apple ipad
OK, let's get the spec discussion out of the way. The iPad sports a 1024x768, 9.7-inch diagonal screen. This is roughly the size of a PC netbook screen, but dwarves the wee iPhone screen, which is 480x320 and 3.5 diagonal inches.
In fact, because the iPad and iPhone share essentially the same interface, jumping back onto the iPhone after an iPad session is a bit disorienting. Now we know how giants feel when using human tools.

All storage is solid-state flash - no mechanical hard drives in this device, folks. Capacities are 16GB, 32GB and 64GB depending on how much money you're prepared to throw down. All iPad versions use the same 1GHz Apple A4 processor, a relatively zippy "system on a chip" CPU that's based on ARM technology, and includes integrated 3D graphics, audio, power management, storage and I/O interfaces.
apple ipad back
Battery life
By tightly integrating all these functions into a single chip, the iPad becomes an extremely power-efficient device, allowing its built-in (and non-user-replaceable) Lithium-polymer battery to run much longer than the average mobile computer.
For Wi-Fi-only iPads, Apple trumpets 10 hours of total use time for web surfing, watching videos and listening to music. Soon-to-be-released units with 3G data network support are rated for one hour less, thanks to the 3G chip's increased power demands.
Given all the pain and hardship we've been suffering with fleeting iPhone battery cycles, we have to applaud the iPad's battery life. Also, compared to Apple's entry-level MacBook, which is rated for seven hours of use, the iPad really looks attractive as one's sole electronic device for international plane rides, business trips, and day-long excursions off the grid.
apple ipad side
And at just 1.5lbs, you really would have to be a serious baby to complain about its mass in a bookbag or backpack. Maybe even more relevant, the device is just one-half inch (13.4 mm) thick. Combined with a height and width that measure about 9.5 and 7.5 inches respectively (242.8mm by 189.7 mm), the iPad just plain feels smaller than the typical netbook.
Accelerometer? Check. The iPad also features a Home button, an ambient light sensor, an on/off switch, a 30-pin dock connector, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, a volume control rocker switch, and - in a flash of much-appreciated brilliance - a screen-rotation lock switch. The iPhone could use that switch.
The missing features
Missing, however, are two key features we've really come to appreciate in the iPhone family. First, there's no built-in GPS. To use location services, the WiFi-only iPad has to pinpoint your coordinates via accumulated data on Wi-Fi hotspots. The 3G-enabled model, meanwhile, is purported to be adding cellular tower triangulation in the form of "Assisted GPS."
apple ipad size comparison
We'll cross that bridge later, but for now we'll just say that location services in our Wi-Fi-only iPad tested on par with those of our hardware GPS-enabled iPhone 3GS: both the iPad and iPhone correctly identified two different locations in San Francisco, the city where our tests are taking place.
Besides the lack of hardware GPS, another early criticism of the iPad was directed at its wide black bezel
The iPad's black bezel
The 12mm of functionless screen real estate that frames the actual viewing area. Well, you know what? It looks a lot worse in photos than it does in real life. We didn't suffer from a lack of screen space, and we're not sure we'd want a larger screen if it translated into extra bulkiness and reduced portability.
apple ipod bezel size
What's more, the black bezel provides a useful gripping area for actually holding the iPad, helping to keep fingerprints off the active display.
But then there's the lack of a built-in camera, be it fixed to the back (a la the iPhone) or placed on the front.
Its current hardware configuration notwithstanding, the iPad presents a form factor that begs to be commissioned for videoconferencing duties.
However, no integrated camera mean no Skype sessions. Dad just won't be able to say goodnight to his kids - live, face-to-face, in real-time - during his business trips. Can we blame Apple? Maybe not. Because surely it has to hold something back in order to create a stir around iPad 2.0.
One final note on the iPad as a physical beast: The built-in speaker, while not really that much louder than the iPhone's, almost seems to create a tactile, THXey, "feel-it-in-your-seats" effect when you're holding the device during action games and video content.
Sound waves reverberate through the metal chassis, sending a bit of sensory information to your hands and fingers. Fortunately, the speaker doesn't distort much, nor does the reverberating chassis create sound of its own. All in all, "iPad force feedback" might be a feature some put in the pluses column!