Article: Lindsey’s iPad

Publisher’s Note: Longtime iPhone and Mac user, frequent helper around the site, product tester, and co-host on Slide to Unlock, Lindsey McElroy, shares her thoughts on the third-generation iPad from a non-technical, real-world perspective. This particular post came out of a response to our review of the third-generation iPad and her experience with the iPad in general.

My relationship with the iPad over the past year has been something along the lines of, “No, Eric, I don’t need one!” only to end up with a first-generation iPad the day after iPad 2 was released and then a third-generation iPad a few weeks after it was released.

For a few months after Eric got his iPad, all I heard about was how I needed one. My reply always had to do with how I didn’t need one because I already had a 13″ MacBook Pro and an iPhone 4. Then I actually played around with it and decided that even though I still didn’t need one, I definitely wanted one.

My iPad and I had a good year together until iOS 5 was released and turned it into what felt like a computer hooked up to AOL dial up in the ’90s (I suspect the low RAM made the iPad slow to a crawl, while the technically slower iPhone 4 was fine with iOS 5). I chose to ignore this until I saw the beauty of a new third-generation iPad in person. I, once again, told myself that I didn’t need one. The next day I went to my favorite electronics store, and when asked if I needed help with anything, I asked if they had any of the new iPad in a WiFi-only model stock. They only had one—the 32GB model (which I actually was looking for), so naturally, I had to get it.

And I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. It’s like I moved from a technolical District 12 to the Capitol without having to participate in The Hunger Games.

It handles everything that I used my laptop for with ease. I find myself using my laptop less and less in favor of my iPad. It’s sleek, fast, and convenient. It’s perfect for lounging around doing nothing of value, but would’ve also been a perfect tool for college had it been introduced a few years earlier.

I was a bit unsure of the iPad in the beginning, but with a little bit of convincing, it’s become my favorite gadget.

Plus, it has the Retina Display, arguably one of the best features of the iPhone 4.