I-PAD 3 REVIEW- HOW GOOD IT IS?

  Tech-enthusiasts, Apple fan-boys,etc were eagerly waiting for the launch of the successor to the the i-pad 2. The market was buzzing with rumors about its launch date and specifications. And here it is now- The I-PAD 3.  Has it got everything you were hoping for? what's new in it and what are the reasons for which you should buy or ditch it? Read on as I give you a complete summary of its features.
HARDWARE AND APPEARANCE:  To start of, I-Pad 3 for better or worse is quite similar to the I-PAD 2 albeit a bit heavier and thicker. The new I-PAD weighs 51g/0.11 pounds more than the I-PAD 2 and is 0.6mm thicker than its predecessor. The pure aluminum-made body feels luxurious and good to hold which consumers would like in spite of the fact that there isn't much of a change in terms of appearance if they own a I-PAD 2 already. The only change you might notice in the aluminum chassis is that this time around the shape of the edges is a bit different- a bit more rounded but it is quite difficult to notice unless you compare the I-PAD 2 and I-PAD 3 side-by side.

            The front side sports the magnificent new 9.7-inch Retina display( more on this later) the usual home key  and a VGA camera which disappoints since there were speculations that Apple might provide a HD front camera but alas! Turn the I-PAD 3 and at its back is the usual Apple symbol right in the middle. Apart from it you would find the 5MP camera( Read on to get more info about it) capable of recording full HD videos. The speakers are unfortunately located at the same lower left position (which in inconvenient since your hands can easily block the speakers while you are holding the tablet). On the sides of the tablet are the usual volume rocker,  rotation lock just like they were on the previous I-PAD and a bit separated from these is the Power key( this has been done to allow antennas to do their work without obstruction) and nothing here would cause a concern here.
            The top corner is home to a SIM card slot. The new I-pad has a sim card slot and is capable of supporting LTE networks. Blazing fast speeds would make you happy and this is probably a major reason for which people might upgrade to I-PAD 3. There is a WI-FI only variant of I-PAD 3 too and if you buy one of that you would miss the LTE speeds but apart from that everything else is exactly the same. If you really want to see a change then turn the I-PAD 3 over to its front and switch on the the new retina display.


DISPLAY: If you look at the display for a few seconds you will instantly understand the difference between I-PAD 3 and previous I-PADS.  The new screen has a resolution of whooping 2048x 1536( That's a million more than a HDTV!). on the 9.7 inch display this works out to a pixel density of 264 ppi( less than what I-PHONE 4S offers at 326 ppi). Since this is under the magic barrier of 300 ppi it might sound worrying but Apple states that since people would hold I-PAD 3 further away from their face compared to I-PHONE 4S the resolution is comparable and difference is hardly noticeable.

        The new retina display is not just great in terms of numbers but beats others( including its predecessor) when you compare them with your naked eyes. Colors look rich and crisp and Images and videos look stunning when viewed on the new I-PAD. The I-PAD 3 offers more contrast and gamut which means colors are not only striking and pleasant but also accurate. Viewing angles are again fantastic and don't disappoint. However it must be noted that if you have used a tablet with SUPER AMOLED PLUS display, you might not be much pleased ( since for some reason colors look much more natural on that display). You would feel good to have purchased the new I-PAD when you view your images or a HD movie on it(  much more than you would if you did the same on an I-PHONE). 1080p content particularly looks amazing but there is a noticeable improvement in 720p content as well.


PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE: I-PAD 2 users always complained that a better GPU is what they needed to complement the A5 processor and so it was initially thought that Apple might put a quad core processor( which would have surely solve the GPU issue) but instead Apple delivered an improved A5X processor which has a quad core GPU but still is a dual core processor. This is again a disappointment but its good to see that I-PAD 3 at least delivers when it comes to graphics. The processor though dual core is still lightning fast and feels quite snappy.
             With improved display and processor Apple has almost doubled the battery capacity with a rated 42.5 watt hours battery( a big upgrade from the previous 25 watt hours found in I-PAD 2) and so Still it gives tremendous battery life. With brightness cranked up to 50% and WI-FI turned on while on LTE networks, I-PAD 3 managed a playback time of 9 and a half hours which is a 20-25 minutes less than its predecessor( its excusable since you get a lot of improvements. If you are wondering how many hours it takes to charge I-PAD 3 to 100% capacity when it is fully discharged then your answer is 5.5 hours hours( It is 1 and a half hours more than I-PAD 2)


CAMERA: The camera on an I-PAD hasn't been much worth talking about. firstly, people don't like taking snaps and recording clips with a 9.7 inch thing in hand and second Apple doesn't provide anything worth changing this attitude. In the I-PAD 3 you will find a 5MP rear shooter which can record at 1080p( an increase from 720p on I-PAD 2). By taking a few snaps you will notice that though the camera is just 5MP one, its quality is much better than I-PAD 2 at least. It can take snaps at the rate of 2 shots per second which is strangely half of what I-PAD 2 offers. If you record a few HD videos you would surely notice the difference in quality and thus it can be said that I-PAD 3 won't be criticized much about the camera quality.





WRAP-UP: The I-PAD 3 is fantastic device and offers a lot of improvements when compared to I-PAD 2. The stunning new Retina display of I-PAD 3 is its biggest plus point and a major reasons for users t upgrade. Still no ground-breaking specs and a few disappoints make you feel unsatisfied but it cannot be denied that I-PAD 3 is the tablet to beat right now in the market.


( IMAGES ARE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED)