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After numerous years of rumors and speculation, Apple Inc. unveiled a new tablet computer called the iPad at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Price for the iPad starts at an unbelievably low price at $499 and up to $829 (for all of the options) and will be available in 60 days (90 days for a 3G model). I am VERY excited about this and cannot wait to get my hands on it firsthand.

There’s so much to say about the iPad. I’ll first start with the highlights on the iPad specs and at the end go into how to use the iPad.

iPad Specifications:

• 1/2″ thick
• 1.5 pounds
• 9.7″ screen
• 10 hour battery life (up to a month of standby time)
• Accelerometer & compass
• Bluetooth
• 1GHz Apple A4 chip
• 16GB – 64GB flash storage
• Speakerphone & microphone

Internet on the go is available at additional pricing through AT&T on the 3G network. There are two price plans. First is a 250MB per month plan at $14.99 per month. For some users 250MB per month may suffice. For more “power users” an unlimited plan will be available at $29.99 per month. Both do not have any contract and can be canceled at any time.

Two accessories were announced which are very exciting! The first is a keyboard dock/charger. You slide the iPad onto the keyboard dock so you can use a full size keyboard and charge the iPad at the same time. The second accessory is a cover for the iPad which doubles as a slightly tilted stand for desk use.

The interface for the iPad is very similar to the iPhone. The iPad utilizes full capacity multi-touch, enabling you to interact with the screen without the use of a pen or mouse using your fingers directly to the surface of screen. The keyboard is onscreen (like the iPhone) and takes up the bottom half of the landscape mode. It is large enough to use two hands like you would on a regular keyboard, but slightly smaller.

The iPad comes with a wide array of applications standard. Additionally, ALL apps from the App Store work as well!

Some of the default apps include:

• Email
• Web
• Photos
• Calendar
• Address Book
• Google Maps
• Music
• iBook (Brand new application)
• iWork – Keynote, Pages, Numbers ($9.99 each)

iBook is a new application that allows for the discovery, purchase, and download e-books. It is much like the Amazon Kindle but on steroids.

Following are some more images of the Apple iPad

Image via gdgt.com

Image via gdgt.com

Image via gdgt.com

Image via gdgt.com

Image via gdgt.com

Image via gdgt.com

Image via gdgt.com

Image via gdgt.com

Recently I’ve been asked for my two cents on the matter of selecting a new notebook computer. I am partial to two laptops – Dell for PCs and MacBook Pros from Apple. I don’t tend to care for other manufacturers for a variety of reasons.

Right off the bat you may decide to go with one or the other simply because of the operating system choice of Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X. One advantage with the Mac OS X is that you have the capability of installing Windows on the Mac using VMWare or Parallels. This requires a bit more of technical knowledge in being able to setup but it enables you to run your Windows applications on a Mac. Another main difference between the two of them is their price. Often times, Dell will offer notebooks starting at $499. The starting price point for a Macbook is $999. One can make the argument that the two prices are not comparing apples to apples (no pun intended). Pound for pound, I feel that the Macbook Pro is a better machine (hardware and software).

Dell offers a phenomenal warranty program with next (business) day and onsite repair for hardware issues with your computer. Apple does not offer that, but instead requires that you bring your laptop to an Apple store. Any issues found may be resolved at the Apple store while other repairs could take several weeks to resolve.

• In selecting the specific model I would recommend thinking seriously about which what types of things are most important to you. Some things to consider are:
• Size of screen
• Screen resolution
• Weight
• Ports (DVI / USB / Firewire, etc.)
• CPU speed
• Memory capacity
• Misc. Items (Onboard WWAN / Bluetooth, etc.)

For the Apple products, it is relatively easy to select your choice. You are fairly limited with choices between two models (Macbook and Macbook Pro) both of which come with many items such as wireless, ports, etc. as standard items while they may be considered “add-ons” by other computer makers. The Apple stores are a great place to see and hold the models first hand. The Apple store staff is usually very helpful and knowledgeable. The Dell site offers roughly a dozen models, all of which allow for customizations.

I hope this helps in your notebook search!