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Being a gadget whore, I just had to get myself an iPad to see what all the fuss was about. After a few days of following the package on it's journey from Shenzhen, China, it finally turned up on my doorstep.

As a power user, I really was looking for a net book alternative. Something which I could use to surf the web and read email on the couch, without having a MacBook Pro on my lap. I had played with a few netbooks and whilst the size was right, I just found them really annoying to use with their tiny keyboards and trackpads. My iPhone provided a much better couch surfing experience, but that too was on the small side.

So on to the iPad... Upon taking it out of it's rather plain box, the first thing that struck me was the weight if the thing - it has a fairly hefty feel to it, as if it could do some real damage if thrown! The build quality is fantastic, especially when compared to netbooks.

The initial setup was straightforward, requiring a connection to iTunes and some degree of patience whilst items are synced. It's a shame you cannot actually use the iPad during this process - you feel kind of helpless waiting for it complete. It's difficult to know where to start when talking about the device - in some ways the iPhone has helped train us, we know what to expect, and yet it is a totally different experience full of surprises and... I hate to say it... Magic!

The UI is essentially the same as on the iPhone, except it feels exceptionally smooth with additional visual effects and a beautifully crisp display which adds so much to the experience. It certainly looks the part and the performance makes interacting with the device all the more natural.

All the standard apps have been totally redesigned to take advantage of the larger screen size, offering streamlined navigation and a much greater density of information being displayed. Where the screen comes into its own is when you are using full screen apps such as Photos, Maps and Safari. As you pan and zoom across images, maps and web pages they take on a new quality that is often missing with digital items - the feeling of tangibility. Now you can browse the internet and feel like you are flipping through a magazine.

Speaking of the Internet, one of the things which surprised me, given the massive amount of coverage given to the HTML5 vs. Flash debate, was just how every video player I came across just seemed to work. From my perspective the experience certainly didn't feel crippled due to the lack of Flash.

Unlike when the iPhone was released, the iPad has hundreds of apps available already and they really add a lot to the device. The variety is amazing, and it really does seem like the possibilities are endless. The iWork suite is a must buy if you want to get some serious work done, however some features are missing such as the ability to review and annotate documents. Other apps worth mentioning are NetNewsWire, the RSS reader, Instapaper and Evernote.

The iPad is also a device geared towards content consumption - to that end a lot of effort has been put into apps such as iBooks. Compared to Amazon's Kindle it's a very similar experience, but small touches like turning the pages really makes the reading experience more fun and immersive. Similarly apps such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal show some great creativity when it comes to trying to replicate the print experience on the device. I'm a bit wary of publishers trying to monetize the device, mainly as the pricing being floated about (17.99/mo for the WSJ) seems a bit steep, especially when compared to paper.

Battery life compared to the iPhone has been amazing - since I got the device, it has been used heavily for surfing the web, video, apps and games. The battery indicator is showing 20%, so it is certainly living up to Apples 10 hour claim.

The keyboard is...interesting. Now I had no problems with the iPhone keyboard, mainly because I can touch type. The iPads is similarly easy to use - this review was written on the iPad, mostly touch typing with very few errors. It's great. What gives me cause for concern is more ergonomics. When sat on the couch I tend to find myself adopting the t-Rex position for typing, which over time I'm sure isn't very good for me. Since the screen and keyboard are the same surface it can be awkward finding a comfortable position. If you plan on using it for heavy typing, a kickstand case or an external keyboard might be worth considering.

One other minor gripe is the lack of multitasking. Mainly the lack of a background instant messenger client, since often I tend to surf and chat at the same tune. A standalone instant messenger client doesn't cut it, no matter how good it is, and relying on push notifications to fake multitasking is just a very unnatural and disruptive experience.

All in all I think the iPad is an amazing device. It is a fantastic device for web browsing, email, media and light productivity. Is it going to change the world? Maybe. With the creativity of third party developers I can certainly see it changing the way we consume content. I also anticipate some really cool applications showing of such a large multitouch surface. It really is all in the hands of developers.