I also found my search results were filtered on the ipad2. Searched for ways to transfer files to the device without itunes and got very little. Tried the same search on the mac computer and bingo. All the search results I would expect. That was the last straw and despite its positives, I sold it. I'll wait until the android devices get better, or apple opens up.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • mTW
                • 02 May 2011

                Jack1059, 22 Apr 2011I bought the ipad2 expecting to really like it. Id read the... moreYup then the iPad is definitely not for you. I hope you returned it, and got your money back.

                For me, it suits me great as I keep it on the sofa, come home, pick it up, surf the net, then catch up on news on Reeder and Flipboard, and play some games. Great battery life is icing on the cake, and its a great device for me.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • mh$
                  • 01 May 2011

                  1st Generation iPad looks better than iPad 2 :/

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • j%j
                    • 29 Apr 2011

                    Patrick, 13 Apr 2011"4:3 displays such as the one on the iPad 2 aren’t muc... moreThe video player on iOS gives you a possibility to zoom whatever you watching to fit the screen vertically, cropping the sides. And that's the way I do it, usually all the action in the movie is concentrated in the middle of the screen, so I dont miss anything!!

                      • w
                      • wak zakar
                      • veU
                      • 29 Apr 2011

                      no flash player.....

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • sy1
                        • 24 Apr 2011

                        Jack1059, 22 Apr 2011I bought the ipad2 expecting to really like it. Id read the... moreYou can download Opera as an alternative to Safari. Otherwise I 100% agree, the limitations on the device kill it for me. Give me a proper mac and an iPhone any day.

                          • J
                          • Jack1059
                          • uKH
                          • 22 Apr 2011

                          I bought the ipad2 expecting to really like it. Id read the reviews, heard other people rave about it, so I had expectations that I'd at least like it. Great screen, ultra fluid OS, battery was fantastic, build quality - superb. Purchased one, and learned that despite the pluses I listed, that I hated it. And no I am no fanboy or hater. I shell out $500 plus dollars for a device, then I expect a certain level of performance / flexibility. So, here's what I didnt like about the ipad2. 1-no bluetooth file transfers 2-Could not disable the "recent searches" suggestions in safari 3-Couldnt download an alternative to safari (not a real problem) and couldnt download a new email client (the existing one just gave me the shits - opening onto an open email? Really?) 4-Web searches filtered (try typing in anything about getting around the ipad2 defences on your ipad, then try it on your computer. Two very different search results) 5-No home button on safari (opens up on the last page you surfed) 6-Your not locked to itunes, you are literally chained to that effin thing.

                          It is a marvelously built and designed device, but it aint for me. Cheers.

                            • D
                            • AnonD-6618
                            • svJ
                            • 21 Apr 2011

                            Ipad 2 is indeed awesome.Just few weeks of its introduction yet thousands of orders in our store....You can get yours too.im loving it.

                              • R
                              • Reds Apple
                              • Kxf
                              • 17 Apr 2011

                              Patrick, 13 Apr 2011"The real benefit of the newly-added cameras is FaceTi... moreI love ur comment :), ipad 2 is so awesome :)

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                                • Anonymous
                                • IAg
                                • 16 Apr 2011

                                kenakaren, 30 Mar 2011U mean u just watch vids on youtube..... lol. There's plent... moreDo you still use the internet? Sorry you cant watch porn but other than that there is not much flash content left

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • IAg
                                  • 16 Apr 2011

                                  Anonymous, 05 Apr 2011that sounds pretty impressive. I imagine the performance w... moreAdded bulk and weight /= tablet

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                                    • Patrick
                                    • v0w
                                    • 13 Apr 2011

                                    "The real benefit of the newly-added cameras is FaceTime. HD video recording is not essential on a tablet really. You know, most of the iPad owners are likely to have a more portable gadget capable of capturing HD video."

                                    When the iPad first came out with no cameras, everyone complained. Now that it has 2, you're brushing it aside as an insignificant add-on.

                                    By the number of Android reviews on the site I'm inclined to believe GSMarena was bought out by Google.

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                                      • Patrick
                                      • v0w
                                      • 13 Apr 2011

                                      "4:3 displays such as the one on the iPad 2 aren’t much good for watching videos and there’s a good reason widescreen displays are dominating the market currently"

                                      As the iPad is the best selling Tablet I don't quite understand how "widescreen displays are dominating the market currently".

                                      Also, a 16:9 aspect ratio will either force you to have a relatively small screen with respect to the actual device size or you will have a device shaped to follow the screens 16:9 ratio, which would make it odd for every other task except watching widescreen videos. I think Apple compromised for overall usefulness. And as studies have shown, most people don't actually watch as much video or listen to music on an iPad as expected. Gaming, browsing, email, Social networking, and other activities are also quite popular and an HD aspect would be odd.

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • q{L
                                        • 11 Apr 2011

                                        It should be ipad S, NOT ipad 2