A review of the 2017 9.7in iPad to find out if it's a good upgrade for anyone still using an older iPad.

It's been a few months since Apple's shiny plinth was thrust from the waters, gleaming deity-like on the black sand shores. I had just returned from a month-long trip checking out the top technology at IFA in Berlin and the World Expo in Shanghai when I heard that I had become editor of Tone.

Today I am checking out the 16GB Apple iPad. The iPad launched Saturday and was dropped off on my doorstep by early afternoon Saturday. Yesterday I posted up some unboxing pictures of the device and a few early impression of the iPad.

Fantastic on-screen keyboard; Great screen; Lightweight; Good-looking

Strange issue with WiFi drops; iPad native apps are too expensive in some instances

It's a very expensive but essentially fun toy. Not quite mobile, not quite PC, but engaging anyway.

Fantastic design Easy to use Lends itself well to the average consumer

Incredibly expensive Doesn't know what it wants to be Tough for work No Flash support; But you knew that

Watch Apple's iPad demo videos and you'll see smiling fanboys typing with the iPad on their lap. The real experience? It's a little bit different. We've got our hands on an iPad, and here are our impressions.

I picked up my iPad, pressed the menu button, typed in my passcode and went straight onto the net in about thirty seconds. That is what this is all about. No one is saying the iPad is a serious computer but it is a very slick net browser that can play music and films in good quality, carry your...

For now, Apple pitches the iPad as a computer that fully engrosses you in a web page, your e-mail, or media because-apart from playing music in the background-you can't really do two things at once on it, and its non-finger input solutions are still in their infancy.

An impressively built tablet computer; featuring a clean industrial design borrowed from Apple's MacBook Pro computers; internal components derived largely from its iPod touch and iPhone pocket devices; and stable; multi-touch software.

Cannot serve as a standalone computer; in addition to iTunes dependence, horsepower is presently shortchanged by limited, iPhone-class multitasking that forces all third-party applications to occupy and waste entire screen; lack of camera similarly limits value for video communications.

Like any 1.0 product, the iPad has its rough edges, the worst being the erratic Wi-Fi reception. However, the basic design is spot on. It's small enough to be portable and comfortable to use, yet large enough to work really well for tasks such as web browsing, reading books and playing video.

Is it worth it? Put it this way. If you never bought one, you wouldn't miss it. But buy it and you'll soon wonder how you lived without it.

Brilliant user interface; lovely LCD screen; great form factor and design; WiFi support

Quite an expensive gadget; expensive accessories; no Flash support

The iPad is fun . It can't and doesn't want to replace a notebook or netbook. And as soon as the small computer is seen as a pure entertainment device, the advantages are obvious. The interactive consumption of multimedia content is the main application field of the iPad.

Precise touchscreen use; Outstanding IPS screen; Silent; Good battery life; Appstore and iPhone compatibility; Workmanship; design; interaction

Arrow keys are missing (virtual and hardware; Only Apple Apps permitted (no alternative browser; Few expansion options; iOS4 not yet available; A few functions of a full-fledged operating system