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Despite what you think right now, and despite the limitations Apple has put on some aspects of this device, what it says to the market is significant. The iPad is powerful, elegant, and largely unlike any computer you've ever used.

One thing I can say about most Apple products, and certainly the iPad: There may be things it doesn't do, but what it does do, it does remarkably well. Aside from the limitations, there isn't a lot else to gripe about. And to my great surprise, you can actually get real work done with the iPad....

All in all, however, the iPad is an advance in making more-sophisticated computing possible via a simple touch interface on a slender, light device. Only time will tell if it’s a real challenger to the laptop and netbook.

The bottom line is that the iPad has been designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists. If you like the concept, you’ll love the machine.

The Apple iPad is the first affordable tablet computer worth owning, but it won't (yet) replace your laptop.

Whether or not the iPad becomes a smash hit right away, or if it takes time for this sort of device to be embraced by the public as a whole, that doesn’t change how strong a product it is. ... This is an impressive debut for an ambitious new product direction for Apple.

Apple looks set to shake up casual computing with a tablet that offers clever design and ease of use. But that streamlined approach may also be the iPad's weakness.

As a laptop replacement, we just don’t see it. Not yet, at least. Apple has built a product that is exemplary on a large scale: it’s what you’d expect to see in a Star-Trek future. It’s the computer Ender Wiggin used in the novel Ender’s Game—a science fiction classic.

It's the first device to substantially deliver on the promise made by the iPhone and, in some respects, the Newton. Both of these earlier Apple products gave us glimpses at what a real, usable, purpose-built tablet computer might one day look like, and the iPad ... gives us the complete picture.

Although it doesn't replace any of your existing devices, there are some things the iPad does much better than anything you might own today. Web browsing, photo viewing, reading email, any passive usage scenarios where you're primarily clicking on things and getting feedback, the iPad excels at.

With the iPhone you have the fact that it's also a phone that lets you make calls, it has a core purpose beyond the diversification, but with the iPad, it's an emotional luxury that will need feeding with content to keep you entertained and justify its existence.

Apple have taken core elements of the tablet/touch paradigm and made them work smoothly, and if that sounds underwhelming then you need to remember that it’s something Tablet PCs – although finding some niche and vertical success – have struggled to achieve over the past decade.

Unlike the original iPhone, Apple TV, and iPod touch, all of which we cautioned readers about in their earliest forms, Apple has done so much right with the first iteration of this device that it’s easy to look past the iPad’s issues and just enjoy everything it can do.

Portable computing - truly portable computing; effortlessly portable computing - is a simple concept, but don't underestimate what it has to offer. The iPad fits perfectly for some very specific activities that have become key to our digital lifestyles.

Apple has pretty much nailed it with this first iPad, though there's certainly room for improvement. Nearly three years after making a splash with the iPhone, Apple has delivered another impressive product that largely lives up to the hype.