New iPad Reviews: Display Impresses, but Hold Off on Buying

Judging from the many, many reviews filling The VAR Guy’s newsfeeds, for the most part people love Apple’s latest tablet. Our resident blogger has taken on the monumental task of reading them all to provide you with the bottom-line, need-to-know details. Read on …

First up, David Pogue of The New York Times had mostly complimentary things to say about the new iPad. He had some negative comments about the poor look of non-retina display apps, but this is a problem that will fade away much like it did with the iPhone 4. Pogue’s most telling dig:

… the new iPad should have been called the iPad 2S. In the past, Apple added the letter S to iPhone models that weren’t exactly new but had been tastefully enhanced (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S). That’s exactly what’s going on with the new iPad. Its technical improvements keep it at the forefront of desirability — just ahead of the snapping jaws of its Android competition — but don’t take it in any new directions.

Pogue, however, had much more flattering words for the screen, which he called “jaw-droppingly good,” especially with all of Apple’s native apps such as iBooks and iPhoto.

Over at The Verge, Joshua Topolsky gave the new iPad a full crash course, and agreed with Pogue that:

… this display is outrageous. It’s stunning. It’s incredible. I’m not being hyperbolic or exaggerative when I say it is easily the most beautiful computer display I have ever looked at.

Topolsky praised Apple’s iOS responsiveness with native apps, noting the iPad has become a powerful content creation machine. And even though it may be unwieldy to take an iPad around just to take pictures, photos taken were impressive, and Topolsky admitted, “… if you absolutely must use the camera on the back of the new iPad, it will actually produce pretty favorable results.”

And wouldn’t you know it, Apple aficionado (and Steve Jobs favorite) Walt Mossberg of All Things D had equal praise for the new screen, calling it “the most spectacular display I have ever seen in a mobile device.” Mossberg found the new iPad fell just two minutes short of the 10-hour usage mark, but it was hardly a difference from the iPad 2, which held its ground for 12 more minutes. When all is said and done, Mossberg said the new iPad “still holds the crown” when compared to all the other tablets out there.

The VAR Guy, however, thinks Pogue has the right idea. The new iPad, however stunning, is just an incremental upgrade. Mossberg also agreed, in some respects, advising iPad 2 users that they “shouldn’t feel like [they] have to rush out to buy the new one.” The VAR Guy finds that sentiment particular interesting, considering it’s more or less the same idea offered by blogger Dave Courbanou.

The VAR Guy verdict? Walk, don’t run to buy the new iPad. It’s nice, but the next one will be even better.